Malik related to me from Humayd ibn Qays al-Makki that a son of al-Mutawakkil had a mukatab who died at Makka and left (enough to pay) the rest of his kitaba and he owed some debts to people. He also left a daughter. The governor of Makka was not certain about how to judge in the case, so he wrote to Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan to ask him about it. Abd al-Malik wrote to him, "Begin with the debts owed to people, and then pay what remains of his kitaba. Then divide what remains of the property between the daughter and the master."

Malik said, "What is done among us is that the master of a slave does not have to give his slave a kitaba if he asks for it. I have not heard of any of the Imams forcing a man to give a kitaba to his slave. I heard that one of the people of knowledge, when someone asked about that and mentioned that Allah the Blessed, the Exalted, said, 'Give them their kitaba, if you know some good in them' (Sura 24 ayat 33) recited these two ayats, 'When you are free of the state of ihram, then hunt for game.' (Sura 5 ayat 3) 'When the prayer is finished, scatter in the land and seek Allah's favour.' " (Sura 62 ayat 10)

Malik commented, "It is a way of doing things for which Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic, has given permission to people, and it is not obligatory for them." Malik said, "I heard one of the people of knowledge say about the word of Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, 'Give them of the wealth which Allah has given you,' that it meant that a man give his slave a kitaba and then reduce the end of his kitaba for him by some specific amount."

Malik said, "This is what I have heard from the people of knowledge and what I see people doing here."

Malik said, "I have heard that Abdullah ibn Umar gave one of his slaves his kitaba for 35,000 dirhams, and then reduced the end of his kitaba by 5,000 dirhams."

Malik said, "What is done among us is that when a master gives a mukatab his kitaba, the mukatab's property goes with him but his children do not go with him unless he stipulates that in his kitaba."

Yahya said, "I heard Malik say that if a mukatab whose master had given him a kitaba had a slave- girl who was pregnant by him, and neither he nor his master knew that on the day he was given his kitaba, the child did not follow him because he was not included in the kitaba. He belonged to the master. As for the slave-girl, she belonged to the mukatab because she was his property."

Malik said that if a man and his wife's son (by another husband) inherited a mukatab from the wife and the mukatab died before he had completed his kitaba, they divided his inheritance between them according to the Book of Allah. If the slave paid his kitaba and then died, his inheritance went to the son of the woman, and the husband had nothing of his inheritance.

Malik said that if a mukatab gave his own slave a kitaba, the situation was looked at. If he wanted to do his slave a favour and it was obvious by his making it easy for him, that was not permitted. If he was giving him a kitaba from desire to find money to pay off his own kitaba, that was permitted for him.

Malik said that if a man had intercourse with a mukataba of his and she became pregnant by him, she had an option. If she liked she could be an umm walad. If she wished, she could confirm her kitaba. If she did not conceive, she still had her kitaba.

Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us about a slave who is owned by two men is that one of them does not give a kitaba for his share, whether or not his companion gives him permission to do so, unless they both write the kitaba together, because that alone would effect setting him free. If the slave were to fulfil what he had agreed on to free half of himself, and then the one who had given a kitaba for half of him was not obliged to complete his setting free, that would be in opposition to the words of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. 'If someone frees his share in a slave and has enough money to cover the full price of the slave, justly evaluated for him, he must give his partners their shares, so the slave is completely free . ' "

Malik said, "If he is not aware of that until the mukatab has met the terms or before he has met them the owner who has written him the kitaba returns what he has taken from the mukatab to him, and then he and his partner divide him according to their original shares and the kitaba is invalid. He is the slave of both of them in his original state."

Malik spoke about a mukatab who was owned by two men and one of them granted him a delay in the payment of the right which he was owed, and the other refused to defer it, and so the one who refused to defer the payment exacted his part of the due. Malik said that if the mukatab then died and left property which did not complete his kitaba, "They divide it according to what they are still owed by him. Each of them takes according to his share. If the mukatab leaves more than his kitaba, each of them takes what remains to them of the kitaba, and what remains after that is divided equally between them. If the mukatab is unable to pay his kitaba fully and the one who did not allow him to defer his payment has exacted more than his associate did, the slave is still divided equally between them, and he does not return to his associates the excess of what he has exacted, because he only exacted his right with the permission of his associate. If one of them remits what is owed to him and then his associate exacts part of what he is owed by him and then the mukatab is unable to pay, he belongs to both of them. And the one who has exacted something does not return anything because he only demanded what he was owed. That is like the debt of two men in one writing against one man. One of them grants him time to pay and the other is greedy and exacts his due. Then the debtor goes bankrupt. The one who exacted his due does not have to return any of what he took."

