The Prophet sent a Sariya of spies and appointed `Asim bin Thabit, the grandfather of `Asim bin `Umar bin Al-Khattab, as their leader. So they set out, and when they reached (a place) between 'Usfan and Mecca, they were mentioned to one of the branch tribes of Bani Hudhail called Lihyan. So, about one-hundred archers followed their traces till they (i.e. the archers) came to a journey station where they (i.e. `Asim and his companions) had encamped and found stones of dates they had brought as journey food from Medina. The archers said, "These are the dates of Medina," and followed their traces till they took them over. When `Asim and his companions were not able to go ahead, they went up a high place, and their pursuers encircled them and said, "You have a covenant and a promise that if you come down to us, we will not kill anyone of you." `Asim said, "As for me, I will never come down on the security of an infidel. O Allah! Inform Your Prophet about us." So they fought with them till they killed `Asim along with seven of his companions with arrows, and there remained Khubaib, Zaid and another man to whom they gave a promise and a covenant. So when the infidels gave them the covenant and promise, they came down. When they captured them, they opened the strings of their arrow bows and tied them with it. The third man who was with them said, "This is the first breach in the covenant," and refused to accompany them. They dragged him and tried to make him accompany them, but he refused, and they killed him. Then they proceeded on taking Khubaib and Zaid till they sold them in Mecca. The sons of Al-Harith bin `Amr bin Naufal bought Khubaib. It was Khubaib who had killed Al-Harith bin `Amr on the day of Badr. Khubaib stayed with them for a while as a captive till they decided unanimously to kill him. (At that time) Khubaib borrowed a razor from one of the daughters of Al- Harith to shave his pubic hair. She gave it to him. She said later on, "I was heedless of a little baby of mine, who moved towards Khubaib, and when it reached him, he put it on his thigh. When I saw it, I got scared so much that Khubaib noticed my distress while he was carrying the razor in his hand. He said 'Are you afraid that I will kill it? Allah willing, I will never do that,' " Later on she used to say, "I have never seen a captive better than Khubaib Once I saw him eating from a bunch of grapes although at that time no fruits were available at Mecca, and he was fettered with iron chains, and in fact, it was nothing but food bestowed upon him by Allah." So they took him out of the Sanctuary (of Mecca) to kill him. He said, "Allow me to offer a two-rak`at prayer." Then he went to them and said, "Had I not been afraid that you would think I was afraid of death, I would have prayed for a longer time." So it was Khubaib who first set the tradition of praying two rak`at before being executed. He then said, "O Allah! Count them one by one," and added, 'When I am being martyred as a Muslim, I do not care in what way I receive my death for Allah's Sake, because this death is in Allah's Cause. If He wishes, He will bless the cut limbs." Then `Uqba bin Al-Harith got up and martyred him. The narrator added: The Quraish (infidels) sent some people to `Asim in order to bring a part of his body so that his death might be known for certain, for `Asim had killed one of their chiefs on the day of Badr. But Allah sent a cloud of wasps which protected his body from their messengers who could not harm his body consequently.

I went with my father to the Prophet (saws). He had locks hanging down as far as the lobes of the ears stained with henna, and he was wearing two green garments.

Allah's Apostle said, "If someone keeps a dog neither for guarding livestock, nor for hunting, his good deeds will decrease (in reward) by two Qirats a day.'

Two men came from the East and addressed the people who wondered at their eloquent speeches On that Allah's Apostle said. Some eloquent speech is as effective as magic.'

The Prophet said, "I do not think that so-and-so and so-and-so know anything of our religion." (And Al-Laith said, "These two persons were among the hypocrites.")

`Aisha (addressing me) said, "O son of my sister! The Prophet never missed two prostrations (i.e. rak`at) after the `Asr prayer in my house."

I accompanied Allah's Apostle and he never offered more than two rak`at during the journey. Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman used to do the same.

I asked Aisha about the night prayer of Allah's Apostle and she said, "It was seven, nine or eleven rak`at besides the two rak`at of the Fajr prayer (i.e. Sunna). "

The Prophet used to go to the Mosque of Quba (sometimes) walking and sometimes riding. Added Nafi` (in another narration), "He then would offer two rak`at (in the Mosque of Quba)."

The Prophet ordered (Muslims) to give one Sa' of dates or one Sa' of barley as Zakat-ul-Fitr. The people rewarded two Mudds of wheat as equal to that.

