Um 'Atiyya (an Ansari woman who gave the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet ) came to Basra to visit her son, but she could not find him. She narrated to us, "The Prophet came to us while we were giving bath to his (dead) daughter, he said: 'Wash her three times, five times or more, if you think it necessary, with water and Sidr, and last of all put camphor, and when you finish, notify me.' " Um 'Atiyya added, "After finishing, we informed him and he gave us his waist sheet and told us to shroud her in it and did not say more than that."

Malik related to me from Said ibn Abi Said al-Maqburi from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "It is not halal for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to travel the distance of a day and night without a man who is her mahram."

We were afflicted with hunger during the besiege of Khaibar, and when it was the day of (the battle of) Khaibar, we slaughtered the donkeys and when the pots got boiling (with their meat). Allah's Apostle made an announcement that all the pots should be upset and that nobody should eat anything of the meat of the donkeys. We thought that the Prophet prohibited that because the Khumus had not been taken out of the booty (i.e. donkeys); other people said, "He prohibited eating them for ever." The sub-narrator added, "I asked Sa`id bin Jubair who said, 'He has made the eating of donkeys' meat illegal for ever.")

1: At-Tawbah 9:104.

2: Al-Baqarah 2:276.

3: Anthropomorphism, resembling Allah to creatures.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: There were two men among Banu Isra'il, who were striving for the same goal. One of them would commit sin and the other would strive to do his best in the world. The man who exerted himself in worship continued to see the other in sin.

He would say: Refrain from it. One day he found him in sin and said to him: Refrain from it.

He said: Leave me alone with my Lord. Have you been sent as a watchman over me? He said: I swear by Allah, Allah will not forgive you, nor will he admit you to Paradise. Then their souls were taken back (by Allah), and they met together with the Lord of the worlds.

He (Allah) said to this man who had striven hard in worship; Had you knowledge about Me or had you power over that which I had in My hand? He said to the man who sinned: Go and enter Paradise by My mercy. He said about the other: Take him to Hell.

AbuHurayrah said: By Him in Whose hand my soul is, he spoke a word by which this world and the next world of his were destroyed.

The Prophet said, "In a dream I saw myself migrating from Mecca to a place having plenty of date trees. I thought that it was Al-Yamama or Hajar, but it came to be Medina i.e. Yathrib. In the same dream I saw myself moving a sword and its blade got broken. It came to symbolize the defeat which the Muslims suffered from, on the Day of Uhud. I moved the sword again, and it became normal as before, and that was the symbol of the victory Allah bestowed upon Muslims and their gathering together. I saw cows in my dream, and by Allah, that was a blessing, and they symbolized the believers on the Day of Uhud. And the blessing was the good Allah bestowed upon us and the reward of true belief which Allah gave us after the day of Badr.

On his father's authority, said that his grandfather reported: Rabab ibn Hudhayfah married a woman and three sons were born to him from her. Their mother then died. They inherited her houses and had the right of inheritance of her freed slaves.

Amr ibn al-'As was the agnate of her sons. He sent them to Syria where they died. Amr ibn al-'As then came. A freed slave of hers died and left some property. Her brothers disputed with him and brought the case to Umar ibn al-Khattab.

Umar reported the Messenger of Allah (saws) as saying: Whatever property a son or a father receives as an heir will go to his agnates, whoever they may be. He then wrote a document for him, witnessed by AbdurRahman ibn Awf, Zayd ibn Thabit and one other person. When AbdulMalik became caliph, they presented the case to Hisham ibn Isma'il or Isma'il ibn Hisham (the narrator is doubtful).

He sent them to 'Abd al-Malik who said: This is the decision which I have already seen.

The narrator said: So he ('Abd al-Malik) made the decision on the basis of the document of Umar ibn al-Khattab, and that is still with us till this moment.

The Prophet said, "There was no prophet among the prophets but was given miracles because of which people had security or had belief, but what I was given was the Divine Inspiration which Allah revealed to me. So I hope that my followers will be more than those of any other prophet on the Day of Resurrection."

There was a man called Abu Shu'aib, and he had a slave who was a butcher. He said (to his slave), "Prepare a meal to which I may invite Allah's Apostle along with four other men." So he invited Allah's Apostle and four other men, but another man followed them whereupon the Prophet said, "You have invited me as one of five guests, but now another man has followed us. If you wish you can admit him, and if you wish you can refuse him." On that the host said, "But I admit him." Narrated Muhammad bin Isma`il: If guests are sitting at a dining table, they do not have the right to carry food from other tables to theirs, but they can pass on food from their own table to each other; otherwise they should leave it.

