We were with the Messenger of Allah (saws) during a journey. He went to ease himself. We saw a bird with her two young ones and we captured her young ones. The bird came and began to spread its wings. The Messenger of Allah (saws) came and said: Who grieved this for its young ones? Return its young ones to it. He also saw an ant village that we had burnt. He asked: Who has burnt this? We replied: We. He said: It is not proper to punish with fire except the Lord of fire.

I said to Ibn `Abbas, "Nauf-al-Bakali " claims that Moses of Bani Israel was not Moses, the companion of Al-Khadir." Ibn `Abbas said, "Allah's enemy tells a lie! Ubai bin Ka`b narrated to us that Allah's Apostle said, 'Moses got up to deliver a sermon before Bani Israel and he was asked, 'Who is the most learned person among the people?' Moses replied, 'I (am the most learned).' Allah then admonished Moses for he did not ascribe all knowledge to Allah only (Then) came the Divine Inspiration:-- 'Yes, one of Our slaves at the junction of the two seas is more learned than you.' Moses said, 'O my Lord ! How can meet him?' Allah said, 'Take a fish in a basket and wherever the fish is lost, follow it (you will find him at that place). So Moses set out along with his attendant Yusha` bin Noon, and they carried with them a fish till they reached a rock and rested there. Moses put his head down and slept. (Sufyan, a sub-narrator said that somebody other than `Amr said) 'At the rock there was a water spring called 'Al-Hayat' and none came in touch with its water but became alive. So some of the water of that spring fell over that fish, so it moved and slipped out of the basket and entered the sea. When Moses woke up, he asked his attendant, 'Bring our early meal' (18.62). The narrator added: Moses did not suffer from fatigue except after he had passed the place he had been ordered to observe. His attendant Yusha` bin Noon said to him, 'Do you remember (what happened) when we betook ourselves to the rock? I did indeed forget (about) the fish ...' (18.63) The narrator added: So they came back, retracing their steps and then they found in the sea, the way of the fish looking like a tunnel. So there was an astonishing event for his attendant, and there was tunnel for the fish. When they reached the rock, they found a man covered with a garment. Moses greeted him. The man said astonishingly, 'Is there any such greeting in your land?' Moses said, 'I am Moses.' The man said, 'Moses of Bani Israel?' Moses said, 'Yes,' and added, 'may I follow you so that you teach me something of the Knowledge which you have been taught?' (18.66). Al-Khadir said to him, 'O Moses! You have something of Allah's knowledge which Allah has taught you and which I do not know; and I have something of Allah's knowledge which Allah has taught me and which you do not know.' Moses said, 'But I will follow you.' Al-Khadir said, 'Then if you follow me, ask me no question about anything until I myself speak to you concerning it.' (18.70). After that both of them proceeded along the seashore. There passed by them a boat whose crew recognized Al-Khadir and received them on board free of charge. So they both got on board. A sparrow came and sat on the edge of the boat and dipped its beak unto the sea. Al-Khadir said to Moses. 'My knowledge and your knowledge and all the creation's knowledge compared to Allah's knowledge is not more than the water taken by this sparrow's beak.' Then Moses was startled by Al-Khadir's action of taking an adze and scuttling the boat with it. Moses said to him, 'These people gave us a free lift, but you intentionally scuttled their boat so as to drown them. Surely you have...' (18.71) Then they both proceeded and found a boy playing with other boys. Al-Khadir took hold of him by the head and cut it off. Moses said to him, 'Have you killed an innocent soul who has killed nobody? Surely you have done an illegal thing! ' (18.74) He said, "Didn't I tell you that you will not be able to have patient with me up to ..but they refused to entertain them as their guests. There they found a wall therein at the point of collapsing.' (18.75-77) Al-Khadir moved his hand thus and set it upright (repaired it). Moses said to him, 'When we entered this town, they neither gave us hospitality nor fed us; if you had wished, you could have taken wages for it,' Al- Khadir said, 'This is the parting between you and me I will tell you the interpretation of (those things) about which you were unable to hold patience.'...(18.78) Allah's Apostle said, 'We wished that Moses could have been more patient so that He (Allah) could have described to us more about their story.' Ibn `Abbas used to recite:-- 'And in front (ahead) of them there was a king who used to seize every (serviceable) boat by force. (18.79) ...and as for the boy he was a disbeliever. "

