A bedouin with unkempt hair came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Tell me what Allah has enjoined on me as regards prayers." The Prophet said, "You have to offer perfectly the five (compulsory) prayers in a day and a night (24 hrs.), except if you want to perform some extra optional prayers." The bedouin said, "Tell me what Allah has enjoined on me as regards fasting." The Prophet said, "You have to observe fast during the month of Ramadan except if you fast some extra optional fast." The bedouin said, "Tell me what Allah has enjoined on me as regard Zakat." The Prophet then told him the Islamic laws and regulations whereupon the bedouin said, "By Him Who has honored you, I will not perform any optional deeds of worship and I will not leave anything of what Allah has enjoined on me." Allah's Apostle said, "He will be successful if he has told the truth (or he will enter Paradise if he said the truth)." And some people said, "The Zakat for one-hundred and twenty camels is two Hiqqas, and if the Zakat payer slaughters the camels intentionally or gives them as a present or plays some other trick in order to avoid the Zakat, then there is no harm (in it) for him.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr used to say, "Know that the whole of Arafa is a standing-place except for the middle of Urana, and that the wholeof Muzdalifa is a standing-place except for the middle of Muhassir."

Malik said, "Allah, the Blessed and Exalted says, 'There is to be no rafath, no fusuq and no jidal during the hajj.' " (Sura 2 ayat 197).

He added, "Rafath is sexual relations with women, and Allah knows best. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted says, 'Rafath with your women is permitted to you on the night of the fast.' (Sura 2 ayat 197). Fusuq are sacrifices made to idols, and Allah knows best. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says, 'Or a fisq offered up to other than Allah.' (Sura 2 ayat 197) Jidal (arguing) during the hajj refers to when the Quraysh used to stand near the mashar al-haram at Quzah in Muzdalifa, while the Arabs and others would stand at Arafa, and they would argue about who was the more correct. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says, 'And we appointed a method of sacrifice for every nation, which they followed, so let them not dispute with you about the matter, and call to your Lord. Surely you are on a straight guidance.' (Sura 22 ayat 67) This is what jidal refers to in our opinion, and Allah knows best. This I have heard from the people of knowledge."

The Prophet said to me, "Whenever you go to bed perform ablution like that for the prayer, lie or your right side and say, "Allahumma aslamtu wajhi ilaika, wa fauwadtu `Amri ilaika, wa alja'tu Zahri ilaika raghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika. La Malja'a wa la manja minka illa ilaika. Allahumma amantu bikitabika-l-ladhi anzalta wa bina-biyika-l ladhi arsalta" (O Allah! I surrender to You and entrust all my affairs to You and depend upon You for Your Blessings both with hope and fear of You. There is no fleeing from You, and there is no place of protection and safety except with You O Allah! I believe in Your Book (the Qur'an) which You have revealed and in Your Prophet (Muhammad) whom You have sent). Then if you die on that very night, you will die with faith (i.e. or the religion of Islam). Let the aforesaid words be your last utterance (before sleep)." I repeated it before the Prophet and when I reached "Allahumma amantu bikitabika-l-ladhi anzalta (O Allah I believe in Your Book which You have revealed)." I said, "Wa-rasulika (and your Apostle)." The Prophet said, "No, (but say): 'Wanabiyika-l-ladhi arsalta (Your Prophet whom You have sent), instead."

Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) said, "A man said that he would give something in charity. He went out with his object of charity and unknowingly gave it to a thief. Next morning the people said that he had given his object of charity to a thief. (On hearing that) he said, "O Allah! All the praises are for you. I will give alms again." And so he again went out with his alms and (unknowingly) gave it to an adulteress. Next morning the people said that he had given his alms to an adulteress last night. The man said, "O Allah! All the praises are for you. (I gave my alms) to an adulteress. I will give alms again." So he went out with his alms again and (unknowingly) gave it to a rich person. (The people) next morning said that he had given his alms to a wealthy person. He said, "O Allah! All the praises are for you. (I had given alms) to a thief, to an adulteress and to a wealthy man." Then someone came and said to him, "The alms which you gave to the thief, might make him abstain from stealing, and that given to the adulteress might make her abstain from illegal sexual intercourse (adultery), and that given to the wealthy man might make him take a lesson from it and spend his wealth which Allah has given him, in Allah's cause."

