Allah's Apostle very often used to ask his companions, "Did anyone of you see a dream?" So dreams would be narrated to him by those whom Allah wished to tell. One morning the Prophet said, "Last night two persons came to me (in a dream) and woke me up and said to me, 'Proceed!' I set out with them and we came across a man lying down, and behold, another man was standing over his head, holding a big rock. Behold, he was throwing the rock at the man's head, injuring it. The rock rolled away and the thrower followed it and took it back. By the time he reached the man, his head returned to the normal state. The thrower then did the same as he had done before. I said to my two companions, 'Subhan Allah! Who are these two persons?' They said, 'Proceed!' So we proceeded and came to a man lying flat on his back and another man standing over his head with an iron hook, and behold, he would put the hook in one side of the man's mouth and tear off that side of his face to the back (of the neck) and similarly tear his nose from front to back and his eye from front to back. Then he turned to the other side of the man's face and did just as he had done with the other side. He hardly completed this side when the other side returned to its normal state. Then he returned to it to repeat what he had done before. I said to my two companions, 'Subhan Allah! Who are these two persons?' They said to me, 'Proceed!' So we proceeded and came across something like a Tannur (a kind of baking oven, a pit usually clay-lined for baking bread)." I think the Prophet said, "In that oven there was much noise and voices." The Prophet added, "We looked into it and found naked men and women, and behold, a flame of fire was reaching to them from underneath, and when it reached them, they cried loudly. I asked them, 'Who are these?' They said to me, 'Proceed!' And so we proceeded and came across a river." I think he said, ".... red like blood." The Prophet added, "And behold, in the river there was a man swimming, and on the bank there was a man who had collected many stones. Behold, while the other man was swimming, he went near him. The former opened his mouth and the latter (on the bank) threw a stone into his mouth whereupon he went swimming again. He returned and every time the performance was repeated. I asked my two companions, 'Who are these (two) persons?' They replied, 'Proceed! Proceed!' And we proceeded till we came to a ...

Ibn ‘Abbas said “Hilal bin Umayyah was one of the three persons whose repentance was accepted by Allaah. One night he returned from his land and found a man along with his wife. He witnessed with his eyes and heard with his ears. He did not threaten him till the morning.” Next day he went to the Apostle of Allaah(saws) in the morning and said Apostle of Allaah(saws) “I came to my wife in the night and found a man along with her. I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears. The Apostle of Allaah(saws) disliked what he described and he took it seriously. There upon the following Qur’anic verse came down “And those who make charges against their spouses but have no witnesses except themselves, let the testimony of one of them ....” When the Apostle of Allaah(saws) came to himself (after the revelation ended) he said “Glad tidings to you Hilal, Allaah the exalted has made ease and a way out for you.” Hilal said “I expected that from my Lord. The Apostle of Allaah(saws) said “Send for her. She then came.” The Apostle of Allaah(saws) recited the verses to them and he reminded them and told them that the punishment in the next world was more severe than that in n this world. Hilal said “I swear by Allah I spoke the truth against her.” She said “He told a lie.” The Apostle of Allaah(saws) said “Apply the method of invoking curses on one another. Hilal was told “Bear witness. So he bore witness before Allaah four times that he spoke the truth.” When he was about to utter the fifth time he was told “Hilal fear Allah, for the punishment in this world is easier than that in the next world and this is the deciding one, that will surely cause punishment to you.” He said “I swear by Allaah. Allah will not punish me for this (act), as He did not cause me to be flogged for this (act).” So he bore witness a fifth time invoking the curse of Allah on him if he was of those who tell a lie. Then the people said to her, Testify. So she gave testimony before Allaah that he was a liar. When she was going to testify the fifth time she was told “Fear Allah, for the punishment in this world is easier than that in the next world. This is the deciding one that will surely cause punishment to you.” She hesitated for a moment. And then said “By Allah, I will not disgrace my people.” So she testified a fifth time invoking the curse of Allah on her if he spoke the truth. Apostle of Allaah(saws) separated them from each other and ...

that he asked `Aisha regarding the Verse: 'If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans (4.3) She said, "O my nephew! This Verse refers to the orphan girl who is under the guardianship of her guardian who likes her beauty and wealth and wishes to (marry her and) curtails her Mahr. Such guardians have been forbidden to marry them unless they do justice by giving them their full Mahr, and they have been ordered to marry other than them. The people asked for the verdict of Allah's Apostle after that, so Allah revealed: 'They ask your instruction concerning the women . . . whom you desire to marry.' (4.127) So Allah revealed to them that if the orphan girl had beauty and wealth, they desired to marry her and for her family status. They can only marry them if they give them their full Mahr. And if they had no desire to marry them because of their lack of wealth and beauty, they would leave them and marry other women. So, as they used to leave them, when they had no interest, in them, they were forbidden to marry them when they had such interest, unless they treated them justly and gave them their full Mahr Apostle said, 'If at all there is evil omen, it is in the horse, the woman and the house." a lady is to be warded off. And the Statement of Allah: 'Truly, among your wives and your children, there are enemies for you (i.e may stop you from the obedience of Allah)' (64.14)

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz during his khalifate, wrote to one of his governors, "Whatever a father, or guardian, who gives someone in marriage, makes a condition in the way of unreturnable gift or of favour, belongs to the woman if she wants it."

