(the wife of the Prophet) "When the ailment of Allah's Apostle became aggravated, he requested his wives to permit him to be (treated) nursed in my house, and they gave him permission. He came out (to my house), walking between two men with his feet dragging on the ground, between `Abbas bin `Abdul--Muttalib and another man" 'Ubaidullah said, "I told `Abdullah of what `Aisha had said, `Abdullah bin `Abbas said to me, 'Do you know who is the other man whom `Aisha did not name?' I said, 'No.' Ibn `Abbas said, 'It was `Ali bin Abu Talib." `Aisha, the wife of the Prophet used to narrate saying, "When Allah's Apostle entered my house and his disease became aggravated, he said, " Pour on me the water of seven water skins, the mouths of which have not been untied, so that I may give advice to the people.' So we let him sit in a big basin belonging to Hafsa, the wife of the Prophet and then started to pour water on him from these water skins till he started pointing to us with his hands intending to say, 'You have done your job." `Aisha added, "Then he went out to the people and led them in prayer and preached to them."

While the Muslims were offering the Fajr prayer, Allah's Apostle suddenly appeared before them by living the curtain of the dwelling place of `Aisha, looked towards the Muslims who were standing in rows. He smiled with pleasure. Abu Bakr started retreating to join the row on the assumption that the Prophet wanted to come out for the prayer. The Muslims intended to leave the prayer (and were on the verge of being put to trial), but the Prophet beckoned them to complete their prayer and then he let the curtain fall. He died in the last hours of that day.

Some of the wives of the Prophet asked him, "Who amongst us will be the first to follow you (i.e. die after you)?" He said, "Whoever has the longest hand." So they started measuring their hands with a stick and Sauda's hand turned out to be the longest. (When Zainab bint Jahsh died first of all in the caliphate of `Umar), we came to know that the long hand was a symbol of practicing charity, so she was the first to follow the Prophet and she used to love to practice charity. (Sauda died later in the caliphate of Muawiya).

The Prophet said, "The upper hand is better than the lower hand (i.e. he who gives in charity is better than him who takes it). One should start giving first to his dependents. And the best object of charity is that which is given by a wealthy person (from the money which is left after his expenses). And whoever abstains from asking others for some financial help, Allah will give him and save him from asking others, Allah will make him self-sufficient."

Al-Fadl was riding behind the Prophet and a woman from the tribe of Khath'am came up. Al-Fadl started looking at her and she looked at him. The Prophet turned Al-Fadl's face to the other side. She said, "My father has come under Allah's obligation of performing Hajj but he is a very old man and cannot sit properly on his Mount. Shall I perform Hajj on his behalf? The Prophet replied in the affirmative. That happened during Hajjat-al-Wada` of the Prophet .

That while he was with Allah's Apostle who was accompanied by the people on their way back from Hunain, the bedouins started begging things of Allah's Apostle so much so that they forced him to go under a Samura tree where his loose outer garment was snatched away. On that, Allah's Apostle stood up and said to them, "Return my garment to me. If I had as many camels as these trees, I would have distributed them amongst you; and you will not find me a miser or a liar or a coward."

Al-Bahira was an animal whose milk was spared for the idols and other dieties, and so nobody was allowed to milk it. As-Saiba was an animal which they (i.e infidels) used to set free in the names of their gods so that it would not be used for carrying anything. Abu Huraira said, "The Prophet said, 'I saw `Amr bin 'Amir bin Luhai Al-Khuza`i dragging his intestines in the (Hell) Fire, for he was the first man who started the custom of releasing animals (for the sake of false gods).' "

Whenever Allah's Apostle returned from a Ghazwa, Hajj or `Umra, he used to start (saying), "Allahu- Akbar," thrice and then he would say, "None has the right to be worshipped except Allah alone Who has no partners. To Him belongs the Kingdom, all praises are for Him, and He is able to do all things (i.e. Omnipotent). We are returning with repentance (to Allah) worshipping, prostrating, and praising our Lord. Allah has fulfilled His Promise, made His Slave victorious, and He (Alone) defeated the clans (of infidels) ."

I started abusing Hassan in front of `Aisha. She said, "Do not abuse him as he used to defend Allah's Apostle (against the infidels). `Aisha added, "Once Hassan took the permission from the Prophet to say poetic verses against the infidels. On that the Prophet said, 'How will you exclude my forefathers (from that)? Hassan replied, 'I will take you out of them as one takes a hair out of the dough." Hisham's father added, "I abused Hassan as he was one of those who spoke against `Aisha."

