Malik related to me from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father from A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked what was the most excellent kind of slave to free. The Messenger of Allah, May Allah bless him and grant him peace, answered, "The most expensive and the most valuable to his master."

We used to participate in the holy battles led by Allah's Apostle and we had nothing (no wives) with us. So we said, "Shall we get ourselves castrated?" He forbade us that and then allowed us to marry women with a temporary contract (2) and recited to us: -- 'O you who believe ! Make not unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful for you, but commit no transgression.' (5.87)

I asked Az-Zuhri, "Which of the wives of the Prophet sought refuge with Allah from him?" He said "I was told by 'Urwa that `Aisha said, 'When the daughter of Al-Jaun was brought to Allah's Apostle (as his bride) and he went near her, she said, "I seek refuge with Allah from you." He said, "You have sought refuge with The Great; return to your family."

The wife of Rifa`a Al-Qurazi came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Rifa`a divorced me irrevocably. After him I married `Abdur-Rahman bin Az-Zubair Al-Qurazi who proved to be impotent." Allah's Apostle said to her, "Perhaps you want to return to Rifa`a? Nay (you cannot return to Rifa`a) until you and `Abdur-Rahman consummate your marriage."

Ibn `Umar divorced his wife while she was having her menses. `Umar asked the Prophet who said, "Order him (your son) to take her back, and then divorced her before her period of the 'Iddah has elapsed." I asked Ibn `Umar, "Will that divorce (during the menses) be counted?" He replied, "If somebody behaves foolishly (will his foolishness be an excuse for his misbehavior)?"

that once the Prophet was in her house, and an effeminate man was there too. The effeminate man said to `Abdullah, (Um Salama's brother) "0 `Abdullah! If Ta'if should be conquered tomorrow, I recommend you the daughter of Ghailan, for she is so fat that she has four curves in the front (of her belly) and eight at the back." So the Prophet said (to his wives) "These effeminate (men) should not enter upon you (your houses).

(the wife of the Prophet) I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Why have the people finished their Ihram after performing the `Umra while you have not finished your lhram after your `Umra?" He said, "I have done Talbid (of my hair) and have decorated my Hadis with garlands, so I shall not finish my lhram till l have slaughtered my Hadi (animal for sacrifice).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that a man questioned the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saying, "What is permitted me from my wife when she is menstruating?" The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Let her wrap her waist-wrapper round herself tightly, and then what is above that is your concern."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "An infant boy was brought to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and it urinated on him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, called for some water and rubbed over the urine with it."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim from his father that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I perfumed the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for his ihram before he entered ihram, and when he came out of ihram before he did tawaf of the House."

Aflah asked the permission to visit me but I did not allow him. He said, "Do you veil yourself before me although I am your uncle?" `Aisha said, "How is that?" Aflah replied, "You were suckled by my brother's wife with my brother's milk." I asked Allah's Apostle about it, and he said, "Aflah is right, so permit him to visit you."

The Prophet said, "The first batch (of people) who will enter Paradise will be (glittering) like the full moon, and the batch next to them will be (glittering) like the most brilliant star in the sky. Their hearts will be as if the heart of a single man, for they will have neither enmity nor jealousy amongst themselves; everyone will have two wives from the houris, (who will be so beautiful, pure and transparent that) the marrow of the bones of their legs will be seen through the bones and the flesh."

(Once) the Prophet said, "Have you got carpets?" I replied, "Whence can we get carpets?" He said, "But you shall soon have carpets." I used to say to my wife, "Remove your carpets from my sight," but she would say, "Didn't the Prophet tell you that you would soon have carpets?" So I would give up my request.

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."

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.

Whenever the Prophet returned from the Hajj or the `Umra or a Ghazwa, he would say Takbir thrice. Whenever he came upon a mountain path or wasteland, and then he would say, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, Alone Who has no partner. All the Kingdom belongs to Him and all the praises are for Him and He is Omnipotent. We are returning with repentance, worshipping, prostrating ourselves and praising our Lord. Allah fulfilled His Promise, granted victory to His slave and He Alone defeated all the clans."

Malik said, "The generally agreed-on way of doing things in our community is that any setting-free which a man makes in a bequest that he wills in health or illness can be rescinded by him when he likes and changed when he likes as long as it is not a tadbir. There is no way to rescind a tadbir once he has made it.

"As for every child born to him by a slave-girl who he wills to be set free but he does not make mudabbara, her children are not freed with her when she is freed. That is because her master can change his will when he likes and rescind it when he likes, and being set free is not confirmed for her. She is in the position of a slave-girl whose master says, 'If so- and-so remains with me until I die, she is free.' " (i.e. he does not make a definite contract.)

Malik said, "If she fulfils that, that is hers. If he wishes, before that, he can sell her and her child because he has not entered her child into any condition he has made for her.

