The Prophet pointed with his hand towards Yemen and said twice, "Faith is there," and then pointed towards the East, and said, "Verily, sternness and mercilessness are the qualities of those who are busy with their camels and pay no attention to their religion, where the two sides of the head of Satan will appear," namely, the tribes of Rabl'a and Muqar.

Abu Jahl said, "If I see Muhammad praying at the Ka`ba, I will tread on his neck." When the Prophet heard of that, he said, "If he does so, the Angels will snatch him away."

The Prophet (saws) said: When a man makes a promise to his brother with the intention of fulfilling it and does not do so, and does not come at the appointed time, he is guilty of no sin.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al- Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade muzabana and muhaqala. Muzabana was selling fresh dates for dried dates. Muhaqala was buying unharvested wheat in exchange for threshed wheat and renting land in exchange for wheat.

Ibn Shihab added that he had asked Said ibn al-Musayyab about renting land for gold and silver. He said, "There is no harm in it."

Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade muzabana. The explanation of muzabana is that it is buying something whose number, weight and measure is not known with something whose number, weight or measure is known, for instance, if a man has a stack of food whose measure is not known, either of wheat, dates, or whatever food, or the man has goods of wheat, date kernels, herbs, safflower, cotton, flax, silk, and does not know its measure or weight or number and then a buyer approaches him and proposes that he weigh or measure or count the goods, but, before he does, he specifies a certain weight, or measure, or number and guarantees to pay the price for that amount, agreeing that whatever falls short of that amount is a loss against him and whatever is in excess of that amount is a gain for him. That is not a sale. It is taking risks and it is an uncertain transaction. It falls into the category of gambling because he is not buying something from him for something definite which he pays. Everything which resembles this is also forbidden."

Malik said that another example of that was, for instance, a man proposing to another man, "You have cloth. I will guarantee you from this cloth of yours so many hooded cloaks, the measureof each cloak to be such-and-such, (naming a measurement). Whatever loss there is, is against me and I will fulfill you the specified amount and whatever excess there is, is mine." Or perhaps the man proposed, "I will guarantee you from this cloth of yours so many shirts, the measurement of each shirt to be such-and-such, and whatever loss there is, is against me and I will fulfill the specified amount and whatever excess there is, is mine." Or perhaps a man proposed to a man who had cattle or camel hides, "I will cut up these hides of yours into sandals on a pattern I will show you. Whatever falls short of a hundred pairs, I will make up its loss and whatever is over is mine because I guaranteed you." Another example was that a man say to a man who had ben-nuts, "I will press these nuts of yours. Whatever falls short of such-and-such a weight by the pound, I will make it up, and whatever is more than that is mine."

Malik said that all this and whatever else was like it or resembled it was in the category of muzabana, which was neither good nor permitted. It was also the same case for a man to say to a man, who had fodder leaves, date kernels, cotton, flax, herbs or safflower, "I will buy these leaves from you in exchange for such-and-such a sa, (indicating leaves which are pounded like his leaves) . . or these date kernels for such-and-such a sa of kernels like them, and the like of that in the case of safflower, cotton, flax and herbs."

Malik said, "All this is what we have described of muzabana."

Allah's Apostle, the truthful and truly-inspired, said, "Each one of you collected in the womb of his mother for forty days, and then turns into a clot for an equal period (of forty days) and turns into a piece of flesh for a similar period (of forty days) and then Allah sends an angel and orders him to write four things, i.e., his provision, his age, and whether he will be of the wretched or the blessed (in the Hereafter). Then the soul is breathed into him. And by Allah, a person among you (or a man) may do deeds of the people of the Fire till there is only a cubit or an arm-breadth distance between him and the Fire, but then that writing (which Allah has ordered the angel to write) precedes, and he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it; and a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is only a cubit or two between him and Paradise, and then that writing precedes and he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it."

Jabir bin `Abdullah said, "When the Prophet died, Abu Bakr received some property from Al-`Ala bin Al-Hadrami. Abu Bakr said to the people, "Whoever has a money claim on the Prophet, or was promised something by him, should come to us (so that we may pay him his right)." Jabir added, "I said (to Abu Bakr), Allah's Apostle promised me that he would give me this much, and this much, and this much (spreading his hands three times)." Jabir added, "Abu Bakr counted for me and handed me five-hundred (gold pieces), and then five-hundred, and then five-hundred."

