That his father had told him that Allah's Apostle set out for Hajj and so did his companions. He sent a batch of his companions by another route and Abu Qatada was one of them. The Prophet said to them, "Proceed along the seashore till we meet all together." So, they took the route of the seashore, and when they started all of them assumed Ihram except Abu Qatada. While they were proceeding on, his companions saw a group of onagers. Abu Qatada chased the onagers and attacked and wounded a sheonager. They got down and ate some of its meat and said to each other: "How do we eat the meat of the game while we are in a state of Ihram?" So, we (they) carried the rest of the she-onager's meat, and when they met Allah's Apostle they asked, saying, "O Allah's Apostle! We assumed Ihram with the exception of Abu Qatada and we saw (a group) of onagers. Abu Qatada attacked them and wounded a she-onager from them. Then we got down and ate from its meat. Later, we said, (to each other), 'How do we eat the meat of the game and we are in a state of Ihram?' So, we carried the rest of its meat. The Prophet asked, "Did anyone of you order Abu Qatada to attack it or point at it?" They replied in the negative. He said, "Then eat what is left of its meat."

When `Umar was stabbed, he showed signs of agony. Ibn `Abbas, as if intending to encourage `Umar, said to him, "O Chief of the believers! Never mind what has happened to you, for you have been in the company of Allah's Apostle and you kept good relations with him and you parted with him while he was pleased with you. Then you were in the company of Abu Bakr and kept good relations with him and you parted with him (i.e. he died) while he was pleased with you. Then you were in the company of the Muslims, and you kept good relations with them, and if you leave them, you will leave them while they are pleased with you." `Umar said, (to Ibn "Abbas), "As for what you have said about the company of Allah's Apostle and his being pleased with me, it is a favor, Allah did to me; and as for what you have said about the company of Abu Bakr and his being pleased with me, it is a favor Allah did to me; and concerning my impatience which you see, is because of you and your companions. By Allah! If (at all) I had gold equal to the earth, I would have ransomed myself with it from the Punishment of Allah before I meet Him."

A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I am suffering from fatigue and hunger." The Prophet sent (somebody) to his wives (to get something), but the messenger found nothing with them. Then Allah's Apostle said (to his companions). "Isn't there anybody who can entertain this man tonight so that Allah may be merciful to him?" An Ansari man got up and said, "I (will, entertain him), O Allah's Apostle!" So he went to his wife and said to her, "This is the guest of Allah's Apostle, so do not keep anything away from him." She said. "By Allah, I have nothing but the children's food." He said, "When the children ask for their dinner, put them to bed and put out the light; we shall not take our meals tonight," She did so. In the morning the Ansari man went to Allah's Apostle who said, "Allah was pleased with (or He bestowed His Mercy) on so-and-so and his wife (because of their good deed)." Then Allah revealed: 'But give them preference over themselves even though they were in need of that.' (59.9)

An ally of Bani Zuhra who took part in the battle of Badr with the Prophet, that he said, "O Allah's Apostle! If I meet an unbeliever and we have a fight, and he strikes my hand with the sword and cuts it off, and then takes refuge from me under a tree, and says, 'I have surrendered to Allah (i.e. embraced Islam),' may I kill him after he has said so?" Allah's Apostle said, "Do not kill him." Al- Miqdad said, "But O Allah's Apostle! He had chopped off one of my hands and he said that after he had cut it off. May I kill him?" The Prophet said. "Do not kill him for if you kill him, he would be in the position in which you had been before you kill him, and you would be in the position in which he was before he said the sentence." The Prophet also said to Al-Miqdad, "If a faithful believer conceals his faith (Islam) from the disbelievers, and then when he declares his Islam, you kill him, (you will be sinful). Remember that you were also concealing your faith (Islam) at Mecca before."

