that he asked `Aisha, saying to her, "O Mother! (In what connection was this Verse revealed): 'If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with orphan girls (to the end of the verse) that your right hands possess?" (4.3) Aisha said, "O my nephew! It was about the female orphan under the protection of her guardian who was interested in her beauty and wealth and wanted to marry her with a little or reduced Mahr. So such guardians were forbidden to marry female orphans unless they deal with them justly and give their full Mahr; and they were ordered to marry women other than them."`Aisha added, "(Later) the people asked Allah's Apostle, for instructions, and then Allah revealed: 'They ask your instruction concerning the women . . . And yet whom you desire to marry.' (4.127) So Allah revealed to them in this Verse that-if a female orphan had wealth and beauty, they desired to marry her and were interested in her noble descent and the reduction of her Mahr; but if she was not desired by them because of her lack in fortune and beauty they left her and married some other woman. So, as they used to leave her when they had no interest in her, they had no right to marry her if they had the desire to do so, unless they deal justly with her and gave her a full amount of Mahr."

That he had asked `Aisha about the meaning of the Statement of Allah: "If you fear that you shall not Be able to deal justly With the orphan girls, then Marry (Other) women of your choice Two or three or four." (4.3) She said, "O my nephew! This is about the orphan girl who lives with her guardian and shares his property. Her wealth and beauty may tempt him to marry her without giving her an adequate Mahr (bridal-money) which might have been given by another suitor. So, such guardians were forbidden to marry such orphan girls unless they treated them justly and gave them the most suitable Mahr; otherwise they were ordered to marry any other woman." `Aisha further said, "After that verse the people again asked the Prophet (about the marriage with orphan 'girls), so Allah revealed the following verses:-- 'They ask your instruction Concerning the women. Say: Allah Instructs you about them And about what is Recited unto you In the Book, concerning The orphan girls to whom You give not the prescribed portions and yet whom you Desire to marry..." (4.127) What is meant by Allah's Saying:-- 'And about what is Recited unto you is the former verse which goes:-- 'If you fear that you shall not Be able to deal justly With the orphan girls, then Marry (other) women of your choice.' (4.3) `Aisha said, "Allah's saying in the other verse:--'Yet whom you desire to marry' (4.127) means the desire of the guardian to marry an orphan girl under his supervision when she has not much property or beauty (in which case he should treat her justly). The guardians were forbidden to marry their orphan girls possessing property and beauty without being just to them, as they generally refrain from marrying them (when they are neither beautiful nor wealthy).

The Prophet (saws) said: He who finds something should call one or two trusty persons as witnesses and not conceal it or cover it up; then if he finds its owner he should return it to him, otherwise it is Allah's property which He gives to whom He will.

'A'isha reported that when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) decided upon doing any act, he continued to do it, and when he slept at night or fell sick he observed twelve rak'ahs during the daytime. I am not aware of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) observing prayer during the whole of the night till morning, or observing fast for a whole month continuously except that of Ramadan.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father said that a man who pronounced a dhihar from his four wives in one statement, had only to do one kaffara. Yahya related the same as that to me from Malik from Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahman.

Malik said, "That is what is done among us. Allah, the Exalted said about the kaffara for pronouncing dhihar, 'It is to free a slave before they touch one another. If he does not find the means to do that, then fasting for two consecutive months before they touch one another. If he cannot do that, it is to feed sixty poor people. ' " (Sura 58 ayats 4,5).

Malik said that a man who pronounced dhihar from his wife on various occasions had only to do one kaffara. If he pronounced dhihar, and then did kaffara, and then pronounced dhihar after he had done the kaffara, he had to do kaffara again.

Malik said, "Some one who pronounces dhihar from his wife and then has intercourse with her before he has done kaffara, only has to do one kaffara. He must abstain from her until he does kaffara and ask forgiveness of Allah. That is the best of what I have heard. "

Malik said, "It is the same with dhihar using any prohibited relations of fosterage and ancestry."

Malik said, "Women have no dhihar."

Malik said that he had heard that the commentary on the word of Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, "Those of you who pronounce the dhihar about their wives, and then retract what they have said," (Sura 56 ayat 3), was that a man pronounced dhihar on his wife and then decided to keep her and have intercourse with her. If he decided on that, he must do kaffara. If he divorced her and did not decide to retract his dhihar of her and to keep her and have intercourse with her, there would be no kaffara incumbent on him.

Maliksaid, "If he marries her after that, he does not touch her until he has completed the kaffara of pronouncing dhihar."

