A blind man had a slave-mother who used to abuse the Prophet (saws) and disparage him. He forbade her but she did not stop. He rebuked her but she did not give up her habit. One night she began to slander the Prophet (saws) and abuse him. So he took a dagger, placed it on her belly, pressed it, and killed her. A child who came between her legs was smeared with the blood that was there. When the morning came, the Prophet (saws) was informed about it.

He assembled the people and said: I adjure by Allah the man who has done this action and I adjure him by my right to him that he should stand up. Jumping over the necks of the people and trembling the man stood up.

He sat before the Prophet (saws) and said: Messenger of Allah! I am her master; she used to abuse you and disparage you. I forbade her, but she did not stop, and I rebuked her, but she did not abandon her habit. I have two sons like pearls from her, and she was my companion. Last night she began to abuse and disparage you. So I took a dagger, put it on her belly and pressed it till I killed her.

Thereupon the Prophet (saws) said: Oh be witness, no retaliation is payable for her blood.

Allah's Apostle said. "It is one of the greatest sins that a man should curse his parents." It was asked (by the people), "O Allah's Apostle! How does a man curse his parents?" The Prophet said, "'The man abuses the father of another man and the latter abuses the father of the former and abuses his mother."

At Ar-Rabadha I met Abu Dhar who was wearing a cloak, and his slave, too, was wearing a similar one. I asked about the reason for it. He replied, "I abused a person by calling his mother with bad names." The Prophet said to me, 'O Abu Dhar! Did you abuse him by calling his mother with bad names You still have some characteristics of ignorance. Your slaves are your brothers and Allah has put them under your command. So whoever has a brother under his command should feed him of what he eats and dress him of what he wears. Do not ask them (slaves) to do things beyond their capacity (power) and if you do so, then help them.' "

I saw Abu Dhar Al-Ghifari wearing a cloak, and his slave, too, was wearing a cloak. We asked him about that (i.e. how both were wearing similar cloaks). He replied, "Once I abused a man and he complained of me to the Prophet . The Prophet asked me, 'Did you abuse him by slighting his mother?' He added, 'Your slaves are your brethren upon whom Allah has given you authority. So, if one has one's brethren under one's control, one should feed them with the like of what one eats and clothe them with the like of what one wears. You should not overburden them with what they cannot bear, and if you do so, help them (in their hard job).

Allah's Apostle was neither a Fahish (one who had a bad tongue) nor a Sabbaba (one who abuses others) and he used to say while admonishing somebody, "What is wrong with him? May dust be on his forehead!"

Malik related to me from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father said that there was only one hadd against a man who slandered a group of people.

Malik said, "If they are on separate occasions there is still only one hadd against him."

Malik related to me from Abu'r-Rijal Muhammad ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Haritha ibn an-Numan al- Ansari, then from the Banu'n-Najar from his mother Amra bint Abd ar- Rahman that two men cursed each other in the time of Umar ibn al- Khattab. One of them said to the other, " By Allah, my father is not an adulterer and my mother is not an adulteress." Umar ibn al-Khattab asked advice about that. One person said, "He has praised his father and mother." Another said, "His father and mother have praise other than this. We think that he is to be flogged with the hadd." So Umar flogged him with the hadd of eighty lashes.

Malik said, "There is no hadd in our view except for slander, denial or insinuation, in which one sees that the speaker intends by that denial or slander. Then the hadd is completely imposed on the one who said it."

Malik said, "What is done in our community when a man denies that another man is from his father, is that he deserves the hadd. If the mother who is denied is a slave, then he deserves the hadd as well. '

That the Prophet dictated to him: "Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home) and those who strive and fight in the Cause of Allah." Zaid added: Ibn Um Maktum came while the Prophet was dictating to me and said, "O Allah's Apostle! By Allah, if I had the power to fight (in Allah's Cause), I would," and he was a blind man. So Allah revealed to his Apostle while his thigh was on my thigh, and his thigh became so heavy that I was afraid it might fracture my thigh. Then that state of the Prophet passed and Allah revealed:-- "Except those who are disabled (by injury or are blind or lame etc).

I saw Marwan bin Al-Hakam sitting in the Mosque. So I came forward and sat by his side. He told us that Zaid bin Thabit had told him that Allah's Apostle had dictated to him the Divine Verse: "Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and those who strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with their wealth and lives.' (4.95) Zaid said, "Ibn-Maktum came to the Prophet while he was dictating to me that very Verse. On that Ibn Um Maktum said, "O Allah's Apostle! If I had power, I would surely take part in Jihad." He was a blind man. So Allah sent down revelation to His Apostle while his thigh was on mine and it became so heavy for me that I feared that my thigh would be broken. Then that state of the Prophet was over after Allah revealed "...except those who are disabled (by injury or are blind or lame etc.) (4.95)

Ibn Awn said: I asked about the meaning of intisar (revenge) in the Qur'anic verse: "But indeed if any do help and defend themselves (intasara) after a wrong (done) to them, against them there is no cause of blame." Then Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jad'an told me on the authority of Umm Muhammad, the wife of his father.

Ibn Awn said: It was believed that she used to go to the Mother of the Faithful (i.e. Aisha). She said: The Mother of the Faithful said: The Messenger of Allah (saws) came upon me while Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh, was with us. He began to do something with his hand. I signalled to him until I made him understand about her. So he stopped. Zaynab came on and began to abuse Aisha. She tried to prevent her but she did not stop.

So he (the Prophet) said to Aisha: Abuse her.