Once I went with `Umar bin Al-Khattab to the market. A young woman followed `Umar and said, "O chief of the believers! My husband has died, leaving little children. By Allah, they have not even a sheep's trotter to cook; they have no farms or animals. I am afraid that they may die because of hunger, and I am the daughter of Khufaf bin Ima Al-Ghafari, and my father witnessed the Pledge of allegiance) of Al-Hudaibiya with the Prophet.' `Umar stopped and did not proceed, and said, "I welcome my near relative." Then he went towards a strong camel which was tied in the house, and carried on to it, two sacks he had loaded with food grains and put between them money and clothes and gave her its rope to hold and said, "Lead it, and this provision will not finish till Allah gives you a good supply." A man said, "O chief of the believers! You have given her too much." "`Umar said disapprovingly. "May your mother be bereaved of you! By Allah, I have seen her father and brother besieging a fort for a long time and conquering it, and then we were discussing what their shares they would have from that war booty."

The Prophet (saws) said: the similitude of a man who emancipates a slave at the time of his death is like that of a man who gives a present after satisfying his appetite.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that this was said "Praise be to Allah who created everything as is necessary, who does not hasten anything He defers and determines. Allah is enough for me and sufficient. Allah hears whoever makes dua to him. Allah does not have a goal."

The Prophet drew a square and then drew a line in the middle of it and let it extend outside the square and then drew several small lines attached to that central line, and said, "This is the human being, and this, (the square) in his lease of life, encircles him from all sides (or has encircled him), and this (line), which is outside (the square), is his hope, and these small lines are the calamities and troubles (which may befall him), and if one misses him, an-other will snap (i.e. overtake) him, and if the other misses him, a third will snap (i.e. overtake) him."

Malik related to me that he heard Ibn Shihab say, "The precedent of the sunna is that when a slave is freed, his property follows him."

Malik said, "One thing which makes clear that the property of a slave follows him when he is freed is that when the contract (mukatab) is written for his freedom, his property follows him even if he did not stipulate it. That is because the bond of kitaba is the bond of wala' when it is complete. The property of a slave and a mukatab is not treated in the same way as any children they may have. Their children are only treated in the same way as their own slaves, not in the same way as their property. This is because the sunna, in which there is no dispute, is that when a slave is freed, his property follows him and his children do not follow him, and when a mukatab writes the contract for his freedom, his property follows him and his children do not follow him."

Malik said, "One thing which makes that clear is that when a slave or a mukatab are bankrupt, their property is taken but the mothers of their children and their children are not taken because they are not their property."

Malik said, "Another thing which makes it clear is that when a slave is sold and the person who buys him stipulates the inclusions of his property, his children are not included in his property."

Malik said, "Another thing which makes it clear is that when a slave does injure some one, he and his property are taken, and his children are not taken."

Malik related to me from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father said that there was only one hadd against a man who slandered a group of people.

Malik said, "If they are on separate occasions there is still only one hadd against him."

Malik related to me from Abu'r-Rijal Muhammad ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Haritha ibn an-Numan al- Ansari, then from the Banu'n-Najar from his mother Amra bint Abd ar- Rahman that two men cursed each other in the time of Umar ibn al- Khattab. One of them said to the other, " By Allah, my father is not an adulterer and my mother is not an adulteress." Umar ibn al-Khattab asked advice about that. One person said, "He has praised his father and mother." Another said, "His father and mother have praise other than this. We think that he is to be flogged with the hadd." So Umar flogged him with the hadd of eighty lashes.

Malik said, "There is no hadd in our view except for slander, denial or insinuation, in which one sees that the speaker intends by that denial or slander. Then the hadd is completely imposed on the one who said it."

Malik said, "What is done in our community when a man denies that another man is from his father, is that he deserves the hadd. If the mother who is denied is a slave, then he deserves the hadd as well. '

