While the Prophet was saying something in a gathering, a Bedouin came and asked him, "When would the Hour (Doomsday) take place?" Allah's Apostle continued his talk, so some people said that Allah's Apostle had heard the question, but did not like what that Bedouin had asked. Some of them said that Allah's Apostle had not heard it. When the Prophet finished his speech, he said, "Where is the questioner, who inquired about the Hour (Doomsday)?" The Bedouin said, "I am here, O Allah's Apostle ." Then the Prophet said, "When honesty is lost, then wait for the Hour (Doomsday)." The Bedouin said, "How will that be lost?" The Prophet said, "When the power or authority comes in the hands of unfit persons, then wait for the Hour (Doomsday.)"

A lady came to the Prophet and declared that she had decided to offer herself to Allah and His Apostle. The Prophet said, "I am not in need of women." A man said (to the Prophet) "Please marry her to me." The Prophet said (to him), "Give her a garment." The man said, "I cannot afford it." The Prophet said, "Give her anything, even if it were an iron ring." The man apologized again. The Prophet then asked him, "What do you know by heart of the Qur'an?" He replied, "I know such-andsuch portion of the Qur'an (by heart)." The Prophet said, "Then I marry her to you for that much of the Qur'an which you know by heart."

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone spends the night with grease on his hand which he has not washed away, he can blame only himself if some trouble comes to him.

The Prophet said, "Your life in comparison to the lifetime of the past nations is like the period between the time of `Asr prayer and sunset. Your example and the example of the Jews and Christians is that of person who employed laborers and said to them, "Who will work for me till the middle of the day for one Qirat (a special weight)?' The Jews did. He then said, "Who will work for me from the middle of the day till the `Asr prayer for one Qirat each?" The Christians worked accordingly. Then you (Muslims) are working from the `Asr prayer till the Maghrib prayer for two Qirats each. They (the Jews and the Christians) said, 'We did more labor but took less wages.' He (Allah) said, 'Have I wronged you in your rights?' They replied, 'No.' Then He said, 'This is My Blessing which I give to whom I wish."

Hamnah said my menstruation was great in quantity and severe. So I came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) for a decision and told him. I found him in the house of my sister, Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh.

I said: Messenger of Allah, I am a woman who menstruates in great quantity and it is severe, so what do you think about it? It has prevented me from praying and fasting.

He said: I suggest that you should use cotton, for it absorbs the blood. She replied: It is too copious for that. He said: Then take a cloth. She replied: It is too copious for that, for my blood keeps flowing. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: I shall give you two commands; whichever of them you follow, that will be sufficient for you without the other, but you know best whether you are strong enough to follow both of them.

He added: This is a stroke of the Devil, so observe your menses for six or seven days, Allah alone knows which it should be; then wash. And when you see that you are purified and quite clean, pray during twenty-three or twenty-four days and nights and fast, for that will be enough for you, and do so every month, just as women menstruate and are purified at the time of their menstruation and their purification.

But if you are strong enough to delay the noon (Zuhr) prayer and advance the afternoon ('Asr) prayer, to wash, and then combine the noon and the afternoon prayer; to delay the sunset prayer and advance the night prayer, to wash, and then combine the two prayers, do so: and to wash at dawn, do so: and fast if you are able to do so if possible.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Of the two commands this is more to my liking.¹

Abu Dawud said: 'Amr b. Thabit narrated from Ibn 'Aqil: Hamnah said: Of the two commands this is the one which is more to my liking.² In this version these words were not quoted as the statement of the Prophet (saws); it gives it as a statement of Hamnah.

Abu Dawud said: 'Amr b. Thabit was a Rafidi. This has been said by Yahya b. Ma'in.

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad (b. Hanbal) say: I am doubtful about the tradition transmitted by Ibn 'Aqil.