So she abused her and dominated her. Zaynab then went to Ali and said: Aisha abused you and did (such and such). Then Fatimah came (to the Prophet) and he said to her: She is the favourite of your father, by the Lord of the Ka'bah!

She then returned and said to them: I said to him such and such, and he said to me such and such. Then Ali came to the Prophet (saws) and spoke to him about that.

My father said that Allah s Apostle said, "Bilal pronounces 'Adhan at night, so keep on eating and drinking (Suhur) till Ibn Um Maktum pronounces Adhan." Salim added, "He was a blind man who would not pronounce the Adhan unless he was told that the day had dawned."

Malik related to me that he had heard that Said ibn al-Musayyab was asked who had the wala' of the children whom a slave had by a free woman. Said said, "If their father dies and he is a slave who was not set free, their wala' belongs to the mawali of their mother."

Malik said, "That is like the child of a woman who is a mawla who has been divorced by lian; the child is attached to the mawali of his mother and they are his mawali. If he dies, they inherit from him. If he commits a crime, they pay the blood-money for him. If his father acknowledges him, he is given a kinship to him and his wala' goes to the mawali of his father. They are his heirs, they pay his blood-money and his father is punished with the hadd-punishment."

Malik said, "It is like that with a free-born woman divorced by lian. If her husband who curses her by lian does not acknowledge her child, the child is dealt with in the same way except that the rest of his inheritance after the inheritance of his mother and his brothers from his mother goes to all the muslims as long as he was not given kinship to his father. The child of the lian is attached to the patronage of the mawali of his mother until his father acknowledges him because he does not have a lineage or paternal relations. If his lineage is confirmed, it goes to his paternal relations."

Malik said, "The generally agreed-on way of doing things among us about a child of a slave by a free woman, while the father of the slave is free, is that the grandfather (the father of the slave), attracts the wala' of his son's free children by a free woman. They leave their inheritance to him as long as their father is a slave. If the father becomes free, the wala' returns to his mawali. If he dies and he is still a slave, the inheritance and the wala' go to the grandfather. If the slave has two free sons, and one of them dies while the father is still a slave, the grandfather, the father of the father, attracts the wala' and the inheritance."

Malik spoke about a slave-girl who was set free while she was pregnant and her husband was a slave and then her husband became free before she gave birth, or after she gave birth. He said, "The wala' of what is in her womb goes to the person who set the mother free because slavery touched the child before the mother was set free. It is not treated in the same way as a child conceived by its mother after she has been set free because the wala' of such a child, is attracted by the father when he is set free."

Malik said that if a slave asked his master's permission to free a slave of his and his master gave permission, the wala' of the freed slave went to the master of his master, and his wala' did not return to the master who had set him free, even if he were to become free himself."

Yahya related to me that Malik said, "What is done in our community in the case of a man who makes his slave-girl a mudabbara and she gives birth to children after that, and then the slave-girl dies before the one who gave her a tadbir is that her children are in her position. The conditions which were confirmed for her are confirmed for them. The death of their mother does not harm them. If the one who made her mudabbara dies, they are free if their value is less than one third of his total property."

Malik said, "For every mother by birth as opposed to mother by suckling, her children are in her position. If she is free and she gives birth after she is free, her children are free. If she is a mudabbara or mukataba, or freed after a number of years in service, or part of her is free or pledged or she is an umm walad, each of her children are in the same position as their mother. They are set free when she is set free and they are slaves when she is a slave."

Malik said about the mudabbara given a tadbir while she was pregnant, "Her children are in her position. That is also the position of a man who frees his slave- girl while she is pregnant and does not know that she is pregnant."

Malik said, "The sunna about such women is that their children follow them and are set free by their being set free."

Malik said, "It is the same as if a man had bought a slave-girl while she was pregnant. The slave-girl and what is in her womb belong to the one who bought her whether or not the buyer stipulates that."

Malik continued, "It is not halal for the seller to make an exception about what is in her womb because that is an uncertain transaction. It reduces her price and he does not know if that will reach him or not. That is as if one sold the foetus in the womb of the mother. That is not halal because it is an uncertain transaction ."

Malik said about the mukatab or mudabbar who bought a slave- girl and had intercourse with her and she became pregnant by him and gives birth, "The children of both of them by a slave-girl are in his position. They are set free when he is set free and they are slaves when he is a slave."

Malik said, "When he is set free, the umm walad is part of his property which is surrendered to him when he is set free."

Anas bin Malik said, "When the emigrants came Medina, they had nothing whereas the Ansar had land and property. The Ansar gave them their land on condition that the emigrants would give them half the yearly yield and work on the land and provide the necessaries for cultivation." His (i.e. Anas's mother who was also the mother of `Abdullah bin Abu Talha, gave some date-palms to Allah' Apostle who gave them to his freed slave-girl (Um Aiman) who was also the mother of Usama bin Zaid. When the Prophet finished from the fighting against the people of Khaibar and returned to Medina, the emigrants returned to the Ansar the fruit gifts which the Ansar had given them. The Prophet also returned to Anas's mother the date-palms. Allah's Apostle gave Um Aiman other trees from his garden in lieu of the old gift.

Allah's Apostle addressed the people, and after praising and glorifying Allah, he said, "What do you suggest me regarding those people who are abusing my wife? I have never known anything bad about her." The sub-narrator, `Urwa, said: When `Aisha was told of the slander, she said, "O Allah's Apostle! Will you allow me to go to my parents' home?" He allowed her and sent a slave along with her. An Ansari man said, "Subhanaka! It is not right for us to speak about this. Subhanaka! This is a great lie!"