Malik said that if a man who pronounced dhihar from his slave-girl wanted to have intercourse with her, he had to do the kaffara of the dhihar before he could sleep with her.

Malik said, "There is no ila in a man's dhihar unless it is evident that he does not intend to retract his dhihar."

A man who was stung by a scorpion was brought to the Prophet (saws). He said: Had he said the word: "I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He created, "he would not have been stung, or he said, "It would not have harmed him."

I came to the Prophet while he was wearing white clothes and sleeping. Then I went back to him again after he had got up from his sleep. He said, "Nobody says: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah' and then later on he dies while believing in that, except that he will enter Paradise." I said, "Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft?" He said. 'Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft." I said, "Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft?" He said. 'Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft." I said, 'Even it he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft?' He said, "Even if he had committed illegal sexual intercourse and theft, inspite of the Abu Dharr's dislike. Abu `Abdullah said, "This is at the time of death or before it if one repents and regrets and says "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. He will be forgiven his sins."

The Prophet said: "While I was walking in Paradise (on the night of Mi'raj), I saw a river, on the two banks of which there were tents made of hollow pearls. I asked, "What is this, O Gabriel?' He said, 'That is the Kauthar which Your Lord has given to you.' Behold! Its scent or its mud was sharp smelling musk!" (The sub-narrator, Hudba is in doubt as to the correct expression. )

That the Prophet used to take him and Al-Hasan, and used to say, "O Allah! I love them, so please love them," or said something similar.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to send the zakat al-fitr to the one with whom it was collected together two or three days before the day of breaking the fast.

I used to sit with Ibn `Abbas in Mecca. Once I had a fever and he said (to me), "Cool your fever with Zamzam water, for Allah's Apostle said: 'It, (the Fever) is from the heat of the (Hell) Fire; so, cool it with water (or Zamzam water).

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said to me: May I not teach you phrases which you utter in distress? (These are:) "Allah , Allah is my Lord, I do not associate anything as partner with Him."

Abu Dawud said: The narrator Hilal is a client of 'Umar b. 'Abd al-Aziz. The name of Ja'far, a narrator, is 'Abd Allah b. Ja'far.

The Prophet arranged for a horse race amongst the horses that had been made lean to take place between Al-Hafya'' and Thaniyat Al-Wada` (i.e. names of two places) and the horses which had not been mad.? lean from Ath-Thaniyat to the mosque of Bani Zuraiq. I was also amongst those who took part in that horse race. Sufyan, a sub-narrator, said, "The distance between Al-Hafya and Thaniya Al- Wada` is five or six miles; and between Thaniya and the mosque of Bani Zuraiq is one mile."

Allah's Apostle forbade Al-Muzabana, i.e. to sell ungathered dates of one's garden for measured dried dates or fresh ungathered grapes for measured dried grapes; or standing crops for measured quantity of foodstuff. He forbade all such bargains.

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."

I said to `Uthman bin `Affan (while he was collecting the Qur'an) regarding the Verse:-- "Those of you who die and leave wives ..." (2.240) "This Verse was abrogated by an other Verse. So why should you write it? (Or leave it in the Qur'an)?" `Uthman said. "O son of my brother! I will not shift anything of it from its place."

Yazid ibn Abdullah said that Abdullah ibn Amr asked the Prophet (saws): In how many days should I complete the recitation of the whole Qur'an, Messenger of Allah?

He replied: In one month.

He said: I am more energetic to complete it in a period less than this. He kept on repeating these words and lessening the period until he said: Complete its recitation in seven days.

He again said: I am more energetic to complete it in a period less than this.

The Prophet (saws) said: He who finishes the recitation of the Qur'an in less than three days does not understand it.

"I saw Allah's Apostle delaying the Maghrib prayer till he offered it along with the `Isha' prayer whenever he was in a hurry during the journey." Salim narrated, "Ibn `Umar used to do the same whenever he was in a hurry during the journey." And Salim added, "Ibn `Umar used to pray the Maghrib and `Isha' prayers together in Al-Muzdalifa." Salim said, "Ibn `Umar delayed the Maghrib prayer because at that time he heard the news of the death of his wife Safiya bint Abi `Ubaid. I said to him, 'The prayer (is due).' He said, 'Go on.' Again I said, 'The prayer (is due).' He said, 'Go on,' till we covered two or three miles. Then he got down, prayed and said, 'I saw the Prophet praying in this way, whenever he was in a hurry during the journey.' `Abdullah (bin `Umar) added, "Whenever the Prophet was in a hurry, he used to delay the Maghrib prayer and then offer three rak`at (of the Maghrib) and perform Taslim, and after waiting for a short while, Iqama used to be pronounced for the `Isha' prayer when he would offer two rak`at and perform Taslim. He would never offer any optional prayer till the middle of the night (when he used to pray the Tahajjud)."

