Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Abbas used to shorten the prayer when he travelled a distance equivalent to that between Makka and Ta'if, and that between Makka and Usfan and that between Makka and Jedda.

Malik said, "That is four mail-stages, and to me that is the most preferable distance for shortening the prayer."

Malik said, "Someone who intends to travel does not shorten the prayer until he has left the houses of the village. And he does not do it in full until he comes to the first houses of the village, or is nearby."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abdullah ibn Abbas used to say, "You can eat anything that has had its jugular vein cut."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Abbas used to say that the area between the corner of the Black Stone and the door of the Kaba was called al-Multazam.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that he used to travel one mail-stage with Ibn Umar, and he would not shorten the prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Salim ibn Abdullah that Abdullah ibn Umar used to shorten the prayer when he travelled for a whole day.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Abbas used to have nose-bleeds and would leave to wash off the blood. He would then return and complete his prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that AIi ibn Abi Talib and Abdullah ibn Abbas used to say, "The middle prayer is the prayer of subh."

Malik said, "Out of all that I have heard about the matter, I prefer what Ali ibn Abi Talib and Abdullah ibn Abbas said."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that a man said to Abdullah ibn Abbas, "I have divorced my wife by saying I divorce you a hundred times. What do you think my situation is?" Ibn Abbas said to him, "She was divorced from you by three pronouncements, and by the ninety-seven, you have mocked the ayat of Allah."

`Umar went to Sham and when he reached Sargh, he got the news that an epidemic (of plague) had broken out in Sham. `Abdur-Rahman bin `Auf told him that Allah's Apostle said, "If you hear that it (plague) has broken out in a land, do not go to it; but if it breaks out in a land where you are present, do not go out escaping from it."

Allah's Apostle set out for Mecca in Ramadan and he fasted, and when he reached Al-Kadid, he broke his fast and the people (with him) broke their fast too. (Abu `Abdullah said, "Al-Kadid is a land covered with water between Usfan and Qudaid.")

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Abbas said, "Equanimity, gentleness, and good behaviour are one twenty-fifth of prophecy."

`Abdullah bin `Umar said, "Once Allah's Apostle was busy (at the time of the `Isha'), so the prayer was delayed so much so that we slept and woke up and slept and woke up again. The Prophet came out and said, 'None amongst the dwellers of the earth but you have been waiting for the prayer." Ibn `Umar did not find any harm in praying it earlier or in delaying it unless he was afraid that sleep might overwhelm him and he might miss the prayer, and sometimes he used to sleep before the `Isha' prayer. Ibn Juraij said, "I said to `Ata', 'I heard Ibn `Abbas saying: Once Allah's Apostle delayed the `Isha' prayer to such an extent that the people slept and got up and slept again and got up again. Then `Umar bin Al-Khattab I, stood up and reminded the Prophet I of the prayer.' `Ata' said, 'Ibn `Abbas said: The Prophet came out as if I was looking at him at this time, and water was trickling from his head and he was putting his hand on his head and then said, 'Hadn't I thought it hard for my followers, I would have ordered them to pray (`Isha' prayer) at this time.' I asked `Ata' for further information, how the Prophet had kept his hand on his head as he was told by Ibn `Abbas. `Ata' separated his fingers slightly and put their tips on the side of the head, brought the fingers downwards approximating them till the thumb touched the lobe of the ear at the side of the temple and the beard on the face. He neither slowed nor hurried in this action but he acted like that. The Prophet said: "Hadn't I thought it hard for my followers I would have ordered them to pray at this time."

The Prophet once stayed for nineteen days and prayed shortened prayers. So when we travel led (and stayed) for nineteen days, we used to shorten the prayer but if we traveled (and stayed) for a longer period we used to offer the full prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Ibn Umar stayed in Makka for ten nights, shortening the prayer, except when he prayed it behind an imam, in which case he followed the imam's prayer.