Allah's Apostle said, "Horses may be used for three purposes: For a man they may be a source of reward (in the Hereafter); for another, a means of protection; and for another, a source of sin. The man for whom they are a source of reward, is the one who keeps them for Allah's Cause and ties them with long ropes and lets them graze in a pasture or garden. Whatever those long ropes allow them to eat of that pasture or garden, will be written as good deeds for him and if they break their ropes and run one or two rounds, then all their footsteps and dung will be written as good deeds for him, and if they pass a river and drink from it though he has had no intention of watering them, even then, that will be written as good deeds for him. So such horses are a source of reward for that man. For the man who keeps horses for his livelihood in order not to ask others for help or beg his bread, and at the same time he does not forget Allah's right of what he earns through them and of their backs (that he presents it to be used in Allah's Cause), such horses are a shelter for him (from poverty). For the man who keeps them just out of pride and for showing off, they are a source of sin." Then Allah's Apostle was asked about donkeys. He said, "Allah has not revealed anything to me regarding them except this comprehensive Verse: "Then anyone who has done good, equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it, and any one who has done evil, equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it." (99.7-8)

The Prophet said, "A horse may be kept for one of three purposes: for a man it may be a source of reward; for another it may be a means of living; and for a third it may be a burden (a source of committing sins). As for the one for whom it is a source of reward, he is the one who keeps his horse for the sake of Jihad in Allah's Cause; he ties it with a long rope on a pasture or in a garden. So whatever its rope allows it to eat, will be regarded as good rewardable deeds (for its owner). And if it breaks off its rope and jumps over one or two hillocks, even its dung will be considered amongst his good deeds. And if it passes by a river and drinks water from it, that will be considered as good deeds for his benefit) even if he has had no intention of watering it. A horse is a shelter for the one who keeps it so that he may earn his living honestly and takes it as a refuge to keep him from following illegal ways (of gaining money), and does not forget the rights of Allah (i.e. paying the Zakat and allowing others to use it for Allah's Sake). But a horse is a burden (and a source of committing sins for him who keeps it out of pride and pretense and with the intention of harming the Muslims." The Prophet was asked about donkeys. He replied, "Nothing has been revealed to be concerning them except this comprehensive Verse (which covers everything) :--'Then whosoever has done good equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant), Shall see it (its reward) And whosoever has done evil equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ) ant), Shall see it (Its punishment)." (99.7-8)

That his father was martyred on the day of the battle of Uhud and was in debt and left six (orphan) daughters. Jabir, added, "When the season of plucking the dates came, I went to Allah's Apostle and said, "You know that my father was martyred on the day of Uhud, and he was heavily in debt, and I would like that the creditors should see you." The Prophet said, "Go and pile every kind of dates apart." I did so and called him (i.e. the Prophet ). When the creditors saw him, they started claiming their debts from me then in such a harsh manner (as they had never done before). So when he saw their attitude, he went round the biggest heap of dates thrice, and then sat over it and said, 'O Jabir), call your companions (i.e. the creditors).' Then he kept on measuring (and giving) to the creditors (their due) till Allah paid all the debt of my father. I would have been satisfied to retain nothing of those dates for my sisters after Allah had paid the debts of my father. But Allah saved all the heaps (of dates), so that when I looked at the heap where the Prophet had been sitting, it seemed as if a single date had not been taken away thereof."

The people passed by the Messenger of Allah (saws) with a Jew who was blackened with charcoal and who was being flogged.

He called them and said: Is this the prescribed punishment for a fornicator?

They said: Yes. He then called on a learned man among them and asked him: I adjure you by Allah Who revealed the Torah to Moses, do you find this prescribed punishment for a fornicator in your divine Book?

He said: By Allah, no. If you had not adjured me about this, I should not have informed you. We find stoning to be prescribed punishment for a fornicator in our Divine Book. But it (fornication) became frequent in our people of rank; so when we seized a person of rank, we left him alone, and when we seized a weak person, we inflicted the prescribed punishment on him. So we said: Come, let us agree on something which may be enforced equally on people of higher and lower rank. So we agreed to blacken the face of a criminal with charcoal, and flog him, and we abandoned stoning.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) then said: O Allah, I am the first to give life to Thy command which they have killed. So he commanded regarding him (the Jew) and he was stoned to death.