Allah's Apostle said, "If somebody is ordered (by the ruler or the judge) to take an oath, and he takes a false oath in order to grab the property of a Muslim, then he will incur Allah's Wrath when he will meet Him." And Allah revealed in its confirmation: 'Verily! Those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah's covenants and their own oaths.' (3.77) (The sub-narrator added:) Al-Ash'ath bin Qais entered, saying, "What did Abu `Abdur-Rahman narrate to you?" They said, "So-and-so," Al-Ash'ath said, "This verse was revealed in my connection. I had a well on the land of my cousin (and we had a dispute about it). I reported him to Allah 's Apostle who said (to me). "You should give evidence (i.e. witness) otherwise the oath of your opponent will render your claim invalid." I said, "Then he (my opponent) will take the oath, O Allah's Apostle." Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever is ordered (by the ruler or the judge) to give an oath, and he takes a false oath in order to grab the property of a Muslim, then he will incur Allah's Wrath when he meets Him on the Day of Resurrection."

`Aisha, (complaining of headache) said, "Oh, my head"! Allah's Apostle said, "I wish that had happened while I was still living, for then I would ask Allah's Forgiveness for you and invoke Allah for you." Aisha said, "Wa thuklayah! By Allah, I think you want me to die; and If this should happen, you would spend the last part of the day sleeping with one of your wives!" The Prophet said, "Nay, I should say, 'Oh my head!' I felt like sending for Abu Bakr and his son, and appoint him as my successor lest some people claimed something or some others wished something, but then I said (to myself), 'Allah would not allow it to be otherwise, and the Muslims would prevent it to be otherwise".

I went to the Prophet along with a group of Al-Ash`ariyin in order to request him to provide us with mounts. He said, "By Allah, I will not provide you with mounts and I haven't got anything to mount you on." Then we stayed there as long as Allah wished us to stay, and then three very nice looking she-camels were brought to him and he made us ride them. When we left, we, or some of us, said, "By Allah, we will not be blessed, as we came to the Prophet asking him for mounts, and he swore that he would not give us any mounts but then he did give us. So let us go back to the Prophet and remind him (of his oath)." When we returned to him (and reminded him of the fact), he said, "I did not give you mounts, but it is Allah Who gave you. By Allah, Allah willing, if I ever take an oath to do something and then I find something else than the first, I will make expiation for my oath and do the thing which is better (or do something which is better and give the expiation for my oath).

We went out in the company of Allah's Apostle on the day of (the battle of) Khaibar, and we did not get any gold or silver as war booty, but we got property in the form of things and clothes. Then a man called Rifa`a bin Zaid, from the tribe of Bani Ad-Dubaib, presented a slave named Mid`am to Allah's Apostle. Allah's Apostle headed towards the valley of Al-Qura, and when he was in the valley of Al- Qura an arrow was thrown by an unidentified person, struck and killed Mid`am who was making a she-camel of Allah's Apostle kneel down. The people said, "Congratulations to him (the slave) for gaining Paradise." Allah's Apostle said, "No! By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, for the sheet which he stole from the war booty before its distribution on the day of Khaibar, is now burning over him." When the people heard that, a man brought one or two Shiraks (leather straps of shoes) to the Prophet. The Prophet said, "A Shirak of fire, or two Shiraks of fire."

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) entered upon Abu Salamah, his eyes were fixedly open. So he closed them. The members of his family cried. He said: Do not pray for yourself anything but good, for the angels utter Amin to what you say. He then said: O Allah, forgive Abu Salamah, raise his rank among those who are guided, and grant him a succession in his descendants who remain. Forgive both us and him, Lord of the universe. O Allah,make his grave spacious for him, and grant him light in it.

Abu Dawud said: The eyes of the deceased should be closed after his expiry. I heard Muhammad b. al-Nu'man al-Muqri say: I heard a man who was devoted to Allah say: I closed the eyes of Ja'far al-Mu'allim when he was dying. He was a man devoted to Allah. I saw him in a dream on the night he died. He said: The biggest thing for me was closing the eyes by you before I died.

Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established till the sun rises from the west, and when it rises (from the west) and the people see it, then all of them will believe (in Allah). But that will be the time when 'No good it will do to a soul to believe then. If it believed not before.."' (6.158) The Hour will be established (so suddenly) that two persons spreading a garment between them will not be able to finish their bargain, nor will they be able to fold it up. The Hour will be established while a man is carrying the milk of his she-camel, but cannot drink it; and the Hour will be established when someone is not able to prepare the tank to water his livestock from it; and the Hour will be established when some of you has raised his food to his mouth but cannot eat it."

Bashir's name in pre-Islamic days was Zahm ibn Ma'bad. When he migrated to the Messenger of Allah (saws). He asked: What is your name? He replied: Zahm. He said: No, you are Bashir.

He (Bashir) said: When I was walking with the Messenger of Allah (saws) he passed by the graves of the polytheists. He said: They lived before (a period of) abundant good. He said this three times. He then passed by the graves of Muslims. He said: They received abundant good.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) suddenly saw a man walking in shoes between the graves. He said: O man, wearing the shoes! Woe to thee! Take off thy shoes. So the man looked (round), When he recognized the Messenger of Allah (saws), he took them off and threw them away.

The Prophet (saws) said: Musaddad's version has: He addressed on the day of Conquest. The agreed version then goes: Beware! Every object of pride of pre-Islamic times, whether it is blood-vengeance or property, mentioned or claimed, has been put under my feet except supply of water to the pilgrims and custody of the House (the Ka'bah). He then said: Beware! The blood-wit for unintentional murder, such as is done with a whip and stick, is one hundred camels, forty of which are pregnant.

That her father (Abu Bakr) never broke his oath till Allah revealed the order of the legal expiation for oath. Abu Bakr said, "If I ever take an oath (to do something) and later find that to do something else is better, then I accept Allah's permission and do that which is better, (and do the legal expiation for my oath ) ".

The Prophet offered a wedding banquet on the occasion of his marriage to Zainab, and provided a good meal for the Muslims. Then he went out as was his custom on marrying, he came to the dwelling places of the mothers of the Believers (i.e. his wives) invoking good (on them), and they were invoking good (on him). Then he departed (and came back) and saw two men (still sitting there). So he left again. I do not remember whether I informed him or he was informed (by somebody else) of their departure).

The Prophet said, "None of you should fast a day or two before the month of Ramadan unless he has the habit of fasting (Nawafil) (and if his fasting coincides with that day) then he can fast that day."

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.

We were in the company of Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari and there were friendly relations between us and this tribe of Jarm. Abu Musa was presented with a dish containing chicken. Among the people there was sitting a red-faced man who did not come near the food. Abu Musa said (to him), "Come on (and eat), for I have seen Allah's Apostle eating of it (i.e. chicken)." He said, "I have seen it eating something (dirty) and since then I have disliked it, and have taken an oath that I shall not eat it ' Abu Musa said, "Come on, I will tell you (or narrate to you). Once I went to Allah s Apostle with a group of Al-Ash`ariyin, and met him while he was angry, distributing some camels of rak`at. We asked for mounts but he took an oath that he would not give us any mounts, and added, 'I have nothing to mount you on' In the meantime some camels of booty were brought to Allah's Apostle and he asked twice, 'Where are Al-Ash`ariyin?" So he gave us five white camels with big humps. We stayed for a short while (after we had covered a little distance), and then I said to my companions, "Allah's Apostle has forgotten his oath. By Allah, if we do not remind Allah's Apostle of his oath, we will never be successful." So we returned to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We asked you for mounts, but you took an oath that you would not give us any mounts; we think that you have forgotten your oath.' He said, 'It is Allah Who has given you mounts. By Allah, and Allah willing, if I take an oath and later find something else better than that. then I do what is better and expiate my oath.' "

The Messenger of Allah (saws) recited surah Sad on the pulpit. When he reached the place of prostration (in the surah), he descended and prostrated himself and the people prostrated with him. When the next day came, he recited it. When he reached the place of prostration (in the surah), the people became ready for prostration. Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: This is the repentance of a Prophet ; but I saw you being ready for prostration. So he descended and prostrated himself and the people prostrated along with him.

The verse "And no Prophet could (ever) be false to his trust" was revealed about a red velvet. When it was found missing on the day of Badr, some people said; Perhaps the Messenger of Allah (saws) has taken it. So Allah, the Exalted, sent down "And no prophet could (ever) be false to his trust" to the end of the verse.