Once `Umar bin Al-Khattab said, said, "Who amongst you remembers the statement of Allah's Apostle regarding the afflictions?" Hudhaifa replied, "I remember what he said exactly." `Umar said. "Tell (us), you are really a daring man!'' Hudhaifa said, "Allah's Apostle said, 'A man's afflictions (i.e. wrong deeds) concerning his relation to his family, his property and his neighbors are expiated by his prayers, giving in charity and enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil.' " `Umar said, "I don't mean these afflictions but the afflictions that will be heaving up and down like waves of the sea." Hudhaifa replied, "O chief of the believers! You need not fear those (afflictions) as there is a closed door between you and them." `Umar asked, "Will that door be opened or broken?" Hudhaifa replied, "No, it will be broken." `Umar said, "Then it is very likely that the door will not be closed again." Later on the people asked Hudhaifa, "Did `Umar know what that door meant?" He said. "Yes, `Umar knew it as everyone knows that there will be night before the tomorrow morning. I narrated to `Umar an authentic narration, not lies." We dared not ask Hudhaifa; therefore we requested Masruq who asked him, "What does the door stand for?" He said, "`Umar."

My father said, "Allah's Apostle was proceeding at night on one of his journeys and `Umar bin Al- Khattab was going along with him. `Umar bin Al-Khattab asked him (about something) but Allah's Apostle did not answer him. `Umar asked him again, but he did not answer him. He asked him again (for the third time) but he did not answer him. On that `Umar bin Al-Khattab addressed himself saying, "May your mother be bereaved of you, O `Umar, for you have asked Allah's Apostle thrice, yet he has not answered you." `Umar said, "Then I made my camel run fast and took it in front of the other Muslims, and I was afraid that something might be revealed in my connection. I had hardly waited for a moment when I heard somebody calling me. I said, 'I was afraid that something might have been revealed about me.' Then I came to Allah's Apostle and greeted him. He (i.e. the Prophet) said, 'Tonight there has been revealed to me, a Sura which is dearer to me than (all the world) on which the sun rises,' and then he recited: 'Verily! We have granted you (O Muhammad) A manifest victory." (48.1)

Am effeminate man (mukhannath) who had dyed his hands and feet with henna was brought to the Prophet (saws). He asked: What is the matter with this man? He was told: "Messenger of Allah! He imitates the look of women." So he issued an order regarding him and he was banished to an-Naqi'. The people said: Messenger of Allah! Should we not kill him? He said: I have been prohibited from killing people who pray. AbuUsamah said: Naqi' is a region near Medina and not a Baqi'.

Zainab said: I visited Umm Habibah when her father AbuSufyan, died. She asked for some yellow perfume containing saffron (khaluq) or something else. Then she applied it to a girl and touched her cheeks.

She said: I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to observe mourning for one who has died, more than three nights, except for four months and ten days in the case of a husband.

Zaynab said: I also visited Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh, when her brother died. She asked for some perfume and used it upon herself.

She then said: I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say when he was on the pulpit: It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to observe mourning for one who has died, more than three nights, except for four months and ten days in the case of a husband.

Zaynab said: I heard my mother, Umm Salamah, say: A woman came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and said: Messenger of Allah, the husband of my daughter has died, and she is suffering from sore eyes; may we put antimony in her eyes?

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: No. He said this twice or thrice. Each time he said: No. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: The waiting period is now four months and ten days. In pre-Islamic days one of you used to throw away a piece of dung at the end of a year.

Humayd said: I asked Zaynab: What do you mean by throwing away a piece of dung at the end of a year.