Two ladies (had a fight) and one of them hit the other with a stone on the `Abdomen and caused her to abort. The Prophet judged that the victim be given either a slave or a female slave (as blood-money). Narrated Ibn Shihab: Sa`id bin Al-Musayyab said, "Allah's Apostle judged that in case of child killed in the womb of its mother, the offender should give the mother a slave or a female slave in recompense The offender said, How can I be fined for killing one who neither ate nor drank, neither spoke nor cried: a case like that should be denied ' On that Allah's Apostle said 'He is one of the brothers of the foretellers

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."

There was revealed: 'Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and those who strive and fight in the Cause of Allah.' (4.95) The Prophet said, "Call Zaid for me and let him bring the board, the inkpot and the scapula bone (or the scapula bone and the ink pot)."' Then he said, "Write: 'Not equal are those Believers who sit..", and at that time `Amr bin Um Maktum, the blind man was sitting behind the Prophet . He said, "O Allah's Apostle! What is your order For me (as regards the above Verse) as I am a blind man?" So, instead of the above Verse, the following Verse was revealed: 'Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) except those who are disabled (by injury or are blind or lame etc.) and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah.' (4.95)

I saw Abu Dhar wearing a Burd (garment) and his slave too was wearing a Burd, so I said (to Abu Dhar), "If you take this (Burda of your slave) and wear it (along with yours), you will have a nice suit (costume) and you may give him another garment." Abu Dhar said, "There was a quarrel between me and another man whose mother was a non-Arab and I called her bad names. The man mentioned (complained about) me to the Prophet. The Prophet said, "Did you abuse so-and-so?" I said, "Yes" He said, "Did you call his mother bad names?" I said, "Yes". He said, "You still have the traits of (the Pre-lslamic period of) ignorance." I said. "(Do I still have ignorance) even now in my old age?" He said, "Yes, they (slaves or servants) are your brothers, and Allah has put them under your command. So the one under whose hand Allah has put his brother, should feed him of what he eats, and give him dresses of what he wears, and should not ask him to do a thing beyond his capacity. And if at all he asks him to do a hard task, he should help him therein."

The Prophet mentioned the Masih Ad-Dajjal in front of the people saying, Allah is not one-eyed while Masih Ad-Dajjal is blind in the right eye and his eye looks like a bulging out grape. While sleeping near the Ka`ba last night, I saw in my dream a man of brown color the best one can see amongst brown color and his hair was long that it fell between his shoulders. His hair was lank and water was dribbling from his head and he was placing his hands on the shoulders of two men while circumambulating the Ka`ba. I asked, 'Who is this?' They replied, 'This is Jesus, son of Mary.' Behind him I saw a man who had very curly hair and was blind in the right eye, resembling Ibn Qatan (i.e. an infidel) in appearance. He was placing his hands on the shoulders of a person while performing Tawaf around the Ka`ba. I asked, 'Who is this? 'They replied, 'The Masih, Ad-Dajjal.' "

There was an Ansari man called Abu Shu'aib who had a slave butcher. Abu Shu'aib said to him, "Prepare a meal sufficient for five persons so that I might invite the Prophet besides other four persons." Abu Shu'aib had seen the signs of hunger on the face of the Prophet and so he invited him. Another man who was not invited, followed the Prophet. The Prophet said to Abu Shu'aib, "This man has followed us. Do you allow him to share the meal?" Abu Shu'aib said, "Yes."

There was an Ansari man nicknamed, Abu Shu'aib, who had a slave who was a butcher. He came to the Prophet while he was sitting with his companions and noticed the signs of hunger on the face of the Prophet . So he went to his butcher slave and said, "Prepare for me a meal sufficient for five persons so that I may invite the Prophet along with four other men." He had the meal prepared for him and invited him. A (sixth) man followed them. The Prophet said, "O Abu Shu'aib! Another man has followed us. If you wish, you may invite him; and if you wish, you may refuse him." Abu Shu'aib said, "No, I will admit him."

A Jewess used to abuse the Prophet (saws) and disparage him. A man strangled her till she died. The Messenger of Allah (saws) declared that no recompense was payable for her blood.

That Aisha, the mother of the Believers, intended to buy a slave girl in order to manumit her. The slave girl's master said, "We are ready to sell her to you on the condition that her Wala should be for us." Aisha mentioned that to Allah's Apostle who said, "This (condition) should not prevent you from buying her, for the Wala is for the one who manumits (the slave)."

Allah's Apostle said, "Today I saw myself in a dream near the Ka`ba. I saw a whitish brown man, the handsomest of all brown men you might ever see. He had the most beautiful Limma (hair hanging down to the earlobes) you might ever see. He had combed it and it was dripping water; and he was performing the Tawaf around the Ka`ba leaning on two men or on the shoulders of two men. l asked, "Who is this?" It was said. "Messiah, the son of Mary." Suddenly I saw a curly-haired man, blind in the right eye which looked like a protruding out grape. I asked, "Who is this?" It was said, "He is Masiah Ad-Dajjal."

Allah's Apostle sat on the pulpit and said, "Allah has given one of His Slaves the choice of receiving the splendor and luxury of the worldly life whatever he likes or to accept the good (of the Hereafter) which is with Allah. So he has chosen that good which is with Allah." On that Abu Bakr wept and said, "Our fathers and mothers be sacrificed for you." We became astonished at this. The people said, "Look at this old man! Allah's Apostle talks about a Slave of Allah to whom He has given the option to choose either the splendor of this worldly life or the good which is with Him, while he says. 'our fathers and mothers be sacrifice(i for you." But it was Allah's Apostle who had been given option, and Abu Bakr knew it better than we. Allah's Apostle added, "No doubt, I am indebted to Abu Bakr more than to anybody else regarding both his companionship and his wealth. And if I had to take a Khalil from my followers, I would certainly have taken Abu Bakr, but the fraternity of Islam is. sufficient. Let no door (i.e. Khoukha) of the Mosque remain open, except the door of Abu Bakr."