I asked the Prophet about the wall (outside the Ka`ba). "Is it regarded as part of the Ka`ba?" He replied, "Yes." I said, "Then why didn't the people include it in the Ka`ba?" He said, "(Because) your people ran short of money." I asked, "Then why is its gate so high?" He replied, ''Your people did so in order to admit to it whom they would and forbid whom they would. Were your people not still close to the period of ignorance, and were I not afraid that their hearts might deny my action, then surely I would include the wall in the Ka`ba and make its gate touch the ground."

Once I gave a horse (for riding) in Allah's Cause. Later I saw it being sold. I asked Allah's Apostle (whether I could buy it). He said, "Don't buy it, for you should not get back what you have given in charity."

AbuZubyan said: A woman who had committed adultery was brought to Umar. He gave orders that she should be stoned.

Ali passed by just then. He seized her and let her go. Umar was informed of it. He said: Ask Ali to come to me. Ali came to him and said: Commander of the Faithful, you know that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: There are three (people) whose actions are not recorded: A boy till he reaches puberty, a sleeper till he awakes, a lunatic till he is restored to reason. This is an idiot (mad) woman belonging to the family of so and so. Someone might have done this action with her when she suffered the fit of lunacy.

Umar said: I do not know. Ali said: I do not know.

"Whenever the Prophet passed by (my mother Um-Sulaim) he used to enter her and greet her. Anas further said: Once the Prophet way a bridegroom during his marriage with Zainab, Um Sulaim said to me, "Let us give a gift to Allah's Apostle ." I said to her, "Do it." So she prepared Haisa (a sweet dish) made from dates, butter and dried yoghurt and she sent it with me to him. I took it to him and he said, "Put it down," and ordered me to call some men whom he named, and to invite whomever I would meet. I did what he ordered me to do, and when I returned, I found the house crowded with people and saw the Prophet keeping his hand over the Haisa and saying over it whatever Allah wished (him to say). Then he called the men in batches of ten to eat of it, and he said to them, "Mention the Name of Allah, and each man should eat of the dish the nearest to him." When all of them had finished their meals, some of them left and a few remained there talking, over which I felt unhappy. Then the Prophet went out towards the dwelling places (of his wives) and I too, went out after him and told him that those people had left. Then he returned and entered his dwelling place and let the curtains fall while I was in (his) dwelling place, and he was reciting the Verses:-- 'O you who believe! Enter not the Prophet's house until leave is given you for a meal, (and then) not (as early as) to what for its preparation. But when you are invited, enter, and when you have taken your meals, disperse without sitting for a talk. Verily such (behavior) annoys the Prophet; and he would be shy of (asking) you (to go), but Allah is not shy of (telling you) the Truth.' (33-53) Abu Uthman said: Anas said, "I served the Prophet for ten years."

`Uthman bin `Affan introduced the second Adhan on Fridays when the number of the people in the mosque increased. Previously the Adhan on Fridays used to be pronounced only after the Imam had taken his seat (on the pulpit).

Allah's Apostle said, "Allah said, 'The son of Adam hurts me for he abuses Time though I am Time: in My Hands are all things, and I cause the revolution of day and night.'

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) appeared as a prophet, Hamdan said to me: Will you go to this man and negotiate for us (with him)? If you accept something, we shall accept it, and if you disapprove of something, we shall disapprove of it.

I said: Yes. So I proceeded until I came to the Messenger of Allah (saws). I liked his motive and my people embraced Islam. The Messenger of Allah (saws) wrote the document for Umayr Dhu Marran. He also sent Malik ibn Murarah ar-Rahawi to all the (people of) Yemen. So Akk Dhu Khaywan embraced Islam.

Akk was told: Go to the Messenger of Allah (saws), and obtain his protection for your town and property. He therefore came (to him) and the Messenger of Allah (saws) wrote a document for him:

"In the name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Akk Dhu Khaywan. If he is true his land, property and slave, he has the security and the protection of Allah, and Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. Written by Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-'As."

