Yahya related to me from Malik that Thawr ibn Zayd ad-Dili said, "I heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'A house or land that has been divided in the Jahiliyya, it is according to the division of the Jahiliyya. A house or land which has not been divided before the coming of Islam is divided according to Islam.' "

My uncle brought me (to Medina) in the pre-Islamic days. He sold me to al-Hubab ibn Amr, brother of AbulYusr ibn Amr. I bore a child, AbdurRahman ibn al-Hubab, to him and he (al-Hubab) then died.

Thereupon his wife said: I swear by Allah, now you will be sold (as a repayment) for his loan.

So I came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and said: Messenger of Allah! I am a woman of Banu Kharijah Qays ibn Aylan. My uncle had brought me to Medina in pre-Islamic days. He sold me to al-Hubab ibn Amr, brother of AbulYusr ibn Amr. I bore AbdurRahman ibn al-Hubab to him. His wife said: I swear by Allah, you will be sold for his loan.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Who is the guardian of al-Hubab?

He was told: His brother, AbulYusr ibn Amr. He then sent for him and said: Set her free; when you hear that some slaves have been brought to me, came to me, and I shall compensate you for her.

She said: They set me free, and when some slaves were brought to the Messenger of Allah (saws), he gave them a slave in compensation for me.

The people used to ask Allah's Apostle about good, but I used to ask him about evil for fear that it might overtake me. Once I said, "O Allah's Apostle! We were in ignorance and in evil and Allah has bestowed upon us the present good; will there by any evil after this good?" He said, "Yes." I asked, "Will there be good after that evil?" He said, "Yes, but it would be tained with Dakhan (i.e. Little evil)." I asked, "What will its Dakhan be?" He said, "There will be some people who will lead (people) according to principles other than my tradition. You will see their actions and disapprove of them." I said, "Will there by any evil after that good?" He said, "Yes, there will be some people who will invite others to the doors of Hell, and whoever accepts their invitation to it will be thrown in it (by them)." I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Describe those people to us." He said, "They will belong to us and speak our language" I asked, "What do you order me to do if such a thing should take place in my life?" He said, "Adhere to the group of Muslims and their Chief." I asked, "If there is neither a group (of Muslims) nor a chief (what shall I do)?" He said, "Keep away from all those different sects, even if you had to bite (i.e. eat) the root of a tree, till you meet Allah while you are still in that state."

The people used to ask Allah's Apostle about the good but I used to ask him about the evil lest I should be overtaken by them. So I said, "O Allah's Apostle! We were living in ignorance and in an (extremely) worst atmosphere, then Allah brought to us this good (i.e., Islam); will there be any evil after this good?" He said, "Yes." I said, 'Will there be any good after that evil?" He replied, "Yes, but it will be tainted (not pure.)'' I asked, "What will be its taint?" He replied, "(There will be) some people who will guide others not according to my tradition? You will approve of some of their deeds and disapprove of some others." I asked, "Will there be any evil after that good?" He replied, "Yes, (there will be) some people calling at the gates of the (Hell) Fire, and whoever will respond to their call, will be thrown by them into the (Hell) Fire." I said, "O Allah s Apostle! Will you describe them to us?" He said, "They will be from our own people and will speak our language." I said, "What do you order me to do if such a state should take place in my life?" He said, "Stick to the group of Muslims and their Imam (ruler)." I said, "If there is neither a group of Muslims nor an Imam (ruler)?" He said, "Then turn away from all those sects even if you were to bite (eat) the roots of a tree till death overtakes you while you are in that state."

At Ar-Rabadha I met Abu Dhar who was wearing a cloak, and his slave, too, was wearing a similar one. I asked about the reason for it. He replied, "I abused a person by calling his mother with bad names." The Prophet said to me, 'O Abu Dhar! Did you abuse him by calling his mother with bad names You still have some characteristics of ignorance. Your slaves are your brothers and Allah has put them under your command. So whoever has a brother under his command should feed him of what he eats and dress him of what he wears. Do not ask them (slaves) to do things beyond their capacity (power) and if you do so, then help them.' "

Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) took a vow in the pre-Islamic days to spend a night or a day in devotion near the Ka'bah (in the sacred mosque). He asked the Prophet (saws) about it. He said: Observe i'tikaf (i.e. spend a night or a day near the Ka'bah) and fast.

When a boy was born to one of us in the pre-Islamic period, we sacrificed a sheep and smeared his head with its blood; but when Allah brought Islam, we sacrificed a sheep, shaved his head and smeared his head with saffron.

