Eleven women sat (at a place) and promised and contracted that they would not conceal anything of the news of their husbands. The first one said, "My husband is like the meat of a slim weak camel which is kept on the top of a mountain which is neither easy to climb, nor is the meat fat, so that one might put up with the trouble of fetching it." The second one said, "I shall not relate my husband's news, for I fear that I may not be able to finish his story, for if I describe him, I will mention all his defects and bad traits." The third one said, "My husband, the "too-tall"! if I describe him (and he hears of that) he will divorce me, and if I keep quiet, he will keep me hanging (neither divorcing me nor treating me as a wife)." The fourth one said, "My husband is (moderate in temper) like the night of Tihama: neither hot nor cold; I am neither afraid of him, nor am I discontented with him." The fifth one said, "My husband, when entering (the house) is a leopard (sleeps a lot), and when going out, is a lion (boasts a lot). He does not ask about whatever is in the house." The sixth one said, "If my husband eats, he eats too much (leaving the dishes empty), and if he drinks he leaves nothing; if he sleeps he sleeps he rolls himself (alone in our blankets); and he does not insert his palm to inquire about my feelings." The seventh one said, "My husband is a wrong-doer or weak and foolish. All the defects are present in him. He may injure your head or your body or may do both." The eighth one said, "My husband is soft to touch like a rabbit and smells like a Zarnab (a kind of good smelling grass)." The ninth one said, "My husband is a tall generous man wearing a long strap for carrying his sword. His ashes are abundant (i.e. generous to his guests) and his house is near to the people (who would easily consult him)." The tenth one said, "My husband is Malik (possessor), and what is Malik? Malik is greater than whatever I say about him. (He is beyond and above all praises which can come to my mind). Most of his camels are kept at home (ready to be slaughtered for the guests) and only a few are taken to the pastures. When the camels hear the sound of the lute (or the tambourine) they realize that they are going to be slaughtered for the guests." The eleventh one said, "My husband is Abu Zar` and what is Abu Zar` (i.e., what should I say about him)? He has given me many ornaments and my ears are heavily loaded with them and my arms have become fat (i.e., I have become fat). And he has pleased me, and I have become so happy that I feel proud of myself. He found me with my family who were mere owners of sheep and living in poverty, and brought me to a respected family having horses and camels and threshing and purifying grain. Whatever I say, he does not rebuke or insult me. When I sleep, I sleep till late in the morning, and when I drink water (or milk), I drink my fill. The mother of Abu Zar and what may one say in praise of the mother of Abu Zar? Her saddle bags were always full of provision and her house was spacious. As for the son of Abu Zar, what may one say of the son of Abu Zar? His bed is as narrow as an unsheathed sword and an arm of a kid (of four months) satisfies his hunger. As for the daughter of Abu Zar, she is obedient to her father and to her mother. She has a fat well-built body and that arouses the jealousy of her husband's other wife. As for the (maid) slave girl of Abu Zar, what may one say of the (maid) slavegirl of Abu Zar? She does not uncover our secrets but keeps them, and does not waste our provisions and does not leave the rubbish scattered everywhere in our house." The eleventh lady added, "One day it so happened that Abu Zar went out at the time when the milk was being milked from the animals, and he saw a woman who had two sons like two leopards playing with her two breasts. (On seeing her) he divorced me and married her. Thereafter I married a noble man who used to ride a fast tireless horse and keep a spear in his hand. He gave me many things, and also a pair of every kind of livestock and said, Eat (of this), O Um Zar, and give provision to your relatives." She added, "Yet, all those things which my second husband gave me could not fill the smallest utensil of Abu Zar's." `Aisha then said: Allah's Apostle said to me, "I am to you as Abu Zar was to his wife Um Zar."

Rafi' ibn Rifa'ah came to a meeting of the Ansar and said: The Prophet of Allah (saws) forbade us (from some things) today, and he mentioned some things. He forbade the earning of a slave-girl except what she earned with her hand. He indicated (some things) with his fingers such as baking, spinning, and ginning.

Safiyyah, daughter of Atiyyah, said: I entered upon Aisha with some women of AbdulQays, and asked her about mixing dried dates and raisins (for drink). She replied: I used to take a handful of dried dates and a handful or raisins and put them in a vessel, and then crush them (and soak in water). Then I would give it to the Prophet (saws) to drink.