Malik spoke about a woman whose father gave her in marriage and made an unreturnable gift a condition of the bride-price which was to be given. He said, "Whatever is given as a condition by which marriage occurs belongs to the woman if she wants it. If the husband parts from her before the marriage is consummated, the husband has half of the unreturnable gift by which the marriage occurred."

Malik said about a man who married off his young son and the son had no wealth at all, that the bride- price was obliged of the father if the young man had no property on the day of marriage. If the young man did have property the bride- price was taken from his property unless the father stipulated that he would pay the bride-price. The marriage was affirmed for the son if he was a minor only if he was under the guardianship of his father.

Malik said that if a man divorced his wife before he had consummated the marriage and she was a virgin, her father returned half of the bride-price to him. That half was permitted to the husband from the father to compensate him for his expenses.

Malik said that that was because Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said in His Book, "Unless they (women with whom he had not consummated marriage) make remission or he makes remission to him in whose hand is the knot of marriage." (Sura 2 ayat 237). (He being the father of a virgin daughter or the master of a female slave.)

Malik said, "That is what I have heard about the matter, and that is how things are done among us."

Malik said that a jewish or christian woman who was married to a jew or christian and then became muslim before the marriage had been consummated, did not keep anything from the bride-price.

Malik said, "I do not think that women should be married for less than a quarter of a dinar. That is the lowest amount for which cutting off the hand is obliged ."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said heard Sulayman ibn Yasar mention that a face wound in which the bone was bared was like a head wound in which the bone was bared, unless the face was scarred by the wound. Then the blood-money is increased by one half of the blood-money of the head wound in which the skin was bared so that seventy five dinars are payable for it.

Malik said, "What is done in our community is that the head wound with splinters has fifteen camels." He explained, "The head wound with splinters is that from which pieces of bone fly off and which does not reach the brain. It can be in the head or the face."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things in our community, is that there is no retaliation for a wound to the brain or a belly wound, and Ibn Shihab has said, 'There is no retaliation for a wound to the brain.' "

Malik explained, "The wound to the brain is what pierces the bones to the brain. This type of wound only occurs in the head. It is that which reaches the brain when the bones are pierced."

Malik said, "What is done in our community is that there is no blood-money paid on any head wound less than one which lays bare the skull. Blood-money is payable only for the head wound that bares the bone and what is worse than that. That is because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stopped at the head wound which bared the bone in his letter to Amr ibn Hazm. He made it five camels. The imams, past and present, have not made any blood- money payable for injuries less than the head wound which bares the bone."

That he asked `Aisha regarding the Statement of Allah: "If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan girls..." (4.3) She said, "O son of my sister! An Orphan girl used to be under the care of a guardian with whom she shared property. Her guardian, being attracted by her wealth and beauty, would intend to marry her without giving her a just Mahr, i.e. the same Mahr as any other person might give her (in case he married her). So such guardians were forbidden to do that unless they did justice to their female wards and gave them the highest Mahr their peers might get. They were ordered (by Allah, to marry women of their choice other than those orphan girls." `Aisha added," The people asked Allah's Apostle his instructions after the revelation of this Divine Verse whereupon Allah revealed: "They ask your instruction regarding women " (4.127) `Aisha further said, "And the Statement of Allah: "And yet whom you desire to marry." (4.127) as anyone of you refrains from marrying an orphan girl (under his guardianship) when she is lacking in property and beauty." `Aisha added, "So they were forbidden to marry those orphan girls for whose wealth and beauty they had a desire unless with justice, and that was because they would refrain from marrying them if they were lacking in property and beauty."

That he had asked `Aisha about the meaning of the Statement of Allah: "If you fear that you shall not Be able to deal justly With the orphan girls, then Marry (Other) women of your choice Two or three or four." (4.3) She said, "O my nephew! This is about the orphan girl who lives with her guardian and shares his property. Her wealth and beauty may tempt him to marry her without giving her an adequate Mahr (bridal-money) which might have been given by another suitor. So, such guardians were forbidden to marry such orphan girls unless they treated them justly and gave them the most suitable Mahr; otherwise they were ordered to marry any other woman." `Aisha further said, "After that verse the people again asked the Prophet (about the marriage with orphan 'girls), so Allah revealed the following verses:-- 'They ask your instruction Concerning the women. Say: Allah Instructs you about them And about what is Recited unto you In the Book, concerning The orphan girls to whom You give not the prescribed portions and yet whom you Desire to marry..." (4.127) What is meant by Allah's Saying:-- 'And about what is Recited unto you is the former verse which goes:-- 'If you fear that you shall not Be able to deal justly With the orphan girls, then Marry (other) women of your choice.' (4.3) `Aisha said, "Allah's saying in the other verse:--'Yet whom you desire to marry' (4.127) means the desire of the guardian to marry an orphan girl under his supervision when she has not much property or beauty (in which case he should treat her justly). The guardians were forbidden to marry their orphan girls possessing property and beauty without being just to them, as they generally refrain from marrying them (when they are neither beautiful nor wealthy).