Abu Dawud said: In the word yaghulla the letter ya has a short vowel a.

`Aisha said, "O my head!" Allah's Apostle said, "If that (i.e., your death) should happen while I am still alive, I would ask Allah to forgive you and would invoke Allah for you." `Aisha said, "O my life which is going to be lost! By Allah, I think that you wish for my death, and if that should happen then you would be busy enjoying the company of one of your wives in the last part of that day." The Prophet said, "But I should say, 'O my head!' I feel like calling Abu Bakr and his son and appoint (the former as my successors lest people should say something or wish for something. Allah will insist (on Abu Bakr becoming a Caliph) and the believers will prevent (anyone else from claiming the Caliphate)," or "..Allah will prevent (anyone else from claiming the Caliphate) and the believers will insist (on Abu Bakr becoming the Caliph).

The Prophet appointed a man from the tribe of Al-Azd, called Ibn 'Utbiyya for collecting the Zakat. When he returned he said, "This (i.e. the Zakat) is for you and this has been given to my as a present." The Prophet said, "Why hadn't he stayed in his father's or mother's house to see whether he would be given presents or not? By Him in Whose Hands my life is, whoever takes something from the resources of the Zakat (unlawfully) will be carrying it on his neck on the Day of Resurrection; if it be a camel, it will be grunting; if a cow, it will be mooing; and if a sheep, it will be bleating." The Prophet then raised his hands till we saw the whiteness of his armpits, and he said thrice, "O Allah! Haven't I conveyed Your Message (to them)?"

We migrated in the company of Allah's Apostle, seeking Allah's Pleasure. So our reward became due and sure with Allah. Some of us have been dead without enjoying anything of their rewards (here), and one of them was Mus'ab bin 'Umar who was martyred on the day of the battle of Uhud, and did not leave anything except a Namira (i.e. a sheet in which he was shrouded). If we covered his head with it, his feet became naked, and if we covered his feet with it, his head became naked. So the Prophet said to us, "Cover his head with it and put some Idhkhir (i.e. a kind of grass) over his feet or throw Idhkhir over his feet." But some amongst us have got the fruits of their labor ripened, and they are collecting them.

We migrated with the Prophet for Allah's Cause, so our reward became due with Allah. Some of us passed away (i.e. died) without enjoying anything from their reward, and one of them was Mus`ab bin `Umar who was killed (i.e. martyred) on the day of Uhud. He did not leave behind except a sheet of striped woolen cloth. If we covered his head with it, his feet became naked, and if we covered his feet with it, his head became naked. The Prophet said to us, "Cover his head with it and put Idhkhir (i.e. a kind of grass) over his feet," or said, "Put some Idhkhir over his feet." But some of us have got their fruits ripened, and they are collecting them.

While we were sitting with the Prophet Surat Al-Jumu'a was revealed to him, and when the Verse, "And He (Allah) has sent him (Muhammad) also to other (Muslims).....' (62.3) was recited by the Prophet, I said, "Who are they, O Allah's Apostle?" The Prophet did not reply till I repeated my question thrice. At that time, Salman Al-Farisi was with us. So Allah's Apostle put his hand on Salman, saying, "If Faith were at (the place of) Ath-Thuraiya (pleiades, the highest star), even then (some men or man from these people (i.e. Salman's folk) would attain it."

(the slave of Ibn Azhar) I witnessed the `Id with `Umar bin Al-Khattab who said, Allah's Apostle has forbidden people to fast on the day on which you break fasting (the fasts of Ramadan) and the day on which you eat the meat of your sacrifices (the first day of `Id ul Fitr and `Id ul-Adha).

I went to Um Habiba, the wife of Prophet, who said, "I heard the Prophets saying, 'It is not legal for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for any dead person for more than three days except for her husband, (for whom she should mourn) for four months and ten days'." Later I went to Zainab bint Jahsh when her brother died; she asked for some scent, and after using it she said, "I am not in need of scent but I heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'It is not legal for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for more than three days for any dead person except her husband, (for whom she should mourn) for four months and ten days.' "

The Prophet (saws) said: When one of you bows, he should say three time,:"Glory be to my mighty Lord," and when he prostrates, he should say: "Glory be to my most high Lord" three times. This is the minimum number.

Abu Dawud said: The chain of this tradition is broken. The narrator 'Awn did not see 'Abd Allah (b. Mas'ud).