The Prophet came to Medina and the people used to pay in advance the prices of fruits to be delivered within two to three years. The Prophet said (to them), "Buy fruits by paying their prices in advance on condition that the fruits are to be delivered to you according to a fixed specified measure within a fixed specified period." Ibn Najih said, " ... by specified measure and specified weight."

AbdulHamid, a client of Banu Hashim, said that his mother who served some of the daughters of the Prophet (saws) told him that one of the daughters of the Prophet (saws) said that the Prophet (saws) used to teach her saying: Say in the morning: Glory be to Allah, and I begin with praise of Him; there is no power but in Allah ; what Allah wills comes to pass and what He does not will does not come to pass; I know that Allah is Omnipotent and that Allah has comprehended everything in knowledge" ; for whoever says it in the morning will be guarded till the evening, and whoever says it in the evening will be guarded till the morning.

Allah's Apostle related to us, two prophetic narrations one of which I have seen fulfilled and I am waiting for the fulfillment of the other. The Prophet told us that the virtue of honesty descended in the roots of men's hearts (from Allah) and then they learned it from the Qur'an and then they learned it from the Sunna (the Prophet's traditions). The Prophet further told us how that honesty will be taken away: He said: "Man will go to sleep during which honesty will be taken away from his heart and only its trace will remain in his heart like the trace of a dark spot; then man will go to sleep, during which honesty will decrease further still, so that its trace will resemble the trace of blister as when an ember is dropped on one's foot which would make it swell, and one would see it swollen but there would be nothing inside. People would be carrying out their trade but hardly will there be a trustworthy person. It will be said, 'in such-and-such tribe there is an honest man,' and later it will be said about some man, 'What a wise, polite and strong man he is!' Though he will not have faith equal even to a mustard seed in his heart." No doubt, there came upon me a time when I did not mind dealing (bargaining) with anyone of you, for if he was a Muslim his Islam would compel him to pay me what is due to me, and if he was a Christian, the Muslim official would compel him to pay me what is due to me, but today I do not deal except with such-and-such person.

The Prophet said, "On every Muslim there is enjoined (a compulsory) Sadaqa (alms)." They (the people) said, "If one has nothing?' He said, "He should work with his hands so that he may benefit himself and give in charity." They said, "If he cannot work or does not work?" He said, "Then he should help the oppressed unhappy person (by word or action or both)." They said, "If he does not do it?" He said, "Then he should enjoin what is good (or said what is reasonable).' They said, "If he does not do that''' He said, "Then he should refrain from doing evil, for that will be considered for Him as a Sadaqa (charity) . "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from Sulayman ibn Yasar that a slave was set free by one of the people on hajj and his master had abandoned the right to inherit from him. The ex-slave then killed a man from the Banu A'idh tribe. An A'idhi, the father of the slain man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab seeking the blood-money of his son. Umar said, "He has no blood-money." The A'idhi said, "What would you think if it had been my son who killed him?" Umar said, "Then you would pay his blood-money." He said, "He is then like the black and white Arqam snake. If it is left, it devours and if it is killed, it takes revenge."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father from Humran, the mawla of Uthman ibn Affan, that Uthman ibn Affan was once sitting on the Maqaid (the benches surrounding the Madina Mosque, or else a stone near Uthman ibn Affan's house where he sat to discuss with people), when the muadhdhin came and told him that it was time for the asr prayer. He called for water and did wudu. Then he said, "By Allah, I shall tell you something which I would not tell you if it were not in the Book of Allah. I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'If a man does wudu, and makes sure he does it correctly, and then does the prayer, he will be forgiven everything that he does between then and the time when he prays the next prayer.' "

Yahya said that Malik said, "I believe he meant this ayat - 'Establish prayer at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. Good actions take away wrong actions. That is a reminder for those who remember.' " (Sura 11 ayat 114).

Allah's Apostle said, "The angels keep on asking for Allah's Blessing and Forgiveness for anyone of you as long as he is at his Musalla (praying place) and does not do Hadath (passes wind). The angels say, 'O Allah! Forgive him and be Merciful to him.' Each one of you is in the prayer as long as he is waiting for the prayer and nothing but the prayer detains him from going to his family."