Jabir ibn Abdullah used to say that a Jewess from the inhabitants of Khaybar poisoned a roasted sheep and presented it to the Messenger of Allah (saws) who took its foreleg and ate from it. A group of his companions also ate with him.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) then said: Take your hands away (from the food). The Messenger of Allah (saws) then sent someone to the Jewess and he called her.

He said to her: Have you poisoned this sheep? The Jewess replied: Who has informed you? He said: This foreleg which I have in my hand has informed me. She said: Yes. He said: What did you intend by it? She said: I thought if you were a prophet, it would not harm you; if you were not a prophet, we should rid ourselves of him (i.e. the Prophet). The Messenger of Allah (saws) then forgave her, and did not punish her. But some of his companions who ate it, died. The Messenger of Allah (saws) had himself cupped on his shoulder on account of that which he had eaten from the sheep. AbuHind cupped him with the horn and knife. He was a client of Banu Bayadah from the Ansar.

The Prophet used to seek Refuge with Allah for Al-Hasan and Al-Husain and say: "Your forefather (i.e. Abraham) used to seek Refuge with Allah for Ishmael and Isaac by reciting the following: 'O Allah! I seek Refuge with Your Perfect Words from every devil and from poisonous pests and from every evil, harmful, envious eye.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim that Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Amra al-Ansari said that Uthman ibn Affan came to the isha prayer and seeing only a few people in the mosque, he lay down at the back of the mosque to wait for the number of people to increase. Ibn Abi Amra went and sat down beside him and Uthman asked him who he was, so he told him. Uthman said, "What have you memorised of the Qur'an?", and he told him. Uthman said, "If someone is present at isha, it is as if he had stood in prayer for half a night, and if some one is present at subh, it is as if he had stood in prayer for a whole night.

(the daughter of Abu Talib) I visited Allah's Apostle in the year of the Conquest of Mecca and found him taking a bath, and his daughter, Fatima was screening him. When I greeted him, he said, "Who is it?" I replied, "I am Um Hani, the daughter of Abu Talib." He said, "Welcome, O Um Hani ! " When the Prophet had finished his bath, he stood up and offered eight rak`at of prayer while he was wrapped in a single garment. When he had finished his prayer, I said, "O Allah's Apostle! My maternal brother assumes (or claims) that he will murder some man whom I have given shelter, i.e., so-and-so bin Hubaira." Allah's Apostle said, "O Um Hani! We shelter him whom you have sheltered." Um Hani added, "That happened in the forenoon."

Sahl bin Sa’ad Al Sa’idi said that ‘Uwaimir bin Ashqar Al Ajilani came to ‘Asim bin Adl and said to him “Asim tell me about a man who finds a man along with his wife. Should he kill him and then be killed by you, or how should he act? Ask the Apostle of Allaah(saws) ‘Asim, for me about it. ‘Asim then asked the Apostle of Allaah(saws) about it. The Apostle of Allaah(saws) disliked the question and denounced it. What ‘Asim heard from the Apostle of Allaah(saws) fell heavy on him. When ‘Asim returned to his family ‘Uwaimr came to him and asked ‘Asim “What did the Apostle of Allaah(saws) say to you”? Asim replied “You did not do good to me”. The Apostle of Allaah(saws) disliked the question that I asked him. Thereupon ‘Uwaimir said “I swear by Allaah, I shall not leave until I ask him about it. So, ‘Uwaimir came to the Apostle of Allaah(saws) while he was sitting in the midst of the people.” He said “Apostle of Allaah(saws) tell me about a man who finds a man along with his wife. Should he kill him and then be killed by you, or how should he act?” The Apostle of Allaah(saws) said “A revelation has been sent down about you and your wife so go away and bring her. Sahl said “So we cursed one another while I was along with the people who were with the Apostle of Allaah(saws). Then when they finished, ‘Umamir said “I shall have lied against her, Apostle of Allaah(saws) if I keep her. He pronounced her divorce three times before the Apostle of Allaah(saws)commanded him (to do so).

Ibn Shihab said “Then this became the method of invoking curses.”

