I said: Messenger of Allah, teach me a supplication.

He said: Say: "O Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from the evil of what I hear, from the evil of what I see, from the evil of what I speak, from the evil of what I think, and from the evil of my semen" (i.e. sexual passion).

Allah's Apostle said, "Do not wish to be like anybody except in two cases: The case of a man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it in the right way, and that of a man whom Allah has given religious wisdom (i.e., Qur'an and Sunna) and he gives his verdicts according to it and teaches it." (to others i.e., religious knowledge of Qur'an and Sunna (Prophet's Traditions)). "

Allah's Apostle was the most generous of all the people, and he used to reach the peak in generosity in the month of Ramadan when Gabriel met him. Gabriel used to meet him every night of Ramadan to teach him the Qur'an. Allah's Apostle was the most generous person, even more generous than the strong uncontrollable wind (in readiness and haste to do charitable deeds).

I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "If Allah wants to do good to a person, He makes him comprehend the religion. I am just a distributor, but the grant is from Allah. (And remember) that this nation (true Muslims) will keep on following Allah's teachings strictly and they will not be harmed by any one going on a different path till Allah's order (Day of Judgment) is established."

Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Said from Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm from Umar ibn Abdal-Aziz from Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If anyone goes bankrupt, and a man finds his own property intact with him, he is more entitled to it than anyone else."

Malik spoke about a man who sold a man wares, and the buyer went bankrupt. He said, "The seller takes whatever of his goods he finds. If the buyer has sold some of them and distributed them, the seller of the wares is more entitled to them than the creditors. What the buyer has distributed does not prevent the seller from taking whatever of it he finds. It is the seller's right if he has received any of the price from the buyer and he wants to return it to take what he finds of his wares, and in what he does not find, he is like the creditors."

Malik spoke about some one who bought spun wool or a plot of land, and then did some work on it, like building a house on the plot of land or weaving the spun wool into cloth. Then he went bankrupt after he had bought it, and the original owner of the plot said, "I will take the plot and whatever structure is on it." Malik said, "That structure is not his. However, the plot and what is in it that the buyer has improved is appraised. Then one sees what the price of the plot is and how much of that value is the price of the structure. They are partners in that. The owner of the plot has as much as his portion, and the creditors have the amount of the portion of the structure."

Malik said, "The explanation of that is that the value of it all is fifteen hundred dirhams. The value of the plot is five hundred dirhams, and the value of the building is one thousand dirhams. The owner of the plot has a third, and the creditors have two-thirds."

Malik said, "It is like that with spinning and other things of the same nature in these circumstances and the buyer has a debt which he cannot pay. This is the behaviour in such cases."

Malik said, "As for goods which have been sold and which the buyer does not improve, but those goods sell well and have gone up in price, so their owner wants them and the creditors also want to seize them, then the creditors choose between giving the owner of the goods the price for which he sold them and not giving him any loss and surrendering his goods to him.

"If the price of the goods has gone down, the one who sold them has a choice. If he likes, he can take his goods and he has no claim to any of his debtor's property, and that is his right. If he likes, he can be one of the creditors and take a portion of his due and not take his goods. That is up to him."

Malik said about someone who bought a slave-girl or animal and she gave birth in his possession and the buyer went bankrupt, "The slave-girl or the animal and the offspring belong to the seller unless the creditors desire it. In that case they give him his complete due and they take it."

Zayd ibn Harithah went out to Mecca and brought the daughter of Hamzah with him. Then Ja'far said: I shall take her; I have more right to her; she is my uncle's daughter and her maternal aunt is my wife; the maternal aunt is like mother. Ali said: I am more entitled to take her. She is my uncle's daughter. The daughter of the Messenger of Allah (saws) is my wife, and she has more right to her. Zayd said: I have more right to her. I went out and journeyed to her, and brought her with me. The Prophet (saws) came out.

The narrator mentioned the rest of the tradition. He (i.e. the Prophet) said: As for the girl, I decided in favour of Ja'far. She will live with her maternal aunt. The maternal aunt is like mother.

