(The wife of the Prophet) Whenever Allah's Apostle intended to go on a journey, he used to draw lots among his wives and would take with him the one on whom the lot had fallen. Once he drew lots when he wanted to carry out a Ghazwa, and the lot came upon me. So I proceeded with Allah's Apostle after Allah's order of veiling (the women) had been revealed and thus I was carried in my howdah (on a camel) and dismounted while still in it. We carried on our journey, and when Allah's Apostle had finished his Ghazwa and returned and we approached Medina, Allah's Apostle ordered to proceed at night. When the army was ordered to resume the homeward journey, I got up and walked on till I left the army (camp) behind. When I had answered the call of nature, I went towards my howdah, but behold ! A necklace of mine made of Jaz Azfar (a kind of black bead) was broken and I looked for it and my search for it detained me. The group of people who used to carry me, came and carried my howdah on to the back of my camel on which I was riding, considering that I was therein. At that time women were light in weight and were not fleshy for they used to eat little (food), so those people did not feel the lightness of the howdah while raising it up, and I was still a young lady. They drove away the camel and proceeded. Then I found my necklace after the army had gone. I came to their camp but found nobody therein so I went to the place where I used to stay, thinking that they would miss me and come back in my search. While I was sitting at my place, I felt sleepy and slept. Safwan bin Al-Mu'attil As-Sulami Adh- Dhakw-ani was behind the army. He had started in the last part of the night and reached my stationing place in the morning and saw the figure of a sleeping person. He came to me and recognized me on seeing me for he used to see me before veiling. I got up because of his saying: "Inna Li l-lahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun," which he uttered on recognizing me. I covered my face with my garment, and by Allah, he did not say to me a single word except, "Inna Li l-lahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun," till he made his shecamel kneel down whereupon he trod on its forelegs and I mounted it. Then Safwan set out, leading the she-camel that was carrying me, till we met the army while they were resting during the hot midday. Then whoever was meant for destruction, fell in destruction, and the leader of the Ifk (forged statement) was `Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul. After this we arrived at Medina and I became ill for one month while the people were spreading the forged statements of the people of the Ifk, and I was not aware of anything thereof. But what aroused my doubt while I was sick, was that I was no longer receiving from Allah's Apostle the same kindness as I used to receive when I fell sick. Allah's Apostle would enter upon me, say a greeting and add, "How is that (lady)?" and then depart. That aroused my suspicion but I was not aware of the propagated evil till I recovered from my ailment. I went out with Um Mistah to answer the call of nature towards Al-Manasi, the place where we used to relieve ourselves, and used not to go out for this purpose except from night to night, and that was before we had lavatories close to our houses. And this habit of ours was similar to the habit of the old 'Arabs (in the deserts or in the tents) concerning the evacuation of the bowels, for we considered it troublesome and harmful to take lavatories in the houses. So I went out with Um Mistah who was the daughter of Abi Ruhm bin `Abd Manaf, and her mother was daughter of Sakhr bin Amir who was the aunt of Abi Bakr As-Siddiq, and her son was Mistah bin Uthatha. When we had finished our affair, Um Mistah and I came back towards my house. Um Mistah stumbled over her robe whereupon she said, "Let Mistah be ruined ! " I said to her, "What a bad word you have said! Do you abuse a man who has taken part in the Battle of Badr?' She said, "O you there! Didn't you hear what he has said?" I said, "And what did he say?" She then told me the statement of the people of the Ifk (forged statement) which added to my ailment. When I returned home, Allah's Apostle came to me, and after greeting, he said, "How is that (lady)?" I said, "Will you allow me to go to my parents?" At that time I intended to be sure of the news through them. Allah's Apostle allowed me and I went to my parents and asked my mother, "O my mother! What are the people talking about?" My mother said, "O my daughter! Take it easy, for by Allah, there is no charming lady who is loved by her husband who has other wives as well, but that those wives would find fault with her." I said, "Subhan Allah! Did the people really talk about that?" That night I kept on weeping the whole night till the morning. My tears never stopped, nor did I sleep, and morning broke while I was still weeping, Allah's Apostle called `Ali bin Abi Talib and Usama bin Zaid when the Divine Inspiration delayed, in order to consult them as to the idea of divorcing his wife. Usama bin Zaid told Allah's Apostle of what he knew about the innocence of his wife and of his affection he kept for her. He said, "O Allah's Apostle! She is your wife, and we do not know anything about her except good." But `Ali bin Abi Talib said, "O Allah's Apostle! Allah does not impose restrictions on you; and there are plenty of women other than her. If you however, ask (her) slave girl, she will tell you the truth." `Aisha added: So Allah's Apostle called for Barira and said, "O Barira! Did you ever see anything which might have aroused your suspicion? (as regards Aisha). Barira said, "By Allah Who has sent you with the truth, I have never seen anything regarding Aisha which I would blame her for except that she is a girl of immature age who sometimes sleeps and leaves the dough of her family unprotected so that the domestic goats come and eat it." So Allah's Apostle got up (and addressed) the people an asked for somebody who would take revenge on `Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul then. Allah's Apostle, while on the pulpit, said, "O Muslims! Who will help me against a man who has hurt me by slandering my family? By Allah, I know nothing except good about my family, and people have blamed a man of whom I know nothing except good, and he never used to visit my family except with me," Sa`d bin Mu`adh Al-Ansari got up and said, "O Allah's Apostle! By Allah, I will relieve you from him. If he be from the tribe of (Bani) Al-Aus, then I will chop his head off; and if he be from our brethren, the Khazraj, then you give us your order and we will obey it." On that, Sa`d bin 'Ubada got up, and he was the chief of the Khazraj, and before this incident he had been a pious man but he was incited by his zeal for his tribe. He said to Sa`d (bin Mu`adh), "By Allah the Eternal, you have told a lie! You shall not kill him and you will never be able to kill him!" On that, Usaid bin Hudair, the cousin of Sa`d (bin Mu`adh) got up and said to Sa`d bin 'Ubada, "You are a liar! By Allah the Eternal, we will surely kill him; and you are a hypocrite defending the hypocrites!" So the two tribes of Al-Aus and Al-Khazraj got excited till they were on the point of fighting with each other while Allah's Apostle was standing on the pulpit. Allah's Apostle continued quietening them till they became silent whereupon he became silent too. On that day I kept on weeping so much that neither did my tears stop, nor could I sleep. In the morning my parents were with me, and I had wept for two nights and a day without sleeping and with incessant tears till they thought that my liver would burst with weeping. While they were with me and I was weeping, an Ansari woman asked permission to see me. I admitted her and she sat and started weeping with me. While I was in that state, Allah's Apostle came to us, greeted, and sat down,. He had never sat with me since the day what was said, was said. He had stayed a month without receiving any Divine Inspiration concerning my case. Allah's Apostle recited the Tashahhud after he had sat down, and then said, "Thereafter, O `Aisha! I have been informed such and-such a thing about you; and if you are innocent, Allah will reveal your innocence, and if you have committed a sin, then ask for Allah's forgiveness and repent to Him, for when a slave confesses his sin and then repents to Allah, Allah accepts his repentance." When Allah's Apostle had finished his speech, my tears ceased completely so that I no longer felt even a drop thereof. Then I said to my father, "Reply to Allah's Apostle on my behalf as to what he said." He said, "By Allah, I do not know what to say to Allah's Apostle." Then I said to my mother, "Reply to Allah's Apostle." She said, "I do not know what to say to Allah's Apostle." Still a young girl as I was and though I had little knowledge of Qur'an, I said, "By Allah, I know that you heard this story (of the Ifk) so much so that it has been planted in your minds and you have believed it. So now, if I tell you that I am innocent, and Allah knows that I am innocent, you will not believe me; and if I confess something, and Allah knows that I am innocent of it, you will believe me. By Allah, I cannot find of you an example except that of Joseph's father: "So (for me) patience is most fitting against that which you assert and it is Allah (Alone) Whose help can be sought. Then I turned away and lay on my bed, and at that time I knew that I was innocent and that Allah would reveal my innocence. But by Allah, I never thought that Allah would sent down about my affair, Divine Inspiration that would be recited (forever), as I considered myself too unworthy to be talked of by Allah with something that was to be recited: but I hoped that Allah's Apostle might have a vision in which Allah would prove my innocence. By Allah, Allah's Apostle had not left his seat and nobody had left the house when the Divine Inspiration came to Allah's Apostle . So there overtook him the same hard condition which used to overtake him (when he was Divinely Inspired) so that the drops of his sweat were running down, like pearls, though it was a (cold) winter day, and that was because of the heaviness of the Statement which was revealed to him. When that state of Allah's Apostle was over, and he was smiling when he was relieved, the first word he said was, "Aisha, Allah has declared your innocence." My mother said to me, "Get up and go to him." I said, "By Allah, I will not go to him and I will not thank anybody but Allah." So Allah revealed: "Verily! They who spread the Slander are a gang among you. Think it not...." (24.11-20). When Allah revealed this to confirm my innocence, Abu Bakr As-Siddiq who used to provide for Mistah bin Uthatha because of the latter's kinship to him and his poverty, said, "By Allah, I will never provide for Mistah anything after what he has said about Aisha". So Allah revealed: (continued...) (continuing... 1): -6.274:... ... "Let not those among you who are good and are wealthy swear not to give (help) to their kinsmen, those in need, and those who have left their homes for Allah's Cause. Let them Pardon and forgive (i.e. do not punish them). Do you not love that should forgive you? Verily Allah is Oft-forgiving. Most Merciful." (24.22) Abu Bakr said, "Yes, by Allah, I wish that Allah should forgive me." So he resumed giving Mistah the aid he used to give him before and said, "By Allah, I will never withold it from him at all." Aisha further said: Allah's Apostle also asked Zainab bint Jahsh about my case. He said, "O Zainab! What have you seen?" She replied, "O Allah's Apostle! I protect my hearing and my sight (by refraining from telling lies). I know nothing but good (about Aisha)." Of all the wives of Allah's Apostle, it was Zainab who aspired to receive from him the same favor as I used to receive, yet, Allah saved her (from telling lies) because of her piety. But her sister, Hamna, kept on fighting on her behalf so she was destroyed as were those who invented and spread the slander.