"When the Prophet (saws) arrived in Al-Madinah, they were paying in advance for fruits. So he said: 'Whoever pays in advance, then let him pay in advance for known measurements (of dates), and known weights for a specified period of time.'"

He said: There are narrations on this topic from Ibn Abi Awfa and 'Abdur-Rahman bin Abza.

[Abu 'Eisa said:] The Hadith of Ibn 'Abbas is a Hasan Sahih Hadith. This is acted upon according to the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (saws) and others. They allow for advanced payments on food, garments and other things in which the limits and description are known. They differed over delay in delivery of animals. Some of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (saws) and others thought that delay in delivery of animals is allowed. This is the view of Ash-Shafi'i, Ahmad and Ishaq. Some of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (saws) and others, disliked delay in delivery of animals. This is the saying of Sufyan and the people of Al-Kufah. And Abu Al-Minhal's (a narrator) name is 'Abdur-Rahman bin Mut'im.

The Prophet said, "Allah says, 'The vow, does not bring about for the son of Adam anything I have not decreed for him, but his vow may coincide with what has been decided for him, and by this way I cause a miser to spend of his wealth. So he gives Me (spends in charity) for the fulfillment of what has been decreed for him what he would not give Me before but for his vow."

Al-Abbas asked the Prophet (saws) about paying the sadaqah (his zakat) in advance before it became due, and he gave permission to do that.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by Hushaim through a different chain of narrators. The version of Hushaim is more sound.

The Prophet said, "He who lets the people hear of his good deeds intentionally, to win their praise, Allah will let the people know his real intention (on the Day of Resurrection), and he who does good things in public to show off and win the praise of the people, Allah will disclose his real intention (and humiliate him).

that he heard Ibn `Abbas saying, "If a man makes his wife unlawful for him, it does not mean that she is divorced." He added, "Indeed in the Apostle of Allah , you have a good example to follow."

[Muslim]. The narration in At-Tirmidhi adds: And the one who records it, and the two persons who stand witness to it.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that A'isha, umm al-muminin said, "Rashness in oaths is that a man says, 'By Allah, No! by Allah!' " i.e. out of habit.

Malik said, "The best of what I have heard on the matter is that rashness in oaths is that a man take an oath on something to show that he is certain that it is like he said, only to find that it is other than what he said. This is rashness."

Malik said, "The binding oath is for example, that a man says that he will not sell his garment for ten dinars, and then he sells it for that, or that he will beat his young slave and then does not beat him, and so on. One does kaffara for making such an oath, and there is no kaffara in rashness."

Malik said, "As for the one who swears to a thing which he knows is wicked, and he swears to a lie he knows to be a lie, in order to please someone with it or to excuse himself to someone by it or to gain money by it, no kaffara that he does for it can cover it."

Yahya related to me from Malik from a reliable source of his who had heard Said ibn al-Musayyab say, ''Umar ibn al-Khattab refused to let anyone inherit from the non-arabs except for one who was born among the arabs."

Malik said, "If a pregnant woman comes from the land of the enemy and gives birth in arab land so that he is her (an arab) child, he inherits from her if she dies, and she inherits from him if he dies, by the Book of Allah."

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us and the sunna in which there is no dispute, and what I saw the people of knowledge in our city doing, is that a Muslim does not inherit from a kafir by kinship, clientage (wala'), or maternal relationship, nor does he (the Muslim) overshadow any (of the kafirs) from his inheritance.

Malik said, "Similarly, someone who forgoes his inheritance when he is the chief heir does not overshadow anyone from his inheritance."

Once, while we were sitting in the company of Prophet, a dead man was brought. The Prophet was requested to lead the funeral prayer for the deceased. He said, "Is he in debt?" The people replied in the negative. He said, "Has he left any wealth?" They said, "No." So, he led his funeral prayer. Another dead man was brought and the people said, "O Allah's Apostle! Lead his funeral prayer." The Prophet said, "Is he in debt?" They said, "Yes." He said, "Has he left any wealth?" They said, ''Three Dinars." So, he led the prayer. Then a third dead man was brought and the people said (to the Prophet ), Please lead his funeral prayer." He said, "Has he left any wealth?" They said, "No." He asked, "Is he in debt?" They said, ("Yes! He has to pay) three Diners.', He (refused to pray and) said, "Then pray for your (dead) companion." Abu Qatada said, "O Allah's Apostle! Lead his funeral prayer, and I will pay his debt." So, he led the prayer.