Malik related to me that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Umar was asked whether a slave could be bought on the specific condition that it was to be used to fulfil the obligation of freeing a slave, and he said, "No."

Malik said, "That is the best of what I have heard on the obligation of freeing slaves. Someone who has to set a slave free because of an obligation on him, may not buy one on the condition that he sets it free because if he does that, whatever he buys is not completely a slave because he has reduced its price by the condition he has made of setting it free."

Malik added, "There is no harm, however, in someone buying a person expressly to set him free."

Malik said, "The best of what I have heard on the obligation of freeing slaves is that it is not permitted to free a christian or a jew to fulfil it, and one does not free a mukatab or a mudabbar or an umm walad or a slave to be freed after a certain number of years, or a blind person. There is no harm in freeing a christian, jew, or magian voluntarily, because Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said in His Book, 'either as a favour then or by ransom,' (Sura 47 ayat 4) The favour is setting free."

Malik said, "As for obligations of freeing slaves which Allah has mentioned in the Book, one only frees a mumin slave for them."

Malik said, "It is like that in feeding poor people for kaffara. One must only feed muslims and one does not feed anyone outside of the deen of Islam."

`Urwa bin Az-Zubair said that he asked `Aisha about the meaning of the Qur'anic Verse:-- "And if you fear that you will not deal fairly with the orphan girls then marry (other) women of your choice." (4.2-3) Aisha said, "It is about a female orphan under the guardianship of her guardian who is inclined towards her because of her beauty and wealth, and likes to marry her with a Mahr less than what is given to women of her standard. So they (i.e. guardians) were forbidden to marry the orphans unless they paid them a full appropriate Mahr (otherwise) they were ordered to marry other women instead of them. Later on the people asked Allah's Apostle about it. So Allah revealed the following Verse:-- "They ask your instruction (O Muhammad!) regarding women. Say: Allah instructs you regarding them..." (4.127) and in this Verse Allah indicated that if the orphan girl was beautiful and wealthy, her guardian would have the desire to marry her without giving her an appropriate Mahr equal to what her peers could get, but if she was undesirable for lack of beauty or wealth, then he would not marry her, but seek to marry some other woman instead of her. So, since he did not marry her when he had no inclination towards her, he had not the right to marry her when he had an interest in her, unless he treated her justly by giving her a full Mahr and securing all her rights.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he asked Ibn Shihab about the one-eyed man who gouged out the eye of a healthy person. Ibn Shihab said, "If the healthy person wants to take retaliation from him, he can have his retaliation. If he prefers, he has blood-money of one thousand dinars, twelve thousand dirhams."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard that full blood- money was payable for both of a pair of anything in a man that occurred in pairs, and the tongue had full blood-money. The ears, when their hearing departed, had full blood-money, whether or not they were cut off, and a man's penis had full blood-money and the testicles had full blood-money.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard that the breasts of a woman had full blood-money.

Malik said, "The least of that are the eyebrows and a man's breasts."

Malik said, "What is done in our community when a man is injured in his extremities to an extent that obliges payment of more than the amount of his full blood-money, is that it is his right. If his hands, feet, and eyes are all injured, he has three full blood-moneys."

Malik said about the sound eye of a one-eyed man when it is accidentally gouged out, "The full blood-money is payable for it."

that he asked `Aisha, saying to her, "O Mother! (In what connection was this Verse revealed): 'If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with orphan girls (to the end of the verse) that your right hands possess?" (4.3) Aisha said, "O my nephew! It was about the female orphan under the protection of her guardian who was interested in her beauty and wealth and wanted to marry her with a little or reduced Mahr. So such guardians were forbidden to marry female orphans unless they deal with them justly and give their full Mahr; and they were ordered to marry women other than them."`Aisha added, "(Later) the people asked Allah's Apostle, for instructions, and then Allah revealed: 'They ask your instruction concerning the women . . . And yet whom you desire to marry.' (4.127) So Allah revealed to them in this Verse that-if a female orphan had wealth and beauty, they desired to marry her and were interested in her noble descent and the reduction of her Mahr; but if she was not desired by them because of her lack in fortune and beauty they left her and married some other woman. So, as they used to leave her when they had no interest in her, they had no right to marry her if they had the desire to do so, unless they deal justly with her and gave her a full amount of Mahr."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Nafi, the mawla of Abdullah ibn Umar said, "I was at Adha and Fitr with Abu Hurayra and he said 'Allah is greater' seven times in the first raka, before the recitation, and five times in the second, before the recitation."

27 Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab, if he was travelling in Ramadan and knew that he would reach Madina at the begining of the day ,would do so fasting.

