The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: If anyone fights in Allah's path as long as the time between two milkings of a she-camel, Paradise will be assured for him. If anyone sincerely asks Allah for being killed and then dies or is killed, there will be a reward of a martyr for him. Ibn al-Musaffa added from here: If anyone is wounded in Allah's path, or suffers a misfortune, it will come on the Day of resurrection as copious as possible, its colour saffron, and its odour musk; and if anyone suffers from ulcers while in Allah's path, he will have on him the stamp of the martyrs.

A man belonging to Usbadhiyin of the people of Bahrayn, who were the Magians of Hajar, came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and remained with him (for some time), and then came out. I asked him: What have Allah and His Messenger of Allah decided for you? He replied: Evil. I said: Silent. He said: Islam or killing. AbdurRahman ibn Awf said: He accepted jizyah from them. Ibn Abbas said: The people followed the statement of AbdurRahman ibn Awf, and they left that which I heard from the Usbadhi.

The people of pre-Islamic times used to eat some things and leave others alone, considering them unclean. Then Allah sent His Prophet (saws) and sent down His Book, marking some things lawful and others unlawful; so what He made lawful is lawful, what he made unlawful is unlawful, and what he said nothing about is allowable. And he recited: "Say: I find not in the message received by me by inspiration any (meat) forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it...." up to the end of the verse.

I slapped a freed slave of ours. My father called him and me and said: Take retaliation on him. We, the people of Banu Muqarrin, were seven during the time of the Prophet (saws),and we had only a female servant. A man of us slapped her. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Set her free. They said: We have no other servant than her. He said: She must serve them till they become well off. When they become well off, they should set her free.

Malik related to me from al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman from Mabad ibn Kab as-Salami from his brother Abdullah ibn Kab ibn Malik al-Ansari from Abu Umama that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever cuts off the right of a muslim man by his oath, Allah forbids him the Garden and obliges the Fire for him." They said, "Even if it is something insignificant, Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Even if it is a tooth-stick, even if it is a tooth- stick," repeating it three times.

Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Said and somebody else from al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan al-Basri and from Muhammad ibn Sirin that a man in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, freed six of his slaves while he was dying. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, drew lots between them and freed a third of those slaves.

Malik added that he had heard that the man did not have any property other than them.

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud from Abu Hurayra and Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked about a slave-girl who committed fornication and was not muhsana. He said, "If she commits fornication, then flog her. If she commits fornication again, then flog her, and if she commits fornication again, then sell her, if only for a rope."

Ibn Shihab added, "I don't know whether it was three or four times."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Umar ibn al-Khattab was eating bread with ghee. He summoned one of the desert people and he began to eat and follow the grease in the dish with a morsel of bread. Umar said, "It is as if you were poor." He said, "By Allah. I have not eaten ghee nor have I seen food with it since such- and-such a time." Umar declared, "I shall not eat clarified butter until people are given life again like they were first given life," (i.e. on the Day of Rising.)

Allah's Apostle said, "Allah said:-- 'The son of Adam tells a lie against Me and he hasn't the right to do so; and he abuses me and he hasn't the right to do so. His telling a lie against Me is his saying that I will not recreate him as I created him for the first time; and his abusing Me is his saying that Allah has begotten children, while I am the self-sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, Who begets not nor was He begotten, and there is none like unto Me."

That she borrowed a necklace from Asma' and then it got lost. So Allah's Apostle sent some people from his companions in search of it. In the meantime the stated time for the prayer became due and they offered their prayer without ablution. When they came to the Prophet, they complained about it to him, so the Verse regarding Tayammum was revealed . Usaid bin Hudair said, "(O `Aisha!) may Allah bless you with a good reward, for by Allah, never did a difficulty happen in connection with you, but Allah made an escape from it for you, and brought Allah's Blessings for the Muslims."

I brought water to `Uthman bin `Affan to perform the ablution while he was sitting on his seat. He performed the ablution in a perfect way and said, "I saw the Prophet performing the ablution in this place and he performed it in a perfect way and said, "Whoever performs the ablution as I have done this time and then proceeds to the mosque and offers a two-rak`at prayer and then sits there (waiting for the compulsory congregational prayers), then all his past sins will be forgiven." The Prophet further added, "Do not be conceited (thinking that your sins will be forgiven because of your prayer).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father from A'isha, umm al-muminin, that whenever the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did ghusl for major ritual impurity, he would begin by washing his hands, and then do wudu as for prayer. He would then put his fingers in the water and rub the roots of his hair with them. Then he would pour as much water as two hands can hold on to his head three times, and over the entire surface of his skin.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim that Abdullah ibn Umar told him that he used to see Abdullah ibn Umar cross his legs in the sitting position of the prayer.He said, "So I did the same, and I was young at the time. Abdullah ibn Umar forbade me and said, 'The sunna of the prayer is that you keep your right foot vertical and lay your left foot down.' I said to him, 'But you do the same (as I did).' He said, 'My feet do not support me.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'nNadr, the mawla of Umar ibn 'Ubaydullah, from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I was sleeping in front of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and my feet were in his qibla. When he prostrated, he nudged me and I pulled up my feet,and when he stood up I spread them out." She added, "There were no lamps in the house at that time."