'Abdullah b. Ka'b reported that his father Ka'b narrated to him that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) used to eat with three fingers and when he had finished (eating), he licked them.

A man from the Companions of the Prophet (saws), said: The narrator Sa'd ibn Ubaydah narrated sometimes from the Prophet (saws) and sometimes as a statement of Ubayd (ibn Khalid): The Prophet (saws) said: Sudden death is a wrathful catching.

The woman having bleeding after delivery (puerperal haemorrhage) would refrain (from prayer) for forty days or forty nights; and we would anoint our faces with an aromatic herb called wars to remove dark spots.

The Prophet said, "Do not practice Al-Wisal (fasting continuously without breaking one's fast in the evening or eating before the following dawn)." The people said to the Prophet, "But you practice Al- Wisal?" The Prophet replied, "I am not like any of you, for I am given food and drink (by Allah) during the night."

That she heard Allah's Apostle saying, "He who makes peace between the people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar."

I asked Ibn `Umar about Salam for dates. Ibn `Umar replied, "The Prophet forbade the sale (the fruits) of date-palms until they were fit for eating and also forbade the sale of silver for gold on credit." I also asked Ibn `Abbas about it. Ibn `Abbas replied, "The Prophet forbade the sale of dates till they were fit for eating, and could be weighed." I asked him, "What is to be weighed (as the dates are on the trees)?" A man sitting by Ibn `Abbas said, "It means till they are cut and stored."

A man said, "O Allah's Apostle! Can the people of Paradise be known (differentiated) from the people of the Fire; The Prophet replied, "Yes." The man said, "Why do people (try to) do (good) deeds?" The Prophet said, "Everyone will do the deeds for which he has been created to do or he will do those deeds which will be made easy for him to do." (i.e. everybody will find easy to do such deeds as will lead him to his destined place for which he has been created).

In the life-time of the Prophet, Abu Talha did not fast because of the Jihad, but after the Prophet died I never saw him without fasting except on `Id-ul-Fitr and `Id-ul-Aclha.

Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed there for two years or so and then he married `Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old.

The Prophet (saws) was brought a necklace in which there were gold and pearls.

(The narrators AbuBakr and (Ahmad) Ibn Mani' said: The pearls were set with gold in it, and a man bought it for nine or seven dinars.)

The Prophet (saws) said: (It must not be sold) till the contents are considered separately. The narrator said: He returned it till the contents were considered separately. The narrator Ibn Asa said: By this I intended trade.

Abu Dawud said: The word hijarah (stone) was recorded in his note-book before, but he changed it and narrated tijarah (trade).

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) used to Nahr or slaughter sacrifices at the Musalla (on `Id-ul-Adha).

Ikrimah quoted Ibn Abbas as saying: When asking for something you should raise your hands opposite to your shoulders; when asking for forgiveness you should point with one finger; and when making an earnest supplication you should spread out both your hands.

Malik related to me that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Umar was asked whether a slave could be bought on the specific condition that it was to be used to fulfil the obligation of freeing a slave, and he said, "No."

Malik said, "That is the best of what I have heard on the obligation of freeing slaves. Someone who has to set a slave free because of an obligation on him, may not buy one on the condition that he sets it free because if he does that, whatever he buys is not completely a slave because he has reduced its price by the condition he has made of setting it free."

Malik added, "There is no harm, however, in someone buying a person expressly to set him free."

Malik said, "The best of what I have heard on the obligation of freeing slaves is that it is not permitted to free a christian or a jew to fulfil it, and one does not free a mukatab or a mudabbar or an umm walad or a slave to be freed after a certain number of years, or a blind person. There is no harm in freeing a christian, jew, or magian voluntarily, because Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said in His Book, 'either as a favour then or by ransom,' (Sura 47 ayat 4) The favour is setting free."

Malik said, "As for obligations of freeing slaves which Allah has mentioned in the Book, one only frees a mumin slave for them."

Malik said, "It is like that in feeding poor people for kaffara. One must only feed muslims and one does not feed anyone outside of the deen of Islam."