Allah's Apostle sent me, Az-Zubair and Al-Miqdad saying, "Proceed till you reach Rawdat Khakh where there is a lady carrying a letter, and take that (letter) from her." So we proceeded on our way with our horses galloping till we reached the Rawda, and there we found the lady and said to her, "Take out the letter." She said, "I have no letter." We said, "Take out the letter, or else we will take off your clothes." So she took it out of her braid, and we brought the letter to Allah's Apostle . The letter was addressed from Hatib, bin Abi Balta'a to some pagans of Mecca, telling them about what Allah's Apostle intended to do. Allah's Apostle said, "O Hatib! What is this?" Hatib replied, "O Allah's Apostle! Do not make a hasty decision about me. I was a person not belonging to Quraish but I was an ally to them from outside and had no blood relation with them, and all the Emigrants who were with you, have got their kinsmen (in Mecca) who can protect their families and properties. So I liked to do them a favor so that they might protect my relatives as I have no blood relation with them. I did not do this to renegade from my religion (i.e. Islam) nor did I do it to choose Heathenism after Islam." Allah's Apostle said to his companions." As regards him, he (i.e. Hatib) has told you the truth." `Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! Allow me to chop off the head of this hypocrite!" The Prophet said, "He (i.e. Hatib) has witnessed the Badr battle (i.e. fought in it) and what could tell you, perhaps Allah looked at those who witnessed Badr and said, "O the people of Badr (i.e. Badr Muslim warriors), do what you like, for I have forgiven you. "Then Allah revealed the Sura:-- "O you who believe! Take not my enemies And your enemies as friends offering them (Your) love even though they have disbelieved in that Truth (i.e. Allah, Prophet Muhammad and this Qur'an) which has come to you ....(to the end of Verse)....(And whosoever of you (Muslims) does that, then indeed he has gone (far) astray (away) from the Straight Path." (60.1

The Prophet (saws) said: When the Imam completes the prayer and sits (for reciting tashahhud), and then becomes defiled (i.e. his ablution becomes void) before he speaks (to someone), his prayer becomes complete. And those who prayed behind him also complete the prayer.

Some poor people came to the Prophet and said, "The wealthy people will get higher grades and will have permanent enjoyment and they pray like us and fast as we do. They have more money by which they perform the Hajj, and `Umra; fight and struggle in Allah's Cause and give in charity." The Prophet said, "Shall I not tell you a thing upon which if you acted you would catch up with those who have surpassed you? Nobody would overtake you and you would be better than the people amongst whom you live except those who would do the same. Say "Subhana l-lah", "Al hamdu li l-lah" and "Allahu Akbar" thirty three times each after every (compulsory) prayer." We differed and some of us said that we should say, "Subhan-al-lah" thirty three times and "Al hamdu li l-lah" thirty three times and "Allahu Akbar" thirty four times. I went to the Prophet who said, "Say, "Subhan-al-lah" and "Al hamdu li l-lah" and "Allahu Akbar" all together [??], thirty three times."

That the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "Any skin tanned, then it has been made pure."

This Hadith is Hasan Sahih. This is acted upon according to most of the people of knowledge, they say that when the skin of a dead animal has been tanned then it has been made pure.

[Abu 'Eisa said:] Ash-Shafi'i said: "Any dead animals skin that is tanned, then it has been made pure, except for the dog and the pig." Some of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (saws) disliked skins of predators even when tanned, and this is the view of 'Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak, Ahmad and Ishaq, and they were firm about not wearing them and performing Salat in them. Ishaq bin Ibrahim said: "The saying of the Prophet (saws):'Any skin that is tanned, then it has been made pure' only refers to the skins of animals whose meat is eaten." This is how it was explained by An-Nasr bin Shumail.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: Allah is pleased with a shepherd of goats who calls to prayer at the peak of a mountain, and offers prayer, Allah, the Exalted, says: Look at this servant of Mine; he calls to prayer and offers it and he fears Me. So I forgive him and admit him to paradise.

Abu Dawud said: It has also been narrated by Abu al-Walid al-Tayalisi, but I did not hear him. He reported it from 'Aishah through a different chain of narrators. 'Aishah said: Zainab daughter of Jahsh had a prolonged flow of blood. The Prophet (saws) said to her: Take bath for every prayer. The narrator then reported the tradition (in full).