Allah's Apostle offered a two-rak`at prayer at Mina. Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman, (during the early years of his caliphate) followed the same practice.

The Prophet said, "Whoever manumits a slave owned by two masters, should manumit him completely (not partially) if he is rich after having its price evaluated."

In the pre-lslamic period of ignorance a flood of rain came and filled the valley in between the two mountains (around the Ka`ba).

Abu Dawud said: This tradition is sounder of the two traditions.

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, "Shaytan ties three knots at the back of your head when you sleep, and he seals the place of each knot with 'You have a long night ahead, so sleep.' If you wake up and remember Allah, a knot is untied. If you do wudu, a knot is untied. If you pray, a knot is untied, and morning finds you lively and in good spirits, and if not, morning finds you in bad spirits and lazy."

Magic was worked on Allah's Apostle so that he used to think that he had sexual relations with his wives while he actually had not (Sufyan said: That is the hardest kind of magic as it has such an effect). Then one day he said, "O `Aisha do you know that Allah has instructed me concerning the matter I asked Him about? Two men came to me and one of them sat near my head and the other sat near my feet. The one near my head asked the other. What is wrong with this man?' The latter replied the is under the effect of magic The first one asked, Who has worked magic on him?' The other replied Labid bin Al-A'sam, a man from Bani Zuraiq who was an ally of the Jews and was a hypocrite.' The first one asked, What material did he use)?' The other replied, 'A comb and the hair stuck to it.' The first one asked, 'Where (is that)?' The other replied. 'In a skin of pollen of a male date palm tree kept under a stone in the well of Dharwan' '' So the Prophet went to that well and took out those things and said "That was the well which was shown to me (in a dream) Its water looked like the infusion of Henna leaves and its date-palm trees looked like the heads of devils." The Prophet added, "Then that thing was taken out' I said (to the Prophet ) "Why do you not treat yourself with Nashra?" He said, "Allah has cured me; I dislike to let evil spread among my people."

When Allah gave to His Apostle the war booty on the day of Hunain, he distributed that booty amongst those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to Islam), but did not give anything to the Ansar. So they seemed to have felt angry and sad as they did not get the same as other people had got. The Prophet then delivered a sermon before them, saying, "O, the assembly of Ansar! Didn't I find you astray, and then Allah guided you on the Right Path through me? You were divided into groups, and Allah brought you together through me; you were poor and Allah made you rich through me." Whatever the Prophet said , they (i.e. the Ansar) said, "Allah and his Apostle have more favours to do." The Prophet said, "What stops you from answering the Apostle of Allah?" But whatever he said to them, they replied, "Allah and His Apostle have more favours to do." The Prophet then said, "If you wish you could say: 'You came to us in such-and-such state (at Medina).' Wouldn't you be willing to see the people go away with sheep and camels while you go with the Prophet to your homes? But for the migration, I would have been one of the Ansar, and if the people took their way through a valley or mountain pass, I would select the valley or mountain pass of the Ansar. The Ansar are Shiar (i.e. those clothes which are in direct contact with the body and worn inside the other garments), and the people are Dithar (i.e. those clothes which are not in direct contact with the body and are worn over other garments). No doubt, you will see other people favoured over you, so you should be patient till you meet me at the Tank (of Kauthar).

The Messenger of Allah (saws) would not say funeral prayer over a person who died while the debt was due from him. A dead Muslim was brought to him and he asked: Is there any debt due from him? They (the people) said: Yes, two dirhams. He said: Pray yourselves over your companion.

Then AbuQatadah al-Ansari said: I shall pay them, Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah (saws) then prayed over him.

When Allah granted conquests to the Messenger of Allah (saws), he said: I am nearer to every believer than himself, so if anyone (dies and) leaves a debt, I shall be responsible for paying it; and if anyone leaves property, it goes to his heirs.

Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hand my soul is I was about to order for collecting firewood (fuel) and then order Someone to pronounce the Adhan for the prayer and then order someone to lead the prayer then I would go from behind and burn the houses of men who did not present themselves for the (compulsory congregational) prayer. By Him, in Whose Hands my soul is, if anyone of them had known that he would get a bone covered with good meat or two (small) pieces of meat present in between two ribs, he would have turned up for the `Isha' prayer.'

