Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Abbas used to shorten the prayer when he travelled a distance equivalent to that between Makka and Ta'if, and that between Makka and Usfan and that between Makka and Jedda.

Malik said, "That is four mail-stages, and to me that is the most preferable distance for shortening the prayer."

Malik said, "Someone who intends to travel does not shorten the prayer until he has left the houses of the village. And he does not do it in full until he comes to the first houses of the village, or is nearby."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that when asked whether it was permissible for a man to return to his wife if he had divorced her irrevocably and then another man had married her after him and died before consummating the marriage, al-Qasim ibn Muhammad said, "It is not halal for the first husband to return to her."

Malik said, about the muhallil, that he could not remain in the marriage until he undertook a new marriage. If he had intercourse with her in that marriage, she had her dowry.

Abu Dawud said: Abu Sa'id added the following words in his version: He should then tale hold of her forelock and pray for blessing in the case of a woman or a slave.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: Allah, Most High, will cause three persons to enter Paradise for one arrow: the maker when he has a good motive in making it, the one who shoots it, and the one who hands it; so shoot and ride, but your shooting is dearer to me than your riding. Everything with which a man amuses himself is vain except three (things): a man's training of his horse, his playing with his wife, and his shooting with his bow and arrow. If anyone abandons archery after becoming an adept through distaste for it, it is a blessing he has abandoned; or he said: for which he has been ungrateful.

When Allah, Most High, revealed the verses: "Come not nigh to the orphan's property except to improve it". And "Those who unjustly eat up the property of orphans", everyone who had an orphan with him went and separated his food from his (orphan's) food, and his drink from his drink, and began to detain the remaining food which he (the orphan) himself ate or spoiled.

This fell heavy on them, and they mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah (saws). So Allah, Most High, revealed the verse: "They ask thee concerning orphans. Say: The best thing to do is what is for their good; if ye mix their affairs with yours, they are your brethren." Then they mixed their food with his food and their drink with his drink.

'Umar consulted the people about the compensation of abortion of woman. Al-Mughirah b. Shu'bah said: I was present with the Messenger of Allah (saws) when he gave judgement that a male or female slave should testify you. So he brought Muhammad b. Maslamah to him. Harun added: He then testified him.

Imlas means a man striking the belly of his wife.

Abu Dawud said: I have been informed that Abu 'Ubaid said: It (abortion) is called imlas because the woman causes it to slip before the time of delivery. Similarly, anything which slips from the hand or from some other thing is called malasa (slipped).

Hilal ibn Yasaf said: I came to ar-Raqqah (a place in Syria). One of my companions said to me: Do you want to see any of the Companions of the Prophet (saws)? I said: A good opportunity. So we went to Wabisah.

I said to my friend: Let us first see his mode of living. He had a cap with two ears stuck (to his head), and wearing a brown silken robe. He was resting on a staff during prayer. We asked him (about resting on the staff) after salutation; He said: Umm Qays daughter of Mihsan said to me that when the Messenger of Allah (saws) became aged and the flesh grew increasingly on him, he took a prop at his place of prayer and rested on it.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) then said: Return to them (Hawazin) their women and their sons. If any of you withholds anything from this booty, we have six camels for him from the first booty which Allah gives us. The Prophet (saws) then approached a camel, and taking a hair from its hump said: O people, I get nothing of this booty, not even this (meanwhile raising his two fingers) but the fifth, and the fifth is returned to you, so hand over threads and needles. A man got up with a ball of hair in his hand and said: I took this to repair the cloth under a pack-saddle. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: You can have what belongs to me and to the Banu al-Muttalib. He said: If it produces the result that I now realise, I have no desire for it.

On his father's authority, said that his grandfather told that Al-'As ibn Wa'il left his will that a hundred slaves should be emancipated on his behalf. His son Hisham emancipated fifty slaves and his son Amr intended to emancipate the remaining fifty on his behalf, but he said: I should ask first the Messenger of Allah (saws). He, therefore, came to the Prophet (saws) and said: Messenger of Allah, my father left in his will that a hundred slaves should be emancipated on his behalf and Hisham has emancipated fifty on his behalf and fifty remain. Shall I emancipate them on his behalf? The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Had he been a Muslim and you had emancipated slaves on his behalf, or given sadaqah on his behalf, or performed the pilgrimage, that would have reached him.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: The first defect that permeated Banu Isra'il was that a man (of them) met another man and said: O so-and-so, fear Allah, and abandon what you are doing, for it is not lawful for you. He then met him the next day and that did not prevent him from eating with him, drinking with him and sitting with him. When they did so. Allah mingled their hearts with each other.

He then recited the verse: "curses were pronounced on those among the children of Isra'il who rejected Faith, by the tongue of David and of Jesus the son of Mary"...up to "wrongdoers".

He then said: By no means, I swear by Allah, you must enjoin what is good and prohibit what is evil, prevent the wrongdoer, bend him into conformity with what is right, and restrict him to what is right.