Abu Dawud said: The version transmitted by 'Abd al-Samad from Sulaiman b. Kathir has: "Perform ablution for every prayer." This is a misunderstanding on the part of 'Abd al-Samad. The correct version is the one narrated by Abu al-Walid.

'A'isha reported that there was a solar eclipse during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (way peace be upon him) and he sent the announcer (to summon them) for congregational prayer. The people gathered together and he pronounced takbir and he observed four rak'ahs, in the form of two rak'ahs (i. e. he observed two qiyams and two ruku's in one rak'ah) and four prostrations.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Gold is to be paid for with gold, raw and coined, silver with silver, raw and coined (in equal weight), wheat with wheat in equal measure, barley with barley in equal measure, dates with dates in equal measure, salt by salt with equal measure; if anyone gives more or asks more, he has dealt in usury. But there is no harm in selling gold for silver and silver (for gold), in unequal weight, payment being made on the spot. Do not sell them if they are to be paid for later. There is no harm in selling wheat for barley and barley (for wheat) in unequal measure, payment being made on the spot. If the payment is to be made later, then do not sell them.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by Sa'id b. Abi 'Arubah, Hisham al-Dastawa'i and Qatadah from Muslim b. Yasar through his chain.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Abu Ubayd, the mawla of Ibn Azhar said, "I was present at an id with Umar ibn al- Khattab. He prayed, and then after he had prayed he gave a khutba to the people and said, 'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade fasting on these two days - the day you break your fast (after Ramadan), and the day you eat from your sacrifice (after Hajj) .' "

Abu Ubaydcontinued,"Then I was present at an id with Uthman ibn Affan. He came and prayed, and when he had finished he gave a khutba and said, 'Two ids have been joined together for you on this day of yours. If any of the people of al-Aliyya (the hills outlying Madina) want to wait for the jumua they can do so, and if any of them want to return, I have given them permission.' Abu Ubayd continued, "Then I was present at an id with AIi ibn Abi Talib (at the time when Uthman was being detained). He came and prayed, and then after he had prayed he gave a khutba."

We were informed that Musailima Al-Kadhdhab had arrived in Medina and stayed in the house of the daughter of Al-Harith. The daughter of Al-Harith bin Kuraiz was his wife and she was the mother of `Abdullah bin 'Amir. There came to him Allah's Apostle accompanied by Thabit bin Qais bin Shammas who was called the orator of Allah's Apostle. Allah's Apostle had a stick in his hand then. The Prophet stopped before Musailima and spoke to him. Musailima said to him, "If you wish, we would not interfere between you and the rule, on condition that the rule will be ours after you... The Prophet said, "If you asked me for this stick, I would not give it to you. I think you are the same person who was shown to me in a dream. And this is Thabit bin Al-Qais who will answer you on my behalf." The Prophet then went away. I asked Ibn `Abbas about the dream Allah's Apostle had mentioned. Ibn `Abbas said, "Someone told me that the Prophet said, "When I was sleeping, I saw in a dream that two gold bangles were put in my hands, and that frightened me and made me dislike them. Then I was allowed to blow on them, and when I blew at them, both of them flew. Then I interpreted them as two liars who would appear.' One of them was Al-`Ansi who was killed by Fairuz in Yemen and the other was Musailima Al-Kadhdbab."

When this verse was revealed: "If they do come to thee, either judge between them, or decline to interfere....If thou judge, judge in equity between them." Banu an-Nadir used to pay half blood-money if they killed any-one from Banu Qurayzah. When Banu Qurayzah killed anyone from Banu an-Nadir, they would pay full blood-money. So the Messenger of Allah (saws) made it equal between them.

In the lifetime of the Prophet we used to speak while praying, and one of us would tell his needs to his companions, till the verse, 'Guard strictly your prayers (2.238) was revealed. After that we were ordered to remain silent while praying.

Yahya said, "Malik said from Hisham ibn Urwa that Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr gave judgment based on the testimony of children concerning the injuries between them."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things in our community is that the testimony of children is permitted concerning injuries between them. It is not accepted about anything else. It is only permitted between them if they testify before they leave the scene of the incident and have been deceived or instructed. If they leave the scene, they have no testimony unless they call just witnesses to witness their testimony before they leave."