I got a she-camel in my share of the war booty on the day (of the battle) of Badr, and the Prophet had given me a she-camel from the Khumus. When I intended to marry Fatima, the daughter of Allah's Apostle, I had an appointment with a goldsmith from the tribe of Bani Qainuqa' to go with me to bring Idhkhir (i.e. grass of pleasant smell) and sell it to the goldsmiths and spend its price on my wedding party. I was collecting for my she-camels equipment of saddles, sacks and ropes while my two shecamels were kneeling down beside the room of an Ansari man. I returned after collecting whatever I collected, to see the humps of my two she-camels cut off and their flanks cut open and some portion of their livers was taken out. When I saw that state of my two she-camels, I could not help weeping. I asked, "Who has done this?" The people replied, "Hamza bin `Abdul Muttalib who is staying with some Ansari drunks in this house." I went away till I reached the Prophet and Zaid bin Haritha was with him. The Prophet noticed on my face the effect of what I had suffered, so the Prophet asked. "What is wrong with you." I replied, "O Allah's Apostle! I have never seen such a day as today. Hamza attacked my two she-camels, cut off their humps, and ripped open their flanks, and he is sitting there in a house in the company of some drunks." The Prophet then asked for his covering sheet, put it on, and set out walking followed by me and Zaid bin Haritha till he came to the house where Hamza was. He asked permission to enter, and they allowed him, and they were drunk. Allah's Apostle started rebuking Hamza for what he had done, but Hamza was drunk and his eyes were red. Hamza looked at Allah's Apostle and then he raised his eyes, looking at his knees, then he raised up his eyes looking at his umbilicus, and again he raised up his eyes look in at his face. Hamza then said, "Aren't you but the slaves of my father?" Allah's Apostle realized that he was drunk, so Allah's Apostle retreated, and we went out with him.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been narrated by 'Abd al-Wahid from Khusaif, but he did not report it as a statement of the Prophet (saws). The version of 'Abd al-Wahid has been corroborated by Sufyan, Sharik, and Isra'il. They differed amongst themselves about the text of the tradition and they did not narrate it with the continuous chain up to the Prophet (saws).