The Prophet and one of his companions entered upon an Ansari man. The Prophet and his companion greeted (the man) and he replied, "O Allah's Apostle! Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you! It is hot," while he was watering his garden. The Prophet asked him, "If you have water kept overnight in a water skin, (give us), or else we will drink by putting our mouths in the basin." The man was watering the garden The man said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have water kept overnight in a water-skin. He went to the shade and poured some water into a bowl and milked some milk from a domestic goat in it. The Prophet drank and then gave the bowl to the man who had come along with him to drink.

I started abusing Hassan in front of `Aisha. She said, "Do not abuse him as he used to defend Allah's Apostle (against the infidels). `Aisha added, "Once Hassan took the permission from the Prophet to say poetic verses against the infidels. On that the Prophet said, 'How will you exclude my forefathers (from that)? Hassan replied, 'I will take you out of them as one takes a hair out of the dough." Hisham's father added, "I abused Hassan as he was one of those who spoke against `Aisha."

Malik related to me from Rabia ibn Abd ar-Rahman that az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam bought a slave and set him free. The slave had children by a free woman. When az-Zubayr freed him, he said, "They are my mawali." The man argued, "They are the mawali of their mother. Rather, they are our mawali." They took the dispute to Uthman ibn Affan, and Uthman gave a judgement that az-Zubayr had their wala'.

When there was said about me what was said which I myself was unaware of, Allah's Apostle got up and addressed the people. He recited Tashah-hud, and after glorifying and praising Allah as He deserved, he said, "To proceed: O people Give me your opinion regarding those people who made a forged story against my wife. By Allah, I do not know anything bad about her. By Allah, they accused her of being with a man about whom I have never known anything bad, and he never entered my house unless I was present there, and whenever I went on a journey, he went with me." Sa`d bin Mu`adh got up and said, "O Allah's Apostle Allow me to chop their heads off". Then a man from the Al-Khazraj (Sa`d bin 'Ubada) to whom the mother of (the poet) Hassan bin Thabit was a relative, got up and said (to Sa`d bin Mu`adh), "You have told a lie! By Allah, if those persons were from the Aus Tribe, you would not like to chop their heads off." It was probable that some evil would take place between the Aus and the Khazraj in the mosque, and I was unaware of all that. In the evening of that day, I went out for some of my needs (i.e. to relieve myself), and Um Mistah was accompanying me. On our return, Um Mistah stumbled and said, "Let Mistah. be ruined" I said to her, "O mother Why do you abuse your Son" On that Um Mistah became silent for a while, and stumbling again, she said, "Let Mistah be ruined" I said to her, "Why do you abuse your son?" She stumbled for the third time and said, "Let Mistah be ruined" whereupon I rebuked her for that. She said, "By Allah, I do not abuse him except because of you." I asked her, "Concerning what of my affairs?" So she disclosed the whole story to me. I said, "Has this really happened?" She replied, "Yes, by Allah." I returned to my house, astonished (and distressed) that I did not know for what purpose I had gone out. Then I became sick (fever) and said to Allah's Apostle "Send me to my father's house." So he sent a slave with me, and when I entered the house, I found Um Rum-an (my mother) downstairs while (my father) Abu Bakr was reciting something upstairs. My mother asked, "What has brought you, O (my) daughter?" I informed her and mentioned to her the whole story, but she did not feel it as I did. She said, "O my daughter! Take it easy, for there is never a charming lady loved by her husband who has other wives but that they feel jealous of her and speak badly of her." But she did not feel the news as I did. I asked (her), "Does my father know about it?" She said, "yes" I asked, Does Allah's Apostle know about it too?" She said, "Yes, Allah's Apostle does too." So the tears filled my eyes and I wept. Abu Bakr, who was reading upstairs heard my voice and came down and asked my mother, "What is the matter with her? " She said, "She has heard what has been said about her (as regards the story of Al-lfk)." On that Abu- Bakr wept and said, "I beseech you by Allah, O my daughter, to go back to your home". I went back to my home and Allah's Apostle had come to my house and asked my maid-servant about me (my character). The maid-servant said, "By Allah, I do not know of any defect in her character except that she sleeps and let the sheep enter (her house) and eat her dough." On that, some of the Prophet's companions spoke harshly to her and said, "Tell the truth to Allah's Apostle." Finally they told her of the affair (of the slander). She said, "Subhan Allah! By Allah, I know nothing against her except what goldsmith knows about a piece of pure gold." Then this news reached the man who was accused, and he said, "Subhan Allah! By Allah, I have never uncovered the private parts of any woman." Later that man was martyred in Allah's Cause. Next morning my parents came to pay me a visit and they stayed with me till Allah's Apostle came to me after he had offered the `Asr prayer. He came to me while my parents were sitting around me on my right and my left. He praised and glorified Allah and said, "Now then O `Aisha! If you have committed a bad deed or you have wronged (yourself), then repent to Allah as Allah accepts the repentance from his slaves." An Al-Ansari woman had come and was sitting near the gate. I said (to the Prophet). "Isn't it improper that you speak in such a way in the presence of this lady? Allah's Apostle then gave a piece of advice and I turned to my father and requested him to answer him (on my behalf). My father said, "What should I say?" Then I turned to my mother and asked her to answer him. She said, "What should I say?" When my parents did not give a reply to the Prophet, I said, "I testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, and that Muhammad is His Apostle!" And after praising and glorifying Allah as He deserves, I said, "Now then, by Allah, if I were to tell you that I have not done (this evil action) and Allah is a witness that I am telling the truth, that would not be of any use to me on your part because you (people) have spoken about it and your hearts have absorbed it; and if I were to tell you that I have done this sin and Allah knows that I have not done it, then you will say, 'She has confessed herself guilty." By Allah, 'I do not see a suitable example for me and you but the example of (I tried to remember Jacob's name but couldn't) Joseph's father when he said; So (for me) "Patience is most fitting against that which you assert. It is Allah (alone) whose help can be sought.' At that very hour the Divine Inspiration came to Allah's Apostle and we remained silent. Then the Inspiration was over and I noticed the signs of happiness on his face while he was removing (the sweat) from his forehead and saying, "Have the good tidings O ' "Aisha! Allah has revealed your innocence." At that time I was extremely angry. My parents said to me. "Get up and go to him." I said, "By Allah, I will not do it and will not thank him nor thank either of you, but I will thank Allah Who has revealed my innocence. You have heard this story but neither did not deny it nor change it (to defend me)," (Aisha used to say:) "But as regards Zainab bint Jahsh, (the Prophet's wife), Allah protected her because of her piety, so she did not say anything except good (about me), but her sister, Hamna, was ruined among those who were ruined. Those who used to speak evil about me were Mistah, Hassan bin Thabit, and the hypocrite, `Abdullah bin Ubai, who used to spread that news and tempt others to speak of it, and it was he and Hamna who had the greater share therein. Abu Bakr took an oath that he would never do any favor to Mistah at all. Then Allah revealed the Divine Verse: "Let not those among you who are good and wealthy (i.e. Abu Bakr) swear not to give (any sort of help) to their kinsmen, and those in need, (i.e. Mistah) ...Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (24.22) On that, Abu Bakr said, "Yes, by Allah, O our Lord! We wish that You should forgive us." So Abu Bakr again started giving to Mistah the expenditure which he used to give him before.