When `Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul died, Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) was called upon to offer his funeral prayer. When Allah's Apostle stood up to offer the prayer, I got up quickly and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Are you going to pray for Ibn Ubai and he said so and so on such and such occasions?" And started mentioning all that he had said. Allah's Apostle smiled and said, "O `Umar! Go away from me." When I talked too much he said, "I have been given the choice and so I have chosen (to offer the prayer). Had I known that he would be forgiven by asking for Allah's forgiveness for more than seventy times, surely I would have done so." (`Umar added): Allah's Apostle offered his funeral prayer and returned and after a short while the two verses of Surat Bara' were revealed: i.e. "And never (O Muhammad) pray for any of them who dies . . . (to the end of the verse) rebellion (9.84)" -- (`Umar added), "Later I astonished at my daring before Allah's Apostle on that day. And Allah and His Apostle know better."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say the tashahhud saying, "In the name of Allah. Greetings belong to Allah. Prayers belong to Allah. Pure actions belong to Allah. Peace be on the Prophet and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Peace be on us and on the slaves of Allah who are salihun. I testify that there is no god except Allah. I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."

"Bismillah, at-tahiyatu lillah, as-salawatu lillah, az-zakiyatu lillah. As-salamu ala'n-nabiyyi wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alayna wa ala ibadi'llahi's-salihin. Shahidtu an la ilaha illallah. Shahidtu anna Muhammadu'r-rasulu'llah."

He used to say this after the first two rakas and he would make supplication with whatever seemed fit to him when the tashahhud was completed. When he sat at the end of the prayer, he did the tashahhud in a similar manner, except that after the tashahhud he made supplication with whatever seemed fit to him. When he had completed the tashahhud and intended to say the taslim, he said, "Peace be on the Prophet and His mercy and blessings. Peace be upon us and on the slaves of Allah who are salihun."

"As- salamu ala'n-nabiyyi wa rahmatu'llahi wa barakatuhu. As-salamu alayna wa ala ibadi'llahi'ssalihin ."

He then said, "Peace be upon you" to his right, and would return the greeting to the imam, and if anyone said "Peace be upon you" from his left he would return the greeting to him.

Regarding the Qur'anic Verse: 'O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will.' (4.19) The custom (in the Pre-lslamic Period) was that if a man died, his relatives used to have the right to inherit his wife, and if one of them wished, he could marry her, or they could marry her to somebody else, or prevent her from marrying if they wished, for they had more right to dispose of her than her own relatives. Therefore this Verse was revealed concerning this matter.

A woman came to the Prophet and said, "My mother vowed to perform the Hajj but she died before performing it. Should I perform the Hajj on her behalf?" He said, "Yes! Perform the Hajj on her behalf. See, if your mother had been in debt, would you have paid her debt?" She said, "Yes." He said, "So you should pay what is for Him as Allah has more right that one should fulfill one's obligations to Him. "

The Prophet said, "The Israelis used to be ruled and guided by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another would take over his place. There will be no prophet after me, but there will be Caliphs who will increase in number." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What do you order us (to do)?" He said, "Obey the one who will be given the pledge of allegiance first. Fulfil their (i.e. the Caliphs) rights, for Allah will ask them about (any shortcoming) in ruling those Allah has put under their guardianship."

When the Prophet became ill, some of his wives talked about a church which they had seen in Ethiopia and it was called Mariya. Um Salma and Um Habiba had been to Ethiopia, and both of them narrated its (the Church's) beauty and the pictures it contained. The Prophet raised his head and said, "Those are the people who, whenever a pious man dies amongst them, make a place of worship at his grave and then they make those pictures in it. Those are the worst creatures in the Sight of Allah."

