Allah's Apostle said, "Fasting is a shield (or a screen or a shelter). So, the person observing fasting should avoid sexual relation with his wife and should not behave foolishly and impudently, and if somebody fights with him or abuses him, he should tell him twice, 'I am fasting." The Prophet added, "By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk. (Allah says about the fasting person), 'He has left his food, drink and desires for My sake. The fast is for Me. So I will reward (the fasting person) for it and the reward of good deeds is multiplied ten times."

We were in the company of Allah's Apostle on a journey. He said to a man, "Get down and mix Sawiq (powdered barley) with water for me." The man said, "The sun (has not set yet), O Allah's Apostle." The Prophet again said to him, "Get down and mix Sawiq with water for me." The man again said, "O Allah's Apostle! The sun!" The Prophet said to him (for the third time) "Get down and mix Sawiq with water for me." The man dismounted and mixed Sawiq with water for him. The Prophet drank it and then beckoned with his hand (towards the East) and said, "When you see the night falling from this side, then a fasting person should break his fast."

We were traveling with Allah's Apostle and he was fasting, and when the sun set, he said to (someone), "Get down and mix Sawiq with water for us." He replied, "O Allah's Apostle! (Will you wait) till it is evening?" The Prophet again said, "Get down and mix Sawiq with water for us." He replied, "O Allah's Apostle! It is still daytime." The Prophet said again, "Get down and mix Sawiq with water for us." So, he got down and carried out that order. The Prophet then said, "When you see night falling from this side, the fasting person should break his fast," and he beckoned with his finger towards the east.

(who fought in twelve Ghazawat in the company of the Prophet). I heard four things from the Prophet and they won my admiration. He said; -1. "No lady should travel on a journey of two days except with her husband or a Dhi-Mahram; -2. "No fasting is permissible on the two days of Id-ul-Fitr and `Id-ul-Adha; -3. "No prayer (may be offered) after the morning compulsory prayer until the sun rises; and no prayer after the `Asr prayer till the sun sets; -4. "One should travel only for visiting three Masjid (Mosques): Masjid-al-Haram (Mecca), Masjid-al- Aqsa (Jerusalem), and this (my) Mosque (at Medina).

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).

We used to be very happy on Friday as an old lady used to cut some roots of the Silq, which we used to plant on the banks of our small water streams, and cook them in a pot of her's, adding to them, some grains of barley. (Ya'qub, the sub-narrator said, "I think the narrator mentioned that the food did not contain fat or melted fat (taken from meat).") When we offered the Friday prayer we would go to her and she would serve us with the dish. So, we used to be happy on Fridays because of that. We used not to take our meals or the midday nap except after the Jumua prayer (i.e. Friday prayer).

The Prophet said, "The example of the person abiding by Allah's order and restrictions in comparison to those who violate them is like the example of those persons who drew lots for their seats in a boat. Some of them got seats in the upper part, and the others in the lower. When the latter needed water, they had to go up to bring water (and that troubled the others), so they said, 'Let us make a hole in our share of the ship (and get water) saving those who are above us from troubling them. So, if the people in the upper part left the others do what they had suggested, all the people of the ship would be destroyed, but if they prevented them, both parties would be safe."

that his mother Zainab bint Humaid took him to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Take the pledge of allegiance from him." But he said, "He is still too young for the pledge," and passed his hand on his (i.e. `Abdullah's) head and invoked for Allah's blessing for him. Zuhra bin Ma`bad stated that he used to go with his grandfather, `Abdullah bin Hisham, to the market to buy foodstuff. Ibn `Umar and Ibn Az-Zubair would meet him and say to him, "Be our partner, as the Prophet invoked Allah to bless you." So, he would be their partner, and very often he would win a camel's load and send it home.

I heard An-Nu`man bin Bashir on the pulpit saying, "My father gave me a gift but `Amra bint Rawaha (my mother) said that she would not agree to it unless he made Allah's Apostle as a witness to it. So, my father went to Allah's Apostle and said, 'I have given a gift to my son from `Amra bint Rawaha, but she ordered me to make you as a witness to it, O Allah's Apostle!' Allah's Apostle asked, 'Have you given (the like of it) to everyone of your sons?' He replied in the negative. Allah's Apostle said, 'Be afraid of Allah, and be just to your children.' My father then returned and took back his gift."

`Uqba married the daughter of Abu Ihab bin `Aziz, and then a woman came and said, "I suckled `Uqba and his wife." `Uqba said to her, "I do not know that you have suckled me, and you did not inform me." He then sent someone to the house of Abu Ihab to inquire about that but they did not know that she had suckled their daughter. Then `Uqba went to the Prophet in Medina and asked him about it. The Prophet said to him, "How (can you keep your wife) after it has been said (that both of you were suckled by the same woman)?" So, he divorced her and she was married to another (husband).

My mother asked my father to present me a gift from his property; and he gave it to me after some hesitation. My mother said that she would not be satisfied unless the Prophet was made a witness to it. I being a young boy, my father held me by the hand and took me to the Prophet . He said to the Prophet, "His mother, bint Rawaha, requested me to give this boy a gift." The Prophet said, "Do you have other sons besides him?" He said, "Yes." The Prophet said, "Do not make me a witness for injustice." Narrated Ash-Shu`bi that the Prophet said, "I will not become a witness for injustice."

That Ka`b bin Malik told him that in the lifetime of Allah's Apostle he demanded his debt from Ibn Abu Hadrad in the Mosque. Their voices grew louder till Allah's Apostle heard them while he was in his house. So he lifted the curtain of his room and called Ka`b bin Malik saying, "O Ka`b!" He replied, "Labbaik! O Allah's Apostle!" He beckoned to him with his hand suggesting that he deduct half the debt. Ka`b said, "I agree, O Allah's Apostle!" Allah's Apostle then said (to Ibn Abu Hadrad), "Get up and pay him the rest."