Abdullah ibn Ubaydullah said: I went to Ibn Abbas accompanying some youths of Banu Hashim. We said to one of them: Ask Ibn Abbas: Did the Messenger of Allah (saws) recite (the Qur'an) in the noon and afternoon prayers? He replied: No. People said to him: Perhaps he might recite the Qur'an quietly. He said: May your face be scratched (a kind of curse)! This (statement) is worse than the former.

He was only a servant (of Allah) receiving Commands from Him. He preached (the divine) message which he brought with him. He did not command anything to us (Banu Hashim) specially excluding other people except three points: he commanded us to perform ablution perfectly, and not to accept charity (sadaqah) and not to make pairing of donkey with horse.

Magic was worked on the Prophet so that he began to fancy that he was doing a thing which he was not actually doing. One day he invoked (Allah) for a long period and then said, "I feel that Allah has inspired me as how to cure myself. Two persons came to me (in my dream) and sat, one by my head and the other by my feet. One of them asked the other, "What is the ailment of this man?" The other replied, 'He has been bewitched" The first asked, 'Who has bewitched him?' The other replied, 'Lubaid bin Al-A'sam.' The first one asked, 'What material has he used?' The other replied, 'A comb, the hair gathered on it, and the outer skin of the pollen of the male date-palm.' The first asked, 'Where is that?' The other replied, 'It is in the well of Dharwan.' " So, the Prophet went out towards the well and then returned and said to me on his return, "Its date-palms (the date-palms near the well) are like the heads of the devils." I asked, "Did you take out those things with which the magic was worked?" He said, "No, for I have been cured by Allah and I am afraid that this action may spread evil amongst the people." Later on the well was filled up with earth.

Allah's Apostle sent Abu Musa and Mu`adh bin Jabal to Yemen. He sent each of them to administer a province as Yemen consisted of two provinces. The Prophet said (to them), "Facilitate things for the people and do not make things difficult for them (Be kind and lenient (both of you) with the people, and do not be hard on them) and give the people good tidings and do not repulse them. So each of them went to carry on his job. So when any one of them toured his province and happened to come near (the border of the province of) his companion, he would visit him and greet him. Once Mu`adh toured that part of his state which was near (the border of the province of) his companion Abu Musa. Mu`adh came riding his mule till he reached Abu Musa and saw him sitting, and the people had gathered around him. Behold! There was a man tied with his hands behind his neck. Mu`adh said to Abu Musa, "O `Abdullah bin Qais! What is this?" Abu Musa replied. "This man has reverted to Heathenism after embracing Islam." Mu`adh said, "I will not dismount till he is killed." Abu Musa replied, "He has been brought for this purpose, so come down." Mu`adh said, "I will not dismount till he is killed." So Abu Musa ordered that he be killed, and he was killed. Then Mu`adh dismounted and said, "O `Abdullah (bin Qais)! How do you recite the Qur'an ?" Abu Musa said, "I recite the Qur'an regularly at intervals and piecemeal. How do you recite it O Mu`adh?" Mu`adh said, "I sleep in the first part of the night and then get up after having slept for the time devoted for my sleep and then recite as much as Allah has written for me. So I seek Allah's Reward for both my sleep as well as my prayer (at night).