Yahya related to me from Abu'z-Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A group of angels in the night and a group of angels in the day alternate with each other among you, and gather together at the time of the asr and fajr prayers. Then those that have spent the night among you ascend, and He asks them, and He knows best, 'How did you leave my slaves?' and they say, 'When we left them they were praying, and when we came to them they were praying.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Anas ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, entered Makka, in the Year of Victory, wearing a helmet, and when he took it off a man came to him and said, "Messenger of Allah, Ibn Khatal is clinging to the covers of the Kaba,'' and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Kill him."

Malik commented, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was not in ihram at the time, and Allah knows best."

The Prophet said, "The example of Muslims, Jews and Christians is like the example of a man who employed laborers to work for him from morning till night. They worked till midday and they said, 'We are not in need of your reward.' So the man employed another batch and said to them, 'Complete the rest of the day and yours will be the wages I had fixed (for the first batch). They worked until the time of the `Asr prayer and said, 'Whatever we have done is for you.' He employed another batch. They worked for the rest of the day till sunset, and they received the wages of the two former batches."

`Itban bin Malik used to lead his people (tribe) in prayer and was a blind man, he said to Allah's Apostle , "O Allah's Apostle! At times it is dark and flood water is flowing (in the valley) and I am blind man, so please pray at a place in my house so that I can take it as a Musalla (praying place)." So Allah's Apostle went to his house and said, "Where do you like me to pray?" 'Itban pointed to a place in his house and Allah's Apostle, offered the prayer there.

AbuMuhammad fancies that witr prayer is essential. (Hearing this) Ubadah ibn as-Samit said: AbuMuhammad was wrong. I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: Allah, the Exalted, has made five prayers obligatory. If anyone performs ablution for them well, offers them at their (right) time, and observes perfectly their bowing and submissiveness in them, it is the guarantee of Allah that He will pardon him; if anyone does not do so, there is no guarantee for him on the part of Allah; He may pardon him if He wills, and punish him if He wills.

The Prophet (saws) said: Three types of people attend Friday prayer; One is present in a frivolous way and that is all he gets from it; another comes with a supplication, Allah may grant or refuse his request as He wishes; another is present silently and quietly with-out stepping over a Muslim or annoying anyone, and that is an atonement for his sins till the next Friday and three days more, the reason being that Allah, the Exalted, says: "He who does a good deed will have ten times as much" (vi.160).

When Abu Huraira accompanied by his slave set out intending to embrace Islam they lost each other on the way. The slave then came while Abu Huraira was sitting with the Prophet. The Prophet said, "O Abu Huraira! Your slave has come back." Abu Huraira said, "Indeed, I would like you to witness that I have manumitted him." That happened at the time when Abu Huraira recited (the following poetic verse):-- 'What a long tedious tiresome night! Nevertheless, it has delivered us From the land of Kufr (disbelief).

Aisha told me that Barirah came to seek her help in writing for emancipation and at that time she had not paid any part of her price. `Aisha said to her, "Go to your masters and if they agree that I will pay your price (and free you) on condition that your Wala' will be for me, I will pay the money." Barirah told her masters about that, but they refused, and said, "If `Aisha wants to do a favor she could, but your Wala will be for us." Aisha informed Allah's Apostle of that and he said to her, "Buy and manumit Barirah as the Wala' will go to the manumitted."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that he heard Said ibn al-Musayyab asking a group of people, "What do you think about someone who has intercourse with his wife while he is in ihram?" and none of them answered him. Said said, "There is a man who has had intercourse with his wife while in ihram who has sent a message to Madina asking about it." Some of them said, "They should be kept apart until a future year," and Said ibn al-Musayyab said, "They should carry on and complete the hajj which they have spoiled, and then return home when they have finished. If another hajj comes upon them, they must do hajj and sacrifice an animal. They should go into ihram at the same place where they went into ihram for the hajj that they spoiled, and they should keep apart until they have finished their hajj."

Malik said, "They should both sacrifice an animal."

Malik said, about a man who had intercourse with his wife during hajj after he had come down from Arafa but before he had stoned the Jamra, "He must sacrifice an animal and do hajj again in another year. If, however, he had intercourse with his wife after he stoned the Jamra, he only has to do an umra and sacrifice an animal and he does not have to do another hajj."