Allah Most High then sent down: "O Apostle, let not those who race one another into unbelief, make thee grieve..." up to "They say: If you are given this, take it, but if not, beware!...." up to "And if any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) unbelievers," about Jews, up to "And if any do fail to judge by (the right of) what Allah hath revealed, they are no better than) wrong-doers" about Jews: and revealed the verses up to "And if any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel." About this he said: This whole verse was revealed about the infidels.

`Ali bin Abu Talib came out of the house of the Prophet during his fatal ailment. The people asked (`Ali), "O Abu Hasan! How is the health of Allah's Apostle this morning?" `Ali said, "This morning he is better, with the grace of Allah." Al-`Abbas held `Ali by the hand and said, "Don't you see him (about to die)? By Allah, within three days you will be the slave of the stick (i.e., under the command of another ruler). By Allah, I think that Allah's Apostle will die from his present ailment, for I know the signs of death on the faces of the offspring of `Abdul Muttalib. So let us go to Allah's Apostle to ask him who will take over the Caliphate. If the authority is given to us, we will know it, and if it is given to somebody else we will request him to recommend us to him. " `Ali said, "By Allah! If we ask Allah's Apostle for the rulership and he refuses, then the people will never give it to us. Besides, I will never ask Allah's Apostle for it." (See Hadith No 728, Vol 5)

Yahya related to me from Malik that Zayd ibn Aslam said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stopped for a rest one night on the way to Makka and appointed Bilal to wake them up for the prayer. Bilal slept and everyone else slept and none of them woke up until the sun had risen. When they did wake up they were all alarmed. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered them to ride out of the valley, saying that there was a shaytan in it. So they rode out of the valley and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered them to dismount and do wudu and he told Bilal either to call the prayer or to give the iqama. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then led them in the prayer. Noticing their uneasiness, he went to them and said, 'O people! Allah seized our spirits (arwah) and if He had wished He would have returned them to us at a time other than this. So if you sleep through the time for a prayer or forget it and then are anxious about it, pray it as if you were praying it in its time.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, turned to Abu Bakr and said, 'Shaytan came to Bilal when he was standing in prayer and made him lie down and lulled him to sleep like a small boy.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then called Bilal and told him the same as he had told Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr declared, 'I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah.' "

The Prophet said, "He who commits suicide by throttling shall keep on throttling himself in the Hell Fire (forever) and he who commits suicide by stabbing himself shall keep on stabbing himself in the Hell-Fire."

AbuUmayr reported on the authority of his uncle who was from the Ansar (the helpers of the Prophet): The Prophet (saws) was anxious as to how to gather the people for prayer.

The people told him: Hoist a flag at the time of prayer; when they see it, they will inform one another. But he (the Prophet) did not like it. Then someone mentioned to him the horn.

Ziyad said: A horn of the Jews. He (the Prophet) did not like it. He said: This is the matter of the Jews. Then they mentioned to him the bell of the Christians. He said: This is the matter of the Christians. Abdullah ibn Zayd returned anxiously from there because of the anxiety of the Apostle (saws). He was then taught the call to prayer in his dream. Next day he came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and informed him about it.

He said: Messenger of Allah, I was between sleep and wakefulness; all of a sudden a newcomer came (to me) and taught me the call to prayer. Umar ibn al-Khattab had also seen it in his dream before, but he kept it hidden for twenty days.

The Prophet (saws) said to me (Umar): What did prevent you from saying it to me?

He said: Abdullah ibn Zayd had already told you about it before me: hence I was ashamed.

Then the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Bilal, stand up, see what Abdullah ibn Zayd tells you (to do), then do it. Bilal then called them to prayer.

AbuBishr reported on the authority of AbuUmayr: The Ansar thought that if Abdullah ibn Zayd had not been ill on that day, the Messenger of Allah (saws) would have made him mu'adhdhin.