While a man was delivering a speech in the tribe of Kinda, he said, "Smoke will prevail on the Day of Resurrection and will deprive the hypocrites their faculties of hearing and seeing. The believers will be afflicted with something like cold only thereof." That news scared us, so I went to (Abdullah) Ibn Mas`ud while he was reclining (and told him the story) whereupon he became angry, sat up and said, "He who knows a thing can say, it, but if he does not know, he should say, 'Allah knows best,' for it is an aspect of knowledge to say, 'I do not know,' if you do not know a certain thing. Allah said to His prophet. 'Say (O Muhammad): No wage do I ask of you for this (Qur'an), nor I am one of the pretenders (a person who pretends things which do not exist.)' (38.86) The Qur'aish delayed in embracing Islam for a period, so the Prophet invoked evil on them, saying, 'O Allah! Help me against them by sending seven years of (famine) like those of Joseph.' So they were afflicted with such a severe year of famine that they were destroyed therein and ate dead animals and bones. They started seeing something like smoke between the sky and the earth (because of severe hunger). Abu Sufyan then came (to the Prophet) and said, "O Muhammad! You came to order us for to keep good relations with Kith and kin, and your kinsmen have now perished, so please invoke Allah (to relieve them).' Then Ibn Mas`ud recited:-- 'Then watch you for the day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible....but truly you will return! (to disbelief) (44.10-15) Ibn Mas`ud added, Then the punishment was stopped, but truly, they reverted to heathenism (their old way). So Allah (threatened them thus): 'On the day when we shall seize you with a mighty grasp.' (44.16) And that was the day of the Battle of Badr. Allah's saying- "Lizama" (the punishment) refers to the day of Badr Allah's Statement: Alif-Lam-Mim, the Romans have been defeated, and they, after their defeat, will be victorious,' (30.1- 3) (This verse): Indicates that the defeat of Byzantine has already passed.

Allah's Apostle said, "While I was sleeping, I saw myself drinking (i.e. milk), and I was so contented that I saw the milk flowing through my nails. Then I gave (the milk) to `Umar." They (i.e. the companions of the Prophet) asked, "What do you interpret it?" He said, "Knowledge."

Malik said, "Share-cropping is also permitted in any crop which emerges from the earth if it is a crop which is picked, and its owner cannot water, work on it and tend it.

"Share- cropping becomes reprehensible in anything in which share-cropping is normally permitted if the fruit is sound and the good condition is clear and it is halal to sell it. He must share-crop in it the next year. If a man waters fruit whose good condition is clear and it is halal to sell it, and he picks it for the owner, for a share of the crop, it is not sharecropping. It is similar to him being paid in dirhams and dinars. Share-cropping is what is between pruning the palms and when the fruit becomes sound and its sale is halal."

Malik said, "If some one makes a share-cropping contract for fruit trees before the condition becomes clear and its sale is halal, it is share-cropping and is permitted . "

Malik said, "Uncultivated land must not be involved in a share-cropping contract. That is because it is halal for the owner to rent it for dinars and dirhams or the equivalent for an accepted price."

Malik said, "As for a man who gives his uncultivated earth for a third or a fourth of what comes out of it, that is an uncertain transaction because crops may be scant one time and plentiful another time. It may perish completely and the owner of the land will have abandoned a set rent which would have been good for him to rent the land for. He takes an uncertain situation, and does not know whether or not it will be satisfactory. This is disapproved. It is like a man having someone travel for him for a set amount, and then saying, 'Shall I give you a tenth of the profit of the journey as your wage?' This is not halal and must not be done."

Malik summed up,"A man must not hire out himself or his land or his ship unless for a set amount."

Malik said, "A distinction is made between sharecropping in palms and in cultivated land because the owner of the palms cannot sell the fruit until its good condition is clear. The owner of the land can rent it when it is uncultivated with nothing on it."

Malik said, "What is done in our community about palms is that they can also be share-cropped for three and four years, and less or more than that."

Malik said, "That is what I have heard. Any fruit trees like that are in the position of palms. Contracts for several years are permissible for the sharecropper as they are permissible in the palms."

Malik said about the owner, "He does not take anything additional from the share-cropper in the way of gold or silver or crops which increases him. That is not good. The share-cropper also must not take from the owner of the garden anything additional which will increase him of gold, silver, crops or anything. Increase beyond what is stipulated in the contract is not good. It is also not good for the lender of a qirad to be in this position. If such an increase does enter share- cropping or quirad, it becomes by it hire. It is not good when hire enters it. Hire must never occur in a situation which has uncertainty in it."