We were in a Ghazwa (Sufyan once said, in an army) and a man from the emigrants kicked an Ansari man (on the buttocks with his foot). The Ansari man said, "O the Ansar! (Help!)" and the emigrant said. "O the emigrants! (Help!) Allah's Apostle heard that and said, "What is this call for, which is characteristic of the period of ignorance?" They said, "O Allah's Apostle! A man from the emigrants kicked one of the Ansar (on the buttocks with his foot)." Allah's Apostle said, "Leave it (that call) as is a detestable thing." `Abdullah bin Ubai heard that and said, 'Have the (the emigrants) done so? By Allah, if we return Medina, surely, the more honorable will expel therefrom the meaner." When this statement reached the Prophet. `Umar got up an, said, "O Allah's Apostle! Let me chop off the head of this hypocrite (`Abdullah bin Ubai)!" The Prophet said "Leave him, lest the people say that Muhammad kills his companions." The Ansar were then more in number than the emigrants when the latter came to Medina, but later on the emigrant increased.

I never heard `Umar saying about something that he thought it would be so-and-so, but he was quite right. Once, while `Umar was sitting, a handsome man passed by him, `Umar said, "If I am not wrong, this person is still on his religion of the pre-lslamic period of ignorance or he was their foreteller. Call the man to me." When the man was called to him, he told him of his thought. The man said, "I have never seen such a day on which a Muslim is faced with such an accusation." `Umar said, "I am determined that you should tell me the truth." He said, "I was a foreteller in the pre-lslamic period of ignorance." Then `Umar said, "Tell me the most astonishing thing your female Jinn has told you of." He said, "One-day while I was in the market, she came to me scared and said, 'Haven't you seen the Jinns and their despair and they were overthrown after their defeat (and prevented from listening to the news of the heaven) so that they (stopped going to the sky and) kept following camel-riders (i.e. 'Arabs)?" `Umar said, "He is right." and added, "One day while I was near their idols, there came a man with a calf and slaughtered it as a sacrifice (for the idols). An (unseen) creature shouted at him, and I have never heard harsher than his voice. He was crying, 'O you bold evil-doer! A matter of success! An eloquent man is saying: None has the right to be worshipped except you (O Allah).' On that the people fled, but I said, 'I shall not go away till I know what is behind this.' Then the cry came again: 'O you bold evil-doer! A matter of success! An eloquent man is saying: None has the right to be worshipped except Allah.' I then went away and a few days later it was said, "A prophet has appeared."

The Prophet (saws) said: There is no prostitution in Islam. If anyone practised prostitution in pre-Islamic times, the child will be attributed to the master (of the slave-woman). He who claims his child without a valid marriage or ownership will neither inherit nor be inherited.

The Prophet (saws) said: An estate which was divided in pre-Islamic period may follow the division in force then, but any estate in Islamic times must follow the division laid down by Islam.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had asked Ibn Shihab why Umar ibn al Khattab used to take a tenth from the Nabateans, and Ibn Shihab replied, "It used to be taken from them in the jahiliyya, and Umar imposed it on them."

In the year of the Conquest of Mecca, the tribe of Khuza`a killed a man from the tribe of Bam Laith in revenge for a killed person belonging to them in the Pre-lslamic Period of Ignorance. So Allah's Apostle got up saying, "Allah held back the (army having) elephants from Mecca, but He let His Apostle and the believers overpower the infidels (of Mecca). Beware! (Mecca is a sanctuary)! Verily! Fighting in Mecca was not permitted for anybody before me, nor will it be permitted for anybody after me; It was permitted for me only for a while (an hour or so) of that day. No doubt! It is at this moment a sanctuary; its thorny shrubs should not be uprooted; its trees should not be cut down; and its Luqata (fallen things) should not be picked up except by the one who would look for its owner. And if somebody is killed, his closest relative has the right to choose one of two things, i.e., either the Blood money or retaliation by having the killer killed." Then a man from Yemen, called Abu Shah, stood up and said, "Write that) for me, O Allah's Apostle!" Allah's Apostle said (to his companions), "Write that for Abu Shah." Then another man from Quraish got up, saying, "O Allah's Apostle! Except Al- Idhkhir (a special kind of grass) as we use it in our houses and for graves." Allah's Apostle said, "Except Al-idhkkir."

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) came to Medina, the people had two days on which they engaged in games. He asked: What are these two days (what is the significance)? They said: We used to engage ourselves on them in the pre-Islamic period. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Allah has substituted for them something better than them, the day of sacrifice and the day of the breaking of the fast.