Hafsa said, 'We used to forbid our young women to go out for the two `Id prayers. A woman came and stayed at the palace of Bani Khalaf and she narrated about her sister whose husband took part in twelve holy battles along with the Prophet and her sister was with her husband in six (out of these twelve). She (the woman's sister) said, "We used to treat the wounded, look after the patients and once I asked the Prophet, 'Is there any harm for any of us to stay at home if she doesn't have a veil?' He said, 'She should cover herself with the veil of her companion and should participate in the good deeds and in the religious gathering of the Muslims.' When Um `Atiya came I asked her whether she had heard it from the Prophet. She replied, "Yes. May my father be sacrificed for him (the Prophet)! (Whenever she mentioned the Prophet she used to say, 'May my father be sacrificed for him) I have heard the Prophet saying, 'The unmarried young virgins and the mature girl who stay often screened or the young unmarried virgins who often stay screened and the menstruating women should come out and participate in the good deeds as well as the religious gathering of the faithful believers but the menstruating women should keep away from the Musalla (praying place).' " Hafsa asked Um `Atiya surprisingly, "Do you say the menstruating women?" She replied, "Doesn't a menstruating woman attend `Arafat (Hajj) and such and such (other deeds)?"

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone applies collyrium, he should do it an odd number of times. If he does so, he has done well; but if not, there is no harm. If anyone cleanses himself with pebbles, he should use an odd number. If he does so, he has done well; but if not, there is no harm.

If anyone eats, he should throw away what he removes with a toothpick and swallow what sticks to his tongue. If he does so, he has done well; if not, there is no harm. If anyone goes to relieve himself, he should conceal himself, and if all he can do is to collect a heap of send, he should sit with his back to it, for the devil makes sport with the posteriors of the children of Adam. If he does so, he has done well; but if not, there is no harm.

Allah's Apostle said, "A place in Paradise equal to the size of a lash is better than the whole world and whatever is in it."

The Prophet (saws) said: The best medical treatment you apply is cupping.

The Prophet said, "None has the right to say that I am better than Jonah bin Matta."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to make dua saying, "O Allah, I askYou for good actions and for leaving what is disapproved of and for love of the poor. And if You wish to try people, then bring me to You without being tried."

Allahumma inniy asa'luka fala'l-khayrati, wa tarqa'l-munqarati, wa hubba'l-masakin, wa idha aradta fi'n-nasi fitnatan fa'qbithni ilayka ghayra maftun.

The Prophet said, "Horses are always the source of good, namely, rewards (in the Hereafter) and booty, till the Day of Resurrection."

Allah's Apostle said, "There is always goodness in horses till the Day of Resurrection. "

Ibn `Abbas asked me, "Are you married?" I replied, "No." He said, "Marry, for the best person of this (Muslim) nation (i.e., Muhammad) of all other Muslims, had the largest number of wives."

Allah's Apostle said, "Good will remain (as a permanent quality) in the foreheads of horses till the Day of Resurrection."

I asked `Aisha about the option: She said, "The Prophet gave us the option. Do you think that option was considered as a divorce?" I said, "It matters little to me if I give my wife the option once or a hundred times after she has chosen me."

The Prophet said, "It is better for a man to fill the inside of his body with pus than to fill it with poetry."

The Prophet said, "A single endeavor (of fighting) in Allah's Cause in the forenoon or in the afternoon is better than the world and whatever is in it."

The Prophet said, "None should say that I am better than Yunus bin Matta."

Malik related to me from Humayd ibn Qays al-Makki that Mujahid said, "Abdullah ibn Umar borrowed some dirhams from a man, then he discharged his debt with dirhams better than them. The man said, 'Abu Abdar-Rahman. These are better than the dirhams which I lent you.' Abdullah ibn Umar said, 'I know that. But I am happy with myself about that.' "

Malik said, "There is no harm in a person who has borrowed gold, silver, food, or animals, taking to the person who lent it, something better than what he lent, when that is not a stipulation between them nor a custom. If that is by a stipulation or promise or custom, then it is disapproved, and there is no good in it."

He said, "That is because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, discharged his debt with a good camel in its seventh year in place of a young camel which he borrowed, and Abdullah ibn Umar borrowed some dirhams, and repaid them with better ones. If that is from the goodness of the borrower, and it is not by a stipulation, promise, or custom, it is halal and there is no harm in it."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father never brought food or drink, nor even a remedy which he ate or drank but that he said, "Praise be to Allah who has guided us and fed us and given us to drink and blessed us. Allah is greater. O Allah! We have found Your blessing with every evil, give us every good in the morning and evening. We ask You for its completion and its gratitude. There is no good except Your good. There is no god other than You, the God of the salihun and the Lord of the Worlds. Praise be to Allah. There is no god but Allah. What Allah wills. There is no power except in Allah. O Allah! Bless us in what You have provided us with and protect us from the punishment of the Fire!"