Malik spoke about a man who gave land to another man in a share-cropping contract in which there were palms, vines, or the like of that of fruit trees and there was also uncultivated land in it. He said, "If the uncultivated land is secondary to the fruit trees, either in importance or in size of land, there is no harm in share-cropping. That is if the palms take up two-thirds of the land or more, and the uncultivated land is a third or less. This is because when the land that the fruit trees take up is secondary to the uncultivated land and the cultivated land in which the palms, vines or the like is a third or less, and the uncultivated land is two-thirds or more, it is permitted to rent the land and share-cropping in it is haram."

"One of the practices of people is to give out sharecropping contracts on property with fruit trees when there is uncultivated land in it, and to rent land while there are fruit trees on it, just as a Qur'an or sword which has some embellishment on it of silver is sold for silver, or a necklace or ring which have stones and gold in them are sold for dinars. These sales continue to be permitted. People buy and sell by them. Nothing described or instituted has come on that which if exceeded, makes it haram, and if fallen below makes it halal. What is done in our community about that is what people practise and permit among themselves. That is, if the gold or silver is secondary to what it is incorporated in, it is permitted to sell it. That is, if the value of the blade, the Qur'an, or the stones is two-thirds or more, and the value of the decoration is one-third or less."

Abu Dawud said: Musaddad in his tradition said that Ma’mar said: The people ceased to recite (the Qur’an) at the prayer in which the Messenger of Allah (saws) recited aloud. Ibn al-Sarh said in his version that Ma’mar reported from al-Zuhri on the authority of Abu Hurairah. Then the people ceased (to recite behind the imam). Another version says: Sufyan said: Al-Zuhri spoke a word that I could not hear. Then Ma’mar said: He said: Then people ceased (to recite the Qur’an)

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been narrated by ‘Abd al-Raman b. Ishaq on the authority of al-Zuhri. This version ends at the words: “What is the matter with me that I am contended with in (the recitation of) the Qur’an. Al-Awza’i also narrated it on the authority of al-Zuhri. This version has: Al-Zuhri said: The Muslims took lesson from that and thenceforth they did not recite (the Qur’an) at the prayer in which he (the Prophet) recited aloud.

Abu Dawud said: I heard Muhammad b. Yaya b. Faris say: The words “the people ceased to recite (the Qur’an)” is a statement of al-zuhri.

I saw the people buy foodstuff randomly (i.e. blindly without measuring it) in the lifetime of Allah's Apostle and they were punished (by beating), if they tried to sell it before carrying it to their own houses.

Usama bin Zaid said, "The Prophet rode over a donkey with a saddle underneath which there was a thick soft Fadakiya velvet sheet. Usama bin Zaid was his companion rider, and he was going to pay a visit to Sa`d bin Ubada (who was sick) at the dwelling place of Bani Al-Harith bin Al-Khazraj, and this incident happened before the battle of Badr. The Prophet passed by a gathering in which there were Muslims and pagan idolators and Jews, and among them there was `Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul, and there was `Abdullah bin Rawaha too. When a cloud of dust raised by the animal covered that gathering, `Abdullah bin Ubai covered his nose with his Rida (sheet) and said (to the Prophet), "Don't cover us with dust." The Prophet greeted them and then stopped, dismounted and invited them to Allah (i.e., to embrace Islam) and also recited to them the Holy Qur'an. `Abdullah bin Ubai' bin Salul said, "O man! There is nothing better than what you say, if what you say is the truth. So do not trouble us in our gatherings. Go back to your mount (or house,) and if anyone of us comes to you, tell (your tales) to him." On that `Abdullah bin Rawaha said, "(O Allah's Apostle!) Come to us and bring it(what you want to say) in our gatherings, for we love that." So the Muslims, the pagans and the Jews started quarreling till they were about to fight and clash with one another. The Prophet kept on quietening them (till they all became quiet). He then rode his animal, and proceeded till he entered upon Sa`d bin 'Ubada, he said, "O Sa`d, didn't you hear what Abu Habbab said? (He meant `Abdullah bin Ubai). He said so-and-so." Sa`d bin 'Ubada said, "O Allah's Apostle! Excuse and forgive him, for by Allah, Allah has given you what He has given you. The people of this town decided to crown him (as their chief) and make him their king. But when Allah prevented that with the Truth which He had given you, it choked him, and that was what made him behave in the way you saw him behaving." So the Prophet excused him.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard the people of knowledge say that when a man hit game and something else might have contributed to death, like water or an untrained dog, that game was not to be eaten unless it was beyond doubt that it was the arrow of the hunter that had killed it by reaching a vital organ, so that it did not have any life after that.

