The people used to ask Allah's Apostle about good, but I used to ask him about evil for fear that it might overtake me. Once I said, "O Allah's Apostle! We were in ignorance and in evil and Allah has bestowed upon us the present good; will there by any evil after this good?" He said, "Yes." I asked, "Will there be good after that evil?" He said, "Yes, but it would be tained with Dakhan (i.e. Little evil)." I asked, "What will its Dakhan be?" He said, "There will be some people who will lead (people) according to principles other than my tradition. You will see their actions and disapprove of them." I said, "Will there by any evil after that good?" He said, "Yes, there will be some people who will invite others to the doors of Hell, and whoever accepts their invitation to it will be thrown in it (by them)." I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Describe those people to us." He said, "They will belong to us and speak our language" I asked, "What do you order me to do if such a thing should take place in my life?" He said, "Adhere to the group of Muslims and their Chief." I asked, "If there is neither a group (of Muslims) nor a chief (what shall I do)?" He said, "Keep away from all those different sects, even if you had to bite (i.e. eat) the root of a tree, till you meet Allah while you are still in that state."

Hittan ibn Abdullah ar-Ruqashi said: AbuMusa al-Ash'ari led us in prayer.

When he sat at the end of his prayer, one of the people said: Prayer has been established by virtue and purity.

When AbuMusa returned (from his prayer or finished his prayer), he gave his attention to the people, and said: Which of you is the speaker of such and such words? The people remained silent. Which of you is the speaker of such and such words? The people remained silent. He said: You might have said them, Hittan. He replied: I did not say them. I was afraid you might punish me. One of the people said: I said them and I did not intend by them (anything) except good.

AbuMusa said: Do you not know how you utter (them) in your prayer? The Messenger of Allah (saws) addressed us, and taught us and explained to us our way of doing and taught us our prayer.

He said: When you pray a (congregational) prayer, straighten your rows, then one of you should lead you in prayer. When he says the takbir (Allah is Most Great), say the takbir, and when he recites verses "Not of those upon whom is Thy anger, nor of those who err" (i.e. the end of Surah i.), say Amin; Allah will favour you. When he says "Allah is most great," and bows, say "Allah is most great" and bow, for the imam will bow before you, and will raise (his head) before you.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: This is for that. When he says "Allah listens to the one who praises Him," say: "O Allah, our Lord, to Thee be praise, Allah be praised," Allah will listen to you, for Allah, the Exalted, said by the tongue of His Prophet (saws): "Allah listens to the one who praises Him." When he says "Allah is most great" and prostrates, say: "Allah is most great" and prostrate, for the imam prostrates before you and raises his head before you.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: This is for that. When he sits, each one of you should say "The adorations of the tongue, all good things, and acts of worship are due to Allah. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and Allah's mercy and His blessings. Peace be upon us and upon Allah's upright servants. I testify that there is no god but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Apostle."

This version of Ahmad does not mention the words "and His blessings" nor the phrase "and I testify"; instead, it has the words "that Muhammad."

A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." He replied, "I do not find such a deed." Then he added, "Can you, while the Muslim fighter is in the battle-field, enter your mosque to perform prayers without cease and fast and never break your fast?" The man said, "But who can do that?" Abu- Huraira added, "The Mujahid (i.e. Muslim fighter) is rewarded even for the footsteps of his horse while it wanders bout (for grazing) tied in a long rope."

The version narrated by Maslamah goes : He said: On that day we were almost equal in knowledge.

The version narrated by Isma’il says: Khalid said: I said to Abu Qilabah: where is the Qur’an(i.e. why did the Prophet(may peace be upon him) not say: The one who knows the Qur’an most should act as imam)? He replied: Both of them were equal in the knowledge of the Qur’an.

That he heard Allah's Apostle saying, "If a judge gives a verdict according to the best of his knowledge and his verdict is correct (i.e. agrees with Allah and His Apostle's verdict) he will receive a double reward, and if he gives a verdict according to the best of his knowledge and his verdict is wrong, (i.e. against that of Allah and His Apostle) even then he will get a reward ."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Harith at-Taymi from Abu Salama ibn Abd ar Rahman that Abu Said said that he had heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "A group of people will appear among you whose prayer, fasting and deeds will make you think little of your own prayer, fasting and deeds. They will recite the Qur'an, but it wil not get past their throats, and they will pass through the deen like an arrow passes through game. You look at the arrowhead, and you see nothing, and you look at the shaft, and you see nothing, and you look at the flights, and you see nothing. And you are in doubt about the notch."

Ikrimah said: A group of people from Iraq said: Ibn Abbas, what is your opinion about the verse in which we have been commanded whatever we have been commanded, but no one acts upon it? The word of Allah, Most High, reads: "O ye who believe! Let those whom your right hands possess, and the (children) among you, who have not come of age, ask your permission (before) they enter your presence on three occasions: before morning prayer, while you are undressing for the noonday heat, and after late-night prayer. These are your three times of undress; outside those times it is not wrong for you or for them to move about."

Al-Qa'nabi recited the verse up to "full of knowledge and wisdom".