"The bequest in setting free is different from the tadbir. The precedent of the sunna makes a distinction between them. Had a bequest been in the position of a tadbir, no testator would be able to change his will and what he mentioned in it of setting free. His property would be tied up and he would not be able to use it."

Malik said about a man who made all his slaves mudabbar while he was well and they were his only property, "If he made some of them mudabbar before the others, one begins with the first until the third of his property is reached. (i.e. their value is matched against the third, and those whose value is covered are free.) If he makes the mall mudabbar in his illness, and says in one statement, 'So-and-so is free. So-and-so is free. So-and-so is free if my death occurs in this illness,' or he makes them all mudabbar in one statement, they are matched against the third and one does not begin with any of them before the others. It is a bequest and they have a third of his property divided between them in shares. Then the third of his property frees each of them according to the extent of his share.

"No single one of them is given preference when that all occurs in his illness."

Malik spoke about a master who made his slave a mudabbar and then he died and the only property he had was the mudabbar slave and the slave had property. He said, "A third of the mudabbar is freed and his property remains in his possession."

Malik said about a mudabbar whose master gave him a kitaba and then the master died and did not leave any property other than him, "A third of him is freed and a third of his kitaba is reduced, and he owes two-thirds."

Malik spoke about a man who freed half of his slave while he was ill and made irrevocable his freeing half of him or all of him, and he had made another slave of his mudabbar before that. He said, "One begins with the slave he made mudabbar before the one he freed while he was ill. That is because the man cannot revoke what he has made mudabbar and cannot follow it with a matter which will rescind it. When this mudabbar is freed, then what remains of the third goes to the one who had half of him freed so as to complete his setting-free entirely in the third of the property of the deceased. If what is left of the third does not cover that, whatever is covered by what is left of the third is freed after the first mudabbar is freed . "

A man made his wife like the back of his mother. He then had intercourse with her before he atoned for it. He came to the Prophet (saws) and informed him of this matter. He asked (him): What moved you to the action you have committed? He replied: I saw the whiteness of her shins in moon light. He said: Keep away from her until you expiate for your deed.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had asked Ibn Shihab about whether the deadline was set from the day he had married her, or from the day she raised the question before the Sultan. He said. 'It is from the day she presents it before the Sultan.'

Malik said, "As for someone who has intercourse with his wife and then is prevented from intercourse with her, I have not heard that there is a deadline set for him or that they are separated."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Khusayfa that Urwa ibn az-Zubayr said that he heard A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'When a mumin is afflicted by something, even a thorn, it removes (or effaces) his wrong actions.' " Yazid did not know which of them Urwa said.

We used to participate in the holy wars carried on by the Prophet and we had no women (wives) with us. So we said (to the Prophet ). "Shall we castrate ourselves?" But the Prophet forbade us to do that and thenceforth he allowed us to marry a woman (temporarily) by giving her even a garment, and then he recited: "O you who believe! Do not make unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful for you."

(the wife of the Prophet) that she asked Allah's Apostle about plague, and Allah's Apostle informed her saying, "Plague was a punishment which Allah used to send on whom He wished, but Allah made it a blessing for the believers. None (among the believers) remains patient in a land in which plague has broken out and considers that nothing will befall him except what Allah has ordained for him, but that Allah will grant him a reward similar to that of a martyr."

I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Which is the biggest sin?" He said, "To set up rivals to Allah by worshipping others though He alone has created you." I asked, "What is next?" He said, "To kill your child lest it should share your food." I asked, "What is next?" He said, "To commit illegal sexual intercourse with the wife of your neighbor."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd Rabbih ibn Said from Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham from A'isha and Umm Salama, the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to get up in the morning junub from intercourse, not a dream, in Ramadan, and then he would fast."

I was the leader of the delegation of Banu al-Muntafiq or (the narrator doubted) I was among the delegation of Banu al-Muntafiq that came to the Messenger of Allah (saws). When we reached the Prophet, we did not find him in his house. We found there Aisha, the Mother of the Believers. She ordered that a dish called Khazirah should be prepared for us. It was then prepared. A tray containing dates was then presented to us. (The narrator Qutaybah did not mention the word qina', tray).

Then the Messenger of Allah (saws) came. He asked: Has anything been served to you or ordered for you? We replied: Yes, Messenger of Allah. While we were sitting in the company of the Messenger of Allah (saws) we suddenly saw that a shepherd was driving a herd of sheep to their fold. He had with him a newly-born lamb that was crying.

He (the Prophet) asked him: What did it bear, O so and so? He replied: A ewe. He then said: Slaughter for us in its place a sheep. Do not think that we are slaughtering it for you. We have one hundred sheep and we do not want their number to increase. Whenever a ewe is born, we slaughter a sheep in its place.