A man asked permission to enter upon Allah's Apostle. The Prophet said, "Admit him. What an evil brother of his people or a son of his people." But when the man entered, the Prophet spoke to him in a very polite manner. (And when that person left) I said, "O Allah's Apostle! You had said what you had said, yet you spoke to him in a very polite manner?" The Prophet said, "O `Aisha! The worst people are those whom the people desert or leave in order to save themselves from their dirty language or from their transgression."

My father had died in debt. So I came to the Prophet and said, "My father (died) leaving unpaid debts, and I have nothing except the yield of his date palms; and their yield for many years will not cover his debts. So please come with me, so that the creditors may not misbehave with me." The Prophet went round one of the heaps of dates and invoked (Allah), and then did the same with another heap and sat on it and said, "Measure (for them)." He paid them their rights and what remained was as much as had been paid to them.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Bakr ibn Sulayman ibn Abi Hathma that Umar ibn al-Khattab missed Sulayman ibn Abi Hathma in the subh prayer. In the morning he went to the market, and Sulayman's house was between the market and the Prophet's mosque. He passed ash-Shifa, Sulayman's mother, and said to her, "I did not see Sulayman at subh." She replied, "He spent the night in prayer and his eyes overcame him. Umar said, "I would rather be present at subh than stand the whole night in prayer.

Abu Sufyan told me that Heraclius said to him, "When I inquired you what he (i.e. Muhammad) ordered you, you replied that he ordered you to establish the prayer, to speak the truth, to be chaste, to keep promises and to pay back trusts." Then Heraclius added, "These are really the qualities of a prophet."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abu'z-Zinad informed him that a governor of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz took some people in battle and had not killed any of them. He wanted to cut off their hands or kill them, so he wrote to Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz about that Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz wrote to him, "Better to take less than that."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "What is done among us about a person who steals the goods of people which are placed under guard in the markets, and their owners put them in their containers and store them together is that if anyone steals any of that from where it is kept, and its value reaches that for which cutting off the hand is obliged, his hand must be cut off, whether or not the owner of the goods is with his goods and whether it is night or day."

Malik said about some one who stole something for which cutting off the hand was obliged and then what he stole was found with him and he returned it to its owner, "His hand is cut off."

Malik said, "If someon says, 'How can his hand be cut off when the goods have been taken from him and returned to their owner?', it is because he is in the same position as the wine drinker when the smell of the wine is found on his breath and he is not drunk. He is flogged with the hadd.

"The hadd is imposed for drinking wine even if it does not make the man intoxicated. That is because he drank it to become intoxicated. It is the same as that with cutting off the hand of the thief for theft when it is taken from him, even if he has not profited from it and it was returned to its owner. When he stole it, he stole it to take it away."

Malik said that if some people came to a house and robbed it together, and then they left with a sack or box or a board or basket or the like of that which they carried together, and when they took it out of its guarded place, they carried it together, and the price of what they took reached that for which cutting off the hand was obliged, and that was three dirhams and upwards, each of them had his hand cut off.

"If each of them takes out something by himself, whoever of them takes out something whose value reaches three dirhams and upwards must have his hand cut off. If any of them takes out something whose value does not reach three dirhams, he does not have his hand cut off."

Yahya said that Malik said, "What is done among us is that when a man's house is locked and he is the only one living in it, cutting ...

Al-Aswad ibn Yazid said that he entered upon Aisha and asked her about the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (saws) during the night. She said: He used to pray thirteen rak'ahs during the night. Then he began to pray eleven rak'ahs and left two rak'ahs. When he died, he would pray nine rak'ahs during the night. His last prayer during the night was witr.

During the lifetime of Allah's Apostle a Jew attacked a girl and took some silver ornaments she was wearing and crushed her head. Her relative brought her to the Prophet while she was in her last breaths, and she was unable to speak. Allah's Apostle asked her, "Who has hit you? So-and so?", mentioning somebody other than her murderer. She moved her head, indicating denial. The Prophet mentioned another person other than the murderer, and she again moved her head indicating denial. Then he asked, "Was it so-and-so?", mentioning the name of her killer. She nodded, agreeing. Then Allah's Apostle; ordered that the head of that Jew be crushed between two stones.