Yahya said that Malik said, "Someone who is travelling and knows that he will be reaching his people in the first part of the day, and then dawn breaks before he gets there, should be fasting when he gets there."

Malik said, "Someone who intends to go away (on a journey) in Ramadan, and then dawn breaks while he is still on his land before he has left, should fast that day."

Malik said that a man who returns from a journey in Ramadan and is not fasting may have sexual intercourse with his wife if he wishes, if she is not fasting and she has just become pure after her menses.

Nafi' reported: Ibn Umar made the call to prayer at Dajnan (a place between Mecca and Medina). Then he announced: "Offer prayer in your dwellings:" He then narrated a tradition from the Messenger of Allah (saws). He used to command an announcer who made the call to prayer. He then announced: "Pray in your dwellings" on a cold or rainy night during journey.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been narrated by Hammad b. Salamah from Ayyub and 'Ubaid Allah. In his version he added: During journey on a cold or a rainy night.

Yahya said that Malik related from Muhammad ibn Umara from Abu Bakr ibn Hazm that Uthman ibn Affan said, "When boundaries are fixed in land, there is no pre-emption in it. There is no pre-emption in a well or in male palm trees. "

Malik said, "This is what is done in our community."

Malik said, "There is no pre-emption in a road, whether or not it is practical to divide it."

Malik said, "What is done in our community is that there is no pre- emption in the courtyard of a house, whether or not it is practical to divide it."

Malik spoke about a man who bought into a shared property provided that he had the option of withdrawal and the partners of the seller wanted to take what their partner was selling by pre-emption before the buyer had exercised his option. Malik said, "They cannot do that until the buyer has taken possession and the sale is confirmed for him. When the sale is confirmed, they have the right of pre-emption."

Malik spoke about a man who bought land and it remained in his hands for some time. Then a man came and saw that he had a share of the land by inheritance. Malik said, "If the man's right of inheritance is established, he also has a right of preemption. If the land has produced a crop, the crop belongs to the buyer until the day when the right of the other is established, because he has tended what was planted against being destroyed or being carried away by a flood."

Malik continued, "If the time has been long, or the witnesses are dead or the seller has died, or the buyer has died, or they are both alive and the basis of the sale and purchase has been forgotten because of the length of time, pre- emption is discontinued. A man only takes his right by inheritance which has been established for him. If his situation differs from this, because the sale transaction is recent and he sees that the seller has concealed the price in order to sever his right of pre- emption, the value of the land is estimated, and he buys the land for that price by his right of pre-emption. Then the buildings, plants, or structures which are extra to the land are looked at, so he is in the position of some one who bought the land for a known price, and then after that built on it and planted. The owner of pre-emption takes possession after that is included."

Malik said, "Pre-emption is applied to the property of the deceased as it is applied to the property of the living. If the family of the deceased ...

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had asked Ibn Shihab whether someone doing itikaf could go into a house to relieve himself, and he said, "Yes, there is no harm in that."

Malik said, "The situation that we are all agreed upon here is that there is no disapproval of anyone doing itikaf in a mosque where jumua is held. The only reason I see for disapproving of doing itikaf in a mosque where jumua is not held is that the man doing itikaf would have to leave the mosque where he was doing itikaf in order to go to jumua, or else not go there at all. If, however, he is doing itikaf in a mosque where jumua is not held, and he does not have to go to jumua in any other mosque, then I see no harm in him doing itikaf there, because Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says, 'While you are doing itikaf in mosques,' and refers to all mosques in general, without specifying any particular kind."

Malik continued, "Accordingly, it is permissiblefor a man to do itikaf in a mosque where jumua is not held if he does not have to leave it to go to a mosque where jumua is held."

Malik said, "A person doing itikaf should spend the night only in the mosque where he is doing itikaf, except if his tent is in one of the courtyards of the mosque. I have never heard that someone doing itikaf can put up a shelter anywhere except in the mosque itself or in one of the courtyards of the mosque.

Part of what shows that he must spend the night in the mosque is the saying of A'isha, 'When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was doing itikaf, he would only go into the house to relieve himself.' Nor should he do itikaf on the roof of the mosque or in the minaret."

Malik said, "The person who is going to do itikaf should enter the place where he wishes to do itikaf before the sun sets on the night when he wishes to begin his itikaf, so that he is ready to begin the itikaf at the beginning of the night when he is going to start his itikaf. A person doing itikaf should be occupied with his itikaf, and not turn his attention to other things which might occupy him, such as trading or whatever. There is no harm, however, if some one doing itikaf tells some one to do something for him regarding his estate, or the affairs of his family, or tells someone to sell some property of his, or something else that does not occupy him directly. There is no harm in him arranging for someone else to do that for him if it is a simple matter."

Malik said, ...

(as regards the Verse): 'And about what is recited unto you in the Book, concerning orphan girls to whom you give not the prescribed portions and yet, whom you desire to marry.' (4.127) This Verse is about the female orphan who is under the guardianship of a man with whom she shares her property and he has more right over her (than anybody else) but does not like to marry her, so he prevents her, from marrying somebody else, lest he should share the property with him.