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone resorts to a diviner and believes in what he says (according) to the version of Musa), or has intercourse with his wife (according to the agreed version) when she is menstruating, or has intercourse with his wife through her anus, he has nothing to do with what has been sent down to Muhammad (saws) - according to the version of Musaddad.

I heard an old man who transmitted from Abu Bakrah on this father's authority that the Prophet (saws) had a woman stoned and a pit was dug up to her breasts.

Abu Dawud said: A man made me understand it from 'Uthman (b. Abi Shaibah)

Abu Dawud said: Al-Ghassani said: Juhainah, Ghamid and Bariq as the same.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Alqama from his mother that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, heard that the people who lived in a room in her house had some dice. She sent a message to them, "If you do not remove them, I will remove you from my house," and she reproached them for it.

We presented ourselves along with Ibn `Abbas at the funeral procession of Maimuna at a place called Sarif. Ibn `Abbas said, "This is the wife of the Prophet so when you lift her bier, do not Jerk it or shake it much, but walk smoothly because the Prophet had nine wives and he used to observe the night turns with eight of them, and for one of them there was no night turn."

that she took to Allah's Apostle one of her sons whose palate and tonsils she had pressed because he had throat trouble. The Prophet said, "Why do you pain your children by getting the palate pressed like that? Use the Ud Al-Hindi (certain Indian incense) for it cures seven diseases one of which is pleurisy."

that she took to Allah's Apostle one of her sons whose palate and tonsils she had pressed to treat a throat trouble. The Prophet said, "Be afraid of Allah! Why do you pain your children by having their tonsils pressed like that? Use the Ud Al-Hindi (a certain Indian incense) for it cures seven diseases, one of which is pleurisy."

A lady came to Allah's Apostle and she talked to him about something, and he gave her some order. She said, "O Allah's Apostle! If I should not find you?" He said, "If you should not find me, then go to Abu Bakr." Ibrahim bin Sa`d said, "As if she meant the death (of the Prophet).

I heard my father who was the best man of his age, saying, "I heard `Aisha saying, 'I perfumed Allah's Apostle with my own hands before finishing his Ihram while yet he has not performed Tawaf-al- Ifada.' She spread her hands (while saying so.)"

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 fell. He also used to fix for everyone of his wives a day and a night, but Sauda bint Zam`a gave her day and night to `Aisha, the wife of the Prophet intending thereby to please Allah's Apostle.

Abu Dawud said: In a similar way it has been transmitted by al-Hakam from Mujahid from al-Mughirah.

They said: Bier of Abdullah ibn Umayr. So I followed it. Suddenly I saw a man, who had a thin garment on riding his small mule. He had a piece of cloth on his head to protect himself from the sun. I asked: Who is this important man? People said: This is Anas ibn Malik.

When the bier was placed, Anas stood and led the funeral prayer over him while I was just behind him, and there was no obstruction between me and him. He stood near his head, and uttered four takbirs (Allah is Most Great). He neither lengthened the prayer nor hurried it. He then went to sit down. They said: AbuHamzah, (here is the bier of) an Ansari woman. They brought her near him and there was a green cupola-shaped structure over her bier. He stood opposite her hips and led the funeral prayer over her as he had led it over the man. He then sat down.

Al-Ala' ibn Ziyad asked: AbuHamzah, did the Messenger of Allah (saws) say the funeral prayer over the dead as you have done, uttering four takbirs (Allah is Most Great) over her, and standing opposite the head of a man and the hips of a woman?

He replied: Yes. He asked: AbuHamzah, did you fight with the Messenger of Allah? He replied: Yes. I fought with him in the battle of Hunayn. The polytheists came out and invaded us so severely that we saw our horses behind our backs. Among the people (i.e. the unbelievers) there was a man who was attacking us, and striking and wounding us (with his sword). Allah then defeated them. They were then brought and began to take the oath of allegiance to him for Islam.

A man from among the companions of the Prophet (saws) said: I make a vow to myself that if Allah brings the man who was striking us (with his sword) that day, I shall behead him. The Messenger of Allah (saws) kept silent and the man was brought (as a captive).

When he saw the Messenger of Allah (saws), he said: Messenger of Allah, I have repented to Allah. The Messenger of Allah (saws) stopped (for a while) receiving his oath of allegiance, so that the other man might fulfil his vow. But the man began to wait for the order of the Messenger of Allah (saws) for his murder. He was afraid of the Messenger of Allah (saws) to kill him. When the Messenger of Allah (saws) saw that he did not do anything, he received his oath of allegiance. The man said: Messenger of Allah, what about my vow? He said: I stopped (receiving his oath of allegiance) today so that you might fulfil your vow. He said: Messenger of Allah, why did you not give any signal to me? The Prophet (saws) said: It is not worthy of a Prophet to give a signal.

