Malik related to me from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, cut off the hand of a man who stole a shield whose price was three dirhams.

A man said, "O Allah's Prophet! Who is my father?" The Prophet said, "Your father is so-and-so." And then the Divine Verse:-- 'O you who believe! Ask not questions about things..(5.101)

A man said, "O Allah's Apostle! How is the prayer of the night?" He said, "Two rak`at followed by two rak`at and so on, and when you apprehend the approaching dawn, offer one rak`a as witr."

I saw Ibn `Umar passing by a man who had made his Badana sit to slaughter it. Ibn `Umar said, "Slaughter it while it is standing with one leg tied up as is the tradition of Muhammad."

A man said: Messenger of Allah, the mu'adhdhins excel us. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Say (the same words) as they say, and when you come to the end, make a petition and that will be granted to you.

A man came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have enlisted in the army for such-andsuch Ghazwa, and my wife is leaving for Hajj." Allah's Apostle said, "Go back and perform Hajj with your wife."

Allah's Apostle said, "Two persons came to me at night (in dream) (and took me along with them). We passed by a tall man who was so tall that I was not able to see his head and that person was Abraham."

Sulaym ibn Amir, a man of Himyar, said: There was a covenant between Mu'awiyah and the Byzantines, and he was going towards their country, and when the covenant came to an end, he attacked them. A man came on a horse, or a packhorse saying, Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great; let there be faithfulness and not treachery. And when they looked they found that he was Amr ibn Abasah. Mu'awiyah sent for him and questioned him (about that). He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: When one has covenant with people he must not strengthen or loosen it till its term comes to an end or he brings it to an end in agreement with them (to make both the parties equal). So Mu'awiyah returned.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abdullah ibn Dinar said, "A man came to Abdullah ibn Umar when I waswith him at the place where judgments were given and asked him about the suckling of an older person. Abdullah ibn Umar replied, 'A man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab and said, 'I have a slave-girl and I used to have intercourse with her. My wife went to her and suckled her. When I went to the girl, my wife told me to watch out, because she had suckled her!' Umar told him to beat his wife and to go to his slave-girl because kinship by suckling was only by the suckling of the young.' "

That he heard the Prophet delivering a sermon, and he mentioned the shecamel and the one who hamstrung it. Allah's Apostle recited:-- 'When, the most wicked man among them went forth (to hamstrung the she-camel).' (91.12.) Then he said, "A tough man whose equal was rare and who enjoyed the protection of his people, like Abi Zama went forth to (hamstrung) it." The Prophet then mentioned about the women (in his sermon). "It is not wise for anyone of you to lash his wife like a slave, for he might sleep with her the same evening." Then he advised them not to laugh when somebody breaks wind and said, "Why should anybody laugh at what he himself does?"

Allah's Apostle said, "While a man was walking on a road. he became very thirsty. Then he came across a well, got down into it, drank (of its water) and then came out. Meanwhile he saw a dog panting and licking mud because of excessive thirst. The man said to himself "This dog is suffering from the same state of thirst as I did." So he went down the well (again) and filled his shoe (with water) and held it in his mouth and watered the dog. Allah thanked him for that deed and forgave him." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Is there a reward for us in serving the animals?" He said, "(Yes) There is a reward for serving any animate (living being) ."

Once the Prophet was preaching while a bedouin was sitting there. The Prophet said, "A man from among the people of Paradise will request Allah to allow him to cultivate the land Allah will say to him, 'Haven't you got whatever you desire?' He will reply, 'yes, but I like to cultivate the land (Allah will permit him and) he will sow the seeds, and within seconds the plants will grow and ripen and (the yield) will be harvested and piled in heaps like mountains. On that Allah will say (to him), "Take, here you are, O son of Adam, for nothing satisfies you.' "On that the bedouin said, "O Allah's Apostle! Such man must be either from Quraish or from Ansar, for they are farmers while we are not." On that Allah's Apostle smiled .

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "Once Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban and I were sitting down, and Muhammad called a man over to him and said to him, 'Tell me what you have heard from your father.' The man replied that his father had told him that he went to Zayd ibn Thabit and asked him, 'What do you think of reciting the whole Qur'an in seven days?' Zayd said, 'That's good, but I prefer to recite it in two weeks, or ten days. Ask me why that is.' He said, 'I ask you then.' Zayd said, 'So that I can reflect on it and pause in it.' "

A man asked the Prophet about the picking up of a "Luqata" (fallen lost thing). The Prophet replied, "Recognize and remember its tying material and its container, and make public announcement (about it) for one year, then utilize it but give it to its owner if he comes." Then the person asked about the lost camel. On that, the Prophet got angry and his cheeks or his Face became red and he said, "You have no concern with it as it has its water container, and its feet and it will reach water, and eat (the leaves) of trees till its owner finds it." The man then asked about the lost sheep. The Prophet replied, "It is either for you, for your brother (another person) or for the wolf."