(The narrator says that the Prophet (saws) used the word la tahsabanna, do not think).

I (the narrator Laqit) then said: Messenger of Allah, I have a wife who has something (wrong) in her tongue, i.e. she is insolent. He said: Then divorce her. I said: Messenger of Allah, she had company with me and I have children from her. He said: Then ask her (to obey you). If there is something good in her, she will do so (obey); and do not beat your wife as you beat your slave-girl.

I said: Messenger of Allah, tell me about ablution. He said: Perform ablution in full and make the fingers go through the beard and snuff with water well except when you are fasting.

We have nothing except the Book of Allah and this written paper from the Prophet (wherein is written:) Medina is a sanctuary from the 'Air Mountain to such and such a place, and whoever innovates in it an heresy or commits a sin, or gives shelter to such an innovator in it will incur the curse of Allah, the angels, and all the people, none of his compulsory or optional good deeds of worship will be accepted. And the asylum (of protection) granted by any Muslim is to be secured (respected) by all the other Muslims; and whoever betrays a Muslim in this respect incurs the curse of Allah, the angels, and all the people, and none of his compulsory or optional good deeds of worship will be accepted, and whoever (freed slave) befriends (take as masters) other than his manumitters without their permission incurs the curse of Allah, the angels, and all the people, and none of his compulsory or optional good deeds of worship will be accepted.

The Prophet (saws) said: "When you possess two hundred dirhams and one year passes on them, five dirhams are payable. Nothing is incumbent on you, that is, on gold, till it reaches twenty dinars. When you possess twenty dinars and one year passes on them, half a dinar is payable. Whatever exceeds, that will be reckoned properly."

(The narrator said: I do not remember whether the words "that will be reckoned properly" were uttered by All himself or he attributed them to the Prophet (saws).

No zakat is payable on property till a year passes on it.

But Jarir said: Ibn Wahb (sub-narrator) added to this tradition from the Prophet (saws): "No zakat is payable on property until a year passes away on it."

When Allah bestowed Khaybar on the Messenger of Allah (saws) as fay' (spoils of war without fighting), he divided the whole into thirty six lots. He put aside a half, i.e. eighteen lots, for the Muslims. Each lot comprised one hundred shares, and the Prophet (saws) was with them. He received a share like the share of one of them.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) separated eighteen lots, that is, half, for his future needs and whatever befell the Muslims. These were al-Watih, al-Kutaybah, as-Salalim and their colleagues. When all this property came in the possession of the Prophet (saws) and of the Muslims, they did not have sufficient labourers to work on it. The Messenger of Allah (saws) called Jews and employed them on contract.

The Prophet (saws) said, "No prayer is heavier upon the hypocrites than the Fajr and the `Isha' prayers and if they knew what is in them (in reward), they would have attended them, even if (it was) crawling. Certainly, I felt the urge to order the Mu'adh-dhin (call-maker) so that he would pronounce Iqama, then order a man to lead the people (in prayer), then take a flame of fire so that I burn (the houses) upon those who had not left for the prayer yet."

I remember ten Rakat of Nawafil from the Prophet, two Rakat before the Zuhr prayer and two after it; two Rakat after Maghrib prayer in his house, and two Rakat after 'Isha' prayer in his house, and two Rakat before the Fajr prayer and at that time nobody would enter the house of the Prophet.

Hafsa told me that the Prophet used to offer two Rakat after the call maker had made the Adhan and the day had dawned.

Usama b. Zaid (Allah be pleased with him) reported that he sat behind Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) on his ride as he came back from 'Arafa. And as he came to the valley, he halted his camel, and then went to the wilderness (to urinate). And when he came back, I poured water on him from the jug and he performed ablution, and then rode on until he came to Muzdalifa and there he combined the sunset and 'Isha' prayers.

(the wife of the Prophet) `Utba bin Abi Waqqas entrusted (his son) to his brother Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas saying, "The son of the slave-girl of Zam`a is my (illegal) son, take him into your custody." So during the year of the Conquest (of Mecca) Sa`d took the boy and said, "This is my brother's son whom my brother entrusted to me." 'Abu bin Zam's got up and said, "He is my brother and the son of the slave girl of my father and was born on my father's bed." Then both of them came to Allah's Apostle and Sa`d said, "O Allah's Apostle! This is my brother's son whom my brother entrusted to me." Then 'Abu bin Zam`a got up and said, "This is my brother and the son of the slave-girl of my father." Allah's Apostle said, "O Abu bin Zam`a! This boy is for you as the boy belongs to the bed (where he was born), and for the adulterer is the stone (i.e. deprivation)." Then the Prophet said to his wife Sauda bint Zam`a, "Screen yourself from this boy," when he saw the boy's resemblance to `Utba. Since then the boy did not see Sauda till he died.