"A man among the people of Egypt performed Hajj to the House, and saw a group sitting, so he said: 'Who are these?' They said: 'The Quraish.' He said: 'So who is this old man?' They said: 'Ibn 'Umar.' So he went to him and said: 'I will ask you about something, so inform me. I ask you by Allah! By the sanctity of this House! Do you know that 'Uthman fled on the Day of (the battle of) Uhud?' He said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Do you know that he was absent from the Pledge of Ar-Ridwan, that he did not witness it?' He said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Do you know that he was absent on the Day of (the battle of) Badr and did not participate in it?' He said: 'Yes.' So he said: 'Allah is Great' So Ibn 'Umar said to him: 'Come, so I can clarify to you what you have asked about. As for his fleeing on the Day of (the battle of) Uhud, then I bear witness that Allah has pardoned him and forgiven him. As for his being absent on the Day of (the battle of) Badr, then he was married to the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (SAW). So the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said to him: "You have the reward of a man who participated in (the battle of) Badr, and his share (spoils of war)." [And he ordered him to stay behind with her, as she was ill]. As for his being absent from the Pledge of Ar-Ridwan, then if there was anyone more revered in Makkah than 'Uthman, then the Messenger of Allah (SAW) would have sent him instead of 'Uthman. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) sent 'Uthman [to Makkah], and the Pledge of Ar-Ridwan was after 'Uthman had departed for Makkah." He said: "So the Messenger of Allah (SAW) said with his right hand: "This is the hand of 'Uthman," and he put it upon his own hand, and said: "This is for 'Uthman."' He said to him: "Go now, and take this (clarification) with you."

`Abdallah b. `Umar told that `Umar b. al-Khattab went with God's messenger and some of his companions to Ibn Sayyad and found him playing with the boys in the fortress of the B. Maghala, Ibn Sayyid at that time being near the age of puberty. Before he was aware God's messenger gave him a clap on the back and said, "Do you testify that I am God's messenger?" He looked at him and said, "I testify that you are the messenger of the Gentiles," after which Ibn Sayyad said, "Do you testify that I am God's messenger?" The Prophet squeezed him and said, "I believe in God and His messengers." He then asked Ibn Sayyad what visions he had, and when he replied, "One who speaks the truth and one who lies comes to me," God's messenger said, "You are confused." He then said, "I have concealed something in my mind which I would like you to tell me" (referring to "the day when the sky will bring forth smoke (dukhan) clearly visible").[1] On his replying, "It is smoke (dukhkh)," he said, "Away with you! You cannot get farther than your rank."[2] `Umar then asked God's messenger if he would permit him to cut off his head, but he replied, "If he is the one[3] you will not be given power over him, and if he is not, you will not do well in killing him." Ibn `Umar told that sometime afterwards God's messenger and Ubayy b. Ka'b went towards the palm trees where Ibn Sayyid was, and God's messenger hid behind the palm trunks seeking stealthily to hear something from Ibn Sayyid before he could see him. Ibn Sayyid was lying on his bed in a wrapper from which a murmur issued, and when his mother saw the Prophet hiding behind the palm trunks she said, "Saf '(that being his name), here is Muhammad," whereupon Ibn Sayyad stopped the murmuring, and God's messenger said, "If you had left him alone, he would have made things clear." `Abdallah b. `Umar told that God's messenger stood up among the people, and when he had extolled God - in a fitting manner he mentioned the dajjal and said, "I warn you of him, and there is no prophet who has not warned his people. Noah warned his people, but I shall tell you something about him which no prophet has told his people. You must know that he is one-eyed, whereas God is not one-eyed." 1. Quran, 44:10. 2. The idea is that Ibn Sayyid was being tested to see whether he had any supernatural knowledge of what the Prophet had in mind. His use of a different form of the word for smoke put him on the level of a kahin with a defective source ...