A man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Who is more entitled to be treated with the best companionship by me?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man said. "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man further said, "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man asked for the fourth time, "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your father. "

Hassan came to Aisha and said the following poetic Verse: 'A chaste pious woman who arouses no suspicion. She never talks against chaste heedless women behind their backs.' `Aisha said, "But you are not," I said (to `Aisha), "Why do you allow such a person to enter upon you after Allah has revealed: "...and as for him among them who had the greater share therein'?" (24.11) She said, "What punishment is worse than blindness?" She added, "And he used to defend Allah's Apostle against the pagans (in his poetry).

Allah's Apostle said, "I saw myself (in a dream) near the Ka`ba last night, and I saw a man with whitish red complexion, the best you may see amongst men of that complexion having long hair reaching his earlobes which was the best hair of its sort, and he had combed his hair and water was dropping from it, and he was performing the Tawaf around the Ka`ba while he was leaning on two men or on the shoulders of two men. I asked, 'Who is this man?' Somebody replied, '(He is) Messiah, son of Mary.' Then I saw another man with very curly hair, blind in the right eye which looked like a protruding out grape. I asked, 'Who is this?' Somebody replied, '(He is) Messiah, Ad-Dajjal.'"

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Abdullah ibn Qusayt from Muhammad ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Thawban from his mother that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered that the skins of carrion be used after they had been tanned.

Malik said, "The best of what is heard about a slave-girl whom a man has intercourse with while he has a partner in her is that the hadd is not inflicted on him and the child is connected to him. When the slave-girl becomes pregnant, her value is estimated and he gives his partners their shares of the price and the slave-girl is his. That is what is done among us."

Malik said about a man who made his slave-girl halal to a man that if the one for whom she was made halal had intercourse with her, her value was estimated on the day he had intercourse with her and he owed that to her owner whether or not she conceived. The hadd was averted from him by that. If she conceived the child was connected to him.

Malik said about a man who had intercourse with his son's or daughter's slave-girl, "The hadd is averted from him and he owes the estimated value of the slave-girl whether or not she conceives."

`Itban bin Malik used to lead his people (tribe) in prayer and was a blind man, he said to Allah's Apostle , "O Allah's Apostle! At times it is dark and flood water is flowing (in the valley) and I am blind man, so please pray at a place in my house so that I can take it as a Musalla (praying place)." So Allah's Apostle went to his house and said, "Where do you like me to pray?" 'Itban pointed to a place in his house and Allah's Apostle, offered the prayer there.

The Prophet was not one who would abuse (others) or say obscene words, or curse (others), and if he wanted to admonish anyone of us, he used to say: "What is wrong with him, his forehead be dusted!"

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Zayd ibn Thabit asked whether it was halal for a man who married a woman and then separated from her before he had cohabited with her, to marry her mother. Zayd ibn Thabit said, "No. The mother is prohibited unconditionally. There are conditions, however about foster-mothers."

If he was a child of a slave-woman whom the father did not possess or of a free woman with whom he had illicit intercourse, he was not joined to the heirs and did not inherit even if the one to whom he was attributed is the one who claimed paternity, since he was a child of fornication whether his mother was free or a slave.