A man paid in advance for a palm-tree. It did not bear fruit that year. They brought their case for decision to the Prophet (saws). He said: for which do you make his property lawful? He then said: Do not pay in advance for a palm-tree till they (the fruits) were clearly in good condition.

That the Prophet (saws) said: "Procrastination (in paying a debt) by a rich person is oppression. So if your debt is transfered from your debtor you should agree, and do not make two sales in one sale."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] The Hadith is the Abu Hurairah (no. 1308) is a Hasan Sahih Hadith. And its meaning is that when the debt of one of you is transferred then agree. Some of the people of knowledge said when a man is offered to transfer his debt to a rich man and he does so, then the transferor is free of it, he is not to seek its return from the transferor. This is the view of Ash-Shafi'i, Ahmad, and Ishaq. Some of the people of knowledge said: "When this wealth could not be collected due to bankruptcy of the one it was transferred to, then he may seek its return to the first one." They argue this view with the saying of 'Uthman and others, when they said: "There is nothing due on a Muslim's wealth that is lost." Ishaq said: "The meaning of this Hadith: 'There is nothing due on a Muslim's wealth that is lost' this is when a man transfers it to another whom he thinks is wealthy, then he becomes bankrupt, so there is nothing due on the Muslim's wealth that is lost."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Thalaba ibn Abi Malik al Quradhi informed him that in the time of Umar ibn al Khattab they used to pray on the day of jumua until Umar came out, and when Umar came out and sat on the mimbar and the muadhdhins called the adhan, they would sit and talk, and then when the muadhdhins were silent and Umar stood to give the khutba, they would pay attention and no-one would speak .

Ibn Shihab said, "The imam coming out stops prayer and his speaking stops conversation."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Umar ibn al- Khattab told people to kill snakes in the Haram.

Malik said, about the "wild dogs" which people were told to kill in the Haram, that any animals that wounded, attacked, or terrorised men, such as lions, leopards, Iynxes and wolves, were counted as"wild dogs." However, someone who was in ihram should not kill beasts of prey that did not attack (people), such as hyenas, foxes, cats and anything else like them, and if he did then he had to pay a forfeit for it. Similarly, someone in ihram should not kill any predatory birds except the kinds that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, specified, namely crows and kites. If someone in ihram killed any other kind of bird he had to pay a forfeit for it.

`Abdullah bin Shaddad and Abu Burda sent me to `Abdullah bin Abi `Aufa and told me to ask `Abdullah whether the people in the lifetime of the Prophet used to pay in advance for wheat (to be delivered later). `Abdullah replied, "We used to pay in advance to the peasants of Sham for wheat, barley and olive oil of a known specified measure to be delivered in a specified period." I asked (him), "Was the price paid (in advance) to those who had the things to be delivered later?" `Abdullah bin `Aufa replied, "We did not use to ask them about that." Then they sent me to `Abdur Rahman bin Abza and I asked him. He replied, "The companions of the Prophet used to practice Salam in the lifetime of the Prophet; and we did not use to ask them whether they had standing crops or not."

The Prophet said, "Free the captives, feed the hungry and pay a visit to the sick."

Ibn Muhayriz said: A man from Banu Kinanah, named al-Makhdaji, heard a person called AbuMuhammad in Syria, saying: The witr is a duty (wajib).

Al-Makhdaji said: So I went to Ubadah ibn as-Samit and informed him.

Ubadah said: AbuMuhammad told a lie. I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: There are five prayers which Allah has prescribed on His servants. If anyone offers them, not losing any of them, and not treating them lightly, Allah guarantees that He will admit him to Paradise. If anyone does not offer them, Allah does not take any responsibility for such a person. He may either punish him or admit him to Paradise.

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone sits at a place where he does not remember Allah, deprivation will descend on him from Allah; and if he lies at a place where he does not remember Allah, deprivation will descend on him from Allah.