A man came to the Prophets and said, "I am ruined!" The Prophet said, "What is the matter with you?" He said, "I have done a sexual relation with my wife (while fasting) in Ramadan" The Prophet said to him, "Can you afford to manumit a slave?" He said, "No." The Prophet said, "Can you fast for two successive months?" He said, "No." The Prophet said, "Can you feed sixty poor persons?" He said, "I have nothing." Later on an Irq (big basket) containing dates was given to the Prophet, and the Prophet said (to him), "Take this basket and give it in charity." The man said, "To poorer people than we? Indeed, there is nobody between its (i.e., Medina's) two mountains who is poorer than we." The Prophet then said, "Take it and feed your family with it."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "What is done in our community about some one who gives a gift not intending a reward is that he calls witnesses to it. It is affirmed for the one to whom it has been given unless the giver dies before the one to whom it was given receives the gift."

He said, "If the giver wants to keep the gift after he has had it witnessed, he cannot. If the recipient claims it from him, he takes it."

Malik said, "If some one gives a gift and then withdraws it and the recipient brings a witness to testify for him that he was given the gift, be it goods, gold, silver or animals, the recipient is made to take an oath. If he refuses, the giver is made to take an oath. If he also refuses to take an oath, he gives to the recipient what he claims from him if he has at least one witness. If he does not have a witness, he has nothing . "

Malik said, "If someone gives a gift not expecting anything in return and then the recipient dies, the heirs are in his place. If the giver dies before the recipient has received his gift, the recipient has nothing. That is because he was given a gift which he did not take possession of. If the giver wants to keep it, and he has called witnesses to the gift, he cannot do that. If the recipient claims his right he takes it."

Allah's Apostle said, "No woman should ask for the divorce of her sister (Muslim) so as to take her place, but she should marry the man (without compelling him to divorce his other wife), for she will have nothing but what Allah has written for her."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Salim ibn Abdullah that Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakras-Siddiq told Abdullah ibn Umar from A'isha, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Don't you see that when your people built the Kaba they fell short of the foundations of Ibrahim?" A'isha said, "Messenger of Allah, won't you return it to the foundations of Ibrahim?" and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If it were not that your people have only recently left kufr, I would have done so."

Salim ibn Abdullah said that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "If A'isha heard this from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then I consider that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, only refrained from greeting the two corners which are adjacent to the Hijr because the House had not been completed on the foundations of Ibrahim." (i.e. the corners he did not touch were not the original corners of the Kaba) .

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that he heard Abdullah ibn Umar making dua on Safa saying, "O Allah, You have said, 'call on Me - I will answer you' and You do not break Your promise. So I am askingYou, in the same way that You have guided me to Islam, not to take it away from me, and that You make me die while I am muslim."

The Prophet assumed the state of Ihram for Umra and Hajj, and we to assumed it for Hajj with him. When we arrived at Mecca, the Prophet said, "Whoever does not possess a Hadi should regard his Ihram for Umra only." The Prophet had a Hadi with him. `Ali bin Abi Talib came to us from Yemen with the intention of performing Hajj. The Prophet said (to him), "With what intention have you assumed the Ihram, for your wife is with us?" `Ali said, "I assumed the lhram with the same intention as that of the Prophet ." The Prophet said, "Keep on the state of lhram, as we have got the Hadi."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed four raka prayers with only two rakas when at Mina, and that Abu Bakr prayed them at Mina with only two rakas, and that Umar ibn al-Khattab prayed them at Mina with only two rakas, and that Uthman prayed them at Mina with only two rakas for half of his khalifate, and then later completed them.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Said ibn Abi Said al-Maqburi that Ubayd ibn Jurayj once said to Abdullah ibn Umar, "Abu Abd ar- Rahman, I have seen you doing four things which I have never seen any of your companions doing." He said, "What are they, Ibn Jurayj?" and he replied, "I have seen you touching only the twoYamani corners, I have seen you wearing hairless sandals, I have seen you using yellow dye, and, when you were at Makka and everybody had started doing talbiya after seeing the new moon, I saw that you did not do so until the eighth of Dhu'l-Hijja."

Abdullah ibn Umar replied, "As for the corners, I only ever saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, touching the two Yamani corners. As for the sandals, I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, wearing hairless sandals and doing wudu in them, and I like wearing them. As for using yellow dye, I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, using it, and I also like to use it for dyeing things with. As for doing talbiya, I never saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, begin doing so until he had set out on the animal he was riding on (i.e. for Mina and Arafa)."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard Ibn Shihab say that if a man said to his wife, "You are free of me, and I am free of you, " it counted as three pronouncements of divorce as if it were an 'irrevocable' divorce.