AbuGhalib said: I asked (the people) about Anas standing opposite the hips of a woman. They told me that this practice was due to the fact that (in the days of the Prophet) there were no cupola-shaped structures over the biers of women. So the imam used to stand opposite the hips of a woman to hide her from the people.

Abu Dawud said: The saying of the Prophet (saws) "I have been commanded to fight against the people until they say: There is no god bu Allah" abrogated this tradition of fulfilling the vow by his remark: "I have repented".

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that he heard Said ibn al-Musayyab asking a group of people, "What do you think about someone who has intercourse with his wife while he is in ihram?" and none of them answered him. Said said, "There is a man who has had intercourse with his wife while in ihram who has sent a message to Madina asking about it." Some of them said, "They should be kept apart until a future year," and Said ibn al-Musayyab said, "They should carry on and complete the hajj which they have spoiled, and then return home when they have finished. If another hajj comes upon them, they must do hajj and sacrifice an animal. They should go into ihram at the same place where they went into ihram for the hajj that they spoiled, and they should keep apart until they have finished their hajj."

Malik said, "They should both sacrifice an animal."

Malik said, about a man who had intercourse with his wife during hajj after he had come down from Arafa but before he had stoned the Jamra, "He must sacrifice an animal and do hajj again in another year. If, however, he had intercourse with his wife after he stoned the Jamra, he only has to do an umra and sacrifice an animal and he does not have to do another hajj."

Malik said, "What spoils a hajj or an umra and makes sacrificing an animal and repeating the hajj necessary is the meeting of the two circumcised parts, even if there is no emission. It is also made necessary by an emission if it is the result of bodily contact. I do not think that a man who remembers something and has an emission owes anything, and if a man were to kiss his wife and no emission were to occur from that, he would only have to sacrifice an animal. A woman in ihram who has intercourse with her husband several times during hajj or umra out of obedience to him only has to do another hajj and sacrifice an animal. That is if her husband has intercourse with her while she is doing hajj. If he has intercourse with her while she is doing umra, she must repeat the umra she has spoiled and sacrifice an animal."

We went out with the Messenger of Allah (saws) and came to a woman of the Ansar in al-Aswaf. The woman brought her two daughters, and said: Messenger of Allah, these are the daughters of Thabit ibn Qays who was killed as a martyr when he was with you at the battle of Uhud, their paternal uncle has taken all their property and inheritance, and he has not left anything for them. What do you think, Messenger of Allah? They cannot be married unless they have some property. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Allah will decide regarding the matter. Then the verse of Surat an-Nisa was revealed: "Allah (thus) directs you as regards your children's (inheritance)." Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Call to me the woman and her husband's brother. He then said to their paternal uncle: Give them two-thirds and their mother an eighth, and what remains is yours.

Abu Dawud said: The narrator Bishr made a mistake. They were the daughters of Sa'd b. al-Rabi' for Thabit b. Qais was killed in the battle of Yamamah.

Abu dawud said: Ibn Wahb transmitted this tradition from Yunus on the authority of al-Zuhri, and in this version he said al-Laith has said: A woman committed theft during the lifetime of the Prophet (saws) on the occasion of the Conquest (of Mecca). It has been transmitted by al-Laith from Yunus on the authority of Ibn Shihab through his chain of narrators. He said in this version: A woman borrowed goods. Mas'ud bin al-Aswad also transmitted a similar tradition from the Prophet (saws) and said: A velvet was stolen from the house of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Abu Dawud said: Abu al-Zubair reported on the authority of Jabir: A woman committed theft and took refuge with Zainab daughter of Prophet (saws).

That he went with Allah's Apostle to the house of Maimuna, who was his and Ibn `Abbas' aunt. He found with her a roasted mastigure which her sister Hufaida bint Al-Harith had brought from Najd. Maimuna presented the mastigure before Allah's Apostle who rarely started eating any (unfamiliar) food before it was described and named for him. (But that time) Allah's Apostle stretched his hand towards the (meat of the) mastigure whereupon a lady from among those who were present, said, "You should inform Allah's Apostle of what you have presented to him. O Allah's Apostle! It is the meat of a mastigure." (On learning that) Allah's Apostle withdrew his hand from the meat of the mastigure. Khalid bin Al-Walid said, "O Allah's Apostle! Is this unlawful to eat?" Allah's Apostle replied, "No, but it is not found in the land of my people, so I do not like it." Khalid said, "Then I pulled the mastigure (meat) towards me and ate it while Allah's Apostle was looking at me.