Malik said, "What spoils a hajj or an umra and makes sacrificing an animal and repeating the hajj necessary is the meeting of the two circumcised parts, even if there is no emission. It is also made necessary by an emission if it is the result of bodily contact. I do not think that a man who remembers something and has an emission owes anything, and if a man were to kiss his wife and no emission were to occur from that, he would only have to sacrifice an animal. A woman in ihram who has intercourse with her husband several times during hajj or umra out of obedience to him only has to do another hajj and sacrifice an animal. That is if her husband has intercourse with her while she is doing hajj. If he has intercourse with her while she is doing umra, she must repeat the umra she has spoiled and sacrifice an animal."

When the Trench was dug, I saw the Prophet in the state of severe hunger. So I returned to my wife and said, "Have you got anything (to eat), for I have seen Allah's Apostle in a state of severe hunger." She brought out for me, a bag containing one Sa of barley, and we had a domestic she animal (i.e. a kid) which I slaughtered then, and my wife ground the barley and she finished at the time I finished my job (i.e. slaughtering the kid). Then I cut the meat into pieces and put it in an earthenware (cooking) pot, and returned to Allah's Apostle . My wife said, "Do not disgrace me in front of Allah's Apostle and those who are with him." So I went to him and said to him secretly, "O Allah's Apostle! I have slaughtered a she-animal (i.e. kid) of ours, and we have ground a Sa of barley which was with us. So please come, you and another person along with you." The Prophet raised his voice and said, "O people of Trench ! Jabir has prepared a meal so let us go." Allah's Apostle said to me, "Don't put down your earthenware meat pot (from the fireplace) or bake your dough till I come." So I came (to my house) and Allah's Apostle too, came, proceeding before the people. When I came to my wife, she said, "May Allah do so-and-so to you." I said, "I have told the Prophet of what you said." Then she brought out to him (i.e. the Prophet the dough, and he spat in it and invoked for Allah's Blessings in it. Then he proceeded towards our earthenware meat-pot and spat in it and invoked for Allah's Blessings in it. Then he said (to my wife). Call a lady-baker to bake along with you and keep on taking out scoops from your earthenware meat-pot, and do not put it down from its fireplace." They were onethousand (who took their meals), and by Allah they all ate, and when they left the food and went away, our earthenware pot was still bubbling (full of meat) as if it had not decreased, and our dough was still being baked as if nothing had been taken from it.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Khusayfa that he had asked Sulayman ibn Yasar whether zakat was due from a man who had wealth in hand but also owed a debt for the same amount, and he replied, "No."

Malik said, "The position that we are agreed upon concerning a debt is that the lender of it does not pay zakat on it until he gets it back. Even if it stays with the borrower for a number of years before the lender collects it, the lender only has to pay zakat on it once. If he collects an amount of the debt which is not zakatable, and has other wealth which is zakatable, then what he has collected of the debt is added to the rest of his wealth and he pays zakat on the total sum."

Malik continued, "If he has no ready money other than that which he has collected from his debt, and that does not reach a zakatable amount, then he does not have to pay any zakat. He must, however, keep a record of the amount that he has collected and if, later, he collects another amount which, when added to what he has already collected, brings zakat into effect, then he has to pay zakat on it."

Malik continued, "Zakat is due on this first amount, together with what he has further collected of the debt owed to him, regardless of whether or not he has used up what he first collected. If what he takes back reaches twenty dinars of gold, or two hundred dirhams of silver he pays zakat on it. He pays zakat on anything else he takes back afte rthat, whether it be a large or small amount, according to the amount."

Malik said, "What shows that zakat is only taken once from a debt which is out of hand for some years before it is recovered is that if goods remain with a man for trading purposes for some years before he sells them, he only has to pay zakat on their prices once. This is because the one who is owed the debt, or owns the goods, should not have to take the zakat on the debt, or the goods, from anything else, since the zakat on anything is only taken from the thing itself, and not from anything else."

Malik said, "Our position regarding some onewho owes a debt, and has goods which are worth enough to pay off the debt, and also has an amount of ready money which is zakatable, is that he pays the zakat on the ready money which he has to hand. If, however, he only has enough goods and ready money to pay off the debt, then he does not have to pay any zakat. But if the ready money that he has reaches a zakatable amount over and above the amount of the debt that he owes, then he must pay zakat on it."

Yahya said that Malik said, "The best of what has been heard about a sharecropper stipulating on the owner of the property the inclusion of some slave workers, is that there is no harm in that if they are workers that come with the property. They are like the property. There is no profit in them for the share-cropper except to lighten some of his burden. If they did not come with the property, his toil would be harder. It is like share-cropping land with a spring or land with a watering trough. You will not find anyone who receives the same share for share-cropping two lands which are equal in property and yield, when one property has a constant plentiful spring and the other has a watering trough, because of the lightness of working land with a spring, and the hardship of working land with a watering trough."

Malik added, "That is what is done in our community."