Malik said that if a man made any strong statement such as these to his wife, it counted as three pronouncements of divorce for a woman whose marriage had been consummated, or it was written as one of three for a woman whose marriage had not been consummated, whichever the man wished. If he said he intended only one divorce he swore to it and he became one of the suitors because, whereas a woman whose marriage had been consummated was made inaccessible by three pronouncements of divorce, the woman whose marriage had not been consummated was made inaccessible by only one pronouncement.

Malik said, "That is the best of what I have heard."

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone performs ablution well and pays a visit to his (sick) Muslim brother seeking his reward from Allah, he will be removed a distance of seventy years (kharif) from Hell. I asked: What is kharif, Abu Hamzah? He replied: A year.

Abu Dawud said: Only the people of Basrah have narrated the tradition on visiting the sick after performing ablution.

Allah's Apostle stood up for the prayer and we too stood up along with him. Then a bedouin shouted while offering prayer. "O Allah! Bestow Your Mercy on me and Muhammad only and do not bestow it on anybody else along with us." When the Prophet had finished his prayer with Taslim, he said to the Bedouin, "You have limited (narrowed) a very vast (thing)," meaning Allah's Mercy.

The Prophet (saws) said: Associate only with a believer, and let only a God-fearing man eat your meals.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ibn Shihab said, "I have heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to a man from Thaqif who had ten wives when he became muslim, 'Take four and separate from the rest.' "

Allah's Apostle said, "While three persons were traveling, they were overtaken by rain and they took shelter in a cave in a mountain. A big rock fell from the mountain over the mouth of the cave and blocked it. They said to each other. 'Think of such good (righteous) deeds which, you did for Allah's sake only, and invoke Allah by giving reference to those deeds so that Allah may relieve you from your difficulty. one of them said, 'O Allah! I had my parents who were very old and I had small children for whose sake I used to work as a shepherd. When I returned to them at night and milked (the sheep), I used to start giving the milk to my parents first before giving to my children. And one day I went far away in search of a grazing place (for my sheep), and didn't return home till late at night and found that my parents had slept. I milked (my livestock) as usual and brought the milk vessel and stood at their heads, and I disliked to wake them up from their sleep, and I also disliked to give the milk to my children before my parents though my children were crying (from hunger) at my feet. So this state of mine and theirs continued till the day dawned. (O Allah!) If you considered that I had done that only for seeking Your pleasure, then please let there be an opening through which we can see the sky.' So Allah made for them an opening through which they could see the sky. Then the second person said, 'O Allah! I had a she-cousin whom I loved as much as a passionate man love a woman. I tried to seduce her but she refused till I paid her one-hundred Dinars So I worked hard till I collected one hundred Dinars and went to her with that But when I sat in between her legs (to have sexual intercourse with her), she said, 'O Allah's slave! Be afraid of Allah ! Do not deflower me except legally (by marriage contract). So I left her O Allah! If you considered that I had done that only for seeking Your pleasure then please let the rock move a little to have a (wider) opening.' So Allah shifted that rock to make the opening wider for them. And the last (third) person said 'O Allah ! I employed a laborer for wages equal to a Faraq (a certain measure: of rice, and when he had finished his job he demanded his wages, but when I presented his due to him, he gave it up and refused to take it. Then I kept on sowing that rice for him (several times) till managed to buy with the price of the yield, some cows and their shepherd Later on the laborer came to me an said. '(O Allah's slave!) Be afraid o Allah, and do not be unjust to me an give me my due.' I said (to him). 'Go and take those cows and their shepherd. So he took them and went away. (So, O Allah!) If You considered that I had done that for seeking Your pleasure, then please remove the remaining part of the rock.' And so Allah released them (from their difficulty).