I was with the Messenger of Allah (saws) while Maymunah was with him. Then Ibn Umm Maktum came. This happened when we were ordered to observe veil (purdah). The Prophet (saws) said: Observe veil from him. We asked: Messenger of Allah! is he not blind? He can neither see us nor recognise us. The Prophet (saws) said: Are both of you blind? Do you not see him? AbuDawud said: This was peculiar to the wives of the Prophet (saws). Do you not see that Fatimah daughter of Qays passed her waiting period with Ibn Umm Maktum. The Prophet (saws) said to Fatimah daughter of Qays: Pass your waiting period with Ibn Umm Maktum, for he is a blind man. You can put off your clothes with him.

Allah's Apostle said, "There was an Israeli man called Juraij, while he was praying, his mother came and called him, but he did not respond to her call. He said (to himself) whether he should continue the prayer or reply to his mother. She came to him the second time and called him and said, "O Allah! Do not let him die until he sees the faces of prostitutes." Juraij used to live in a hermitage. A woman said that she would entice Juraij, so she went to him and presented herself (for an evil act) but he refused. She then went to a shepherd and allowed him to commit an illegal sexual intercourse with her and later she gave birth to a boy. She alleged that the baby was from Juraij. The people went to Juraij and broke down his hermitage, pulled him out of it and abused him. He performed ablution and offered the prayer, then he went to the male (baby) and asked him; "O boy! Who is your father?" The baby replied that his father was the shepherd. The people said that they would build for him a hermitage of gold but Juraij asked them to make it of mud only."

Jabir said: An Ansari man made his slave a Mudabbar and he had no other property than him. When the Prophet heard of that, he said (to his companions), "Who wants to buy him (i.e., the slave) for me?" Nu'aim bin An-Nahham bought him for eight hundred Dirhams. I heard Jabir saying, "That was a coptic slave who died in the same year."

When the Verse:--"Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home)," (4.95) was revealed, the Prophet said, "Call so-and-so." That person came to him with an ink-pot and a wooden board or a shoulder scapula bone. The Prophet said (to him), "Write: 'Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and those who strive and fight in the Cause of Allah." Ibn Um Maktum who was sitting behind the Prophet then said, "O Allah's Apostle! I am a blind man." So there was revealed in the place of that Verse, the Verse:--"Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home) except those who are disabled (by injury, or are blind or lame etc.) and those who strive and fight in the Cause of Allah." (4.95)

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'r-Rijal, Muhammad ibn Abdar-Rahman ibn Haritha that his mother, Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman used to sell her fruit and keep some of it aside.

Malik said, "The generally agreed upon way of doing things among us is that when a man sells the fruit of his orchard, he can keep aside up to a third of the fruit, but that is not to be exceeded. There is no harm in what is less than a third."

Malik added that he thought there was no harm for a man to sell the fruit of his orchard and keep aside only the fruit of a certain palm-tree or palm-trees which he had chosen and whose number he had specified, because the owner was only keeping aside certain fruit of his own orchard and everything else he sold.

that he heard Allah's Apostle saying, "Allah willed to test three Israelis who were a Leper, a blind man and a bald-headed man. So, he sent them an angel who came to the leper and said, 'What thing do you like most?' He replied, 'Good color and good skin, for the people have a strong aversion to me.' The angel touched him and his illness was cured, and he was given a good color and beautiful skin. The angel asked him, 'What kind of property do you like best?' He replied, 'Camels (or cows).' (The narrator is in doubt, for either the leper or the bald-headed man demanded camels and the other demanded cows). So he (i.e. the leper) was given a pregnant she-camel, and the angel said (to him), 'May Allah bless you in it.' The angel then went to the bald-headed man and said, 'What thing do you like most?' He said, 'I like good hair and wish to be cured of this disease, for the people feel repulsion for me.' The angel touched him and his illness was cured, and he was given good hair. The angel asked (him), 'What kind of property do you like best?' He replied, 'Cows,' The angel gave him a pregnant cow and said, 'May Allah bless you in it.' The angel went to the blind man and asked, 'What thing do you like best?' He said, '(I like) that Allah may restore my eye-sight to me so that I may see the people.' The angel touched his eyes and Allah gave him back his eye-sight. The angel asked him, 'What kind of property do you like best?' He replied, 'Sheep.' The angel gave him a pregnant sheep. Afterwards, all the three pregnant animals gave birth to young ones, and multiplied and brought forth so much that one of the (three) men had a herd of camels filling a valley, and one had a herd of cows filling a valley, and one had a flock of sheep filling a valley. Then the angel, disguised in the shape and appearance of a leper, went to the leper and said, I am a poor man, who has lost all means of livelihood while on a journey. So none will satisfy my need except Allah and then you. In the Name of Him Who has given you such nice color and beautiful skin, and so much property, I ask you to give me a camel so that I may reach my destination. The man replied, 'I have many obligations (so I cannot give you).' The angel said, 'I think I know you; were you not a leper to whom the people had a strong aversion? Weren't you a poor man, and then Allah gave you (all this property).' He replied, '(This is all wrong), I got this property through inheritance from my fore-fathers.' The angel said, 'If you are telling a lie, then let Allah make you as you were before. ' Then the angel, disguised in the shape and appearance of a bald man, went to the bald man and said to him the same as he told the first one, and he too answered the same as the first one did. The angel said, 'If you are telling a lie, then let Allah make you as you were before.' The angel, disguised in the shape of a blind man, went to the blind man and said, 'I am a poor man and a traveler, whose means of livelihood have been exhausted while on a journey. I have nobody to help me except Allah, and after Him, you yourself. I ask you in the Name of Him Who has given you back your eye-sight to give me a sheep, so that with its help, I may complete my journey.' The man said, 'No doubt, I was blind and Allah gave me back my eye-sight; I was poor and Allah made me rich; so take anything you wish from my property. By Allah, I will not stop you for taking anything (you need) of my property which you may take for Allah's sake.' The angel replied, 'Keep your property with you. You (i.e the three men) have been tested, and Allah is pleased with you and is angry with your two companions."