I asked Ibn `Abbas about Surat Al-Tauba, and he said, "Surat Al-Tauba? It is exposure (of all the evils of the infidels and the hypocrites). And it continued revealing (that the oft-repeated expression): '...and of them ...and of them.' till they started thinking that none would be left unmentioned therein." I said, "What about) Surat Al-Anfal?" He replied, "Surat Al-Anfal was revealed in connection with the Badr Battle." I said, "(What about) Surat Al-Hashr?" He replied, "It was revealed in connection with Bani an-Nadir."

While the Prophet was in a funeral procession, he took a small stick and started scraping the earth with it and said, "There is none among you but has his place written for him, either in the Hell Fire or in Paradise." They (the people) said, "Allah's Apostle! Shall we depend on this (and leave work)?" He replied. "Carry on doing (good deeds), for everybody will find easy (to do) such deeds as will lead him to his destined place." The Prophet then recited:-- 'As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah, and believes in the Best Reward.'.....(92.5-10)

(the daughter of Muawwidh bin Afra) After the consummation of my marriage, the Prophet came and sat on my bed as far from me as you are sitting now, and our little girls started beating the tambourines and reciting elegiac verses mourning my father who had been killed in the battle of Badr. One of them said, "Among us is a Prophet who knows what will happen tomorrow." On that the Prophet said, "Leave this (saying) and keep on saying the verses which you had been saying before."

The Prophet used to construct a loom with a Hasir at night m order to pray therein, and during the day he used to spread it out and sit on it. The people started coming to the Prophet at night to offer the prayer behind him When their number increased, the Prophet faced them and said. O people! Do only those good deeds which you can do, for Allah does not get tired (of giving reward) till you get tired, and the best deeds to Allah are the incessant ones though they were few.

The Prophet started ascending a high place or hill. A man (amongst his companions) ascended it and shouted in a loud voice, "La ilaha illal-lahu wallahu Akbar." (At that time) Allah's Apostle was riding his mule. Allah's Apostle said, "You are not calling upon a deaf or an absent one." and added, "O Abu Musa (or, O `Abdullah)! Shall I tell you a sentence from the treasure of Paradise?" I said, "Yes." He said, "La haul a wala quwwata illa billah,"

We were sitting with Allah's Apostle, he said, "While I was sleeping, I saw myself in Paradise. Suddenly I saw a woman performing ablution beside a palace. I asked, "For whom is this palace?" They (the angels) replied, "It is for `Umar bin Al-Khattab." Then I remembered `Umar's ghira and went back hurriedly." On hearing that, `Umar started weeping and said, " Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you. O Allah's Apostle! How dare I think of my Ghira being offended by you?

While the Prophet was in a funeral procession, he took a stick and started scraping the earth with it and said, "There is none of you but has his place assigned either in Hell or in Paradise." They (the people) said, "Shall we not depend upon that (and give up doing any deeds)?' He said, " Carry on doing (good deeds) for everybody will find it easy to do such deeds as will lead him to his destined place for which he has been created ." (And then the Prophet recited the Verse):-- 'As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah...' (92.5)

When `Abdullah bin Ubai (the chief of hypocrites) died, his son came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Please give me your shirt to shroud him in it, offer his funeral prayer and ask for Allah's forgiveness for him." So Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) gave his shirt to him and said, "Inform me (When the funeral is ready) so that I may offer the funeral prayer." So, he informed him and when the Prophet intended to offer the funeral prayer, `Umar took hold of his hand and said, "Has Allah not forbidden you to offer the funeral prayer for the hypocrites? The Prophet said, "I have been given the choice for Allah says: '(It does not avail) Whether you (O Muhammad) ask forgiveness for them (hypocrites), or do not ask for forgiveness for them. Even though you ask for their forgiveness seventy times, Allah will not forgive them. (9.80)" So the Prophet offered the funeral prayer and on that the revelation came: "And never (O Muhammad) pray (funeral prayer) for any of them (i.e. hypocrites) that dies." (9. 84)

`Abdullah (bin Mas`ud) said, "Whoever takes a (false) oath in order to grab some property (unjustly), Allah will be angry with him when he will meet Him. Allah confirmed that through His Divine Revelation: "Verily! Those who purchase a little gain at the cost of Allah's covenant and their oaths . . . they will have a painful punishment." (3.77) Al-Ash'ath bin Qais came to us and asked, 'What is Abu `Abdur-Rahman (i.e. `Abdullah) telling you? 'We told him what he was narrating to us. He said, 'He was telling the truth; this Divine Verse was revealed in connection with me. There was a dispute between me and another man about something and the case was filed before Allah's Apostle who said, 'Produce your two witnesses or else the defendant is to take an oath.' I said, The defendant will surely take a (false) oath caring for nothing.' The Prophet said, 'Whoever takes a false oath in order to grab (other's) property, then Allah will be angry with him when he will meet Him.' Then Allah revealed its confirmation. Al-Ashath then recited the above Divine Verse." (3.77)