Zaynab replied: When the husband of a woman died, she entered a small cell and put on shabby clothes, not touching perfume or any other thing until a year passed. Then an animal such as donkey or sheep or bird was provided for her. She rubbed herself with it. The animal with which she rubbed herself rarely survived. She then came out and was given a piece of dung which she threw away. She then used perfume or something else which she desired.

Abu Dawud said: The Arabic word "hafsh" means a small cell.

Allah's Apostle said, "If the people knew the reward for pronouncing the Adhan and for standing in the first row (in congregational prayers) and found no other way to get that except by drawing lots they would draw lots, and if they knew the reward of the Zuhr prayer (in the early moments of its stated time) they would race for it (go early) and if they knew the reward of `Isha' and Fajr (morning) prayers in congregation, they would come to offer them even if they had to crawl."

People say that I narrate too many narrations of the Prophet; once I met a man (during the lifetime of the Prophet) and asked him, "Which Sura did Allah's Apostle s recite yesterday in the `Isha' prayer?" He said, "I do not know." I said, "Did you not attend the prayer?" He said, "Yes, (I did)." I said, "I know. He recited such and such Sura."

The Prophet (saws) said: If they (the people) drink wine, flog them, again if they drink it, flog them. Again if they drink it, kill them.

Nafi' reported that he heard Abu Lubaba informing Ibn 'Umar that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) had forbidden the killing of domestic snakes.

We were in the company of the Prophet providing the wounded with water and treating them and bringing the killed to Medina (from the battle field) .

Ablution water and tooth-stick were placed by the side of the Prophet (saws). When he got up during the night (for prayer), he relieved himself, then he used the tooth-stick.

(a man from the Ansar) that a number of people from his tribe went to Khaibar and dispersed, and then they found one of them murdered. They said to the people with whom the corpse had been found, "You have killed our companion!" Those people said, "Neither have we killed him, nor do we know his killer." The bereaved group went to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We went to Khaibar and found one of us murdered." The Prophet said, "Let the older among you come forward and speak." Then the Prophet said, to them, "Bring your proof against the killer." They said "We have no proof." The Prophet said, "Then they (the defendants) will take an oath." They said, "We do not accept the oaths of the Jews." Allah's Apostle did not like that the Blood-money of the killed one be lost without compensation, so he paid one-hundred camels out of the camels of Zakat (to the relatives of the deceased) as Diya (Blood-money).

That the Messenger of Allah (saws) said that Jibra'il had indeed descended upon him to say to him: "Tell them - meaning your Companions - to choose regarding the captives of Badr, between either killing them or ransoming the, so that the amount killed by them will correspond similarly to them." So they said: "Ranson, even though some of us may be killed."

There are narrations on this topic from Ibn Mas'ud, Anas, Abu Barzah, and Jubair bin Mut'im.

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Gharib as a narration of Ath-Thawri. We do not know of it except through the report of Za'idah.

Abu Usamah reported similar to this from Hisham, from Ibn Sirin, from 'Abidah, from 'Ali, from the Prophet (saws)

Ibn 'Awn reported it from Ibn Sirin, from 'Abidah, from 'Ali, from the Prophet (saws) in Mursal form.

Abu Dawud Al-Hafiri's ( a narrator in this chain) name is 'Umar bin Sa'd.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to exhort people to watch the night in prayer in Ramadan but never ordered it definitely. He used to say, "Whoever watches the night in prayer in Ramadan with trust and expectancy, will be forgiven all his previous wrong actions."

Ibn Shihab said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died while that was still the custom, and it continued to be the custom in the caliphate of Abu Bakr and at the beginning of the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab."