The Prophet said, "If somebody on the demand of a judge takes an oath to grab (a Muslim's) property and he is liar in it, he will meet Allah Who will be angry with him". So Allah revealed,:-- 'Verily! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah's Covenant and their oaths..' (3.77) 'Al- Ashath came while `Abdullah was narrating (this) to the people. Al-Ashath said, "This verse was revealed regarding me and another man with whom I had a quarrel about a well. The Prophet said (to me), "Do you have any evidence?' I replied, 'No.' He said, 'Let your opponent take an oath.' I said: I am sure he would take a (false) oath." Thereupon it was revealed: 'Verily! those who purchase a small gain at the cost of Allah's Covenant....' (3.77) (See Hadith No. 72, Vol 6).

A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I am ruined!" The Prophet said, "Waihaka (May Allah be merciful to you) !" The man said, "I have done sexual intercourse with my wife while fasting in Ramadan." The Prophet said, "Manumit a slave." The man said, " I cannot afford that. " The Prophet said; "Then fast for two successive months." The man said, " I have no power to do so." The Prophet said, "Then feed sixty poor persons." The man said, "I have nothing (to feed sixty persons). Later a basket full of dates were brought to the Prophet and he said (to the man), "Take it and give it in charity." The man said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall I give it to people other than my family? By Him in Whose Hand my life is, there is nobody poorer than me in the whole city of Medina." The Prophet smiled till his premolar teeth became visible, and said, "Take it." Az-Zuhri said (that the Prophet said). "Wailaka."

A man of ad-Dabab, said: When the Prophet (saws) became free from the people of Badr I brought to him a colt of my mare called al-Qarha' I said: Muhammad, I have brought a colt of a al-Qarha' , so that you may take it. He said: I have no need of it. If you wish that I give you a select coat of mail from (the spoils of) Badr, I shall do it. I said: I cannot give you today a colt in exchange. He said: Then I have no need of it.

Once solar eclipse occurred during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle. He offered the eclipse prayer. His companions asked, "O Allah's Apostle! We saw you trying to take something while standing at your place and then we saw you retreating." The Prophet said, "I was shown Paradise and wanted to have a bunch of fruit from it. Had I taken it, you would have eaten from it as long as the world remains."

The Prophet said, "I have been given five things which were not given to any one else before me. -1. Allah made me victorious by awe, (by His frightening my enemies) for a distance of one month's journey. -2. The earth has been made for me (and for my followers) a place for praying and a thing to perform Tayammum, therefore anyone of my followers can pray wherever the time of a prayer is due. -3. The booty has been made Halal (lawful) for me yet it was not lawful for anyone else before me. -4. I have been given the right of intercession (on the Day of Resurrection). -5. Every Prophet used to be sent to his nation only but I have been sent to all mankind.

Fatima bint Abi Hubaish used to have bleeding in between the periods, so she asked the Prophet about it. He replied, "The bleeding is from a blood vessel and not the menses. So give up the prayers when the (real) menses begins and when it has finished, take a bath and start praying."

I came to `Aisha during the solar eclipse. The people were standing (offering prayer) and she too, was standing and offering prayer. I asked, "What is wrong with the people?" She pointed towards the sky with her hand and said, Subhan Allah!'' I asked her, "Is there a sign?" She nodded with her head meaning, yes. When Allah's Apostle finished (the prayer), he glorified and praised Allah and said, "There is not anything that I have not seen before but I have seen now at this place of mine, even Paradise and Hell. It has been revealed to me that you people will be put to trial nearly like the trial of Ad-Dajjal, in your graves. As for the true believer or a Muslim (the sub-narrator is not sure as to which of the two (words Asma' had said) he will say, 'Muhammad came with clear signs from Allah, and we responded to him (accepted his teachings) and believed (what he said)' It will be said (to him) 'Sleep in peace; we have known that you were a true believer who believed with certainty.' As for a hypocrite or a doubtful person, (the sub-narrator is not sure as to which word Asma' said) he will say, 'I do not know, but I heard the people saying something and so I said the same.' "

Abu Dawud said : This tradition has been narrated by al-Thawri, Sulaiman bin Bilal, and Hammad bin Salamah on the authority of Rabi ‘ ah in a similar manner. They did not mention the word “take it”.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Sulayman ibn Yasar that the people of Syria said to Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, "Take zakat from our horses and slaves," and he refused. Then he wrote to Umar ibn al-Khattab and he (also) refused. Again they talked to him and again he wrote to Umar, and Umar wrote back to him saying, "If they want, take it from them and (then) give it back to them and give their slaves provision."