The Messenger of Allah (saws), AbuBakr and Umar burned the belongings of anyone who had been dishonest about booty and beat him.

Abu Dawud said: 'Ali b. Bahr added on the authority of al-Walid, and I did not hear (a tradition) from him: And they denied him his share."

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by al-Walid b. 'Utbah from 'Abd al-Wahhab b. Najdah; They said: This has been transmitted by al-Walid, from Zuhair b. Muhammad, from 'Amr b. Shu'aib. 'Abd al-Wahhab b. Najdah al-Huti did not mention the words "He denied him his share" (as narrated by 'Ali b. Bahr from al-Walid).

(A man broke his fast intentionally) during Ramadan. The Messenger of Allah (saws) commanded him to emancipate a slave, or fast for two months, or feed sixty poor men. He said: I cannot provide. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Sit down. Thereafter a huge basket of dates ('araq) was brought to the Messenger of Allah (saws). He said: Take this and give it as sadaqah (alms). He said: Messenger of Allah, there is no poorer than I. The Messenger of Allah (saws) thereupon laughed so that his canine teeth became visible and said: Eat it yourself.

Abu Dawud said: Ibn Juraij narrated it from al-Zuhri in the wordings of the narrator Malik that a man broke his fast. This version says: You should either free a slave, or fast for two months, or provide food for sixty poor men.

Abu Dawud said: It has also been narrated by Abu al-Walid al-Tayalisi, but I did not hear him. He reported it from 'Aishah through a different chain of narrators. 'Aishah said: Zainab daughter of Jahsh had a prolonged flow of blood. The Prophet (saws) said to her: Take bath for every prayer. The narrator then reported the tradition (in full).

Abu Dawud said: The version transmitted by 'Abd al-Samad from Sulaiman b. Kathir has: "Perform ablution for every prayer." This is a misunderstanding on the part of 'Abd al-Samad. The correct version is the one narrated by Abu al-Walid.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Hazim that Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman said, "A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out to Makka and she had two girl mawlas of hers and a slave belonging to the sons of Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr as-Siddiq . She sent a figured cloak with the two mawlas which was sewn up in a piece of green cloth."

Amra continued, "The slave took it and unstitched it and took out the cloak. In its place, he put some felt or skin and sewed it up again. When the mawla girls came to Madina, they gave it to his people. When they opened it, they found felt in it and did not find the cloak. They spoke to the two women and they spoke to A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or they wrote to her and suspected the slave. The slave was asked about it and confessed. A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave the order and his hand was cut off. A'isha said, 'A thief's hand is cut off for a quarter of a dinar and upwards.' "

Malik said, "The limit I prefer above which cutting off the hand is obliged is three dirhams, whether the exchange is high or low. That is because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, cut off the hand of a thief for a shield whose value was three dirhams, and Uthman ibn Affan cut off the hand of a thief for a citron which was estimated at three dirhams. This is what I prefer of what I have heard on the matter."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahman said, "The slave of fair complexion and excellence is estimated at fifty dinars or six hundred dirhams. The blood-money of a free muslim woman is five hundred dinars or six thousand dirhams."

Malik said, "The blood-money of the foetus of a free woman is a tenth of her blood-money. The tenth is fifty dinars or six hundred dirhams."

Malik said, "I have not heard anyone dispute that there is no slave in compensation for the foetus until it leaves its mother's womb and falls still-born from her womb . "

Malik said, "I heard that if the foetus comes out of its mother's womb alive and then dies, the full blood-money is due for it."

Malik said, "The foetus is not alive unless it cries at birth. If it comes out of its mother's womb and cries out and then dies, the complete blood-money is due for it. We think that the slave- girl's foetus has a tenth of the price of the slave-girl."

Malik said, "When a woman murders a man or woman, and the murderess is pregnant, retaliation is not taken against her until she has given birth. If a woman who is pregnant is killed intentionally or unintentionally, the one who killed her is not obliged to pay anything for her foetus. If she is murdered, then the one who killed her is killed and there is no blood-money for her foetus. If she is killed accidentally, the tribe obliged to pay on behalf of her killer pays her blood-money, and there is no blood-money for the foetus."

Yahya related to me, "Malik was asked about the foetus of the christian or jewish woman which was aborted. He said, 'I think that there is a tenth of the blood-money of the mother for it.' "

The Prophet (saws) said: Allah will raise for this community at the end of every hundred years the one who will renovate its religion for it.

Abu Dawud said: 'Abd al-Rahman bin Shuriah al-Iskandarani has also transmitted this tradition, but he did not exceed Shrahil.

We asked Fadalah b. 'Ubaid about the hanging the (amputated) hand on the neck of a thief whether it was a sunnan. He said: A thief was brought to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and his hand was cut off. Thereafter he commanded for it, and it was hung on his neck.

