The Messenger of Allah (saws) forbade to take retaliation in the mosque, to recite verses in it and to inflict the prescribed punishments in it.

I heard the Prophet saying, "There is no envy except in two: a person whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it in the right way, and a person whom Allah has given wisdom (i.e. religious knowledge) and he gives his decisions accordingly and teaches it to the others."

A man said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we be punished for what we did in the Prelslamic Period of ignorance?" The Prophet said, "Whoever does good in Islam will not be punished for what he did in the Pre-lslamic Period of ignorance and whoever does evil in Islam will be punished for his former and later (bad deeds).

I sat in a gathering in which the chiefs of the Ansar were present, and `Abdur-Rahman bin Abu Laila was amongst them. I mentioned the narration of `Abdullah bin `Utba regarding the question of Subai'a bint Al-Harith. `Abdur-Rahman said, "But `Abdullah's uncle used not to say so." I said, "I am too brave if I tell a lie concerning a person who is now in Al-Kufa," and I raised my voice. Then I went out and met Malik bin 'Amir or Malik bin `Auf, and said, "What was the verdict of Ibn Mas`ud about the pregnant widow whose husband had died?" He replied, "Ibn Mas`ud said, 'Why do you impose on her the hard order and don't let her make use of the leave? The shorter Sura of women (i.e. Surat-at- Talaq) was revealed after the longer Sura (i.e. Surat-al-Baqara)." (i.e. Her 'Idda is up till she delivers.)

While I was walking in company with the Prophet in one of the fields of Medina, the Prophet was reclining on a palm leave stalk which he carried with him. We passed by a group of Jews. Some of them said to the others, "Ask him about the spirit." The others said, "Do not ask him, lest he would say something that you hate." Some of them said, "We will ask him." So a man from among them stood up and said, 'O Abal-Qasim! What is the spirit?" The Prophet kept quiet and I knew that he was being divinely inspired. Then he said: "They ask you concerning the Spirit, Say: The Spirit; its knowledge is with my Lord. And of knowledge you (mankind) have been given only a little." (17.85)

A man came to Ibn Mas`ud and said, "I recited the Mufassal (Suras) at night in one rak`a." Ibn Mas`ud said, "This recitation is (too quick) like the recitation of poetry. I know the identical Suras which the Prophet used to recite in pairs." Ibn Mas`ud then mentioned 20 Mufassal Suras including two Suras from the family of (i.e. those verses which begin with) Ha, Meem [??] (which the Prophet used to recite) in each rak`a.

The Prophet said, "Do not wish to be like anyone except in two cases. (The first is) A person, whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it righteously; (the second is) the one whom Allah has given wisdom (the Holy Qur'an) and he acts according to it and teaches it to others." (Fath-al-Bari page 177 Vol. 1)

On `Id ul Fitr or `Id ul Adha Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) went out to the Musalla. After finishing the prayer, he delivered the sermon and ordered the people to give alms. He said, "O people! Give alms." Then he went towards the women and said. "O women! Give alms, for I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-Fire were you (women)." The women asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What is the reason for it?" He replied, "O women! You curse frequently, and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. O women, some of you can lead a cautious wise man astray." Then he left. And when he reached his house, Zainab, the wife of Ibn Mas`ud, came and asked permission to enter It was said, "O Allah's Apostle! It is Zainab." He asked, 'Which Zainab?" The reply was that she was the wife of Ibn Mas'ub. He said, "Yes, allow her to enter." And she was admitted. Then she said, "O Prophet of Allah! Today you ordered people to give alms and I had an ornament and intended to give it as alms, but Ibn Mas`ud said that he and his children deserved it more than anybody else." The Prophet replied, "Ibn Mas`ud had spoken the truth. Your husband and your children had more right to it than anybody else."

