Abu Taubah said: "Perhaps he said: 'Will reach the evening.'"

Yahya related to me from Malik that Muhammad ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Nawfal said, ''Urwa ibn az-Zubayr informed me from A'isha umm al- muminin that Judama bint Wahb al-Asadiyya informed her that she heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'I intended to prohibit ghila but I remembered that the Greeks and Persians do that without it causing any injury to their children.' "

Malik explained, "Ghila is that a man has intercourse with his wife while she is suckling."

Malik related to me from al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman from Mabad ibn Kab as-Salami from his brother Abdullah ibn Kab ibn Malik al-Ansari from Abu Umama that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever cuts off the right of a muslim man by his oath, Allah forbids him the Garden and obliges the Fire for him." They said, "Even if it is something insignificant, Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Even if it is a tooth-stick, even if it is a tooth- stick," repeating it three times.

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba ibn Masud from Abu Hurayra and Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked about a slave-girl who committed fornication and was not muhsana. He said, "If she commits fornication, then flog her. If she commits fornication again, then flog her, and if she commits fornication again, then sell her, if only for a rope."

Ibn Shihab added, "I don't know whether it was three or four times."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Ziyad that Muhammad ibn Kab al-Quradhi said, ''Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan said from the mimbar, 'O people! Nothing keeps away what Allah gives and nothing gives what Allah keeps away. The earnestness of the earnest one does not profit him. When Allah desires good for him, he gives him understanding in the deen.' Then Muawiya said, 'I heard these words from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on these blocks of wood.' "

Malik related to me from Abu Ubayd, the mawla of Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik from Khalid ibn Madan who attributed it to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "Allah, the Blessed and Exalted is kind and loves kindness. He is pleased with it and helps you with it as long as it is not misplaced. When you ride dumb beasts, stop them in their stopping places, and quicken their pace when the land is barren. Travel by night, because the land is travelled faster at night than it is during the day. Beware of pitching tents on the road, for it is the path of animals and the abode of snakes."

Malik related to me from a reliable source of his from Yaqub ibn Abdullah al-Ashajj from Bushr ibn Said from Sad ibn Abi Waqqas from Khawla bint Hakim that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever dismounts to rest in a place should say, 'I seek refuge with the complete words of Allah from the evil of what he created,' (audhu bi kalimati-llahi at-tammati min sharri ma khalaqa), and nothing will harm him until he remounts."

Malik related to us from Abdullah ibn Yazid the mawla of al-Aswad ibn Sufyan, from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar-Rahman from Muhammad ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Thawban from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When the heat is fierce delay the prayer until it gets cooler, for scorching heat is a part of the blast of Jahannam."

He added, "The Fire complained to its Lord, so He allowed it two breaths in each year, a breath in winter and a breath in summer."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father from A'isha, umm al-muminin, that whenever the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did ghusl for major ritual impurity, he would begin by washing his hands, and then do wudu as for prayer. He would then put his fingers in the water and rub the roots of his hair with them. Then he would pour as much water as two hands can hold on to his head three times, and over the entire surface of his skin.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'zZinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "By Him in whose hand myself is! I had in mind to order firewood to be collected, then to order the prayer to be called, and to appoint a man to lead the people in prayer, and then to come up behind certain men and burn their houses down about them! By Him in whose hand myself is! If one of them knew that he would find a meaty bone or two good legs of meat, he would be present at isha.''

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from a man of the family of Khalid ibn Asid that he said to Abdullah ibn Umar, "Abu Abd ar-Rahman, we find the fear prayer and the prayer when settled mentioned in the Qur'an, but we do not find any mention of the travelling prayer in it." Ibn Umar said, "Son of my brother! Allah the Mighty and Majestic sent us Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and we know nothing. We only do as we saw him doing."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from an-Numan ibn Murra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,"What about drunkenness, stealing and adultery? "That was before anything had been revealed about them. They said, "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said, "They are excesses and in them is a punishment. And the worst of thieves is the one who steals his prayer." They said, "How does he steal his prayer, Messenger of Allah?" He replied, "He does not do ruku or sajda properly."

Yahya 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, "A group of angels in the night and a group of angels in the day alternate with each other among you, and gather together at the time of the asr and fajr prayers. Then those that have spent the night among you ascend, and He asks them, and He knows best, 'How did you leave my slaves?' and they say, 'When we left them they were praying, and when we came to them they were praying.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Abdullah al-Agharr and from Abu Salama from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Our Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, descends every night to the heaven of this world when the last third of the night is still to come and says, 'Who will call on Me so that I may answer him? Who will ask Me so that I may give him? Who will ask forgiveness of Me so that I may forgive him?' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "By the One in Whose hand my self is, the smell of the breath of a man fasting is better with Allah than the scent of musk.' He leaves his desires and his food and drink for My sake. Fasting is for Me and I reward it. Every good action is rewarded by ten times its kind, up to seven hundred times, except fasting, which is for Me, and I reward it.' "

Ziyad related to me from Malik that he had heard a man he trusted of the people of knowledge say, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was shown the lifespans of the people (who had gone) before him, or what Allah willed of that, and it was as if the lives of the people of his community had become too short for them to be able to do as many good actions as others before them had been able to do with their long lives, so Allah gave him Laylat al- Qadr, which is better than a thousand months."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ath- Thaqafi once asked Anas ibn Malik, while the two of them were going from Mina to Arafa, "What did you use to do on this day when you were with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?" He said, "Those of us who were saying the talbiya would continue doing so, and no-one disapproved of it, and those of us who were saying 'Allahu akbar' would continue doing so, and no-one disapproved of that either."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'n Nadr, the mawla of Umar ibn Ubaydullah, from Umayr, the mawla of Abdullah ibn Abbas, from Umm al-Fadl bint al-Harith, that she was present when some people were arguing on the day of Arafa about whether the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was fasting or not. Some of them said he was fasting, and some of them said he was not. So she sent a bowl of milk to him while his camel was standing still and he drank.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Uthman ibn Hafs ibn Umar ibn Khalda that Ibn Shihab had heard that Abu Lubaba ibn Abd al-Mundhir, when Allah turned to him said, "Messenger of Allah, should I leave my people's house in which I committed wrong action and keep your company, and give away all my property as sadaqa for Allah and His Messenger? "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Giving away a third of it is enough for you."

I asked Anas how many times the Prophet had performed `Umra. He replied, "Four times. 1. `Umra of Hudaibiya in Dhi-l-Qa'da when the pagans hindered him; 2. `Umra in the following year in Dhi-l- Qa'da after the peace treaty with them (the pagans); 3. `Umra from Al-Ja'rana where he distributed the war booty." I think he meant the booty (of the battle) of Hunain. I asked, "How many times did he perform Hajj?" He (Anas) replied, "Once. "

Anas b. Malik reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) was neither very conspicuously tall nor short-statured, and his color was neither glaringly white nor brown; his hair was neither very curly nor very straight; Allah commissioned him (as a Prophet) when he had reached the age of forty years, and he stayed in Mecca for ten years and for ten years in Medina; Allah took him away when he had just reached the age of sixty, and there had not been twenty white hair in his head and beard.