When the delegate of `Abd Al-Qais came to Allah's Apostle, he said, "Who are the delegate?" They said, "The delegate are from the tribe of Rabi`a." The Prophet said, "Welcome, O the delegate, and welcome! O people! Neither you will have any disgrace nor will you regret." They said, "O Allah's Apostle! Between you and us there are the infidels of the tribe of Mudar, so please order us to do something good (religious deeds) that by acting on them we may enter Paradise, and that we may inform (our people) whom we have left behind, about it." They also asked (the Prophet) about drinks. He forbade them from four things and ordered them to do four things. He ordered them to believe in Allah, and asked them, "Do you know what is meant by belief in Allah?" They said, "Allah and His Apostle know best." He said, ''To testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, the One, Who has no partners with Him, and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle; and to offer prayers perfectly and to pay Zakat." (the narrator thinks that fasting in Ramadan is included), "and to give one-fifth of the war booty (to the state)." Then he forbade four (drinking utensils): Ad-Duba', Al56 Hantam, Al-Mazaffat and An-Naqir, or probably, Al-Muqaiyar. And then the Prophet said, "Remember all these things by heart and preach it to those whom you have left behind."

I said to Ibn `Abbas, "I have an earthenware pot containing Nabidh (i.e. water and dates or grapes) for me, and I drink of it while it is sweet. If I drink much of it and stay with the people for a long time, I get afraid that they may discover it (for I will appear as if I were drunk). Ibn `Abbas said, "A delegation of `Abdul Qais came to Allah's Apostle and he said, "Welcome, O people! Neither will you have disgrace nor will you regret." They said, "O Allah's Apostle! There are the Mudar pagans between you and us, so we cannot come to you except in the sacred Months. So please teach us some orders on acting upon which we will enter Paradise. Besides, we will preach that to our people who are behind us." The Prophet said, "I order you to do four things and forbid you from four things (I order you): To believe in Allah...Do you know what is to believe in Allah? That is to testify that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah: (I order you also to offer prayers perfectly to pay Zakat; and to fast the month of Ramadan and to give the Khumus (i.e. one-fifth of the booty) (for Allah's Sake). I forbid you from four other things (i.e. the wine that is prepared in) Ad-Dubba, An-Naquir, Az-Hantam and Al-Muzaffat. (See Hadith No. 50 Vol. 1)

Ibn `Umar said, "In the lifetime of the Prophet I dreamt that a piece of silk cloth was in my hand and it flew with me to whichever part of Paradise I wanted. I also saw as if two persons (i.e. angels) came to me and wanted to take me to Hell. Then an angel met us and told me not to be afraid. He then told them to leave me. Hafsa narrated one of my dreams to the Prophet and the Prophet said, "Abdullah is a good man. Would that he offer the night prayer (Tahajjud)!" So after that day `Abdullah (bin `Umar) started offering Tahajjud. The companions of the Prophet (p.b.u.h) used to tell him their dreams that (Laila-tul-Qadr) was on the 27th of the month of Ramadan. The Prophet said, "I see that your dreams agree on the last ten nights of Ramadan and so whoever is in search of it should seek it in the last ten nights of Ramadan."

The Prophet (saws) said: Prayer is to be offered in two rak'ahs; and you should recite the tashahhud at the end of two rak'ahs, and express your distress and humility and raise your hands and say praying: O Allah, O Allah. He who does not do so does not offer a perfect prayer.

Abu Dawud was asked about offering prayer at night in two rak'ahs. He said: They may be two if you like and four if you like.

"When the sun eclipsed in the lifetime of Allah's Apostle an announcement was made that a prayer was to be offered in congregation."

There was an eclipse of the sun in the time of the Messenger of Allah (saws). He came out bewildered pulling his garment, and I was in his company at Medina. He prayed two rak'ahs and stood for a long time in them. He then departed and the sun became bright. He then said: There are the signs by means of which Allah, the Exalted, produces dread (in His servants). When you see anything of this nature, then pray as you are praying a fresh obligatory prayer.