The Prophet (saws) as saying to him: Complete the recitation of the Qu'ran in one month. He said: I have more strength. He (the Prophet) said: Complete the recitation in twenty days. He again said: I have more energy. He said : Recite in fifteen days. He again said: I have more energy. He said: Recite in ten days. He again said: I have more energy. He said: Recite in seven days, do not add to it.

Abu Dawud said: The tradition narrated by Muslim is more perfect.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said that there was no harm in a man making an advance to another man for food, with a set description and price until a set date, as long as it was not in crops, or dates which had not begun to ripen.

Malik said, "The way of doing things among us concerning someone who makes an advance for foodstuffs at a known rate until a stated date, and the date arrives and he finds that there is not enough of what he was sold with the seller to fulfill his order, and so he revokes the sale, is that he must only take back the silver, gold, or price which he paid exactly. He does not buy anything else from the man for the same price until he has got back what he paid. That is because if he took something else besides the price which he paid him or exchanged it for goods other than the goods which he bought from him, it would be selling food before getting delivery of it."

Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade selling food before getting delivery of it."

Malik said that it was not good if the buyer regretted his purchase and asked the seller to revoke the sale for him and he would not press him immediately for what he had paid. The people of knowledge forbade that. That was because when the food was made ready for the buyer by the seller, the buyer deferred his due from the seller in order that he might revoke the sale for him. That was the sale of food with delayed terms before taking delivery of the food.

Malik said, "The explanation of that is that when the date of delivery comes and the buyer dislikes the food, the seller takes by it money to be paid later and so it is not revocation. Revocation is that in which neither the buyer nor the seller is increased. When increase occurs by deferment of payment for a time period, or by anything which increases one of them over the other or anything which gives one of them profit, it is not revocation. When either of them do that, revocation becomes a sale. There is an indulgence for revocation, partnership, and transfer, as long as i ncrease, decrease, or deferment does not come into them. If increase, decrease, or deferment comes into it, it becomes a sale. Whatever makes a sale halal makes it halal and whatever makes a sale haram makes it haram."

Malik said, "If someone pays in advance for Syrian wheat, there is no harm if he takes a load after the term falls due."

Malik ...

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said, "The first person to deduct zakat from allowances was Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan." (i.e. the deduction being made automatically) .

Malik said, "The agreed sunna with us is that zakat has to be paid on twenty dinars (of gold coin), in the same way as it has to be paid on two hundred dirhams (of silver)."

Malik said, "There is no zakat to pay on (gold) that is clearly less than twenty dinars (in weight) but if it increases so that by the increase the amount reaches a full twenty dinars in weight then zakat has to be paid. Similarly, there is no zakat to pay on (silver) that is clearly less than two hundred dirhams (in weight), but if it increases so that by the increase the amount reaches a full two hundred dirhams in weight then zakat has to be paid. If it passes the full weight then I think there is zakat to pay, whether it be dinars or dirhams." (i.e. the zakat is assessed by the weight and not the number of the coins.)

Malik said, about a man who had one hundred and sixty dirhams by weight, and the exchange rate in his town was eight dirhams to a dinar, that he did not have to pay any zakat. Zakat had only to be paid on twenty dinars of gold or two hundred dirhams.

Malik said, in the case of a man who acquired five dinars from a transaction or in some other way which he then invested in trade, that, as soon as it increased to a zakatable amount and then a year elapsed, he had to pay zakat on it, even if the zakatable amount was reached one day before or one day after the passing of a year. There was then no zakat to pay on it from the day the zakat was taken until a year had elapsed over it.

Malik said, in the similar case of a man who had in his possession ten dinars which he invested in trade and which reached twenty dinars by the time one year had elapsed over them, that he paid zakat on them right then and did not wait until a year had elapsed over them, (counting) from the day when they actually reached the zakatable amount. This was because a year had elapsed over the original dinars and there were now twenty of them in his possession. After that there was no zakat to pay on them from the day the zakat was paid until another year had elapsed over them.

Malik said, "What we are agreed upon (here in Madina) regarding income from hiring out slaves, rent from property, and the sums received when a slave buys his freedom, is that no zakat is due on ...

That he asked `Aisha regarding the Verse: 'If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan girls, marry (other) women of your choice.' (4.3) `Aisha said, "It is about an orphan girl under the custody of her guardian who being attracted by her wealth and beauty wants to marry her with Mahr less than other women of her status. So such guardians were forbidden to marry them unless they treat them justly by giving them their full Mahr. Then the people sought the verdict of Allah's Apostle for such cases, whereupon Allah revealed: 'They ask your instruction concerning women..' (4.127) (The sub-narrator then mentioned the Hadith.)

