Allah's Apostle said, "Do not wish to be like anyone, except in two cases: (1) A man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it righteously. (2) A man whom Allah has given wisdom (knowledge of the Qur'an and the Hadith) and he acts according to it and teaches it to others."

I did not see the Prophet reciting (the Qur'an) in the night prayer while sitting except when he became old; when he used to recite while sitting, and when thirty or forty verses remained from the Sura, he would get up and recite them and then bow.

Allah's Apostle invoked evil upon the pagans on the ay (of the battle) of Al-Ahzab, saying, "O Allah! The Revealer of the Holy Book, the Swift-Taker of Accounts, O Allah, defeat Al-Ahzab (i.e. the clans), O Allah, defeat them and shake them."

The Prophet was the most generous of all the people, and he used to become more generous in Ramadan when Gabriel met him. Gabriel used to meet him every night during Ramadan to revise the Qur'an with him. Allah's Apostle then used to be more generous than the fast wind.

I have never heard the Prophet saying about anybody walking on the earth that he is from the people of Paradise except `Abdullah bin Salam. The following Verse was revealed concerning him: "And a witness from the children of Israel testifies that this Qur'an is true" (46.10)

I heard the Prophet and listened to him before his death while he was leaning his back on me and saying, "O Allah! Forgive me, and bestow Your Mercy on me, and let me meet the (highest) companions (of the Hereafter)."

(See the Qur'an (4:69) and Hadith #4435)

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abdullah ibn Dinar said, "I heard Abdullah ibn Umar recite from the Qur'an, 'Prophet! When you divorce women, divorce them at the beginning of their idda.'"

Malik said, "He meant by that, to make one pronouncement of divorce at the beginning of each period of purity."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman that Abu Bakr as-Siddiq visited A'isha while she had a [health] complaint and a jewish woman was making incantation (ruqya) for her. Abu Bakr said, "Do it (incantation) with the Book of Allah."

The Prophet used to move his tongue when the divine Inspiration was being revealed to him. (Sufyan, a subnarrator, demonstrated (how the Prophet used to move his lips) and added. "In order to memorize it." So Allah revealed: "Move not your tongue concerning (the Qur'an) to make haste therewith." (75.16)

Gabriel used to repeat the recitation of the Qur'an with the Prophet once a year, but he repeated it twice with him in the year he died. The Prophet used to stay in I`tikaf for ten days every year (in the month of Ramadan), but in the year of his death, he stayed in I`tikaf for twenty days.

The companions of (the Prophet) Muhammad who took part in Badr, told me that their number was that of Saul's (i.e. Talut's) companions who crossed the river (of Jordan) with him and they were over three-hundred-and-ten men. By Allah, none crossed the river with him but a believer. (See Qur'an 2:249)

I heard Hisham bin Hakim reciting Surat Al-Furqan during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle and I listened to his recitation and noticed that he recited in several different ways which Allah's Apostle had not taught me. I was about to jump over him during his prayer, but I controlled my temper, and when he had completed his prayer, I put his upper garment around his neck and seized him by it and said, "Who taught you this Sura which I heard you reciting?" He replied, "Allah's Apostle taught it to me." I said, "You have told a lie, for Allah's Apostle has taught it to me in a different way from yours." So I dragged him to Allah's Apostle and said (to Allah's Apostle), "I heard this person reciting Surat Al-Furqan in a way which you haven't taught me!" On that Allah's Apostle said, "Release him, (O `Umar!) Recite, O Hisham!" Then he recited in the same way as I heard him reciting. Then Allah's Apostle said, "It was revealed in this way," and added, "Recite, O `Umar!" I recited it as he had taught me. Allah's Apostle then said, "It was revealed in this way. This Qur'an has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever (way) is easier for you (or read as much of it as may be easy for you).

I heard Hisham bin Hakim reciting Surat-al-Furqan during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle, I listened to his recitation and noticed that he was reciting in a way that Allah's Apostle had not taught me. I was about to jump over him while He was still in prayer, but I waited patiently and when he finished his prayer, I put my sheet round his neck (and pulled him) and said, "Who has taught you this Sura which I have heard you reciting?" Hisham said, "Allah's Apostle taught it to me." I said, "You are telling a lie, for he taught it to me in a way different from the way you have recited it!" Then I started leading (dragged) him to Allah's Apostle and said (to the Prophet), " I have heard this man reciting Surat-al- Furqan in a way that you have not taught me." The Prophet said: "(O `Umar) release him! Recite, O Hisham." Hisham recited in the way I heard him reciting. Allah's Apostle said, "It was revealed like this." Then Allah's Apostle said, "Recite, O `Umar!" I recited in the way he had taught me, whereupon he said, "It was revealed like this," and added, "The Qur'an has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever is easy for you ." (See Hadith No. 514, Vol. 6)