"A slave came to give the pledge to the Prophet (saws) for Hijrah, but the Prophet (saws) did not realize that he was a slave. So his master came to get him and the Prophet (saws) said: 'Sell him to me.' So he purchased him for two black slaves. Then he would not pledge from anyone until he asked him if he was a slave."

[He said:] There is something on this topic from Anas.

[Abu 'Eisa said:] The Hadith of Jabir is a Hasan Sahih Hadith. This is acted upon according to the people of knowledge. There is no harm in a slave for two slaves in hand to hand exchange, but they differ when it is on credit.

The Prophet (sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam ) passed by two graves. He said : Both (the dead) are being punished, but they are not being punished for a major (sin). One did not safeguard himself from urine. The other carried tales. He then called for a fresh twig and split it into two parts and planted one part on each grave and said: Perhaps their punishment may be mitigated as long as the twigs remain fresh.

Another version of Hannad has: "One of them did not cover himself while urinating." This version does not have the words: "He did not safeguard himself from urine."

Seek refuge with Allah by saying the words which the Prophet used to say while seeking refuge with Allah, "0 Allah! I seek refuge with You from cowardice, and seek refuge with You from miserliness, and seek refuge with You from reaching a degraded geriatric old age, and seek refuge with You from the afflictions of the world and from the punishment in the grave."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw spittle on the wall of the qibla and scraped it off. Then he went up to the people and said, "Do not spit in front of you when you are praying, because Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, is in front of you when you pray."

Yahya related to me, and I (myself) heard Malik say, "The best that I have heard about some one who has to fast for two consecutive months because of having killed someone by mistake or having pronounced the dhihar form of divorce, becoming very ill and having to break his fast, is that if he recovers from his illness and is strong enough to fast, he must not delay doing so. He continues his fast from where he left off.

Similarly, a woman who has to fast because of having killed some one by mistake should not delay resuming her fast when she has become pure after her period. She continues her fast from where she left off.

No one who, by the Book of Allah, has to fast for two consecutive months may break his fast except for a reason - illness or menstruation. He must not travel and break his fast."

Malik said, "This is the best that I have heard about the matter."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that Hamza ibn Amr al-Aslami once said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "Messenger of Allah, I am a man who fasts. Can I fast when travelling?" The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If you want you can fast, and if you want you can break the fast."

Zurarah ibn Awfa said that Aisha was asked about the midnight prayer of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

She said: He used to offer his night prayer in congregation and then return to his family (in his house) and pray four rak'ahs. Then he would go to his bed and sleep, but the water for his ablution was placed covered near his head and his tooth-stick was also kept there until Allah awakened him at night.

He then used the tooth-stick, performed ablution perfectly then came to the place of prayer and would pray eight rak'ahs, in which he would recite Surah al-Fatihah, and a surah from the Qur'an as Allah willed. He would not sit during any of them but sit after the eighth rak'ah, and would not utter the salutation, but recite (the Qur'an) during the ninth rak'ah. Then he would sit and supplicate as long as Allah willed, and beg Him and devote his attention to Him; He would utter the salutation once in such a loud voice that the inmates of the house were almost awakened by his loud salutation. He would then recite Surah al-Fatihah while sitting, bow while sitting, and then recite the Qur'an during the second rak'ah, and would bow and prostrate while sitting. He would supplicate Allah as long as He willed, then utter the salutation and turn away.

This amount of prayer of the Messenger of Allah (saws) continued till he put a weight. During that period he retrenched two rak'ahs from nine and began to pray six and seven rak'ahs standing and two rak'ahs sitting. This continued till he died.

Allah's Apostle used to seek refuge with Allah saying, "O Allah! I seek refuge with You from laziness, and seek refuge with You from cowardice, and seek refuge with You from geriatric old age, and seek refuge with You from miserliness."

`Abdullah bin `Abbas said, "O the group of Muslims! How can you ask the people of the Scriptures about anything while your Book which Allah has revealed to your Prophet contains the most recent news from Allah and is pure and not distorted? Allah has told you that the people of the Scriptures have changed some of Allah's Books and distorted it and wrote something with their own hands and said, 'This is from Allah, so as to have a minor gain for it. Won't the knowledge that has come to you stop you from asking them? No, by Allah, we have never seen a man from them asking you about that (the Book Al-Qur'an ) which has been revealed to you.