that he entered upon Yahya bin Sa`id while one of Yahya's sons was aiming at a hen after tying it. Ibn `Umar walked to it and untied it. Then he brought it and the boy and said. "Prevent your boys from tying the birds for the sake of killing them, as I have heard the Prophet forbidding the killing of an animal or other living thing after tying them."

In the last part of his narration about the three who remained behind (from the battle of Tabuk). (I said) "As a proof of my true repentance (for not joining the Holy battle of Tabuk), I shall give up all my property for the sake of Allah and His Apostle (as an expiation for that sin)." The Prophet said (to me), "Keep some of your wealth, for that is better for you."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Safwan ibn Sulaym from Said ibn Salama of the Bani Azraq from al-Mughira ibn Abi Burda of the tribe of Bani Abd ad-Dar that he had heard Abu Hurayra speak about a man who came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, "Messenger of Allah! We travel by sea and we do not carry much fresh water with us so if we do wudu with it we go thirsty. Can we do wudu with seawater?" The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied, "lts water is pure, and its dead creatures are halal."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Habban from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Sheep from the zakat were brought past Umar ibn al-Khattab and he saw amongst them a sheep with a large udder, ready to give milk, and he said, 'What is this sheep doing here?' and they replied, 'It is one of the sheep from the zakat.' Umar said, 'The owners did not give this sheep willingly. Do not subject people to trials. Do not take from the muslims those of their animals which are the best food-producers.' "

Urwah ibn az-Zubayr said that Fatimah daughter of AbuHubaysh narrated to him that she asked the Messenger of Allah (saws) and complained to him about the flowing of (her) blood. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said to her: That is only (due to) a vein: look, when your menstruation comes, do not pray; and when your menstruation ends, wash yourself and then offer prayer during the period from one menstruation to another.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira by more than one chain of transmitters.

Allah's Apostle sent his letter to Khusrau and ordered his messenger to hand it over to the Governor of Bahrain who was to hand it over to Khusrau. So, when Khusrau read the letter he tore it. Sa`id bin Al- Musaiyab said, "The Prophet then invoked Allah to disperse them with full dispersion, (destroy them (i.e. Khusrau and his followers) severely)".

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that the daughter of Said ibn Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl was the wife of Abdullah ibn Umar ibn Uthman ibn Affan, and he divorced her irrevocably and she moved out. Abdullah ibn Umar rebuked her for that.

AbdulAziz ibn Muhammad said: Abbad ibn Kathir came to Medina and went to the assembly of al-Ala'. He caught hold of his hand and made him stand and said: O Allah, he narrates a tradition from his father on the authority of AbuHurayrah who reported the Messenger of Allah (saws) as saying: When the middle of Sha'ban comes, do not fast. Al-Ala' said: O Allah, my father narrated this tradition on the authority of AbuHurayrah from the Prophet (saws)

A bedouin came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Who is the best of mankind!" The Prophet said, "A man who strives for Allah's Cause with his life and property, and also a man who lives (all alone) in a mountain path among the mountain paths to worship his Lord and save the people from his evil."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Abdullah ibn al- Hadi from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Harith at-Taymi from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman that Abu Said al-Khudri said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to do itikaf in the middle ten days of Ramadan. One year he was doing itikaf and then, when it came to the night of the twenty-first, which was the night before the morning when he would normally have finished his itikaf, he said, 'Whoever has done i'tikaf with me should continue doing itikaf for the last ten days. I saw a certain night and then I was made to forget it. I saw myself prostrating the following morning in water and clay. Look for it in the last ten days, and look for it on the odd days.' "

Abu Said continued, "The sky poured with rain that night and the mosque had a roof (made of palm fronds) and the mosque was soaked. With my own eyes I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, leave with traces of water and clay on his forehead and nose, in the morning after the night of the twenty- first."

Allah's Apostle used to practice I`tikaf in the middle ten days of Ramadan and once he stayed in I`tikaf till the night of the twenty-first and it was the night in the morning of which he used to come out of his I`tikaf. The Prophet said, "Whoever was in I`tikaf with me should stay in I`tikaf for the last ten days, for I was informed (of the date) of the Night (of Qadr) but I have been caused to forget it. (In the dream) I saw myself prostrating in mud and water in the morning of that night. So, look for it in the last ten nights and in the odd ones of them." It rained that night and the roof of the mosque dribbled as it was made of leaf stalks of date-palms. I saw with my own eyes the mark of mud and water on the forehead of the Prophet (i.e. in the morning of the twenty-first).