Malik said, "A share-cropper cannot employ workers from the property in other work, and he cannot make that a stipulation with the one who gives him the share-cropping contract. Nor is it permitted to one who share-crops to stipulate on the owner of the property inclusion of slaves for use in the garden who are not in it when he makes the share-cropping contract."

"Nor must the owner of the property stipulate on the one who uses his property for share-cropping that he take any of the slaves of the property and remove him from the property. The share-cropping of property is based on the state which it is currently in."

"If the owner of the property wants to remove one of the slaves of the property, he removes him before the share-cropping, or if he wants to put someone into the property, he does it before the share-cropping. Then he grants the share-cropping contract after that if he wishes. If any of the slaves die or go off or become ill, the owner of the property must replace them."

Ibn Abbas explained the following Qur'anic verse: "O ye who believe! fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you" During the lifetime of the Prophet (saws), when the people offered night prayer, they were asked to abstain from food and drink and (intercourse with) women, they kept fast till the next night. A man betrayed himself and had intercourse with his wife after he had offered the night prayer, and he did not break his fast. So Allah, the Exalted, intended to make it (fasting) easy for those who survived, thus providing a concession and utility. Allah, the Glorified, said: "Allah knoweth what ye used to do secretly among yourselves." By this Allah benefited the people and provided concession and ease to them.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir and from Salim ibn Abi'n-Nadr, the mawla of Umar ibn Ubaydullah that Amir ibn Sad ibn Abi Waqqas heard his father ask Usama ibn Zayd, "Have you heard anything from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about the plague?" Usama said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'The plague is a punishment that was sent down on a party of the Banu Israil or whoever was before them. When you hear of it in a land, do not enter it. If it comes upon a land and you are in it, do not depart in flight from it.' "

Malik said that Abu'n-Nadr said, "That is, do not depart with no other intention but flight."

Abu Huraira said, "Abu Bakr sent me in that Hajj in which he was the chief of the pilgrims along with the announcers whom he sent on the Day of Nahr to announce at Mina: "No pagan shall perform Hajj after this year, and none shall perform the Tawaf around the Ka`ba in a naked state." Humaid added: That the Prophet sent `Ali bin Abi Talib (after Abu Bakr) and ordered him to recite aloud in public Surat-Baraa. Abu Huraira added, "So `Ali, along with us, recited Bara'a (loudly) before the people at Mina on the Day of Nahr and announced "No pagan shall perform Hajj after this year and none shall perform the Tawaf around the Ka`ba in a naked state."

When Abu Talib's death approached, the Prophet went to him while Abu Jahl and `Abdullah bin Abi Umaiya were present with him. The Prophet said, "O uncle, say: None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, so that I may argue for your case with it before Allah." On that, Abu Jahl and `Abdullah bin Abu Umaiya said, "O Abu Talib! Do you want to renounce `Abdul Muttalib's religion?" Then the Prophet said, "I will keep on asking (Allah for) forgiveness for you unless I am forbidden to do so." Then there was revealed:-- 'It is not fitting for the Prophet and those who believe that they should invoke (Allah) for forgiveness for pagans even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of the Fire.' (9.113)

I intended to ask `Umar about those two ladies who back each other against 'Allah's Apostle . For one year I was seeking the opportunity to ask this question, but in vain, until once when I accompanied him for Hajj. While we were in Zahran, `Umar went to answer the call of nature and told me to follow him with some water for ablution. So I followed him with a container of water and started pouring water for him. I found it a good opportunity to ask him, so I said, "O chief of the Believers! Who were those two ladies who had backed each other (against the Prophet)?" Before I could complete my question, he replied, "They were `Aisha and Hafsa."

My father, seeing a silken cloak being sold, said, "O Allah's Apostle! Buy this and wear it on Fridays and when the foreign delegates pay a visit to you." He said, "This is worn only by that person who will have no share in the Hereafter." Later a few silken cloaks were given to the Prophet as a gift, and he sent one of those cloaks to `Umar. `Umar said (to the Prophet), "How can I wear it while you have said about it what you said?" The Prophet said, "I did not give it to you to wear but to sell or to give to someone else to wear." So `Umar sent it to his (pagan) brother who was from the inhabitants of Mecca before he (`Umar's brother) embraced Islam.

When Allah's Apostle was healthy, he used to say, "No prophet dies till he is shown his place in Paradise, and then he is given the option (to live or die)." So when death approached him(during his illness), and while his head was on my thigh, he became unconscious for a while, and when he recovered, he fixed his eyes on the ceiling and said, "O Allah! (Let me join) the Highest Companions (see Qur'an 4:69)," I said, "So, he does not choose us." Then I realized that it was the application of the statement he used to relate to us when he was healthy. So that was his last utterance (before he died), i.e. "O Allah! (Let me join) the Highest Companions."