Once Allah's Apostle said, "Amongst the trees there is a tree, the leaves of which do not fall and is like a Muslim, tell me the name of that tree." Everybody started thinking about the trees of the desert areas and I thought of the date-palm tree but felt shy (to answer). The others asked, "O Allah's Apostle! inform us of it." He replied, "it is the date-palm tree." I told my father what had come to my mind and on that he said, "Had you said it I would have preferred it to such and such a thing that I might possess."

Once the meal of `Abdur-Rahman bin `Auf was brought in front of him, and he said, "Mus`ab bin `Umair was martyred and he was better than I, and he had nothing except his Burd (a black square narrow dress) to be shrouded in. Hamza or another person was martyred and he was also better than I and he had nothing to be shrouded in except his Burd. No doubt, I fear that the rewards of my deeds might have been given early in this world." Then he started weeping.

Once I went to him (the Prophet ) and he said, "By Allah in Whose Hands my life is (or probably said, 'By Allah, except Whom none has the right to be worshipped) whoever had camels or cows or sheep and did not pay their Zakat, those animals will be brought on the Day of Resurrection far bigger and fatter than before and they will tread him under their hooves, and will butt him with their horns, and (those animals will come in circle): When the last does its turn, the first will start again, and this punishment will go on till Allah has finished the judgments amongst the people."

Once Allah's Apostle visited us in this house of ours and asked for something to drink. We milked one of our sheep and mixed it with water from this well of ours and gave it to him. Abu Bakr was sitting on his left side and `Umar in front of him and a bedouin on his right side. When Allah's Apostle finished, `Umar said to Allah's Apostle "Here is Abu Bakr." But Allah's Apostle gave the remaining milk to the bedouin and said twice, "The (persons on the) right side! So, start from the right side." Anas added, "It is a Sunna (the Prophet's traditions)" and repeated it thrice.

Jubair bin Mut`im told me that while he was in the company of Allah's Apostle with the people returning from Hunain, some people (bedouins) caught hold of the Prophet and started begging of him so much so that he had to stand under a (kind of thorny tree (i.e. Samurah) and his cloak was snatched away. The Prophet stopped and said, "Give me my cloak. If I had as many camels as these thorny trees, I would have distributed them amongst you and you will not find me a miser or a liar or a coward."

We were in the company of Allah's Apostle at Al-Hudaibiya in the state of Ihram and the pagans did not allow us to proceed (to the Ka`ba). I had thick hair and lice started falling on my face. The Prophet passed by me and said, "Are the lice of your head troubling you?" I replied, Yes." (The sub-narrator added, "Then the following Divine Verse was revealed:-- "And if anyone of you is ill or has an ailment in his scalp, (necessitating shaving) must pay a ransom (Fida) of either fasting or feeding the poor, Or offering a sacrifice." (2.196)

"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."

Abu Bakr came riding his horse from his dwelling place in As-Sunh. He got down from it, entered the Mosque and did not speak with anybody till he came to me and went direct to the Prophet, who was covered with a marked blanket. Abu Bakr uncovered his face. He knelt down and kissed him and then started weeping and said, "My father and my mother be sacrificed for you, O Allah's Prophet! Allah will not combine two deaths on you. You have died the death which was written for you." Narrated Abu Salama from Ibn `Abbas : Abu Bakr came out and `Umar , was addressing the people, and Abu Bakr told him to sit down but `Umar refused. Abu Bakr again told him to sit down but `Umar again refused. Then Abu Bakr recited the Tashah-hud (i.e. none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's Apostle) and the people attended to Abu Bakr and left `Umar. Abu Bakr said, "Amma ba'du, whoever amongst you worshipped Muhammad, then Muhammad is dead, but whoever worshipped Allah, Allah is alive and will never die. Allah said: 'Muhammad is no more than an Apostle and indeed (many) Apostles have passed away before him ..(up to the) grateful.' " (3.144) (The narrator added, "By Allah, it was as if the people never knew that Allah had revealed this verse before till Abu Bakr recited it and then whoever heard it, started reciting it.")