(regarding) the Verse: 'And you have not been screening against yourself lest your ears, and your eyes and your skins should testify against you..' (41.22) While two persons from Quraish and their brotherin- law from Thaqif (or two persons from Thaqif and their brother-in-law from Quraish) were in a house, they said to each other, "Do you think that Allah hears our talks?" Some said, "He hears a portion thereof" Others said, "If He can hear a portion of it, He can hear all of it." Then the following Verse was revealed: 'And you have not been screening against yourself lest your ears, and your eyes and your skins should testify against you...' (41.22)

When the verses of charity were revealed, we used to work as porters. A man came and distributed objects of charity in abundance. And they (the people) said, "He is showing off." And another man came and gave a Sa (a small measure of food grains); they said, "Allah is not in need of this small amount of charity." And then the Divine Inspiration came: "Those who criticize such of the believers who give in charity voluntarily and those who could not find to give in charity except what is available to them." (9.79).

The tradition mentioned above (No. 4243) has also been transmitted by Ibn Mas'ud through a different chain of narrators.

Ibn Mas'ud said: I heard the Prophet (saws) say: He then mentioned a portion of the tradition narrated by AbuBakrah (No. 4243).

This version adds: He (the Prophet) said: All their slain will go to Hell. I (Wabisah) asked: When will this happen Ibn Mas'ud?

He replied: This is the period of turmoil (harj) when a man will not be safe from his associates.

I asked: What do you command me (to do) if I happen to live during that period? He replied: You should restrain your tongue and hand and stay at home.

When Uthman was slain, I recollected this tradition. I then rode (on a camel) and came to Damascus. There I met Khuraym ibn Fatik and mentioned this tradition to him. He swore by Allah, there was no god but He, he had heard it from the Messenger of Allah (saws), as Ibn Mas'ud transmitted it to me (Wabisah).

An Ansari man, called Abu Shu'aib, came and told his butcher slave, "Prepare meals sufficient for five persons, for I want to invite the Prophet along with four other persons as I saw signs of hunger on his face." Abu Shu'aib invited them and another person came along with them. The Prophet said (to Abu Shu'aib), This man followed us, so if you allow him, he will join us, and if you want him to return, he will go back." Abu Shu'aib said, "No, I have allowed him (i.e. he, too, is welcomed to the meal).

Once a man said to Allah's Apostle "O Allah's Apostle! I may not attend the (compulsory congregational) prayer because so and so (the Imam) prolongs the prayer when he leads us for it. The narrator added: "I never saw the Prophet more furious in giving advice than he was on that day. The Prophet said, "O people! Some of you make others dislike good deeds (the prayers). So whoever leads the people in prayer should shorten it because among them there are the sick the weak and the needy (having some jobs to do).

A man came and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I keep away from the morning prayer because so-and-so (Imam) prolongs it too much." Allah's Apostle became furious and I had never seen him more furious than he was on that day. The Prophet said, "O people! Some of you make others dislike the prayer, so whoever becomes an Imam he should shorten the prayer, as behind him are the weak, the old and the needy.''

The Prophet used to take care of us in preaching by selecting a suitable time, so that we might not get bored. (He abstained from pestering us with sermons and knowledge all the time).

Yahya related to me from Malik from more than one source that when Abdullah ibn Masud was in Kufa, he was asked for an opinion about marrying the mother after marrying the daughter when the marriage with the daughter had not been consummated. He permitted it. When Ibn Masud came to Madina, he asked about it and was told that it was not as he had said, and that this condition referred to foster-mothers. Ibn Masud returnedto Kufa,and he had just reached his dwelling when the man who had asked him for the opinion came to visit and he ordered him to separate from his wife.

Malik said that if a man married the mother of a woman who was his wife and he had sexual relations with the mother then his wife was haram for him, and he had to separate from both of them. They were both haram to him forever, if he had had sexual relations with the mother. If he had not had relations with the mcther, his wife was not haram for him, and he separated from the mother.

Malik explained further about the man who married a woman, and then married her mother and cohabited with her, "The mother will never be halal for him, and she is not halal for his father or his son, and any daughters of hers are not halal for him and so his wife is haram for him."