That Zaid bin Khalid Al-Juhani narrated to him something in the presence of Sa`id bin 'Ubaidullah Al- Khaulani who was brought up in the house of Maimuna the wife of the Prophet. Zaid narrated to them that Abu Talha said that the Prophet said, "The Angels (of Mercy) do not enter a house wherein there is a picture." Busr said, "Later on Zaid bin Khalid fell ill and we called on him. To our surprise we saw a curtain decorated with pictures in his house. I said to Ubaidullah Al-Khaulani, "Didn't he (i.e. Zaid) tell us about the (prohibition of) pictures?" He said, "But he excepted the embroidery on garments. Didn't you hear him?" I said, "No." He said, "Yes, he did."

Yahya said that Malik said, "The best of what has been heard about a sharecropper stipulating on the owner of the property the inclusion of some slave workers, is that there is no harm in that if they are workers that come with the property. They are like the property. There is no profit in them for the share-cropper except to lighten some of his burden. If they did not come with the property, his toil would be harder. It is like share-cropping land with a spring or land with a watering trough. You will not find anyone who receives the same share for share-cropping two lands which are equal in property and yield, when one property has a constant plentiful spring and the other has a watering trough, because of the lightness of working land with a spring, and the hardship of working land with a watering trough."

Malik added, "That is what is done in our community."

Malik said, "A share-cropper cannot employ workers from the property in other work, and he cannot make that a stipulation with the one who gives him the share-cropping contract. Nor is it permitted to one who share-crops to stipulate on the owner of the property inclusion of slaves for use in the garden who are not in it when he makes the share-cropping contract."

"Nor must the owner of the property stipulate on the one who uses his property for share-cropping that he take any of the slaves of the property and remove him from the property. The share-cropping of property is based on the state which it is currently in."

"If the owner of the property wants to remove one of the slaves of the property, he removes him before the share-cropping, or if he wants to put someone into the property, he does it before the share-cropping. Then he grants the share-cropping contract after that if he wishes. If any of the slaves die or go off or become ill, the owner of the property must replace them."

Malik related to me that Zayd ibn Aslam said, "Usury in the Jahiliyya was that a man would give a loan to a man for a set term. When the term was due, he would say, 'Will you pay it off or increase me?' If the man paid, he took it. If not, he increased him in his debt and lengthened the term for him ."

Malik said, "The disapproved of way of doing things about which there is no dispute among us, is that a man should give a loan to a man for a term, and then the demander reduce it and the one from whom it is demanded pay it in advance. To us that is like someone who delays repaying his debt after it is due to his creditor and his creditor increases his debt." Malik said, "This is nothing else but usury. No doubt about it."

Malik spoke about a man who loaned one hundred dinars to a man for two terms. When it was due, the person who owed the debt said to him, "Sell me some goods, whose price is one hundred dinars in cash for one hundred and fifty on credit." Malik said, "This transaction is not good, and the people of knowledge still forbid it."

Malik said, "This is disapproved of because the creditor himself gives the debtor the price of what the man sells him, and he defers repayment of the hundred of the first transaction for the debtor for the term which is mentioned to him in the second transaction, and the debtor increases him with fifty dinars for his deferring him. That is disapproved of and it is not good. It also resembles the hadith of Zayd ibn Aslam about the transactions of the people of the Jahiliyya. When their debts were due, they said to the person with the debt, 'Either you pay in full or you increase it.' If they paid, they took it, and if not they increased debtors in their debts, and extended the term for them."

Yahya related to me the like of that from Malik from Ibn Shihab.

Malik said, about a slave who divorced a slave-girl but did not make it absolute, "He can return to her. If he then dies while she is still in the idda from her divorce, she does the idda of a slave- girl whose husband dies, and it is two months and five days. If she has been set free and he can return to her, and she does not choose to separate after she has been set free, and he dies while she is in the idda from the divorce, she does the idda of a free woman whose husband has died, four months and ten days. That is because the idda of widowhood befell her while she was free, so her idda is the idda of a free woman."

Malik said, "That is what is done among us."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Umar ibn Husayn, the mawla of A'isha bint Qudama, that Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan imposed retaliation against a man who killed a mawla with a stick and so the mawla's patron killed the man with a stick.

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things in our community about which there is no dispute is that when a man strikes another man with a stick or hits him with a rock or intentionally strikes him causing his death, that is an intentional injury and there is retaliation for it."

Malik said, "Intentional murder with us is that a man intentionally goes to a man and strikes him until his life goes. Part of intentional injury also is that a man strikes a man in a quarrel between them. He leaves him while he is alive, and he bleeds to death and so dies. There is retaliation for that."

Malik said, "What is done in our community is that a group of free men are killed for the intentional murder of one free man, and a group of women for one woman, and a group of slaves for one slave."

Malik said that Ibn Shihab said, "The precedent of the sunna in the intentional murder is that when the relatives of the murdered person relinquish retaliation, the blood-money is owed by the murderer from his own property unless the tribe helps him with it willingly."

Malik said, "What is done in our community is that the blood- money is not obliged against the tribe until it has reached a third of the full amount and upwards. Whatever reaches a third is against the tribe, and whatever is below a third, is against the property of the one who did the injury."