Al-hamdu lillahi-lladhi hadana wa at amana wa saqana wa naamana. Allahu akbar. Allahumma'l fatna nimatik bi-kulli sharr. Fa asbahna minha wa amsayna bi-kulli khayr. Nasaluka tamamaha wa shukraha. La khayr illa khayruk. Wa la ilaha ghayruk. Ilaha'-saliheen wa rabba'l-alameen. Al-hamdu lillah. Wa la ilaha illa'llah. Ma sha'Allah. Wa la quwwata illa billah. Allahumma barik lana fima razaqtana. Waqina adhaba'n-nar.

Hafsa bint Seereen said, "On Id we used to forbid our girls to go out for `Id prayer. A lady came and stayed at the palace of Bani Khalaf and I went to her. She said, 'The husband of my sister took part in twelve holy battles along with the Prophet and my sister was with her husband in six of them. My sister said that they used to nurse the sick and treat the wounded. Once she asked, 'O Allah's Apostle! If a woman has no veil, is there any harm if she does not come out (on `Id day)?' The Prophet said, 'Her companion should let her share her veil with her, and the women should participate in the good deeds and in the religious gatherings of the believers.' " Hafsa added, "When Um-`Atiya came, I went to her and asked her, 'Did you hear anything about so-and-so?' Um-`Atiya said, 'Yes, let my father be sacrificed for the Prophet (p.b.u.h). (And whenever she mentioned the name of the Prophet she always used to say, 'Let my father be' sacrificed for him). He said, 'Virgin mature girls staying often screened (or said, 'Mature girls and virgins staying often screened--Aiyub is not sure as which was right) and menstruating women should come out (on the `Id day). But the menstruating women should keep away from the Musalla. And all the women should participate in the good deeds and in the religious gatherings of the believers'." Hafsa said, "On that I said to Um-`Atiya, 'Also those who are menstruating?' " Um-`Atiya replied, "Yes. Do they not present themselves at `Arafat and elsewhere?".

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) used to teach us the way of doing Istikhara (Istikhara means to ask Allah to guide one to the right sort of action concerning any job or a deed), in all matters as he taught us the Suras of the Qur'an. He said, "If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two rak`at prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer): -- 'Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi'ilmika, Wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratika, Wa as'alaka min fadlika Al-`azlm Fa-innaka taqdiru Wala aqdiru, Wa ta'lamu Wala a'lamu, Wa anta 'allamu l-ghuyub. Allahumma, in kunta ta'lam anna hadha-lamra Khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati `Amri (or 'ajili `Amri wa'ajilihi) Faqdirhu wa yas-sirhu li thumma barik li Fihi, Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha-lamra shar-run li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa'aqibati `Amri (or fi'ajili `Amri wa ajilihi) Fasrifhu anni was-rifni anhu. Waqdir li al-khaira haithu kana Thumma ardini bihi.' (O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, And Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this job is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter--(or said: If it is better for my present and later needs)--Then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, And then bless me in it, and if You know that this job is harmful to me In my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter--(or said: If it is worse for my present and later needs)--Then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, And make me satisfied with it). The Prophet added that then the person should name (mention) his need.

Abu Dawud said: The narrator ‘Abd al-Razzaq said; You pronounce IQAMAH for announcing the prayer; you must say twice: the time for prayer has come, the time for prayer has come. (The Prophet said to Abu Mahdhurah): did you listen (to me)? Abu Mahdhurah would not have the hair of his forehead cut, nor would he separate them (from him) because the Prophet (may peace be upon him) wiped over them.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih from his father from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever makes an oath and then sees that something else would be better than it, should do kaffara for his oath and do what is better."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "Anyone who says that he has a vow but does not mention the name of Allah, is still obliged to make the kaffara for an oath (if he breaks it)".

Malik said, "Emphasis is when a man swears one thing several times, repeating the oath in his speech time after time. For instance, the statement, 'By Allah, I will not decrease it from such-and-such,' sworn three times or more. The kaffara of that is like the kaffara of one oath. If a man swears, 'I will not eat this food or wear these clothes or enter this house,' that is all in one oath, and he is only obliged to do one kaffara. It is the same for a man who says to his wife, 'You are divorced if I clothe you in this garment or let you go to the mosque,' and it is one entire statement in the normal pattern of speech. If he breaks any of that oath, divorce is necessary, and there is no breaking of oath after that in whatever he does. There is only one oath to be broken in that."

Malik said, "What we do about a woman who makes a vow without her husband's permission is that she is allowed to do so and she must fulfill it, if it only concerns her own person and will not harm her husband. If, however, it will harm her husband, he may forbid her to fulfill it, but it remains an obligation against her until she has the opportunity to complete it."