Malik said, "Fornication however, does not make any of that haram because Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, mentioned 'the mothers of your wives,' as one whom marriage made haram, and he didn't mention the making haram by fornication. Every marriage in a halal manner in which a man cohabits with his wife, is a halal marriage. This is what I have heard, and this is how things are done among us."

(the wife of the Prophet) "When the ailment of Allah's Apostle became aggravated, he requested his wives to permit him to be (treated) nursed in my house, and they gave him permission. He came out (to my house), walking between two men with his feet dragging on the ground, between `Abbas bin `Abdul--Muttalib and another man" 'Ubaidullah said, "I told `Abdullah of what `Aisha had said, `Abdullah bin `Abbas said to me, 'Do you know who is the other man whom `Aisha did not name?' I said, 'No.' Ibn `Abbas said, 'It was `Ali bin Abu Talib." `Aisha, the wife of the Prophet used to narrate saying, "When Allah's Apostle entered my house and his disease became aggravated, he said, " Pour on me the water of seven water skins, the mouths of which have not been untied, so that I may give advice to the people.' So we let him sit in a big basin belonging to Hafsa, the wife of the Prophet and then started to pour water on him from these water skins till he started pointing to us with his hands intending to say, 'You have done your job." `Aisha added, "Then he went out to the people and led them in prayer and preached to them."

While we were in the city of Hims (in Syria), Ibn Mas`ud recited Surat Yusuf. A man said to him), "It was not revealed in this way." Then Ibn Mas`ud said, "I recited it in this way before Allah's Apostle and he confirmed my recitation by saying, 'Well done!' " Ibn Mas`ud detected the smell of wine from the man's mouth, so he said to him, "Aren't you ashamed of telling a lie about Allah's Book and (along with this) you drink alcoholic liquors too?" Then he lashed him according to the law.

On the day of Badr, the Prophet said, "Who will go and see what has happened to Abu Jahl?" Ibn Mas`ud went and found that the two sons of 'Afra had struck him fatally. `Abdullah bin Mas`ud got hold of his beard and said, "'Are you Abu Jahl?" He replied, "Can there be a man more superior to one whom his own folk have killed (or you have killed)?"

Abdullah ibn Utbah ibn Mas'ud said: Abdullah ibn Mas'ud was informed of this story of a man. The people continued to visit him for a month or visited him many times (the narrator was not sure).

He said: In this matter I hold the opinion that she should receive the type of dower given to women of her class with no diminution or excess, observe the waiting period ('iddah) and have her share of inheritance. If it is erroneous, that is from me and from Satan. Allah and His Apostle are free from its responsibility. Some people from Ashja' got up; among them were al-Jarrah and AbuSinan.

They said: Ibn Mas'ud, we bear witness that the Messenger of Allah (saws) gave a decision for us regarding Birwa', daughter of Washiq, to the same effect as the decision you have given. Her husband was Hilal ibn Murrah al-Ashja'i. Thereupon Abdullah ibn Mas'ud was very pleased when his decision agreed with the decision of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Abu Musa was asked regarding (the inheritance of) a daughter, a son's daughter, and a sister. He said, "The daughter will take one-half and the sister will take one-half. If you go to Ibn Mas`ud, he will tell you the same." Ibn Mas`ud was asked and was told of Abu Musa's verdict. Ibn Mas`ud then said, "If I give the same verdict, I would stray and would not be of the rightly-guided. The verdict I will give in this case, will be the same as the Prophet did, i.e. one-half is for daughter, and one-sixth for the son's daughter, i.e. both shares make two-thirds of the total property; and the rest is for the sister." Afterwards we cams to Abu Musa and informed him of Ibn Mas`ud's verdict, whereupon he said, "So, do not ask me for verdicts, as long as this learned man is among you."

The Prophet said, "Who will go and see what has happened to Abu Jahl?" Ibn Mas`ud went and found that the two sons of 'Afra had struck him fatally (and he was in his last breaths). `Abdullah bin Mas`ud said, "Are you Abu Jahl?" And took him by the beard. Abu Jahl said, "Can there be a man superior to one you have killed or one whom his own folk have killed?"