The Prophet (saws) raised his voice in talbiyah for hajj. When he came (to Mecca) he went round the House (the Ka'bah) and ran between as-Safa and al-Marwah. The narrator Ibn Shawkar said: He did not clip his hair, nor did he take off his ihram due to sacrificial animals. But he commanded those who did not bring sacrificial animals with them to go round the Ka'bah, to run between as-Safa and al-Marwah, to clip their hair, and then put off their ihram. The narrator Ibn Mani' added: Or shave their heads, then take off their ihram."

My father said, "The Prophet in Zuhr prayers used to recite Al-Fatiha along with two other Suras in the first two rak`at: a long one in the first rak`a and a shorter (Sura) in the second, and at times the verses were audible. In the `Asr prayer the Prophet used to recite Al-Fatiha and two more Suras in the first two rak`at and used to prolong the first rak`a. And he used to prolong the first rak`a of the Fajr prayer and shorten the second.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Abbas used to say, "The least difficult thing acceptable as a sacrificial animal is a sheep."

Malik said, "That is what I like most out of what I have heard about the matter, because Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says in His Book, 'O you who trust, do not kill game while you are in ihram. Whoever of you kills it intentionally, there shall be repayment the like of what he has slain, from livestock, as shall be judged by two men of justice among you, a sacrificial animal which will reach the Kaba, or food for poor people, or the equivalent of that in fasting,' (Sura 5 ayat 95) and a sheep is one of the animals which is judged to be acceptable as a sacrifice. Allah has called it a sacrificial animal, and there is no dispute among us about the matter. How, indeed, could anyone be in doubt about the matter? A sheep is the kaffara for anything which does not reach the extent of something for which a camel or a cow would be the kaffara, and the kaffara for something which does not reach the extent of something for which a sheep would be the kaffara is fasting, or feeding poor people."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar once met a relative of his called al-Mujabbar who had done the tawaf al-ifada but, out of ignorance, had not shaved his head or cut his hair. Abdullah told him to go back and shave his head or cut his hair, and then go back and do the tawaf al-ifada.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Isa ibn Maryam used to say, "O Banu Israil! You must drink pure water and the green things of the land and barley bread . Beware of wheat bread, for you will not be grateful enough for it."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Ali ibn Abi Talib and Abdullah ibn Abbas did not do wudu after eating cooked food.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Abbas and Ubada ibn as-Samit and al-Qasim ibn Muhammad and Abdullah ibn Amir ibn Rabia had all prayed witr after the break of dawn.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) had a stop of seventeen days in Mecca and he shortened the prayer (i.e. prayed two rak'ahs at each time of prayer). Ibn Abbas said: He who stays seventeen days should shorten the prayer; and who stays more than that should offer complete prayer.

Abu Dawud said: The other version transmitted by Ibn 'Abbas through a different chain adds: He (the Prophet) had a stop of nineteen days (in Mecca).

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Abbas and Abdullah ibn Umar were asked about a man who had a free woman as a wife and then wanted to marry a slave-girl. They disapproved that he should combine the two of them.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Anas ibn Malik used to pay fidya when he had grown old and could no longer manage to do the fast.

Malik said, "I do not consider that to do so is obligatory, but what I like most is that a man does the fast when he is strong enough. Whoever pays compensation gives one mudd of food in place of every day, using the mudd of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr from his paternal aunt from the daughter of Zayd ibn Thabit that she had heard that women used to ask for lamps in the middle of the night to check their purity. She would criticise them for this saying, "Women never used to do this," i.e. in the time of the companions.

Malik was asked whether a woman whose period had finished could do tayammum to purify herself if she could not find waterand he said, "Yes, because she is like some one in a state of major ritual impurity, who, if he cannot find water, does tayammum."

ahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that AIi ibn Abi Talib used to rest his head on graves and lie on them.

Malik said, "As far as we can see ,it is only forbidden to sit on graves to relieve oneself."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Ali ibn Abi Talib used to say that if a man said to his wife, "You are haram for me," it counted as three pronouncements of divorce.

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