Malik said, "What he means, may Allah have mercy upon him, by the words 'and give it back to them' is, 'to their poor.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar shrouded his son Waqid ibn Abdullah, who had died at al-Juhfa while in ihram, and he veiled his head and face and said, "If we had not been in ihram we would have perfumed him. "

Malik said, "A man can only do things while he is alive. When he is dead, his actions stop."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "If someone breaks an oath which he has stressed, he has to free a slave, or clothe ten poor people. If someone breaks an oath, but has not stressed it, he only has to feed ten poor people and each poor person is fed a mudd of wheat. Some one who does not have the means for that, should fast for three days."

That he had heard the Prophet saying, "Do not fast continuously (practice Al-Wisal), and if you intend to lengthen your fast, then carry it on only till the Suhur (before the following dawn)." The people said to him, "But you practice (Al-Wisal), O Allah's Apostle!" He replied, "I am not similar to you, for during my sleep I have One Who makes me eat and drink."

`Abdullah bin `Amr bin Haram died and was in debt to others. I asked the Prophet to intercede with his creditors for some reduction in the debts. The Prophet requested them (to reduce the debts) but they refused. The Prophet said to me, "Go and put your dates (In heaps) according to their different kinds. The Ajwa on one side, the cluster of Ibn Zaid on another side, etc.. Then call me." I did that and called the Prophet He came and sat at the head or in the middle of the heaps and ordered me. Measure (the dates) for the people (creditors)." I measured for them till I paid all the debts. My dates remained as it nothing had been taken from them. In other narrations, Jabir said; The Prophet said, "He (i.e. `Abdullah) continued measuring for them till he paid all the debts." The Prophet said (to `Abdullah), "Cut (clusters) for him (i.e. one of the creditors) and measure for him fully."

I was one of (the first) seven (who had embraced Islam) with Allah's Apostle and we had nothing to eat then, except the leaves of the Habala or Hubula tree, so that our stool used to be similar to that of sheep. Now the tribe of Bani Asad wants to teach me Islam; I would be a loser and all my efforts would be in vain (if I learn Islam anew from them).

Allah's Apostle said, "If a person teaches his slave girl good manners properly, educates her properly, and then manumits and marries her, he will get a double reward. And if a man believes in Jesus and then believes in me, he will get a double reward. And if a slave fears his Lord (i.e. Allah) and obeys his masters, he too will get a double reward."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from as-Sa'ib ibn Yazid that Uthman ibn Affan used to say, "This is the month for you to pay your zakat. If you have any debts then pay them off so that you can sort out your wealth and take the zakat from it."

`Umar saw a silk suit being sold, so he said, "O Allah's Apostle! Why don't you buy it so that you may wear it when delegates come to you, and also on Fridays?" The Prophet said, "This is worn only by him who has no share in the Hereafter." Afterwards the Prophet sent to `Umar a silk suit suitable for wearing. `Umar said to the Prophet, "You have given it to me to wear, yet I have heard you saying about it what you said?" The Prophet said, "I sent it to you so that you might either sell it or give it to somebody else to wear."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) was asked about the hanging fruit. He replied: If a needy person takes some and does not take a supply away in his garment, he is not to be blamed, but he who carries any of it away is to be find twice the value and punished, and he who steals any of it after it has been put in the place where dates are dried is to have his hand cut off if its value reaches the price of a shield. Regarding stray camels and sheep he mentioned the same as others have done. He said: He was asked about finds and replied: If it is in a frequented road and a large town, make the matter known for a year, and if its owner comes, give it to him, but if he does not, it belongs to you. If it is in a place which has been a waste from ancient time, or if it is a hidden treasure (belonging to the Islamic period), it is subject to the payment of the fifth.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father said that a man who pronounced a dhihar from his four wives in one statement, had only to do one kaffara. Yahya related the same as that to me from Malik from Rabia ibn Abi Abd ar-Rahman.

Malik said, "That is what is done among us. Allah, the Exalted said about the kaffara for pronouncing dhihar, 'It is to free a slave before they touch one another. If he does not find the means to do that, then fasting for two consecutive months before they touch one another. If he cannot do that, it is to feed sixty poor people. ' " (Sura 58 ayats 4,5).