Once I set out to visit `Umar (bin Al-Khattab). (While I was sitting there with him his gate-keeper, Yarfa, came and said, "Uthman `AbdurRahman (bin `Auf), Az-Zubair and Sa`d (bin Abi Waqqas) are seeking permission (to meet you)." `Umar said, "Yes. So he admitted them and they entered, greeted, and sat down. After a short while Yarfa came again and said to `Umar 'Shall I admit `Ali and `Abbas?" `Umar said, "Yes." He admitted them and when they entered, they greeted and sat down. `Abbas said, "O Chief of the Believers! Judge between me and this (`Ali)." The group, `Uthman and his companions Sa`d, 'O Chief of the Believers! Judge between them and relieve one from the other." `Umar said. Wait! I beseech you by Allah, by Whose permission both the Heaven and the Earth stand fast ! Do you know that Allah's Apostle said. 'We (Apostles) do not bequeath anything to our heirs, but whatever we leave is to be given in charity.' And by that Allah's Apostles meant himself?" The group said, "He did say so." `Umar then turned towards 'All and `Abbas and said. "I beseech you both by Allah, do you know that Allah's Apostle said that?" They said, 'Yes " `Umar said, "Now, let me talk to you about this matter. Allah favored His Apostle with something of this property (war booty) which He did not give to anybody else. And Allah said:-- 'And what Allah has bestowed on His Apostle (as Fai Booty) from them for which you made no expedition with either cavalry or camelry . . . Allah is Able to do all things.' (59.6) So this property was especially granted to Allah's Apostle. But by Allah he neither withheld it from you, nor did he keep it for himself and deprive you of it, but he gave it all to you and distributed it among you till only this remained out of it. And out of this property Allah's Apostle used to provide his family with their yearly needs, and whatever remained, he would spend where Allah's Property (the revenues of Zakat) used to be spent. Allah's Apostle kept on acting like this throughout his lifetime. Now I beseech you by Allah, do you know that?" They said, "Yes." Then `Umar said to `Ali and `Abbas, "I beseech you by Allah, do you both know that?" They said, "Yes." `Umar added, "When Allah had taken His Apostle unto Him, Abu Bakr said, 'I am the successor of Allah's Apostle. So he took charge of that property and did with it the same what Allah's Apostle used to do, and both of you knew all about it then." Then `Umar turned towards `Ali and `Abbas and said, "You both claim that Abu- Bakr was so-and-so! But Allah knows that he was honest, sincere, pious and right (in that matter). Then Allah caused Abu Bakr to die, and I said, 'I am the successor of Allah's Apostle and Abu Bakr.' So I kept this property in my possession for the first two years of my rule, and I used to do the same with it as Allah's Apostle and Abu Bakr used to do. Later both of you (`Ali and `Abbas) came to me with the same claim and the same problem. (O `Abbas!) You came to me demanding your share from (the inheritance of) the son of your brother, and he (`Ali) came to me demanding his wives share from (the inheritance of) her father. So I said to you, 'If you wish I will hand over this property to you, on condition that you both promise me before Allah that you will manage it in the same way as Allah's Apostle and Abu Bakr did, and as I have done since the beginning of my rule; otherwise you should not speak to me about it.' So you both said, 'Hand over this property to us on this condition.' And on this condition I handed it over to you. I beseech you by Allah, did I hand it over to them on that condition?" The group said, "Yes." `Umar then faced `Ali and `Abbas and said, "I beseech you both by Allah, did I hand it over to you both on that condition?" They both said, "Yes." `Umar added, "Do you want me now to give a decision other than that? By Him with Whose permission (order) both the Heaven and the Earth stand fast, I will never give any decision other than that till the Hour is established! But if you are unable to manage it (that property), then return it to me and I will be sufficient for it on your behalf . "