"The Messenger of Allah (saws) entered upon me and said: 'Do you have anything?' I said: 'No, except a piece of hard bread and vinegar.' so he said: 'Bring it, for a house that has vinegar is not impoverished of condiments."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Gharib from this route. We do not know of it as a Hadith of Umm Hani' except through this route. Abu Hamzah Ath-Thumali's (a narrator in the chain) name is Thabit bin Abi Safiyyah. And Umm Hani' died some time after 'Ali bin Abi Talib. I asked Muhammad about this Hadith. He said: "I do not know Ash-Sha'bi hearing from Umm Hani'." So I said: "How is Abu Hamzah according to you?" He said: "Ahmad bin Hanbal criticized him, but he is Muqarib (average) in Hadith to me."

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say when they (messengers sent by Musaylimah) read the letter of Musaylimah: What do you believe yourselves? They said: We believe as he believes. He said: I swear by Allah that were it not that messengers are not killed, I would cut off your heads.

`Ikrima bin Khalid asked Ibn `Umar about performing `Umra before Hajj. Ibn `Umar replied, "There is no harm in it." `Ikrima said, "Ibn `Umar also said, 'The Prophet had performed `Umra before performing Hajj.'"

Narrated `Ikrima bin Khalid:

"I asked Ibn `Umar the same (as above)."

`Uqba bin Al-Harith said that he had married the daughter of Abi Ihab bin `Aziz. Later on a woman came to him and said, "I have suckled (nursed) `Uqba and the woman whom he married (his wife) at my breast." `Uqba said to her, "Neither I knew that you have suckled (nursed) me nor did you tell me." Then he rode over to see Allah's Apostle at Medina, and asked him about it. Allah's Apostle said, "How can you keep her as a wife when it has been said (that she is your foster-sister)?" Then `Uqba divorced her, and she married another man.

Some people of Bani Tamim came to the Prophet and he said (to them), "O Bani Tamim! rejoice with glad tidings." They said, "You have given us glad tidings, now give us something." On hearing that the color of his face changed then the people of Yemen came to him and he said, "O people of Yemen ! Accept the good tidings, as Bani Tamim has refused them." The Yemenites said, "We accept them. Then the Prophet started taking about the beginning of creation and about Allah's Throne. In the mean time a man came saying, "O `Imran! Your she-camel has run away!'' (I got up and went away), but l wish I had not left that place (for I missed what Allah's Apostle had said).

Al-Aqra' bin Habis said to the Prophet "Nobody gave you the pledge of allegiance but the robbers of the pilgrims (i.e. those who used to rob the pilgrims) from the tribes of Aslam, Ghifar, Muzaina." (Ibn Abi Ya'qub is in doubt whether Al-Aqra' added. 'And Juhaina.') The Prophet said, "Don't you think that the tribes of Aslam, Ghifar, Muzaina (and also perhaps) Juhaina are better than the tribes of Bani Tamim, Bani Amir, Asad, and Ghatafan?" Somebody said, "They were unsuccessful and losers!" The Prophet said, "Yes, by Him in Whose Hands my life is, they (i.e. the former) are better than they (i.e. the latter).

I asked `Abdullah bin `Amr, "What was the worst thing the pagans did to Allah's Apostle?" He said, "I saw `Uqba bin Abi Mu'ait coming to the Prophet while he was praying.' `Uqba put his sheet round the Prophet's neck and squeezed it very severely. Abu Bakr came and pulled `Uqba away from the Prophet and said, "Do you intend to kill a man just because he says: 'My Lord is Allah, and he has brought forth to you the Evident Signs from your Lord?"

Mu'adh willed this supplication to the narrator al-Sunabihi and al-Sunabihi to 'Abu Abd al-Rahman.

It is narrated on the authority of Jarir that he observed I gave pledge of allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (may peace and blessings be upon him) on the observance of prayer, payment of Zakat, and sincerity and well-wishing for every Muslim.