The Prophet called Fatima during his fatal illness and told her something secretly and she wept. Then he called her again and told her something secretly, and she started laughing. When we asked her about that, she said, "The Prophet first told me secretly that he would expire in that disease in which he died, so I wept; then he told me secretly that I would be the first of his family to follow him, so I laughed ( at that time).

The Prophet said, "There is no believer but I, of all the people, I am the closest to him both in this world and in the Hereafter. Recite if you wish: 'The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves.' (33.6) so if a believer (dies) leaves some property then his relatives will inherit that property; but if he is in debt or he leaves poor children, let those (creditors and children) come to me (that I may pay the debt and provide for the children), for them I am his sponsor (surely).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that the ayat "You who believe! When you rise for prayer wash your faces, and your arms to the elbows, and wipe over your heads and your feet up to the ankles," refers to rising from bed, meaning sleep.

Yahya said that Malik said, "The situation with us is that one does not have to do wudu for a nose-bleed, or for blood, or for pus issuing from the body. One only has to do wudu for impurities which issue from the genitals or the anus, or for sleep."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

One day we were praying behind the Prophet. When he raised his head from bowing, he said, "Sami`a l-lahu liman hamidah." A man behind him said, "Rabbana wa laka l-hamdu, hamdan kathiran taiyiban mubarakan fihi" (O our Lord! All the praises are for You, many good and blessed praises). When the Prophet completed the prayer, he asked, "Who has said these words?" The man replied, "I." The Prophet said, "I saw over thirty angels competing to write it first." Prophet rose (from bowing) and stood straight till all the vertebrae of his spinal column came to a natural position.

That when the Ansar drew lots as to which of the emigrants should dwell with which of the Ansar, the name of `Uthman bin Mazun came out (to be in their lot). Um Al-Ala further said, "Uthman stayed with us, and we nursed him when he got sick, but he died. We shrouded him in his clothes, and Allah's Apostle came to our house and I said, (addressing the dead `Uthman), 'O Abu As-Sa'ib! May Allah be merciful to you. I testify that Allah has blessed you.' The Prophet said to me, "How do you know that Allah has blessed him?" I replied, 'I do not know O Allah's Apostle! May my parents be sacrificed for you.' Allah's Apostle said, 'As regards `Uthman, by Allah he has died and I really wish him every good, yet, by Allah, although I am Allah's Apostle, I do not know what will be done to me.' Um Al- Ala added, 'By Allah I shall never attest the piety of anybody after him. And what Allah's Apostles said made me sad." Um Al-Ala further said, "Once I slept and saw in a dream, a flowing stream for `Uthman. So I went to Allah's Apostle and told him about it, he said, 'That is (the symbol of) his deeds."

"When the Messenger of Allah (saws), would wear a new garment he would mention what it was, whether an 'Imamah, a Qamis, or a Rida', then he would say: Allahumma lakal-hamdu, Anta kasawtanihi, as'aluka khairuhu wa khaira ma suni'a lahu, wa a'udhu bika min sharrihi wa sharri ma suni'a lahu'" ('O Allah! For You is the praise, You have clothed me, I ask You for its good and the god for which it was made, and I seek refuge in You from its evil and the evil for which it was made.)

[Abu 'Eisa said:] There are narrations on this topic from 'Umar, and Ibn 'Umar.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Said ibn Abi Said al-Maqburi from his father that he had asked Abu Hurayra, "How do you pray over the dead?" and Abu Hurayra replied, "By the Life of Allah, I will tell you! I follow with the family and when the corpse is put down I say 'Allah is greater' and praise Allah and ask for blessings on His Prophet. Then I say, 'O Allah, he is Your slave and the son of Your male slave and Your female slave. He used to testify that there is no god but You and that Muhammad is Your slave and Your Messenger, and You know that best. O Allah, if he acted well, then increase for him his good action, and if he acted wrongly, then overlook his wrong actions. O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward, and do not try us after him.'"