We, i.e., some people from Basra gathered and went to Anas bin Malik, and we went in company with Thabit Al-Bunnani so that he might ask him about the Hadith of Intercession on our behalf. Behold, Anas was in his palace, and our arrival coincided with his Duha prayer. We asked permission to enter and he admitted us while he was sitting on his bed. We said to Thabit, "Do not ask him about anything else first but the Hadith of Intercession." He said, "O Abu Hamza! There are your brethren from Basra coming to ask you about the Hadith of Intercession." Anas then said, "Muhammad talked to us saying, 'On the Day of Resurrection the people will surge with each other like waves, and then they will come to Adam and say, 'Please intercede for us with your Lord.' He will say, 'I am not fit for that but you'd better go to Abraham as he is the Khalil of the Beneficent.' They will go to Abraham and he will say, 'I am not fit for that, but you'd better go to Moses as he is the one to whom Allah spoke directly.' So they will go to Moses and he will say, 'I am not fit for that, but you'd better go to Jesus as he is a soul created by Allah and His Word.' (Be: And it was) they will go to Jesus and he will say, 'I am not fit for that, but you'd better go to Muhammad.' They would come to me and I would say, 'I am for that.' Then I will ask for my Lord's permission, and it will be given, and then He will inspire me to praise Him with such praises as I do not know now. So I will praise Him with those praises and will fall down, prostrate before Him. Then it will be said, 'O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be listened to; and ask, for your will be granted (your request); and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted.' I will say, 'O Lord, my followers! My followers!' And then it will be said, 'Go and take out of Hell (Fire) all those who have faith in their hearts, equal to the weight of a barley grain.' I will go and do so and return to praise Him with the same praises, and fall down (prostrate) before Him. Then it will be said, 'O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be listened to, and ask, for you will be granted (your request); and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted.' I will say, 'O Lord, my followers! My followers!' It will be said, 'Go and take out of it all those who have faith in their hearts equal to the weight of a small ant or a mustard seed.' I will go and do so and return to praise Him with the same praises, and fall down in prostration before Him. It will be said, 'O, Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be listened to, and ask, for you will be granted (your request); and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted.' I will say, 'O Lord, my followers!' Then He will say, 'Go and take out (all those) in whose hearts there is faith even to the lightest, lightest mustard seed. (Take them) out of the Fire.' I will go and do so."' When we left Anas, I said to some of my companions, "Let's pass by Al-Hasan who is hiding himself in the house of Abi Khalifa and request him to tell us what Anas bin Malik has told us." So we went to him and we greeted him and he admitted us. We said to him, "O Abu Sa`id! We came to you from your brother Anas Bin Malik and he related to us a Hadith about the intercession the like of which I have never heard." He said, "What is that?" Then we told him of the Hadith and said, "He stopped at this point (of the Hadith)." He said, "What then?" We said, "He did not add anything to that." He said, Anas related the Hadith to me twenty years ago when he was a young fellow. I don't know whether he forgot or if he did not like to let you depend on what he might have said." We said, "O Abu Sa`id ! Let us know that." He smiled and said, "Man was created hasty. I did not mention that, but that I wanted to inform you of it. Anas told me the same as he told you and said that the Prophet added, 'I then return for a fourth time and praise Him similarly and prostrate before Him me the same as he 'O Muhammad, raise your head and speak, for you will be listened to; and ask, for you will be granted (your request): and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted .' I will say, 'O Lord, allow me to intercede for whoever said, 'None has the right to be worshiped except Allah.' Then Allah will say, 'By my Power, and my Majesty, and by My Supremacy, and by My Greatness, I will take out of Hell (Fire) whoever said: 'None has the right to be worshipped except Allah.' ''

I said to Ibn `Abbas, "Nauf-Al-Bakali claims that Moses (the companion of Khadir) was not the Moses of Bani Israel but he was another Moses." Ibn `Abbas remarked that the enemy of Allah (Nauf) was a liar.

Narrated Ubai bin Ka`b:

