I went to Sham and offered a two-rak`at prayer and then said, "O Allah! Bless me with a good pious companion." So I went to some people and sat with them. An old man came and sat by my side. I asked, "Who is he?" They replied, "(He is) Abu-Ad-Darda.' I said (to him), "I prayed to Allah to bless me with a pious companion and He sent you to me." He asked me, "From where are you?" I replied, "From the people of Al-Kufa." He said, "Isn't there amongst you Ibn Um `Abd, the one who used to carry the shoes, the cushion(or pillow) and the water for ablution? Is there amongst you the one whom Allah gave Refuge from Satan through the request of His Prophet. Is there amongst you the one who keeps the secrets of the Prophet which nobody knows except him?" Abu Darda further asked, "How does `Abdullah (bin Mas`ud) recite the Sura starting with, 'By the Night as it conceals (the light)." (92.1) Then I recited before him: 'By the Night as it envelops: And by the Day as it appears in brightness; And by male and female.' (91.1-3) On this Abu Ad-Darda' said, "By Allah, the Prophet made me recite the Sura in this way while I was listening to him (reciting it).

`Abdullah bin `Umar said to me, "Do you know what my father said to your father once?" I said, "No." He said, "My father said to your father, 'O Abu Musa, will it please you that we will be rewarded for our conversion to Islam with Allah's Apostle and our migration with him, and our Jihad with him and all our good deeds which we did, with him, and that all the deeds we did after his death will be disregarded whether good or bad?' Your father (i.e. Abu Musa) said, 'No, by Allah, we took part in Jihad after Allah's Apostle , prayed and did plenty of good deeds, and many people have embraced Islam at our hands, and no doubt, we expect rewards from Allah for these good deeds.' On that my father (i.e. `Umar) said, 'As for myself, By Him in Whose Hand `Umar's soul is, I wish that the deeds done by us at the time of the Prophet remain rewardable while whatsoever we did after the death of the Prophet be enough to save us from Punishment in that the good deeds compensate for the bad ones.' " On that I said (to Ibn `Umar), "By Allah, your father was better than my father!"

The Prophet cursed the lady who practices tattooing and the one who gets herself tattooed, and one who eats (takes) Riba' (usury) and the one who gives it. And he prohibited taking the price of a dog, and the money earned by prostitution, and cursed the makers of pictures.

The Prophet said, "Many men reached perfection but none among the women reached perfection except Mary, the daughter of ' `Imran, and Asia, Pharoah's wife. And the superiority of `Aisha to other women is like the superiority of Tharid to other kinds of food.

Whenever the dining sheet of the Prophet was taken away (i.e., whenever he finished his meal), he used to say: "Al-hamdu li l-lah kathiran taiyiban mubarakan fihi ghaira makfiy wala muWada` wala mustaghna'anhu Rabbuna."

Allah's Apostle said, "When you drink (water), do not breath in the vessel; and when you urinate, do not touch your penis with your right hand. And when you cleanse yourself after defecation, do not use your right hand."

Slumber overtook us during the battle of Uhud while we were in the front files. My sword would fall from my hand and I would pick it up, and again it would fall down and I would pick it up again.

The Prophet I said, "Allah does not listen to a prophet as He listens to a prophet who recites the Qur'an in a loud and pleasant tone." Sufyan said, "This saying means: a prophet who regards the Qur'an as something that makes him dispense with many worldly pleasures."

Allah's Apostle said, "Anyone who takes an oath through which his family may be harmed, and insists on keeping it, he surely commits a sin greater (than that of dissolving his oath). He should rather compensate for that oath by making expiation."

The Prophet said, "Whoever swears saying in his oath. 'By Al-Lat and Al-`Uzza,' should say, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah; and whoever says to his friend, 'Come, let me gamble with you,' should give something in charity."

The Prophet said, "If somebody manumits a Muslim slave, Allah will save from the Fire every part of his body for freeing the corresponding parts of the slave's body, even his private parts will be saved from the Fire) because of freeing the slave's private parts."

That he heard Allah's Apostle saying, "We (Muslims) are the last (to come) but (will be) the foremost (on the Day of Resurrection)." And added, "If someone is peeping (looking secretly) into your house without your permission, and you throw a stone at him and destroy his eyes, there will be no blame on you."