"While I was at the Ka'bah, in a state between sleep and wakefulness, three men came, and one of them who was in the middle came toward me. I was brought a basin of gold, filled with wisdom and faith, and he slit open from the throat to the lower abdomen, and washed the heart with Zamzam water, then - "it was filled with wisdom and faith. Then I was brought a riding-beast, smaller than a mule and bigger than a donkey. I set off with Jibril, peace be upon him, and we came to the lowest heaven. It was said: 'Who is with you?' He said: 'Muhammad.' It was said: 'Has (revelation) been sent to him? Welcome to him, what an excellent visit his is.' I came to Adam, peace be upon him, and greeted him, and he said: 'Welcome to you! What an excellent son and Prophet.' Then we came to the second heaven and it was said: 'Who is this?' He said: 'Jibra'il.' [1] It was said: 'Who is with you?' he said: 'Muhammad.' And the same exchange took place. I came to Yahya and 'Eisa, peace be upon them both, and greeted them, and they said: 'Welcome to you! What an excellent brother and Prophet.' Then we came to the third heaven and it was said: 'Who is this?' He said: 'Jibra'il.' It was said: 'Who is with you?' He said: 'Muhammad.' And the same exchange took place. I came to Yusuf, peace be upon him, and greeted him, and he said: 'Welcome to you! What an excellent brother and Prophet.' Then we came to the fourth heaven and the same exchange took place. I came to Idris, peace be upon him, and greeted him, and he said: 'Welcome to you! What an excellent brother and Prophet.' Then we came to the fifth heaven and the same exchange took place. I came to Harun, peace be upon him, and greeted him, and he said: 'Welcome to you! What an excellent brother and Prophet.' Then we came to the sixth heaven and the same exchange took place. I came to Musa, peace be upon him, and greeted him, and he said: 'Welcome to you! What an excellent brother and Prophet.' What I passed him, he wept, and it was said: 'Why are you weeping?' He said: 'O Lord, this young man whom You have sent after me, more of his Ummah will enter Paradise than from my nation, and they will be more virtuous than them.' Then we came to the seventh heaven and a similar exchange took place. I came to Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and greeted him, and he said: 'Welcome to you! What an excellent son and Prophet.' Then I was taken up to the Oft-Frequented ...

Malik related to me that he heard that Abu Salama ibn Abd ar- Rahman and Sulayman ibn Yasar were both asked, "Does one pronounce judgement on the basis of an oath with one witness?" They both said, "Yes."

Malik said, "The precedent of the sunna in judging by an oath with one witness is that if the plaintiff takes an oath with his witness, he is confirmed in his right. If he draws back and refuses to take an oath, the defendant is made to take an oath. If he takes an oath, the claim against him is dropped. If he refuses to take an oath, the claim is confirmed against him."

Malik said, "This procedure pertains to property cases in particular. It does not occur in any of the hadd-punishments, nor in marriage, divorce, freeing slaves, theft or slander. If some one says, 'Freeing slaves comes under property,' he has erred. It is not as he said. Had it been as he said, a slave could take an oath with one witness, if he could find one, that his master had freed him.

"However, when a slave lays claim to a piece of property, he can take an oath with one witness and demand his right as the freeman demands his right."

Malik said, "The sunna with us is that when a slave brings somebody who witnesses that he has been set free, his master is made to take an oath that he has not freed him, and the slave's claim is dropped."

Malik said, "The sunna about divorce is also like that with us. When a woman brings somebody who witnesses that her husband has divorced her, the husband is made to take an oath that he has not divorced her. If he takes the oath, the divorce does not proceed . "

Malik said, "There is only one sunna of bringing a witness in cases of divorce and freeing a slave. The right to make an oath only belongs to the husband of the woman, and the master of the slave. Freeing is a hadd matter, and the testimony of women is not permitted in it because when a slave is freed, his inviolability is affirmed and the hadd punishments are applied for and against him. If he commits fornication and he is a muhsan, he is stoned. If he kills a slave, he is killed for it. Inheritance is established for him, between him and whoever inherits from him. If somebody disputes this, arguing that if a man frees his slave and then a man comes to demand from the master of the slave payment of a debt, and a man and two women testify to his right, that establishes the right against the master of the slave so that his freeing him is ...