I called on Jabir bin `Abdullah Al-Ansari and said to him, "Relate to me what you have heard from Allah's Apostle ." He said, "I accompanied him on one of the journeys." (Abu `Aqil said, "I do not know whether that journey was for the purpose of Jihad or `Umra.") "When we were returning," Jabir continued, "the Prophet said, 'Whoever wants to return earlier to his family, should hurry up.' We set off and I was on a black red tainted camel having no defect, and the people were behind me. While I was in that state the camel stopped suddenly (because of exhaustion). On that the Prophet said to me, 'O Jabir, wait!' Then he hit it once with his lash and it started moving on a fast pace. He then said, 'Will you sell the camel?' I replied in the affirmative when we reached Medina, and the Prophet went to the Mosque along with his companions. I, too, went to him after tying the camel on the pavement at the Mosque gate. Then I said to him, 'This is your camel.' He came out and started examining the camel and saying, 'The camel is ours.' Then the Prophet sent some Awaq (i.e. an amount) of gold saying, 'Give it to Jabir.' Then he asked, 'Have you taken the full price (of the camel)?' I replied in the affirmative. He said, 'Both the price and the camel are for you.' ''

Allah's Apostle said, "(The Prophet) Moses was a shy person and used to cover his body completely because of his extensive shyness. One of the children of Israel hurt him by saying, 'He covers his body in this way only because of some defect in his skin, either leprosy or scrotal hernia, or he has some other defect.' Allah wished to clear Moses of what they said about him, so one day while Moses was in seclusion, he took off his clothes and put them on a stone and started taking a bath. When he had finished the bath, he moved towards his clothes so as to take them, but the stone took his clothes and fled; Moses picked up his stick and ran after the stone saying, 'O stone! Give me my garment!' Till he reached a group of Bani Israel who saw him naked then, and found him the best of what Allah had created, and Allah cleared him of what they had accused him of. The stone stopped there and Moses took and put his garment on and started hitting the stone with his stick. By Allah, the stone still has some traces of the hitting, three, four or five marks. This was what Allah refers to in His Saying:-- "O you who believe! Be you not like those Who annoyed Moses, But Allah proved his innocence of that which they alleged, And he was honorable In Allah's Sight." (33.69)

That while he was reciting Surat Al-Baqara (The Cow) at night, and his horse was tied beside him, the horse was suddenly startled and troubled. When he stopped reciting, the horse became quiet, and when he started again, the horse was startled again. Then he stopped reciting and the horse became quiet too. He started reciting again and the horse was startled and troubled once again. Then he stopped reciting and his son, Yahya was beside the horse. He was afraid that the horse might trample on him. When he took the boy away and looked towards the sky, he could not see it. The next morning he informed the Prophet who said, "Recite, O Ibn Hudair! Recite, O Ibn Hudair!" Ibn Hudair replied, "O Allah's Apostle! My son, Yahya was near the horse and I was afraid that it might trample on him, so I looked towards the sky, and went to him. When I looked at the sky, I saw something like a cloud containing what looked like lamps, so I went out in order not to see it." The Prophet said, "Do you know what that was?" Ibn Hudair replied, "No." The Prophet said, "Those were Angels who came near to you for your voice and if you had kept on reciting till dawn, it would have remained there till morning when people would have seen it as it would not have disappeared.

Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) said, "Any person who takes a bath on Friday like the bath of Janaba and then goes for the prayer (in the first hour i.e. early), it is as if he had sacrificed a camel (in Allah's cause); and whoever goes in the second hour it is as if he had sacrificed a cow; and whoever goes in the third hour, then it is as if he had sacrificed a horned ram; and if one goes in the fourth hour, then it is as if he had sacrificed a hen; and whoever goes in the fifth hour then it is as if he had offered an egg. When the Imam comes out (i.e. starts delivering the Khutba), the angels present themselves to listen to the Khutba."

Once a meal was brought to `Abdur-Rahman bin `Auf and he was fasting. He said, "Mustab bin `Umar was martyred and he was better than I and was shrouded in his Burd and when his head was covered with it, his legs became bare, and when his legs were covered his head got uncovered. Hamza was martyred and was better than I. Now the worldly wealth have been bestowed upon us (or said a similar thing). No doubt, I fear that the rewards of my deeds might have been given earlier in this world." Then he started weeping and left his food.

When Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) sent Mu`adh to Yemen, he said (to him), "YOU are going to people of a (Divine) Book. First of all invite them to worship Allah (alone) and when they come to know Allah, inform them that Allah has enjoined on them, five prayers in every day and night; and if they start offering these prayers, inform them that Allah has enjoined on them, the Zakat. And it is to be taken from the rich amongst them and given to the poor amongst them; and if they obey you in that, take Zakat from them and avoid (don't take) the best property of the people as Zakat."