Malik said, "The way of doing things about which there is no dispute among us, in the case of someone who has the blood-money accepted from him in intentional murder or in any injury in which there is retaliation, is that that blood-money is not due from the tribe unless they wish it. The blood-money for that is from the property of the murderer or the injurer if he has property. If he does not have any property, it is a debt against him, and none of it is owed by the tribe unless they wish."

Malik said, "The tribe does not pay blood-money to anyone who injures himself, intentionally or accidentally. This is the opinion of the people of fiqh in our community. I have not heard that anyone has made the tribe liable for any blood-money incurred by intentional acts. Part of what is well-known of that is that Allah, the Blessed, and the Exalted, said in His Book, 'Whoever has something pardoned him by his brother, should follow it with what is accepted and pay it with good will' (Sura 2 ayat 178) The commentary on that - in our view - and Allah knows best, is that whoever gives his brother something of the blood- money, should follow it with what is accepted and pay him with good will."

Malik spoke about a child who had no property and a woman who had no property. He said, "When one of them causes an injury below a third of the blood-money, it is taken on behalf of the child and woman from their personal property, if they have property from which it may be taken. If not, the injury which each of them has caused is a debt against them. The tribe does not have to pay any of it and the father of a child is not liable for the blood-money of an injury caused by the child and he is not responsible for it."

Malik said, "The way of doing things in our community about which there is no dispute, is that when a slave is killed, the value for him is that of the day on which ...

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad that Said ibn al- Musayyab said, "People used to be given bonuses from the Khumus."

Malik said, "That is the best of what I have heard on the matter."

Malik was asked about bonuses and whether they were taken from the first of the spoils, and he said, "That is only decided according to the ijtihad of the Imam. We do not have a known reliable command about that other than it is up to the ijtihad of the Sultan. I have not heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave bonuses in all his raids. I have only heard that he gave bonuses in one of them, namely the day of Hunayn. It depends on the ijtihad of the Imam whether they are taken from the first of the spoils or what is after it."

While we were in the company of the Prophet in a tent he said, ''Would it please you to be one fourth of the people of Paradise?" We said, "Yes." He said, "Would It please you to be one-third of the people of Paradise?" We said, "Yes." He said, "Would it please you to be half of the people of Paradise?" We said, "Yes." Thereupon he said, "I hope that you will be one half of the people of Paradise, for none will enter Paradise but a Muslim soul, and you people, in comparison to the people who associate others in worship with Allah, are like a white hair on the skin of a black ox, or a black hair on the skin of a red ox."

That Abu Sufyan bin Harb Informed him that Heraclius called him and the members of a caravan from Quraish who had gone to Sham as traders, during the truce which Allah's Apostle had concluded with Abu Sufyan and the Quraish infidels.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih from his father that Abu Hurayra said, "When people saw the first fruits of the season, they brought them to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took them and said, 'O Allah! Bless us in our fruits. Bless us in our city. Bless us in our sa and bless us in our mudd. O Allah! Ibrahim is Your slave, Your Khalil and Your Prophet. I am Your slave and Your Prophet. He prayed to You for Makka. I pray to You for Madina for the like of what He prayed to You for Makka, and the like of it with it.' Then he called the smallest child he saw and gave him the fruits."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Khusayfa that he had asked Sulayman ibn Yasar whether zakat was due from a man who had wealth in hand but also owed a debt for the same amount, and he replied, "No."

Malik said, "The position that we are agreed upon concerning a debt is that the lender of it does not pay zakat on it until he gets it back. Even if it stays with the borrower for a number of years before the lender collects it, the lender only has to pay zakat on it once. If he collects an amount of the debt which is not zakatable, and has other wealth which is zakatable, then what he has collected of the debt is added to the rest of his wealth and he pays zakat on the total sum."

Malik continued, "If he has no ready money other than that which he has collected from his debt, and that does not reach a zakatable amount, then he does not have to pay any zakat. He must, however, keep a record of the amount that he has collected and if, later, he collects another amount which, when added to what he has already collected, brings zakat into effect, then he has to pay zakat on it."

Malik continued, "Zakat is due on this first amount, together with what he has further collected of the debt owed to him, regardless of whether or not he has used up what he first collected. If what he takes back reaches twenty dinars of gold, or two hundred dirhams of silver he pays zakat on it. He pays zakat on anything else he takes back afte rthat, whether it be a large or small amount, according to the amount."

Malik said, "What shows that zakat is only taken once from a debt which is out of hand for some years before it is recovered is that if goods remain with a man for trading purposes for some years before he sells them, he only has to pay zakat on their prices once. This is because the one who is owed the debt, or owns the goods, should not have to take the zakat on the debt, or the goods, from anything else, since the zakat on anything is only taken from the thing itself, and not from anything else."

Malik said, "Our position regarding some onewho owes a debt, and has goods which are worth enough to pay off the debt, and also has an amount of ready money which is zakatable, is that he pays the zakat on the ready money which he has to hand. If, however, he only has enough goods and ready money to pay off the debt, then he does not have to pay any zakat. But if the ready money that he has reaches a zakatable amount over ...