Allah's Apostle sent a Sariya of ten men as spies under the leadership of `Asim bin Thabit al-Ansari, the grandfather of `Asim bin `Umar Al-Khattab. They proceeded till they reached Hadaa, a place between 'Usfan, and Mecca, and their news reached a branch of the tribe of Hudhail called Bani Lihyan. About two-hundred men, who were all archers, hurried to follow their tracks till they found the place where they had eaten dates they had brought with them from Medina. They said, "These are the dates of Yathrib (i.e. Medina), "and continued following their tracks When `Asim and his companions saw their pursuers, they went up a high place and the infidels circled them. The infidels said to them, "Come down and surrender, and we promise and guarantee you that we will not kill any one of you" `Asim bin Thabit; the leader of the Sariya said, "By Allah! I will not come down to be under the protection of infidels. O Allah! Convey our news to Your Prophet. Then the infidels threw arrows at them till they martyred `Asim along with six other men, and three men came down accepting their promise and convention, and they were Khubaib-al-Ansari and Ibn Dathina and another man So, when the infidels captured them, they undid the strings of their bows and tied them. Then the third (of the captives) said, "This is the first betrayal. By Allah! I will not go with you. No doubt these, namely the martyred, have set a good example to us." So, they dragged him and tried to compel him to accompany them, but as he refused, they killed him. They took Khubaid and Ibn Dathina with them and sold them (as slaves) in Mecca (and all that took place) after the battle of Badr. Khubaib was bought by the sons of Al-Harith bin 'Amir bin Naufal bin `Abd Manaf. It was Khubaib who had killed Al-Harith bin 'Amir on the day (of the battle of) Badr. So, Khubaib remained a prisoner with those people. Narrated Az-Zuhri: 'Ubaidullah bin 'Iyyad said that the daughter of Al-Harith had told him, "When those people gathered (to kill Khubaib) he borrowed a razor from me to shave his pubes and I gave it to him. Then he took a son of mine while I was unaware when he came upon him. I saw him placing my son on his thigh and the razor was in his hand. I got scared so much that Khubaib noticed the agitation on my face and said, 'Are you afraid that I will kill him? No, I will never do so.' By Allah, I never saw a prisoner better than Khubaib. By Allah, one day I saw him eating of a bunch of grapes in his hand while he was chained in irons, and there was no fruit at that time in Mecca." The daughter of Al-Harith used to say, "It was a boon Allah bestowed upon Khubaib." When they took him out of the Sanctuary (of Mecca) to kill him outside its boundaries, Khubaib requested them to let him offer two rak`at (prayer). They allowed him and he offered Two rak`at and then said, "Hadn't I been afraid that you would think that I was afraid (of being killed), I would have prolonged the prayer. O Allah, kill them all with no exception." (He then recited the poetic verse):-- "I being martyred as a Muslim, Do not mind how I am killed in Allah's Cause, For my killing is for Allah's Sake, And if Allah wishes, He will bless the amputated parts of a torn body" Then the son of Al Harith killed him. So, it was Khubaib who set the tradition for any Muslim sentenced to death in captivity, to offer a two-rak`at prayer (before being killed). Allah fulfilled the invocation of `Asim bin Thabit on that very day on which he was martyred. The Prophet informed his companions of their news and what had happened to them. Later on when some infidels from Quraish were informed that `Asim had been killed, they sent some people to fetch a part of his body (i.e. his head) by which he would be recognized. (That was because) `Asim had killed one of their chiefs on the day (of the battle) of Badr. So, a swarm of wasps, resembling a shady cloud, were sent to hover over `Asim and protect him from their messenger and thus they could not cut off anything from his flesh.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Gabriel (saws) came to me and said: I came to you last night and was prevented from entering simply because there were images at the door, for there was a decorated curtain with images on it in the house, and there was a dog in the house. So order the head of the image which is in the house to be cut off so that it resembles the form of a tree; order the curtain to be cut up and made into two cushions spread out on which people may tread; and order the dog to be turned out.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) then did so. The dog belonged to al-Hasan or al-Husayn and was under their couch. So he ordered it to be turned out.

Abu Dawud said: Al-Nadd means a thing on which clothes are placed like a couch.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) never failed to utter these supplications in the evening and in the morning: O Allah, I ask Thee for security in this world and in the Hereafter: O Allah! I ask Thee for forgiveness and security in my religion and my worldly affairs, in my family and my property; O Allah! conceal my fault or faults (according to Uthman's version), and keep me safe from the things which I fear; O Allah! guard me in front of me and behind me, on my right hand and on my left, and from above me: and I seek in Thy greatness from receiving unexpected harm from below me." AbuDawud said: Waki' said: That is to say, swallowing by the earth.

Abu Hurairah said : I saw the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) reciting this verse and putting his fingers. Ibn Yunus said that al-Muqri said. “Allah hears and sees” means that Allah has the power of hearing and seeing.

Abu Dawud said: This is a refutation of the Jahmiyyah.