Yahya said that he heard Malik say that there was no harm in eating game when you did not see it die if you found the mark of your dog on it or your arrow in it as long as it had not remained overnight. If it had remained overnight, then it was disapproved of to eat it.

The Prophet was asked about things which he did not like, but when the questioners insisted, the Prophet got angry. He then said to the people, "Ask me anything you like." A man asked, "Who is my father?" The Prophet replied, "Your father is Hudhafa." Then another man got up and said, "Who is my father, O Allah's Apostle ?" He replied, "Your father is Salim, Maula (the freed slave) of Shaiba." So when `Umar saw that (the anger) on the face of the Prophet he said, "O Allah's Apostle! We repent to Allah (Our offending you).

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said to me: When my messengers come to you, give them thirty coats of mail, and thirty camels. I asked: Messenger of Allah, is it a loan with a guarantee of its return, or a loan to be paid back? He replied : It is a loan to be paid back.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, said, 'If My slave longs to meet Me, I long to meet him, and if he is averse to meeting Me, I am averse to meeting him.' "

While we were with Allah's Apostle a bedouin got up and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Settle my case according to Allah's Book (Laws)." Then his opponent got up and said, "O Allah's Apostle! He has said the truth! Settle his case according to Allah's Book (Laws.) and allow me to speak," He said, "My son was a laborer for this man and he committed illegal sexual intercourse with his wife. The people told me that my son should be stoned to death but I ransomed him with one-hundred sheep and a slave girl. Then I asked the religious learned people and they told me that his wife should be stoned to death and my son should receive one-hundred lashes and be sentenced to one year of exile.' The Prophet said, "By Him in Whose Hands my life is, I will judge between you according to Allah's Book (Laws): As for the slave girl and the sheep, they are to be returned; and as for your son, he shall receive onehundred lashes and will be exiled for one year. You, O Unais!" addressing a man from Bani Aslam, "Go tomorrow morning to the wife of this (man) and if she confesses, then stone her to death." The next morning Unais went to the wife and she confessed, and he stoned her to death.

A bedouin came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's apostle! I ask you by Allah to judge My case according to Allah's Laws." His opponent, who was more learned than he, said, "Yes, judge between us according to Allah's Laws, and allow me to speak." Allah's Apostle said, "Speak." He (i .e. the bedouin or the other man) said, "My son was working as a laborer for this (man) and he committed illegal sexual intercourse with his wife. The people told me that it was obligatory that my son should be stoned to death, so in lieu of that I ransomed my son by paying one hundred sheep and a slave girl. Then I asked the religious scholars about it, and they informed me that my son must be lashed one hundred lashes, and be exiled for one year, and the wife of this (man) must be stoned to death." Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, I will judge between you according to Allah's Laws. The slave-girl and the sheep are to be returned to you, your son is to receive a hundred lashes and be exiled for one year. You, Unais, go to the wife of this (man) and if she confesses her guilt, stone her to death." Unais went to that woman next morning and she confessed. Allah's Apostle ordered that she be stoned to death.

Allah's Apostle forbade Al-Wisal. The people said (to him), "But you fast Al-`Wisal," He said, "Who among you is like me? When I sleep (at night), my Lord makes me eat and drink. But when the people refused to give up Al-Wisal, he fasted Al-Wisal along with them for two days and then they saw the crescent whereupon the Prophet said, "If the crescent had not appeared I would have fasted for a longer period," as if he intended to punish them herewith.