The Prophet said, "Once the Prophet Moses stood up and addressed Bani Israel. He was asked, "Who is the most learned man amongst the people. He said, "I am the most learned." Allah admonished Moses as he did not attribute absolute knowledge to Him (Allah). So Allah inspired to him "At the junction of the two seas there is a slave amongst my slaves who is more learned than you." Moses said, "O my Lord! How can I meet him?" Allah said: Take a fish in a large basket (and proceed) and you will find him at the place where you will lose the fish. So Moses set out along with his (servant) boy, Yusha` bin Noon and carried a fish in a large basket till they reached a rock, where they laid their heads (i.e. lay down) and slept. The fish came out of the basket and it took its way into the sea as in a tunnel. So it was an amazing thing for both Moses and his (servant) boy. They proceeded for the rest of that night and the following day. When the day broke, Moses said to his (servant) boy: "Bring us our early meal. No doubt, we have suffered much fatigue in this journey." Moses did not get tired till he passed the place about which he was told. There the (servant) boy told Moses, "Do you remember when we betook ourselves to the rock, I indeed forgot the fish." Moses remarked, "That is what we have been seeking. So they went back retracing their footsteps, till they reached the rock. There they saw a man covered with a garment (or covering himself with his own garment). Moses greeted him. Al-Khadir replied saying, "How do people greet each other in your land?" Moses said, "I am Moses." He asked, "The Moses of Bani Israel?" Moses replied in the affirmative and added, "May I follow you so that you teach me of that knowledge which you have been taught." Al-Khadir replied, "Verily! You will not be able to remain patient with me, O Moses! I have some of the knowledge of Allah which He has taught me and which you do not know, while you have some knowledge which Allah has taught you which I do not know." Moses said, "Allah willing, you will find me patient and I will disobey no order of yours. So both of them set out walking along the seashore, as they did not have a boat. In the meantime a boat passed by them and they requested the crew of the boat to take them on board. The crew recognized Al-Khadir and took them on board without fare. Then a sparrow came and stood on the edge of the boat and dipped its beak once or twice in the sea. Al-Khadir said: "O Moses! My knowledge and your knowledge have not decreased Allah's knowledge except as much as this sparrow has decreased the water of the sea with its beak." Al- Khadir went to one of the planks of the boat and plucked it out. Moses said, "These people gave us a free lift but you have broken their boat and scuttled it so as to drown its people." Al-Khadir replied, "Didn't I tell you that you will not be able to remain patient with me." Moses said, "Call me not to account for what I forgot." The first (excuse) of Moses was that he had forgotten. Then they proceeded further and found a boy playing with other boys. Al-Khadir took hold of the boy's head from the top and plucked it out with his hands (i.e. killed him). Moses said, "Have you killed an innocent soul who has killed none." Al-Khadir replied, "Did I not tell you that you cannot remain patient with me?" Then they both proceeded till when they came to the people of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused to entertain them. Then they found there a wall on the point of collapsing. Al-Khadir repaired it with his own hands. Moses said, "If you had wished, surely you could have taken wages for it." Al-Khadir replied, "This is the parting between you and me." The Prophet added, "May Allah be Merciful to Moses! Would that he could have been more patient to learn more about his story with Al-Khadir. "

Zaynab said, "I heard my mother, Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say that a woman came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, 'Messenger of Allah! My daughter's husband died, and her eyes are troubling her, can she put kohl on them?' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'No' two or three times. Then he said, 'It is only four months and ten days. In the Jahiliyya, none of you threw away the piece of dung until a year had passed.' "

Humayd ibn Nafi said, "I asked Zaynab to explain what 'throwing away the piece of dung at the end of a year' meant. Zaynab said, 'In the Jahiliyya when a woman's husband died, she went into a small tent and dressed in the worst of clothes. She did not touch perfume or anything until a year had passed. Then she was brought an animal - a donkey, a sheep, or a bird, and she would break her idda with it, by rubbing her body against it (taftaddu). Rarely did she break her idda with anything (by rubbing herself against it) but that it died. Then she would come out and would be given a piece of dung. She would throw it away and then return to whatever she wished of perfumes or whatever.' "

Malik explained, 'Taftaddu' means to wipe her skin with it in the same way as with a healing charm."

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: Only a ruler, or one put in charge, or one who is presumptuous, gives instructions.

The Prophet (saws) said: No recompense is to be demanded if one is kicked by an animal.

Abu Dawud said: An animal kicks someone with its leg while one is riding on it.

The Prophet (saws) said: if one has a sudden attack of vomiting while one is fasting, no atonement is required of him, but if he vomits intentionally he must make atonement.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) led us in prayer in the time of danger. They (the people) stood in two rows. One row was behind the Messenger of Allah (saws) and the other faced the enemy. The Messenger of Allah (saws) led them in one rak'ah,and then the other section came and took their place; they went and faced the enemy. The Prophet (saws) led them in one rak'ah and uttered the salutation. They stood up and prayed the second rak'ah by themselves and uttered the salutation and went away; they took the place of the other section facing the enemy. They came back and took their place. They prayed one rak'ah by themselves and then uttered the salutation.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) as saying: No one withholds goods till their price rises but a sinner. I said to Sa'id (b. al-Musayyab): You withhold goods till their price rises. He said: Ma'mar used to withhold goods till their price rose.

Abu Dawud said: I asked Ahmad (b. Hanbal): What is hoarding (hukrah) ? He replied: That on which people live.

Abu Dawud said: Al-Auza'i said: A muhtakir (one who hoards) is one who withholds supply of goods in the market.