The Prophet said, "None spoke in cradle but three: (The first was) Jesus, (the second was), there a man from Bani Israel called Juraij. While he was offering his prayers, his mother came and called him. He said (to himself), 'Shall I answer her or keep on praying?" (He went on praying) and did not answer her, his mother said, "O Allah! Do not let him die till he sees the faces of prostitutes." So while he was in his hermitage, a lady came and sought to seduce him, but he refused. So she went to a shepherd and presented herself to him to commit illegal sexual intercourse with her and then later she gave birth to a child and claimed that it belonged to Juraij. The people, therefore, came to him and dismantled his hermitage and expelled him out of it and abused him. Juraij performed the ablution and offered prayer, and then came to the child and said, 'O child! Who is your father?' The child replied, 'The shepherd.' (After hearing this) the people said, 'We shall rebuild your hermitage of gold,' but he said, 'No, of nothing but mud.'(The third was the hero of the following story) A lady from Bani Israel was nursing her child at her breast when a handsome rider passed by her. She said, 'O Allah ! Make my child like him.' On that the child left her breast, and facing the rider said, 'O Allah! Do not make me like him.' The child then started to suck her breast again. (Abu Huraira further said, "As if I were now looking at the Prophet sucking his finger (in way of demonstration.") After a while the people passed by, with a lady slave and she (i.e. the child's mother) said, 'O Allah! Do not make my child like this (slave girl)!, On that the child left her breast and said, 'O Allah! Make me like her.' When she asked why, the child replied, 'The rider is one of the tyrants while this slave girl is falsely accused of theft and illegal sexual intercourse."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) sent an army to Banu al-Anbar. They captured them at Rukbah in the suburbs of at-Ta'if and drove them to the Holy Prophet (saws).

I rode hurriedly to the Holy Prophet (saws) and said: Peace be on you, Messenger of Allah, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Your contingent came to us and arrested us, but we had already embraced Islam and cut the sides of the ears of our cattle.

When Banu al-Anbar arrived, the Holy Prophet (saws) said to me: Have you any evidence that you had embraced Islam before you were captured today?

I said: Yes. He said: Who is your witness? I said: Samurah, a man from Banu al-Anbar, and another man whom he named. The man testified but Samurah refused to testify. The Holy Prophet (saws) said: He (Samurah) has refused to testify for you, so take an oath with your other witness. I said: Yes. He then dictated an oath to me and I swore to the effect that we had embraced Islam on a certain day, and that we had cut the sides of the ears of the cattle.

The Holy Prophet (saws) said: Go and divide half of their property, but do not touch their children. Had Allah not disliked the wastage of action, we should not have taxed you even a rope.

Zubayb said: My mother called me and said: This man has taken my mattress. I then went to the Holy Prophet (saws) and informed him.

He said to me: Detain him. So I caught him with a garment around his neck, and stood there with him . Then the Holy Prophet (saws) looked at us standing there. He asked: What do you intend (doing) with your captive?

I said: I shall let him go free if he returns to this (man) the mattress of his mother which he has taken from her.

He said: Prophet of Allah (saws), I no longer have it.

He said: The Holy Prophet (saws) took the sword of the man and gave it to me, and said to him: Go and give him some sa's of cereal. So he gave me some sa's of barley.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Salim ibn Abdullah that Abdullah ibn Umar sold one of his slaves for eight hundred dirhams with the stipulation that he was not responsible for defects. The person who bought the slave complained to Abdullah ibn Umar that the slave had a disease which he had not told him about. They argued and went to Uthman ibn Affan for a decision . The man said, "He sold me a slave with a disease which he did not tell me about." Abdullah said, "I sold to him with the stipulation that I was not responsible." Uthman ibn Affan decided that Abdullah ibn Umar should take an oath that he had sold the slave without knowing that he had any disease. Abdullah ibn Umar refused to take the oath, so the slave was returned to him and recovered his health in his possession. Abdullah sold him afterwards for 1500 dirhams.

Malik said, "The generally agreed upon way of doing things among us about a man who buys a female slave and she becomes pregnant, or who buys a slave and then frees him, or if there is any other such matter which has already happened so that he cannot return his purchase, and a clear proof is established that there was a fault in that purchase when it was in the hands of the seller or the fault is admitted by the seller or someone else, is that the slave or slave-girl is assessed for its value with the fault it is found to have had on the day of purchase and the buyer is refunded,from what he paid,the difference between the price of a slave who is sound and a slave with such a defect.

Malik said, "The generally agreed upon way of doing things among us regarding a man who buys a slave and then finds out that the slave has a defect for which he can be returned and meanwhile another defect has happened to the slave whilst in his possession, is that if the defect which occurred to the slave in his possession has harmed him, like loss of a limb, loss of an eye, or something similar, then he has a choice. If he wants, he can have the price of the slave reduced commensurate with the defect (he bought him with ) according to the prices on the day he bought him, or if he likes, he can pay compensation for the defect which the slave has suffered in his possession and return him. The choice is up to him. If the slave dies in his possession, the slave is valued with the defect which he had on the day of his purchase. It is seen what his price would really have been. If the price of the slave on the day of purchase without fault was 100 dinars, and his price on the day of purchase with fault would have been 80 dinars, the price is reduced by the difference. These prices are assessed according to the market value on the day the slave was purchased . "

Malik said, "The generally agreed upon way of doing things among us is that if a man returns a slave girl in whom he has found a defect and he has already had intercourse with her, he must pay what he has reduced of her price if she was a virgin. If she was not a virgin, there is nothing against his having had intercourse with her because he had charge of her."