Once the Messenger of Allah (saws) intended to go on an expedition. He said: O group of the emigrants (Muhajirun) and the helpers (Ansar), among your brethren there are people who have neither property nor family. So one of you should take with him two or three persons; with me. I also rode on my camel by turns like one of them.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) sent me to the Yemen as judge, and I asked: Messenger of Allah, are you sending me when I am young and have no knowledge of the duties of a judge? He replied: Allah will guide your heart and keep your tongue true. When two litigants sit in front of you, do not decide till you hear what the other has to say as you heard what the first had to say; for it is best that you should have a clear idea of the best decision. He said: I had been a judge (for long); or he said (the narrator is doubtful): I have no doubts about a decision afterwards.

I came to the Prophet (saws). He then narrated the rest of the tradition.

A man from the people said: "Messenger of Allah! tell us about Saba'; what is it: land or woman? He replied: It is neither land nor woman; it is a man to whom ten children of the Arabs were born: six of them lived in the Yemen and four lived in Syria.

The narrator Uthman said al-Ghatafani instead of al-Ghutayfi. He said: It has been transmitted to us by al-Hasan ibn al-Hakam an-Nakha'i.

A man was killed in the lifetime of the Prophet (saws). The matter was brought to the Prophet (saws). He entrusted him to the legal guardian of the slain. The slayer said: Messenger of Allah, I swear by Allah, I did not intend to kill him. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said to the legal guardian: Now if he is true and you kill him, you will enter Hell-fire. So he let him go. His hands were tied with a strap. He came out pulling his strap. Hence he was called Dhu an-Nis'ah (possessor of strap).

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) intended to get up from the assembly he used to say in the last. Glory be to Thee. O Allah, and I begin with praise of Thee, I testify that there is no god but Thou; I ask Thy pardon, and return to Thee in repentance. The man asked: Messenger of Allah! you utter the words now which you did not do in the past? He replied: (This is an) atonement for what takes place in the assembly.

The wife of Thabit bin Qais came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I do not blame Thabit for defects in his character or his religion, but I, being a Muslim, dislike to behave in un-Islamic manner (if I remain with him)." On that Allah's Apostle said (to her), "Will you give back the garden which your husband has given you (as Mahr)?" She said, "Yes." Then the Prophet said to Thabit, "O Thabit! Accept your garden, and divorce her once."

"The Prophet said, 'The best alms is that which is given when one is rich, and a giving hand is better than a taking one, and you should start first to support your dependents.' A wife says, 'You should either provide me with food or divorce me.' A slave says, 'Give me food and enjoy my service." A son says, "Give me food; to whom do you leave me?" The people said, "O Abu Huraira! Did you hear that from Allah's Apostle ?" He said, "No, it is from my own self."

A man came to the Prophet and said "I keep away from the morning prayer only because such and such person prolongs the prayer when he leads us in it. The narrator added: I had never seen Allah's Apostle more furious in giving advice than he was on that day. He said, "O people! There are some among you who make others dislike good deeds) cause the others to have aversion (to congregational prayers). Beware! Whoever among you leads the people in prayer should not prolong it, because among them there are the sick, the old, and the needy." (See Hadith No. 670, Vol 1)

While the Prophet was delivering a sermon on a Friday, a man stood up and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Invoke Allah to bless us with rain." (The Prophet invoked Allah for rain.) So, the sky became overcast and it started raining till one could hardly reach one's home. It kept on raining till the next Friday when the same man or another man got up and said (to the Prophet), "Invoke Allah to withhold the rain from us, for we have been drowned (with heavy rain )." The Prophet said, "O Allah! Let it rain around us and not on us." Then the clouds started dispersing around Medina and rain ceased to fall on the people of Medina.

[Muslim].

`Abdullah bin `Umar came to us and we hoped that he would narrate to us a good Hadith. But before we asked him, a man got up and said to him, "O Abu `Abdur-Rahman! Narrate to us about the battles during the time of the afflictions, as Allah says:-- 'And fight them until there is no more afflictions (i.e. no more worshipping of others besides Allah).'" (2.193) Ibn `Umar said (to the man), "Do you know what is meant by afflictions? Let your mother bereave you! Muhammad used to fight against the pagans, for a Muslim was put to trial in his religion (The pagans will either kill him or chain him as a captive). His fighting was not like your fighting which is carried on for the sake of ruling."