Abu Bakr came to my father who was at home and purchased a saddle from him. He said to `Azib. "Tell your son to carry it with me." So I carried it with him and my father followed us so as to take the price (of the saddle). My father said, "O Abu Bakr! Tell me what happened to you on your night journey with Allah's Apostle (during Migration)." He said, "Yes, we travelled the whole night and also the next day till midday. when nobody could be seen on the way ( because of the severe heat) . Then there appeared a long rock having shade beneath it, and the sunshine had not come to it yet. So we dismounted there and I levelled a place and covered it with an animal hide or dry grass for the Prophet to sleep on (for a while). I then said, 'Sleep, O Allah's Apostle, and I will guard you.' So he slept and I went out to guard him. Suddenly I saw a shepherd coming with his sheep to that rock with the same intention we had when we came to it. I asked (him). 'To whom do you belong, O boy?' He replied, 'I belong to a man from Medina or Mecca.' I said, 'Do your sheep have milk?' He said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Will you milk for us?' He said, 'Yes.' He caught hold of a sheep and I asked him to clean its teat from dust, hairs and dirt. (The sub-narrator said that he saw Al-Bara' striking one of his hands with the other, demonstrating how the shepherd removed the dust.) The shepherd milked a little milk in a wooden container and I had a leather container which I carried for the Prophet to drink and perform the ablution from. I went to the Prophet, hating to wake him up, but when I reached there, the Prophet had already awakened; so I poured water over the middle part of the milk container, till the milk was cold. Then I said, 'Drink, O Allah's Apostle!' He drank till I was pleased. Then he asked, 'Has the time for our departure come?' I said, 'Yes.' So we departed after midday. Suraqa bin Malik followed us and I said, 'We have been discovered, O Allah's Apostle!' He said, Don't grieve for Allah is with us.' The Prophet invoked evil on him (i.e. Suraqa) and so the legs of his horse sank into the earth up to its belly. (The subnarrator, Zuhair is not sure whether Abu Bakr said, "(It sank) into solid earth.") Suraqa said, 'I see that you have invoked evil on me. Please invoke good on me, and by Allah, I will cause those who are seeking after you to return.' The Prophet invoked good on him and he was saved. Then, whenever he met somebody on the way, he would say, 'I have looked for him here in vain.' So he caused whomever he met to return. Thus Suraqa fulfilled his promise."

Malik related to me from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered dogs to be killed.

That the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "Whoever kills someone in battle, having a proof for that, then his goods are his."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] There is a story with this Hadith.

We used to take part in holy battles with the Prophet by providing the people with water and serving them and bringing the killed and the wounded back to Medina.

Allah's Apostle said, "It is not sinful of a person in the state of Ihram to kill any of these five animals: The scorpion, the rat, the rabid dog, the crow and the kite."

Jabir bin `Abdullah said, "Allah's Apostle sent troops to the sea coast and appointed Abu 'Ubaida bin Al-Jarrah as their commander, and they were 300 (men). We set out, and we had covered some distance on the way, when our journey food ran short. So Abu 'Ubaida ordered that all the food present with the troops be collected, and it was collected. Our journey food was dates, and Abu Ubaida kept on giving us our daily ration from it little by little (piecemeal) till it decreased to such an extent that we did not receive except a date each." I asked (Jabir), "How could one date benefit you?" He said, "We came to know its value when even that finished." Jabir added, "Then we reached the sea (coast) where we found a fish like a small mountain. The people (i.e. troops) ate of it for 18 nights (i.e. days). Then Abu 'Ubaida ordered that two of its ribs be fixed on the ground (in the form of an arch) and that a she-camel be ridden and passed under them. So it passed under them without touching them."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: If anyone fights in Allah's path as long as the time between two milkings of a she-camel, Paradise will be assured for him. If anyone sincerely asks Allah for being killed and then dies or is killed, there will be a reward of a martyr for him. Ibn al-Musaffa added from here: If anyone is wounded in Allah's path, or suffers a misfortune, it will come on the Day of resurrection as copious as possible, its colour saffron, and its odour musk; and if anyone suffers from ulcers while in Allah's path, he will have on him the stamp of the martyrs.