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father said that a man who pronounced a dhihar from his four wives in one statement, had only to do one kaffara. Yahya related the same as that to me from Malik from Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahman.

Malik said, "That is what is done among us. Allah, the Exalted said about the kaffara for pronouncing dhihar, 'It is to free a slave before they touch one another. If he does not find the means to do that, then fasting for two consecutive months before they touch one another. If he cannot do that, it is to feed sixty poor people. ' " (Sura 58 ayats 4,5).

Malik said that a man who pronounced dhihar from his wife on various occasions had only to do one kaffara. If he pronounced dhihar, and then did kaffara, and then pronounced dhihar after he had done the kaffara, he had to do kaffara again.

Malik said, "Some one who pronounces dhihar from his wife and then has intercourse with her before he has done kaffara, only has to do one kaffara. He must abstain from her until he does kaffara and ask forgiveness of Allah. That is the best of what I have heard. "

Malik said, "It is the same with dhihar using any prohibited relations of fosterage and ancestry."

Malik said, "Women have no dhihar."

Malik said that he had heard that the commentary on the word of Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, "Those of you who pronounce the dhihar about their wives, and then retract what they have said," (Sura 56 ayat 3), was that a man pronounced dhihar on his wife and then decided to keep her and have intercourse with her. If he decided on that, he must do kaffara. If he divorced her and did not decide to retract his dhihar of her and to keep her and have intercourse with her, there would be no kaffara incumbent on him.

Maliksaid, "If he marries her after that, he does not touch her until he has completed the kaffara of pronouncing dhihar."

Malik said that if a man who pronounced dhihar from his slave-girl wanted to have intercourse with her, he had to do the kaffara of the dhihar before he could sleep with her.

Malik said, "There is no ila in a man's dhihar unless it is evident that he does not intend to retract his dhihar."

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Sulayman ibn Yasar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to send Abdullah ibn Rawaha to Khaybar, to assess the division of the fruit crop between him and the jews of Khaybar.

The jews collected for Abdullah pieces of their women's jewellery and said to him, "This is yours. Go light on us and don't be exact in the division!"

Abdullah ibn Rawaha said, "O tribe of jews! By Allah! You are among the most hateful to me of Allah's creation, but it does not prompt me to deal unjustly with you. What you have offered as a bribe is forbidden. We will not touch it." They said, "This is what supports the heavens and the earth."

Malik said, "If a share-cropper waters the palms and between them there is some uncultivated land, whatever he cultivates in the uncultivated land is his."

Malik said, "If the owner of the land makes a condition that he will cultivate the uncultivated land for himself, that is not good because the sharecropper does the watering for the owner of the land and so he increases the owner of the land in property (without any return for himself)."

Malik said, "If the owner stipulates that the fruit crop is to be shared between them, there is no harm in that if all the maintenance of the property - seeding, watering and case, etc. - are the concern of the sharecropper.

If the share-cropper stipulates that the seeds are the responsibility of the owner of the property - that is not permitted because he has stipulated an outlay against the owner of the property. Share-cropping is conducted on the basis that all the care and expense is outlayed by the share-cropper, and the owner of the property is not obliged anything. This is the accepted method of share-cropping."

Malik spoke about a spring which was shared between two men, and then the water dried up and one of them wanted to work on the spring and the other said, "I don't have the means to work on it." He said, "Tell the one who wants to work on the spring, 'Work and expend. All the water will be yours. You will have its water until your companion brings you half of what you have spent. If he brings you half of what you have spent, he can take his share of the water.' The first one is given all the water, because he has spent on it, and if he does not reach anything by his work, the other has not incurred any expense."

Malik said, "It is not good for ...

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad said, "One of my wives died and Muhammad ibn Kab al Quradhi came to console me about her. He told me of one among the Bani Israil who was a diligent, worshipping, knowing and understanding man who had a wife that he admired and loved, and she died. He grieved over her intensely and lamented her until he withdrew into a house and locked himself in, hidden from everyone, and no-one visited him. A woman heard about him and went to him, saying, 'I need him to give me an opinion. Nothing will satisfy me except what he says about it.' Everyone went away, but she stuck to his door and said, 'I must see him.' Someone said to him, 'There is a woman who wishes to ask your opinion about something,' and she insisted, 'I will only talk to him about it.' When everyone had gone away, and she still had not left his door, he said, 'Let her in.' So she went in and saw him and said, 'I have come to ask your opinion about something.' He said, 'What is it?' She said, 'I borrowed a piece of jewellery from a neighbour of mine, and I have worn it and used it for a long time. Then they sent to me for it. Should I let them have it back?' He said, 'Yes, by Allah.' She said, 'I have had it for a long time.' He said, 'It is more correct for you to return it to them, since they have lent it to you for such a long time.' She said, 'Yes. May Allah have mercy on you. Do you then grieve over what Allah has lent you and then taken from you, when He has a greater right to it than you?' Then he saw the situation he was in, and Allah helped him by her words."