“My maternal aunt Hind asked the son of Abu Hala, who was a describer of the finery of Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), to describe something of it that would be of interest to me, so he said: Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) was an honored dignitary, whose face shone with the radiance of the moon on the night of the full moon. He was taller than medium-sized, and shorter than the slender giant. His head was grand and impressive, with loosely curled hair. If his forelock became divided, he would part it. Otherwise his hair would not cross over his earlobes, and he would let it grow plentiful and long. He was bright of color, broad of forehead, endowed with arched eyebrows, perfect without being conjoined, with a vein between them that anger would cause to pulsate. The bridge of his nose was curved. He had a light that would rise over him, and someone who did not reflect on him would consider him haughty. He was thickly bearded, endowed with smooth cheeks, a wide mouth, cleft teeth, and a delicate strip of hair from the top of the chest to the navel. It was as if his neck were the neck of a statue shaped in pure silver. He was well proportioned in physique, firmly cohesive, with the stomach and the breast in even balance. He was wide-chested, broad-shouldered, endowed with stout limbs and very shiny bare skin. Between the top of the chest and the navel by a strip of hair like a line of writing, while his breasts and stomach were bare apart from that. He had hair on his arms and shoulders and the upper parts of his chest. His forearms were long. He had a sensitive touch of the hand. The palms of his hands and the soles of his feet were thickset. His extremities were well formed [sa’il (or he may have said sha’il)]. The hollows of his soles were very deep-set. His feet were so smooth that water bounced off them. When he left a place, he would go away striding decisively. He would tread inclining forward and walk comfortably. His gait was brisk. When he walked, it was as if he were descending a declivity, and when he looked around, he looked around altogether. He lowered his eyesight, and he spent more time looking at the ground than he did looking at the sky. The majority of his looking was observation. He would urge his Companions to proceed ahead of him, and he would be the first to greet anyone he encountered with the salutation ...

Qatada quoted the authority of Anas b. Malik who quoted the authority of Malik b. Sa'sa'a to the effect that God's prophet told them about the night when he was taken up to heaven, saying, "While I was lying down at al-Hatim[2] (but perhaps he said al-Hijr), someone came to me and made a split from here to here (meaning from the pit of his chest to the hair below his navel), then took out my heart. I was next brought a gold dish full of faith, and my heart was washed, then filled up and put back. (A version says the inside was washed with Zamzam water, after which it was filled with faith and wisdom.) I was then brought a beast smaller than a mule and larger than a donkey, which was white, was called al-Buraq, and stepped a distance equal to the range of its vision. I was mounted on it, and Gabriel went with me till he came to the lowest heaven. He asked that the gate be opened, and when he was asked who he was he replied that he was Gabriel. He was asked who was with him and replied that it was Muhammad. He was asked whether he had been sent for, and when he replied that that was so, the words were uttered, `Welcome; his coming is good,' and the gate was opened. When I entered Adam was there, and Gabriel said, `This is your father Adam, so give him a salutation. I did so, and when he had returned my salutation he said, `Welcome to the good son and the good prophet.' Gabriel then took me up till he came to the second heaven. He asked that the gate be opened, and when he was asked who he was he replied that he was Gabriel. He was asked who was with him and replied that it was Muhammad. He was asked whether he had been sent for, and when he replied that that was so, the words were uttered, `Welcome; his coming is good' and the gate was opened. When I entered John[3] and Jesus, who were cousins on the mother's side, were there, and Gabriel said, `These are John and Jesus, so give them a salutation I did so, and when they had returned my salutation they said, `Welcome to the good brother and the good prophet.' Gabriel then took me up to the third heaven. He asked that the gate be opened, and when he was asked who he was he replied that he was Gabriel. He was asked who was with him, and replied that it was Muhammad. He was asked whether he had been sent for, and when he replied that that was so, the words were uttered, `Welcome, his coming is good and the gate was opened. When I entered Joseph was there, and. Gabriel said, this is Joseph, so give him a salutation.' ...