Yahya related to me from Malik from a reliable source of his who had heard Said ibn al-Musayyab say, ''Umar ibn al-Khattab refused to let anyone inherit from the non-arabs except for one who was born among the arabs."

Malik said, "If a pregnant woman comes from the land of the enemy and gives birth in arab land so that he is her (an arab) child, he inherits from her if she dies, and she inherits from him if he dies, by the Book of Allah."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us and the sunna in which there is no dispute, and what I saw the people of knowledge in our city doing, is that a Muslim does not inherit from a kafir by kinship, clientage (wala'), or maternal relationship, nor does he (the Muslim) overshadow any (of the kafirs) from his inheritance.

Malik said, "Similarly, someone who forgoes his inheritance when he is the chief heir does not overshadow anyone from his inheritance."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard Rabia ibn Abd ar- Rahman say that a slave could marry four women.

Malik said, "This is the best of what I have heard about the matter."

Malik said, "The slave differs with the muhallil if the slave is given permission by his master for his ex-wife. If his master does not give him permission, he separates them. The muhallil is separated in any case if he intends to make the woman halal by marriage."

Malik said, "When a slave is owned by his wife or a husband owns his wife, the possession of each of them is rendered void without divorce. If a man, for instance, is married to a slave-girl, and then he buys her, he must divorce her as a matter of course. They can then re- marry. If they re-marry afterwards, that separation was not divorce."

Malik said, "When a slave is freed by his wife who owns him and she is in the idda-period from him, they can only return to each other after she has made another marriage."

My Ansari neighbor from Bani Umaiya bin Zaid who used to live at `Awali Al-Medina and used to visit the Prophet by turns. He used to go one day and I another day. When I went I used to bring the news of that day regarding the Divine Inspiration and other things, and when he went, he used to do the same for me. Once my Ansari friend, in his turn (on returning from the Prophet), knocked violently at my door and asked if I was there." I became horrified and came out to him. He said, "Today a great thing has happened." I then went to Hafsa and saw her weeping. I asked her, "Did Allah's Apostle divorce you all?" She replied, "I do not know." Then, I entered upon the Prophet and said while standing, "Have you divorced your wives?" The Prophet replied in the negative. On that I said, "Allahu-Akbar (Allah is Greater)." (See Hadith No. 119, Vol. 3 for details)

A bedouin came and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Judge between us according to Allah's Laws." His opponent got up and said, "He is right. Judge between us according to Allah's Laws." The bedouin said, "My son was a laborer working for this man, and he committed illegal sexual intercourse with his wife. The people told me that my son should be stoned to death; so, in lieu of that, I paid a ransom of one hundred sheep and a slave girl to save my son. Then I asked the learned scholars who said, "Your son has to be lashed one-hundred lashes and has to be exiled for one year." The Prophet said, "No doubt I will judge between you according to Allah's Laws. The slave-girl and the sheep are to go back to you, and your son will get a hundred lashes and one year exile." He then addressed somebody, "O Unais! go to the wife of this (man) and stone her to death" So, Unais went and stoned her to death.

The wife of Thabit ibn Qays separated herself from him for a compensation. The Prophet (saws) made her waiting period a menstrual course.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been transmitted by 'Abd al-Razzaq from Ma'mar from 'Amr b. Muslim from 'Ikrimah from the Prophet (saws) in a mursal form (i.e. missing the link of the Companion).

Ibn `Abbas mentioned the couple who had taken the oath of Lian. `Abdullah bin Shaddad said (to him), "Was this woman about whom Allah's Apostle said, 'If I were ever to stone to death any woman without witnesses. (I would have stoned that woman to death)?' Ibn `Abbas replied," No, that lady exposed herself (by her suspicious behavior).

A Jew crushed the head of a girl between two stones, and the girl was asked, "Who has done that to you, so-and-so or so and so?" (Some names were mentioned for her) till the name of that Jew was mentioned (whereupon she agreed). The Jew was brought to the Prophet and the Prophet kept on questioning him till he confessed, whereupon his head was crushed with stones.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim from his father from Asma bint Umays that she gave birth to Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr at al-Bayda. Abu Bakr mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he said, "Tell her to do ghusl and then enter ihram."