A man came to the Prophet (saws), another man got up from his place for him, and when he went to sit in it, the Prophet (saws) forbade him.

Abu Dawud said: The name of Abu al-Khusaib is Ziyad b. 'Abd al-Rahman.

The transmitter Mu'ammal said: 'Isa narrated it to us from al-Fudial, that is, Ibn Ghazwan.

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us is that when slaves write their kitaba together in one kitaba, and some are responsible for others, and they are not reduced anything by the death of one of the responsible ones, and then one of them says, 'I can't do it,' and gives up, his companions can use him in whatever work he can do and they help each other with that in their kitaba until they are freed, if they are freed, or remain slaves if they remain slaves."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us is that when a master gives a slave his kitaba, it is not permitted for the master to let anyone assume the responsibility for the kitaba of his slave if the slave dies or is incapable. This is not part of the sunna of the muslims. That is because when a man assumes responsibility to the master of a mukatab for what the mukatab owes of his kitaba, and then the master of the mukatab pursues that from the one who assumes the responsibility, he takes his money falsely. It is not as if he is buying the mukatab, so that what he gives is part of the price of something that is his, and neither is the mukatab being freed so that the price established for him buys his inviolability as a free man. If the mukatab is unable to meet the payments he reverts to his master and is his slave. That is because kitaba is not a fixed debt which can be assumed by the master of the mukatab. It is something which, when it is paid by the mukatab, sets him free. If the mukatab dies and has a debt, his master is not one of the creditors for what remains unpaid of the kitaba. The creditors have precedence over the master. If the mukatab cannot meet the payments, and he owes debts to people, he reverts to being a slave owned by his master and the debts to the people are the liability of the mukatab. The creditors do not enter with the master into any share of the price of his person."

Malik said, "When people are written together in one kitaba and there is no kinship between them by which they inherit from each other, and some of them are responsible for others, then none of them are freed before the others until all the kitaba has been paid. If one of them dies and leaves property and it is more than all of what is against them, it pays all that is against them . The excess of the property goes to the master, and none of those who have been written in the kitaba with the deceased have any of the excess. The master's claims are overshadowed by their claims for the portions which remain against them of the kitaba which can be fulfilled from the property of the deceased, because the deceased had assumed their responsibility and they must use his property to pay for their freedom. If the deceased mukatab has a free child not born in kitaba and who was not written in the kitaba, it does not inherit from him because the mukatab was not freed until he died."

Malik related to me from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "A mukatab is a slave as long as any of his kitaba remains to be paid."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Said ibn Abi Said al-Maqburi from his father that he had asked Abu Hurayra, "How do you pray over the dead?" and Abu Hurayra replied, "By the Life of Allah, I will tell you! I follow with the family and when the corpse is put down I say 'Allah is greater' and praise Allah and ask for blessings on His Prophet. Then I say, 'O Allah, he is Your slave and the son of Your male slave and Your female slave. He used to testify that there is no god but You and that Muhammad is Your slave and Your Messenger, and You know that best. O Allah, if he acted well, then increase for him his good action, and if he acted wrongly, then overlook his wrong actions. O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward, and do not try us after him.'"

Allahumma inna huwa abduka wa'bnu abdika wa'bnu amatika. Kana yash-hadu an la ilaha illa ant wa anna Muhammadan abduka wa rasooluka, wa anta alamu bihi. Allahumma in kana muhsinan zid fi ihsanihi, wa in kana musiyan fa tajawaz an sayatihi. Allahumma la tahrimna ajrahu wa lataftina badahu.

The Prophet (saws) said: about a man who had (unlawful) intercourse with his wife's slave girl: If she made her lawful for him, he will be flogged one hundred lashes; if she did not make her lawful for him, I shall stone him.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abd ar- Rahman ibn Abi Bakr was visiting A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may AIIah bless him and grant him peace, on the day that Sad ibn Abi Waqqas died, and he asked for some water to do wudu. A'isha said to him, ''Abd ar-Rahman! Perform your wudu fully, for I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Woe to the heels in the fire.' "

ahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said that a female slave who was the wife of a slave and then was set free, had the right of choice as long as he did not have intercourse with her.

Malik said, "If her husband has intercourse with her and she claims that she did not know, she still has the right of choice. If she is suspect and one does not believe her claim of ignorance, then she has no choice after he has had intercourse with her."