Two women from the tribe of Hudhail (fought with each other) and one of them threw (a stone at) the other, causing her to have a miscarriage and Allah's Apostle gave his verdict that the killer (of the fetus) should give a male or female slave (as a Diya).

The Prophet said "The one who looks after and works for a widow and for a poor person, is like a warrior fighting for Allah's Cause or like a person who fasts during the day and prays all the night." Narrated Abu Huraira that the Prophet said as above.

The Prophet said, "Faith (Belief) consists of more than sixty branches (i.e. parts). And Haya (This term "Haya" covers a large number of concepts which are to be taken together; amongst them are self respect, modesty, bashfulness, and scruple, etc.) is a part of faith."

Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever could get one rak`a (of the Fajr prayer) before sunrise, he has got the (morning) prayer and whoever could get one rak`a of the `Asr prayer before sunset, he has got the (`Asr) prayer."

I saw Malik bin Huwairith saying Takbir and raising both his hands (on starting the prayers and raising his hands on bowing and also on raising his head after bowing. Malik bin Huwairith said, "Allah's Apostle did the same."

I asked Khabbab bin Al-Art whether the Prophet used to recite the Qur'an in the Zuhr and the `Asr prayers. He replied in the affirmative. I said, "How did you come to know that?" He replied, "From the movement of his beard."

I asked Zaid bin Al-Arqam, "In how many Ghazawat did you take part in the company of Allah's Apostle?" He replied, "Seventeen." I further asked, "How many Ghazawat did the Prophet fight?" He replied, "Nineteen."

Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever performs Hajj to this House (Ka`ba) and does not approach his wife for sexual relations nor commits sins (while performing Hajj), he will come out as sinless as a newlyborn child. (Just delivered by his mother).

The Ansar said to the Prophet "Distribute the date palm trees between us and our emigrant brothers." He replied, "No." The Ansar said (to the emigrants), "Look after the trees (water and watch them) and share the fruits with us." The emigrants said, "We listen and obey."

The Prophet said, "When your servant brings your meals to you then if he does not let him sit and share the meals, then he should at least give him a mouthful or two mouthfuls of that meal or a meal or two meals, as he has prepared it."

I asked `Abdullah bin Abu `Aufa "Did the Prophet make a will?" He replied, "No," I asked him, "How is it then that the making of a will has been enjoined on people, (or that they are ordered to make a will)?" He replied, "The Prophet bequeathed Allah's Book (i.e. Qur'an).

The Prophet said, "If somebody claims to be the son of any other than his real father knowingly, he but disbelieves in Allah, and if somebody claims to belong to some folk to whom he does not belong, let such a person take his place in the (Hell) Fire."

The Prophet ascended the mountain of Uhud and he was accompanied by Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman. The mountain shook beneath them. The Prophet hit it with his foot and said, "O Uhud ! Be firm, for on you there is none but a Prophet, a Siddiq and a martyr (i.e. and two martyrs).

`Aisha said, "Once Allah's Apostle said (to me), 'O Aish (`Aisha)! This is Gabriel greeting you.' I said, 'Peace and Allah's Mercy and Blessings be on him, you see what I don't see' " She was addressing Allah 's Apostle.

Abu Talha, a companion of Allah's Apostle and one of those who fought at Badr together with Allah's Apostle told me that Allah's Apostle said. "Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a picture" He meant the images of creatures that have souls.

Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) appointed a man called Ibn Al-Lutbiya, from the tribe of Al-Asd to collect Zakat from Bani Sulaim. When he returned, (after collecting the Zakat) the Prophet checked the account with him.

The Prophet was asked, "Which is the best deed?" He said, "To believe in Allah and His Apostle." He was then asked, "Which is the next (in goodness)?" He said, "To participate in Jihad in Allah's Cause." He was then asked, "Which is the next?" He said, "To perform Hajj-Mabrur. "

Abu Huraira is reported to have said that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) prohibited to observe prayer after the 'Asr prayer till the sun is set, and after the dawn till the sun rises.

Suhail reported on the authority of his father that Abu Huraira used to recite takbir on all occasions of rising and bending (in prayer) and narrated that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to do like that.