While we were on one of our journeys, we dismounted at a place where a slave girl came and said, "The chief of this tribe has been stung by a scorpion and our men are not present; is there anybody among you who can treat him (by reciting something)?" Then one of our men went along with her though we did not think that he knew any such treatment. But he treated the chief by reciting something, and the sick man recovered whereupon he gave him thirty sheep and gave us milk to drink (as a reward). When he returned, we asked our friend, "Did you know how to treat with the recitation of something?" He said, "No, but I treated him only with the recitation of the Mother of the Book (i.e., Al-Fatiha)." We said, "Do not say anything (about it) till we reach or ask the Prophet so when we reached Medina, we mentioned that to the Prophet (in order to know whether the sheep which we had taken were lawful to take or not). The Prophet said, "How did he come to know that it (Al-Fatiha) could be used for treatment? Distribute your reward and assign for me one share thereof as well."

"The Messenger of Allah (saws) was a slave (of Allah), who would order as he has ben ordered to. He did not give an order to us instead of the people regarding anything except for three: He ordered us that we make our Wudu' well (Isbagh), that we not eat from charity, and the we not mate a donkey with a horse."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] There is something on this topic from 'Ali. This Hadith is Hasan Sahih.

Sufyan Ath-Thawri reported this from Abu Jahdam, who said: "From 'Ubaidullah bin 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas, from Ibn 'Abbas." He said I heard Muhammad saying: "The narration of Ath-Thawri is not preserved. Ath-Thawri made a mistake in it. What is correct is what Ismail bin 'Ulaiyyah and 'Abul-Warith bin Sa'eed reported from Abu Jahdam, from 'Abdullah bin 'Ubaidullah bin 'Abbas from Ibn 'Abbas."

When we alighted at a station (for stay), we did not pray until we united the saddles of the camels.

The Immigrants (Muhajirun) said: Messenger of Allah! the Helpers (Ansar) got the entire reward. He said: no, so long as you pray to Allah for them and praise them.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abu'z-Zinad heard Said ibn al-Musayyab say, "There is usury only in gold or silver or what is weighed or measured of what is eaten or drunk."

Malik 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, "Let none of you complain about time, for Allah is time.'

The Prophet said, "Do not abuse the dead, for they have reached the result of what they have done."

The Prophet said, "Allah does not accept prayer of anyone of you if he does Hadath (passes wind) till he performs the ablution (anew).

Allah's Apostle said, "One should not prevent others from watering their animals with the surplus of his water in order to prevent them from benefiting by the surplus of grass."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that a man sneezed on the day of jumua while the imam was giving the khutba, and a man by his side asked Allah to bless him. Said ibn al Musayyab was asked about it and he forbade the man to do what he had done and said, "Don't do it again."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "You should not intend to pray either at sunrise or sunset."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Harmala al- Aslami from Said ibn al-Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "People will remain in good as long as they are quick to break the fast."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that Umar ibn al-Khattab used to say, "O Allah! Do not let me be slain by the hand of a man who has prayed a single prostration to You with which he will dispute with me before You on the Day of Rising!"

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Jabir b. Samura through another chain of transmitters.

* The majority of scholars interpret this to mean that these things in and of themselves do not transmit or cause harm through supernatural or hidden means but that Allah is ultimately in control and any fearful superstition around these is false.

The news about the differences amongst the people of Bani `Amr bin `Auf at Quba reached Allah's Apostle and so he went to them along with some of his companions to affect a reconciliation. Allah's Apostle was delayed there and the time for the prayer became due. Bilal came to Abu Bakr! and said, "O Abu Bakr! Allah's Apostle is detained (there) and the time for the prayer is due. Will you lead the people in prayer?" Abu Bakr replied, "Yes, if you wish." So Bilal pronounced the Iqama and Abu Bakr went forward and the people said Takbir. In the meantime, Allah's Apostle came piercing through the rows till he stood in the (first) row and the people started clapping. Abu Bakr, would never look hither and thither during the prayer but when the people clapped much he looked back and saw Allah's Apostle. The Prophet beckoned him to carry on. Abu Bakr raised both his hands, praised Allah and retreated till he stood in the row and Allah's Apostle went forward and led the people in the prayer. When he had finished the prayer, he addressed the people and said, "O people! Why did you start clapping when something happened to you in the prayer? Clapping is for women. Whenever one is confronted with something unusual in the prayer one should say, 'Sub Han Allah'." Then the Prophet looked towards Abu Bakr and asked, "What prevented you from leading the prayer when I beckoned you to carry on?" Abu Bakr replied, "It does not befit the son of Al Quhafa to lead the prayer in the presence of Allah's Apostle.