Malik said that a man who pronounced dhihar from his wife on various occasions had only to do one kaffara. If he pronounced dhihar, and then did kaffara, and then pronounced dhihar after he had done the kaffara, he had to do kaffara again.

Malik said, "Some one who pronounces dhihar from his wife and then has intercourse with her before he has done kaffara, only has to do one kaffara. He must abstain from her until he does kaffara and ask forgiveness of Allah. That is the best of what I have heard. "

Malik said, "It is the same with dhihar using any prohibited relations of fosterage and ancestry."

Malik said, "Women have no dhihar."

Malik said that he had heard that the commentary on the word of Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, "Those of you who pronounce the dhihar about their wives, and then retract what they have said," (Sura 56 ayat 3), was that a man pronounced dhihar on his wife and then decided to keep her and have intercourse with her. If he decided on that, he must do kaffara. If he divorced her and did not decide to retract his dhihar of her and to keep her and have intercourse with her, there would be no kaffara incumbent on him.

Maliksaid, "If he marries her after that, he does not touch her until he has completed the kaffara of pronouncing dhihar."

Malik said that if a man who pronounced dhihar from his slave-girl wanted to have intercourse with her, he had to do the kaffara of the dhihar before he could sleep with her.

Malik said, "There is no ila in a man's dhihar unless it is evident that he does not intend to retract his dhihar."

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) was distributing something, a man came towards him and bent down on him. The Messenger of Allah (saws) struck him with a bough and his face was wounded. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said to him: Come and take retaliation. He said: no, I have forgiven, Messenger of Allah!.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that he heard Said ibn al-Musayyab asking a group of people, "What do you think about someone who has intercourse with his wife while he is in ihram?" and none of them answered him. Said said, "There is a man who has had intercourse with his wife while in ihram who has sent a message to Madina asking about it." Some of them said, "They should be kept apart until a future year," and Said ibn al-Musayyab said, "They should carry on and complete the hajj which they have spoiled, and then return home when they have finished. If another hajj comes upon them, they must do hajj and sacrifice an animal. They should go into ihram at the same place where they went into ihram for the hajj that they spoiled, and they should keep apart until they have finished their hajj."

Malik said, "They should both sacrifice an animal."

Malik said, about a man who had intercourse with his wife during hajj after he had come down from Arafa but before he had stoned the Jamra, "He must sacrifice an animal and do hajj again in another year. If, however, he had intercourse with his wife after he stoned the Jamra, he only has to do an umra and sacrifice an animal and he does not have to do another hajj."

Malik said, "What spoils a hajj or an umra and makes sacrificing an animal and repeating the hajj necessary is the meeting of the two circumcised parts, even if there is no emission. It is also made necessary by an emission if it is the result of bodily contact. I do not think that a man who remembers something and has an emission owes anything, and if a man were to kiss his wife and no emission were to occur from that, he would only have to sacrifice an animal. A woman in ihram who has intercourse with her husband several times during hajj or umra out of obedience to him only has to do another hajj and sacrifice an animal. That is if her husband has intercourse with her while she is doing hajj. If he has intercourse with her while she is doing umra, she must repeat the umra she has spoiled and sacrifice an animal."

The Prophet used to teach us the Istikhara for each and every matter as he used to teach us the Suras from the Holy Qur'an. (He used to say), "If anyone of you intends to do something, he should offer a two-rak`at prayer other than the obligatory prayer, and then say: 'Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi'ilmika, wa astaqdiruka biqudratika, wa as'aluka min fadlika-l-'azim, fa innaka taqdiru wala aqdiru, wa ta'lamu wala a'lamu, wa anta'allamu-l-ghuyub. Allahumma in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha-lamra khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati `Amri (or said, fi 'ajili `Amri wa ajilihi) fa-qdurhu li, Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna ha-dha-l-amra sharrun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati `Amri (or said, fi ajili `Amri wa ajilihi) fasrifhu 'anni was-rifni 'anhu wa aqdur li alkhaira haithu kana, thumma Raddani bihi," Then he should mention his matter (need).

The Prophet (saws) said: Do not swear by your fathers, or by your mothers, or by rivals to Allah; and swear by Allah only, and swear by Allah only when you are speaking the truth.