While I was praying, the Prophet passed by and called me, but I did not go to him till I had finished my prayer. When I went to him, he said, "What prevented you from coming?" I said, "I was praying." He said, "Didn't Allah say" "O you who believes Give your response to Allah (by obeying Him) and to His Apostle." (8.24) Then he added, "Shall I tell you the most superior Sura in the Qur'an before I go out of the mosque?" When the Prophet intended to go out (of the Mosque), I reminded him and he said, "That is: "Al hamdu-li l-lahi Rabbil-`alamin (Surat-al-fatiha)' which is the seven oft repeated verses (Al-Mathani) and the Grand Qur'an which has been given to me."

A woman came to Allah's Apostle and said, "I present myself (to you) (for marriage). She stayed for a long while, then a man said, "If you are not in need of her then marry her to me." The Prophet said, "Have you got anything m order to pay her Mahr?" He said, "I have nothing with me except my Izar (waist sheet)." The Prophet said, "If you give her your Izar, you will have no Izar to wear, (so go) and search for something. He said, "I could not find anything." The Prophet said, "Try (to find something), even if it were an iron ring But he was not able to find (even that) The Prophet said (to him). "Do you memorize something of the Qur'an?" "Yes. ' he said, "such Sura and such Sura," naming those Suras The Prophet said, "We have married her to you for what you know of the Qur'an (by heart).

When the time of the death of the Prophet approached while there were some men in the house, and among them was `Umar bin Al-Khatttab, the Prophet said, "Come near let me write for you a writing after which you will never go astray." `Umar said, "The Prophet is seriously ill, and you have the Qur'an, so Allah's Book is sufficient for us." The people in the house differed and disputed. Some of them said, "Come near so that Allah's Apostle may write for you a writing after which you will not go astray," while some of them said what `Umar said. When they made much noise and differed greatly before the Prophet, he said to them, "Go away and leave me." Ibn `Abbas used to say, "It was a great disaster that their difference and noise prevented Allah's Apostle from writing that writing for them.

In Surat al-Muzzammil (73), the verse: "Keep vigil at night but a little, a half thereof" (2-3) has been abrogated by the following verse: "He knoweth that ye count it not, and turneth unto you in mercy. Recite then of the Qur'an that which is easy for you" (v.20). The phrase "the vigil of the night" (nashi'at al-layl) means the early hours of the night. They (the companions) would pray (the tahajjud prayer) in the early hours of the night.

He (Ibn Abbas) says: It is advisable to offer the prayer at night (tahajjud), prescribed by Allah for you (in the early hours of the night). This is because when a person sleeps, he does not know when he will awake. The words "speech more certain" (aqwamu qilan) means that this time is more suitable for the understanding of the Qur'an. He says: The verse: "Lo, thou hast by day a chain of business" (v.7) means engagement for long periods (in the day's work).

Ibn `Abbas said, "When Allah's Apostle was on his deathbed and there were some men in the house, he said, 'Come near, I will write for you something after which you will not go astray.' Some of them ( i.e. his companions) said, 'Allah's Apostle is seriously ill and you have the (Holy) Qur'an. Allah's Book is sufficient for us.' So the people in the house differed and started disputing. Some of them said, 'Give him writing material so that he may write for you something after which you will not go astray.' while the others said the other way round. So when their talk and differences increased, Allah's Apostle said, "Get up." Ibn `Abbas used to say, "No doubt, it was very unfortunate (a great disaster) that Allah's Apostle was prevented from writing for them that writing because of their differences and noise."

The verse "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein for ever" was revealed six months after the verse "And those who invoke not with Allah any other god, nor slay such life as Allah has made sacred, except for just cause in Surat al-Furqan.

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud that Abdullah ibn Abbas said, "I heard Umar ibn al- Khattab say, 'Stoning is in the Book of Allah for those who commit adultery, men or women when they are muhsan and when there is clear proof of pregnancy or a confession.' "

The Prophet said, "Not to wish to be the like of except the like of two (persons): a man whom Allah has given the knowledge of the Qur'an and he recites it during the hours of the night and the hours of the day; and a man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it (in Allah's Cause) during the hours of the night and during the hours of the day."

The Qur'an is recited in every prayer and in those prayers in which Allah's Apostle recited aloud for us, we recite aloud in the same prayers for you; and the prayers in which the Prophet recited quietly, we recite quietly. If you recite "Al-Fatiha" only it is sufficient but if you recite something else in addition, it is better.