Allahumma inna huwa abduka wa'bnu abdika wa'bnu amatika. Kana yash-hadu an la ilaha illa ant wa anna Muhammadan abduka wa rasooluka, wa anta alamu bihi. Allahumma in kana muhsinan zid fi ihsanihi, wa in kana musiyan fa tajawaz an sayatihi. Allahumma la tahrimna ajrahu wa lataftina badahu.

The Prophet said to me, "I will give you so much (the Prophet pointed thrice with his hands) when funds of Bahrain will come to me." But the Prophet died before the money reached him. (When it came) Abu Bakr ordered an announcer to announce that whoever had a money claim on the Prophet or was promised to be given something, should come to Abu Bakr. I went to Abu Bakr and told him that the Prophet had promised to give me so much. On that Abu Bakr gave me three handfuls (of money).

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.

The husband of a lady died and her eyes became sore and the people mentioned her story to the Prophet They asked him whether it was permissible for her to use kohl as her eyes were exposed to danger. He said, "Previously, when one of you was bereaved by a husband she would stay in her dirty clothes in a bad unhealthy house (for one year), and when a dog passed by, she would throw a globe of dung. No, (she should observe the prescribed period Idda) for four months and ten days.'

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'zZubayr al-Makki from Tawus al-Yamani from Abdullah ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to teach this dua in the same way that he would teach them a sura of the Qur'an, "O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the torment of Jahannam, and I seek refuge in You from the trial of the Dajjal, and I seek refuge in You from the trial of life and death."

Allahumma inniy audhu bika min adhabi jahannama, wa audhu bika min adhabi'l-qabri, wa audhu bika min fitnati'l-mahya wa mamati.

[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi].

The Messenger of Allah (saws) made a brotherhood between two men, one of whom was killed (in Allah's path), and a week or thereabouts later the other died, and we prayed at his funeral). The Messenger of Allah (saws) asked: What did you say? We replied: We prayed for him and said: O Allah, forgive him, and join him to his companion. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: What about his prayers since the time the other died, and his fasting since the time the other died--the narrator Shu'bah doubted the words, "his fasting--and his deeds since the time the other died. The distance between them is just like the distance between heaven and earth.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, told him that she had never seen the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, doing night prayers sitting down until he was getting on in years. He would recite sitting down until when he wanted to go into ruku, he would stand up and recite about thirty or forty ayats and then go into ruku.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said heard al-Qasim ibn Muhammad say, "A woman came to Abdullah ibn Abbas and said, 'I have vowed to sacrifice my son.' Ibn Abbas said, 'Do not sacrifice your son. Do kaffara for your oath.' An old man with Ibn Abbas said, 'What kaffara is there for this?' Ibn Abbas said, 'Allah the Exalted said, "Those of you who say, regarding their wives.'Be as my mother's back' (Sura58 ayat 2) and then He went on to oblige the kaffara for it as you have seen.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim that his father said about the word of Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, "There is no fault in you about the proposal you offer to women, or hide in yourselves. Allah knows that you will be mindful of them; but do not make troth with them secretly without honourable words," (Sura 2 ayat 235) that it referred to a man saying to a woman while she was still in her idda after the death of her husband, "You are dear to me, and I desire you, and Allah brings provision and blessing to you," and words such as these.

The Prophet stayed for three rights between Khaibar and Medina and was married to Safiya. I invited the Muslim to h s marriage banquet and there wa neither meat nor bread in that banquet but the Prophet ordered Bilal to spread the leather mats on which dates, dried yogurt and butter were put. The Muslims said amongst themselves, "Will she (i.e. Safiya) be one of the mothers of the believers, (i.e. one of the wives of the Prophet ) or just (a lady captive) of what his right-hand possesses" Some of them said, "If the Prophet makes her observe the veil, then she will be one of the mothers of the believers (i.e. one of the Prophet's wives), and if he does not make her observe the veil, then she will be his lady slave." So when he departed, he made a place for her behind him (on his and made her observe the veil.

`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".

Abu Huraira reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) gave judgment in case of the abortion of a woman of Banu Lihyan (that the offender and near relative should give compensation in the form of) good quality of a slave or a slave-girl. And the woman about whom the judgment was given for compensation died and thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) gave judgment that her inheritance goes to her sons and her husband, and the payment of the blood-wit lies with the family of (one who struck her).