The freed slave of `Umar bin 'Ubaidullah who was `Umar's clerk: `Abdullah bin Abi `Aufa wrote him (i.e. `Umar) a letter that contained the following:-- "Once Allah's Apostle (during a holy battle), waited till the sun had declined and then he got up among the people and said, "O people! Do not wish to face the enemy (in a battle) and ask Allah to save you (from calamities) but if you should face the enemy, then be patient and let it be known to you that Paradise is under the shades of swords." He then said,, "O Allah! The Revealer of the (Holy) Book, the Mover of the clouds, and Defeater of Al-Ahzab (i.e. the clans of infidels), defeat them infidels and bestow victory upon us."

Allah's Apostle gave (gifts) to some people to the exclusion of some others. The latter seemed to be displeased by that. The Prophet said, "I give to some people, lest they should deviate from True Faith or lose patience, while I refer other people to the goodness and contentment which Allah has put in their hearts, and `Amr bin Taghlib is amongst them." `Amr bin Taghlib said, "The statement of Allah's Apostle is dearer to me than red camels." Narrated Al-Hasan: `Amr bin Taghlib told us that Allah's Apostle got some property or some war prisoners and he distributed them in the above way (i.e. giving to some people to the exclusion of others) .

Abu Bakr married a woman from the tribe of Bani Kalb, called Um Bakr. When Abu Bakr migrated to Medina, he divorced her and she was married by her cousin, the poet who said the following poem lamenting the infidels of Quraish: "What is there kept in the well, The well of Badr, (The owners of) the trays of Roasted camel humps? What is there kept in the well, The well of Badr, (The owners of) lady singers And friends of the honorable companions; who used to drink (wine) together, Um Bakr greets us With the greeting of peace, But can I find peace After my people have gone? The Apostle tells us that We shall live again, But what sort of life will owls and skulls live?:

A partner of mine sold some Dirhams on credit in the market. I said, "Glorified be Allah! Is this legal?" He replied, "Glorified be Allah! By Allah, when I sold them in the market, nobody objected to it." Then I asked Al-Bara' bin `Azib (about it) he said, "We used to make such a transaction when the Prophet came to Medina. So he said, 'There is no harm in it if it is done from hand to hand, but it is not allowed on credit.' Go to Zaid bin Al- Arqam and ask him about it for he was the greatest trader of all of us." So I asked Zaid bin Al-Arqam., and he said the same (as Al-Bara) did."

Allah's Apostle said to Mu`adh bin Jabal when he sent him to Yemen. "You will come to the people of Scripture, and when you reach them, invite them to testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is His Apostle. And if they obey you in that, then tell them that Allah has enjoined on them five prayers to be performed every day and night. And if they obey you in that, then tell them that Allah has enjoined on them Sadaqa (i.e. rak`at) to be taken from the rich amongst them and given to the poor amongst them. And if they obey you in that, then be cautious! Don't take their best properties (as Zakat) and be afraid of the curse of an oppressed person as there is no screen between his invocation and Allah.

When the Verse:-- "If there are twenty steadfast amongst you, they will overcome two hundred." (8.65) was revealed, then it became obligatory for the Muslims that one (Muslim) should not flee from ten (non-Muslims). Sufyan (the sub-narrator) once said, "Twenty (Muslims) should not flee before two hundred (non Muslims)." Then there was revealed: 'But now Allah has lightened your (task)..' (8.66) So it became obligatory that one-hundred (Muslims) should not flee before two hundred (nonmuslims). (Once Sufyan said extra, "The Verse: 'Urge the believers to the fight. If there are twenty steadfast amongst you (Muslims) ..' was revealed.) Sufyan said, "Ibn Shabrama said, "I see that this order is applicable to the obligation of enjoining good and forbidding evil."

I married a woman and then a black lady came to us and said, "I have suckled you both (you and your wife)." So I came to the Prophet and said, "I married so-and-so and then a black lady came to us and said to me, 'I have suckled both of you.' But I think she is a liar." The Prophet turned his face away from me and I moved to face his face, and said, "She is a liar." The Prophet said, "How (can you keep her as your wife) when that lady has said that she has suckled both of you? So abandon (i.e., divorce) her (your wife).

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) ."

(the clerk of Al-Mughira bin Shu`ba) Muawiya wrote to Al-Mughira: "Write to me a narration you have heard from Allah's Apostle." So Al-Mughira wrote to him, "I heard him saying the following after each prayer: 'La ilaha illal-lahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahu-l-mulk wa lahuI-hamd, wa huwa 'ala kulli Shai-in qadir.' He also used to forbid idle talk, asking too many questions (in religion), wasting money, preventing what should be given, and asking others for something (except in great need), being undutiful to mothers, and burying one's little daughters (alive).

I was sitting in a gathering in which there was Sa`d bin Malik and Ibn `Umar. `Abdullah bin Salam passed in front of them and they said, "This man is from the people of Paradise." I said to `Abdullah bin Salam, "They said so-and-so." He replied, "Subhan Allah! They ought not to have said things of which they have no knowledge, but I saw (in a dream) that a post was fixed in a green garden. At the top of the post there was a handhold and below it there was a servant. I was asked to climb (the post). So I climbed it till I got hold of the handhold." Then I narrated this dream to Allah's Apostle. Allah's Apostle said, "`Abdullah will die while still holding the firm reliable handhold (i.e., Islam).

Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with them) reported that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) made al-Fadl sit behind him (on the camel back) from the place (where the two prayers) are combined (Muzdalifa). Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with them) also informed that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) did not stop pronouncing Talbiya till he threw pebbles at Jamrat al-'Aqaba.