While I was with Ibn `Abbas a man came and said, "O father of `Abbas! My sustenance is from my manual profession and I make these pictures." Ibn `Abbas said, "I will tell you only what I heard from Allah's Apostle . I heard him saying, 'Whoever makes a picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to put life in it.' " Hearing this, that man heaved a sigh and his face turned pale. Ibn `Abbas said to him, "What a pity! If you insist on making pictures I advise you to make pictures of trees and any other unanimated objects."

Once the Prophet was narrating (a story), while a bedouin was sitting with him. "One of the inhabitants of Paradise will ask Allah to allow him to cultivate the land. Allah will ask him, 'Are you not living in the pleasures you like?' He will say, 'Yes, but I like to cultivate the land.' " The Prophet added, "When the man (will be permitted he) will sow the seeds and the plants will grow up and get ripe, ready for reaping and so on till it will be as huge as mountains within a wink. Allah will then say to him, 'O son of Adam! Take here you are, gather (the yield); nothing satisfies you.' " On that, the bedouin said, "The man must be either from Quraish (i.e. an emigrant) or an Ansari, for they are farmers, whereas we are not farmers." The Prophet smiled (at this).

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) prayed over a dead person, he said: O Allah, forgive those of us who are living and those of us who are dead, those of us who are present and those of us who are absent, our young and our old, our male and our female. O Allah, to whomsoever of us Thou givest life grant him life as a believer, and whomsoever of us Thou takest in death take him in death as a follower of Islam. O Allah, do not withhold from us the reward (of faith) and do not lead us astray after his death.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by al-Ansari, from Ibn-Juraij. He said: Ja'far b. 'Umar and 'Amr b. Hayyah. He said: They transmitted from 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf and from the Companions of the Prophet (saws).

We went out one rainy and intensely dark night to look for the Messenger of Allah (saws) to lead us in prayer, and when we found him, he asked: Have you prayed?, but I did not say anything. So he said: Say, but I did not say anything. He again said: Say, but I did not say anything. He then said: Say. So I said: What am I to say? He said: Say: "Say, He is Allah, One," and al-Mu'awwadhatan three times in the morning and evening; they will serve you for every purpose.

I stayed overnight in the house of my aunt Maimuna. Allah's Apostle talked with his wife for a while and then went to bed. When it was the last third of the night, he got up and looked towards the sky and said: "Verily! In the creation of the Heavens and the Earth and in the alteration of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding." (3.190) Then he stood up, performed ablution, brushed his teeth with a Siwak, and then prayed eleven rak`at. Then Bilal pronounced the Adhan (i.e. call for the Fajr prayer). The Prophet then offered two rak`at (Sunna) prayer and went out (to the Mosque) and offered the (compulsory congregational) Fajr prayer.

Allah's Apostle said, "(The Prophet) Abraham migrated with his wife Sarah till he reached a town where there was a king or a tyrant who sent a message, to Abraham, ordering him to send Sarah to him. So when Abraham had sent Sarah, the tyrant got up, intending to do evil with her, but she got up and performed ablution and prayed and said, 'O Allah ! If I have believed in You and in Your Apostle, then do not empower this oppressor over me.' So he (the king) had an epileptic fit and started moving his legs violently. "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Ziyad that Abdullah ibn Rafi, the mawla of Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked Abu Hurayra about the time of the prayer. Abu Hurayra said, "Let me tell you. Pray dhuhr when the length of your shadow matches your height, asr when your shadow is twice your height, maghrib when the sun has set, isha in the first third of the night, and subh in the very first light of dawn," i.e. when the dawn has definitely come.

It was related to me from Malik from Musa ibn Uqba from Abd ar- Rahman ibn Yazid al-Ansari that when Anas ibn Malik came back from Iraq, Abu Talha and Ubayy ibn Kab visited him. He brought them some cooked food and they ate, and then Anas got up and did wudu. Abu Talha and Ubayy ibn Kab asked, "What's this, Anas? Is it an Iraqi custom?" and Anas said, "I wish I had not done it." (i.e. wudu). Abu Talha and Ubayy ibn Kab both got up and prayed without doing wudu.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ismail from Ibn Abi Hakim that he had heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, heard a woman praying at night. He said, "Who is that?" and someone said to him,"It is al-Hawla bint Tuwayt, she does not sleep in the night." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, disapproved of that and his disapproval showed in his face. Then he said, "Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, does not become weary, but you become weary. Take on whatever is within your capability."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Yazid al-Madani and from Abu'n Nadr from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman 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, used to pray sitting. He would recite sitting, and then, when about thirty or forty ayats of what he was reciting remained, he would stand up and recite standing and then go into ruku and sajda. He would do the same in the second raka.