Ibn Abbas said: Allah is Most Clement and Most Merciful to the believers. He loves concealment. The people had neither curtains nor curtained canopies in their houses. Sometimes a servant, a child or a female orphan of a man entered while the man was having sexual intercourse with his wife. So Allah commanded them to ask permission in those times of undress. Then Allah brought them curtains and all good things. But I did not see anyone following it after that.

Abu Dawud said: The tradition of 'Ubaid Allah and of 'Ata, weakens this tradition.

Jabir bin `Abdullah said, "Allah's Apostle sent troops to the sea coast and appointed Abu 'Ubaida bin Al-Jarrah as their commander, and they were 300 (men). We set out, and we had covered some distance on the way, when our journey food ran short. So Abu 'Ubaida ordered that all the food present with the troops be collected, and it was collected. Our journey food was dates, and Abu Ubaida kept on giving us our daily ration from it little by little (piecemeal) till it decreased to such an extent that we did not receive except a date each." I asked (Jabir), "How could one date benefit you?" He said, "We came to know its value when even that finished." Jabir added, "Then we reached the sea (coast) where we found a fish like a small mountain. The people (i.e. troops) ate of it for 18 nights (i.e. days). Then Abu 'Ubaida ordered that two of its ribs be fixed on the ground (in the form of an arch) and that a she-camel be ridden and passed under them. So it passed under them without touching them."

When "Glorify the name of your mighty Lord" was revealed, the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Use it when bowing, and when "Glorify the name of your most high Lord" was revealed, he said: Use it when prostrating yourself.

The Prophet (saws) said: Allah, the Most High, continues to turn favourably towards a servant while he is engaged in prayer as long as he does not look to the side (by turning the neck), but if he does so, He turns away from him.

The Prophet said: "The stipulations most entitled to be abided by are those with which you are given the right to enjoy the (women's) private parts (i.e. the stipulations of the marriage contract).

Abu Huraira said, "A man or a woman used to clean the mosque." (A sub-narrator said, 'Most probably a woman..') Then he narrated the Hadith of the Prophet

Allah's Apostle said, "The most awful name in Allah's sight on the Day of Resurrection, will be (that of) a man calling himself Malik Al-Amlak (the king of kings).

The Prophet (saws) said: Do not call a hypocrite sayyid (master), for if he is a sayyid, you will displease your Lord, Most High.

A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I am suffering from fatigue and hunger." The Prophet sent (somebody) to his wives (to get something), but the messenger found nothing with them. Then Allah's Apostle said (to his companions). "Isn't there anybody who can entertain this man tonight so that Allah may be merciful to him?" An Ansari man got up and said, "I (will, entertain him), O Allah's Apostle!" So he went to his wife and said to her, "This is the guest of Allah's Apostle, so do not keep anything away from him." She said. "By Allah, I have nothing but the children's food." He said, "When the children ask for their dinner, put them to bed and put out the light; we shall not take our meals tonight," She did so. In the morning the Ansari man went to Allah's Apostle who said, "Allah was pleased with (or He bestowed His Mercy) on so-and-so and his wife (because of their good deed)." Then Allah revealed: 'But give them preference over themselves even though they were in need of that.' (59.9)

That the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "The most virtuous of charitable spending is the shade of a tent in the cause of Allah, or giving a servant in the cause of Allah, or a riding camel in the cause of Allah."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Gharib Sahih, and it is more correct to me than the narration of Mu'awiyah bin Salih.

That he heard the Prophet delivering a sermon, and he mentioned the shecamel and the one who hamstrung it. Allah's Apostle recited:-- 'When, the most wicked man among them went forth (to hamstrung the she-camel).' (91.12.) Then he said, "A tough man whose equal was rare and who enjoyed the protection of his people, like Abi Zama went forth to (hamstrung) it." The Prophet then mentioned about the women (in his sermon). "It is not wise for anyone of you to lash his wife like a slave, for he might sleep with her the same evening." Then he advised them not to laugh when somebody breaks wind and said, "Why should anybody laugh at what he himself does?"

Allah's Apostle addressed the people saying, "Allah has given option to a slave to choose this world or what is with Him. The slave has chosen what is with Allah." Abu Bakr wept, and we were astonished at his weeping caused by what the Prophet mentioned as to a Slave ( of Allah) who had been offered a choice, (we learned later on) that Allah's Apostle himself was the person who was given the choice, and that Abu Bakr knew best of all of us. Allah's Apostle added, "The person who has favored me most of all both with his company and wealth, is Abu Bakr. If I were to take a Khalil other than my Lord, I would have taken Abu Bakr as such, but (what relates us) is the Islamic brotherhood and friendliness. All the gates of the Mosque should be closed except the gate of Abu Bakr."

Malik related to me from Suhayl ibn Abu Salih from his father from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When you hear a man say, 'The people are ruined,' he himself is the most ruined of them all."

"The foreleg was not the part of the meat that the Messenger of Allah (saws) liked most, but he would not get meat but occasionally. So it would be hastened to him because it cooks quickly."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Gharib, we do not know of it except from this route.

The Prophet said to the people of Nijran, "I will send you the most trustworthy man." (Every one of) the companions of the Prophet was looking forward (to be that person). He then sent Abu 'Ubaida.