Urwah ibn az-Zubayr reported from Fatimah daughter of AbuHubaysh that her blood kept flowing, so the Prophet (saws) said to her: When the blood of the menses comes, it is black blood which can be recognised; so when that comes, refrain from prayer; but when a different type of blood comes, perform ablution and pray, for it is (due only to) a vein.

Abu Dawud said: Ibn al-Muthanna narrates this tradition from his book on the authority of Ibn 'Adi in a similar way. Later on he transmitted it to us from his memory: Muhammad b. 'Amr reported to us from al-Zuhri from 'Urwah on the authority of 'Aishah who said: Fatimah used to have her blood flowing. He then reported the tradition conveying the same meaning.

Abu Dawud said: Anas b. Sirin reported from Ibn 'Abbas about the woman who has a prolonged flow of blood. He said: If she sees thick blood, she should not pray; if she finds herself purified even for a moment, she should was an pray.

Makhul said: Menses are not hidden from women. Their blood is black and thick. When it (blackness and thickness) goes away and there appears yellowness and liquidness, that is the flow of blood (from vein). She should wash and pray.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been transmitted by Sa'id b. al-Musayyab through a different chain of narrators, saying: The woman who has a prolonged flow of blood should abandon prayer when the menstruation begins; when it is finished, she should wash and pray.

Sumayy and others have also reported it from Sa'id b. al-Musayyab. This version adds: She should refrain (from prayer) during her menstrual period.

Hammad b. Salamah has reported it similarly from Yahya b. Sa'id on the authority of Sa'id b. al-Musayyab.

Abu Dawud said: Yunus has reported from Al-Hasan: When the bleeding of a menstruating woman extends (beyond the normal period), she should refrain (from prayer), after her menses are over, for one or two days. Now she becomes the woman who has a prolonged flow of blood.

Al-Taimi reported from Qatadah: If her menstrual period is prolonged by five days, she should pray. Al-Taimi said: I kept on reducing (the number of days) until I reached two days. He said: If the period extends by two days, they will be counted from the menstrual period. When Ibn Sirin was questioned about it, he said: Women have better knowledge of that.

Malik related to me that he heard that Urwa ibn az-Zubayr and Sulayman ibn Yasar when asked whether the sons of a man, who had a kitaba written for himself and his children and then died, worked for the kitaba of their father or were slaves, said, "They work for the kitaba of their father and they have no reduction at all for the death of their father."

Malik said, "If they are small and unable to work, one does not wait for them to grow up and they are slaves of their father's master unless the mukatab has left what will pay their instalments for them until they can work. If there is enough to pay for them in what he has left, that is paid for on their behalf and they are left in their condition until they can work, and then if they pay, they are free. If they cannot do it, they are slaves."

Malik spoke about a mukatab who died and left property which was not enough to pay his kitaba, and he also left a child with him in his kitaba and an umm walad, and the umm walad wanted to work for them. He said, "The money is paid to her if she is trustworthy with it and strong enough to work. If she is not strong enough to work and not trustworthy with property, she is not given any of it and she and the children of the mukatab revert to being slaves of the master of the mukatab."

Malik said, "If people are written together in one kitaba and there is no kinship between them, and some of them are incapable and others work until they are all set free, those who worked can claim from those who were unable, the portion of what they paid for them because some of them assumed the responsibility for others."