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."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that one time Abdullah ibn Umar wanted to sacrifice an animal at Madina. Nafi said, "He told me to buy him an excellent horned ram, then to sacrifice it on the Day of Sacrifice in the place where the people prayed." Nafi continued, "I did so and when the ram was sacrificed, it was carried to Abdullah ibn Umar who shaved his head. He was ill, and did not attend the Id with the people." Nafi added, "Abdullah ibn Umar used to say, 'Shaving the head is not obligatory for someone who sacrifices an animal.' Ibn Umar would do so however."

Once I was traveling with the Prophet and he said, "O Mughira! take this container of water." I took it and Allah's Apostle went far away till he disappeared. He answered the call of nature and was wearing a Syrian cloak. He tried to take out his hands from its sleeve but it was very tight so he took out his hands from under it. I poured water and he performed ablution like that for prayers and passed his wet hands over his Khuff (socks made from thick fabric or leather) and then prayed .

(the wife of the Prophet) I had seen my parents following Islam since I attained the age of intelligence. Not a day passed but the Prophet visited us, both in the mornings and evenings. My father Abu Bakr thought of building a mosque in the courtyard of his house and he did so. He used to pray and recite the Qur'an in it. The pagan women and their children used to stand by him and look at him with surprise. Abu Bakr was a soft-hearted person and could not help weeping while reciting the Qur'an. The chiefs of the Quraish pagans became afraid of that (i.e. that their children and women might be affected by the recitation of Qur'an).

that Zaid bin Khalid sent him to Abi Juhaim to ask him what he had heard from Allah's Apostle about a person passing in front of another person who was praying. Abu Juhaim replied, "Allah's Apostle said, 'If the person who passes in front of another person in prayer knew the magnitude of his sin he would prefer to wait for 40 (days, months or years) rather than to pass in front of him." Abu An-Nadr said, "I do not remember exactly whether he said 40 days, months or years."

Allah's Apostle said, "When the Adhan is pronounced Satan takes to his heels and passes wind with noise during his flight in order not to hear the Adhan. When the Adhan is completed he comes back and again takes to his heels when the Iqama is pronounced and after its completion he returns again till he whispers into the heart of the person (to divert his attention from his prayer) and makes him remember things which he does not recall to his mind before the prayer and that causes him to forget how much he has prayed."

In the lifetime of the Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) the sun eclipsed and he went out dragging his clothes till he reached the Mosque. The people gathered around him and he led them and offered two rak`at. When the sun (eclipse) cleared, he said, "The sun and the moon are two signs amongst the signs of Allah; they do not eclipse because of the death of someone, and so when an eclipse occurs, pray and invoke Allah till the eclipse is over." It happened that a son of the Prophet called Ibrahim died on that day and the people were talking about that (saying that the eclipse was caused by his death).

The Prophet led us in the `Asr or the Zuhr prayer and finished it with Taslim. Dhul-Yadain said to him, "O Allah's Apostle! Has the prayer been reduced?" The Prophet asked his companions in the affirmative. So Allah's Apostle I offered two more rak`at and then performed two prostrations (of Sahu). Sa`d said, "I saw that 'Urwa bin Az-Zubair had offered two rak`at in the Maghrib prayer and finished it with Taslim. He then talked (and when he was informed about it) he completed the rest of his prayer and performed two prostrations, and said, 'The Prophet prayed like this.' "

I asked Anas about the fasting of the Prophet. He said "Whenever I liked to see the Prophet fasting in any month, I could see that, and whenever I liked to see him not fasting, I could see that too, and if I liked to see him praying in any night, I could see that, and if I liked to see him sleeping, I could see that, too." Anas further said, "I never touched silk or velvet softer than the hand of Allah's Apostle and never smelled musk or perfumed smoke more pleasant than the smell of Allah's Apostle."

Bahiyyah said: I heard a woman asking Aisha about the woman whose menses became abnormal and she had an issue of blood. The Messenger of Allah (saws) asked me to advise her that she should consider the period during which she used to menstruate every month, when her menstruation was normal. Then she should count the days equal to the length of time (of her normal menses); then she should abandon prayer during those days or equal to that period. She should then take a bath, tie a cloth on her private parts a pray.

The Prophet said to me, "I have been informed that you pray all the nights and observe fast all the days; is this true?" I replied, "Yes." He said, "If you do so, your eyes will become weak and you will get bored. So fast three days a month, for this will be the fasting of a whole year, or equal to the fasting of a whole year." I said, "I find myself able to fast more." He said, "Then fast like the fasting of (the Prophet) David who used to fast on alternate days and would not flee on facing the enemy."