Malik said, "The generally agreed upon way of doing things among us regarding a person, whether he is an inheritor or not, who sells a slave, slave-girl, or animal without a liability agreement is that he is not responsible for any defect in what he sold unless he knew about the fault and concealed it. If he knew that there was a fault and concealed it, his declaration that he was free of responsibility does not absolve him, and what he sold is returned to him."

Malik spoke about a situation where a slave-girl was bartered for two other slave-girls and then one of the slave-girls was found to have a defect for which she could be returned. He said, "The slave-girl worth two other slave- girls is valued for her price. Then the other two slave-girls are valued, ignoring the defect which the one of them has. Then the price of the slave-girl sold for two slave-girls is divided between them according to their prices so that the proportion of each of them in her price is arrived at - to the higher priced one according to her higher price, and to the other according to her value. Then one looks at the one with the defect, and the buyer is refunded according to the amount her share is affected by the defect, be it little or great. The price of the two slave-girls is based on their market value on the day that they were bought."

Malik spoke about a man who bought a slave and hired him out on a long-term or short-term basis and then found out that the slave had a defect which necessitated his return. He said that if the man returned the slave because of the defect, he kept the hire and revenue. "This is the way in which things are done in our city. That is because, had the man bought a slave who then built a house for him, and the value of the house was many times the price of the slave, and he then found that the slave had a defect for which he could be returned, and he was returned, he would not have to make payment for the work the slave had done for him. Similarly, he would keep any revenue from hiring him out, because he had charge of him. This is the way of doing things among us."

Malik said, "The way of doing things among us when someone buys several slaves in one lot and then finds that one of them has been stolen, or has a defect, is that he looks at the one he finds has been stolen or the one in which he finds a defect. If he is the pick of those slaves, or the most expensive, or it was for his sake that he bought them, or he is the one in whom people see the most excellence, then the whole sale is returned. If the one who is found to be stolen or to have a defect is not the pick of the slaves, and he did not buy them for his sake, and there is no special virtue which people see in him, the one who is found to have a defect or to have been stolen is returned as he is, and the buyer is refunded his portion of the total price."

There was a man called Abu Shu'aib, and he had a slave who was a butcher. He said (to his slave), "Prepare a meal to which I may invite Allah's Apostle along with four other men." So he invited Allah's Apostle and four other men, but another man followed them whereupon the Prophet said, "You have invited me as one of five guests, but now another man has followed us. If you wish you can admit him, and if you wish you can refuse him." On that the host said, "But I admit him." Narrated Muhammad bin Isma`il: If guests are sitting at a dining table, they do not have the right to carry food from other tables to theirs, but they can pass on food from their own table to each other; otherwise they should leave it.

While we were on one of our journeys, we dismounted at a place where a slave girl came and said, "The chief of this tribe has been stung by a scorpion and our men are not present; is there anybody among you who can treat him (by reciting something)?" Then one of our men went along with her though we did not think that he knew any such treatment. But he treated the chief by reciting something, and the sick man recovered whereupon he gave him thirty sheep and gave us milk to drink (as a reward). When he returned, we asked our friend, "Did you know how to treat with the recitation of something?" He said, "No, but I treated him only with the recitation of the Mother of the Book (i.e., Al-Fatiha)." We said, "Do not say anything (about it) till we reach or ask the Prophet so when we reached Medina, we mentioned that to the Prophet (in order to know whether the sheep which we had taken were lawful to take or not). The Prophet said, "How did he come to know that it (Al-Fatiha) could be used for treatment? Distribute your reward and assign for me one share thereof as well."

Two men had a dispute in the presence of Allah's Apostle. One of them said, "Judge us according to Allah's Laws." The other who was more wise said, "Yes, Allah's Apostle, judge us according to Allah's Laws and allow me to speak (first)" The Prophet said to him, 'Speak " He said, "My son was a laborer for this man, and he committed illegal sexual intercourse with his wife, and the people told me that my son should be stoned to death, but I have given one-hundred sheep and a slave girl as a ransom (expiation) for my son's sin. Then I asked the religious learned people (about It), and they told me that my son should he flogged one-hundred stripes and should be exiled for one year, and only the wife of this man should be stoned to death " Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, I will judge you according to Allah's Laws: O man, as for your sheep and slave girl, they are to be returned to you." Then the Prophet had the man's son flogged one hundred stripes and exiled for one year, and ordered Unais Al-Aslami to go to the wife of the other man, and if she confessed, stone her to death. She confessed and was stoned to death.

Two men abused each other in front of the Prophet while we were sitting with him. One of the two abused his companion furiously and his face became red. The Prophet said, "I know a word (sentence) the saying of which will cause him to relax if this man says it. Only if he said, "I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the outcast.' " So they said to that (furious) man, 'Don't you hear what the Prophet is saying?" He said, "I am not mad."

The Prophet (saws) said: Sadaqah may not be given to a rich man or to one who has strength and is sound in limbs.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been transmitted by Sufyan from Sa'd bin Ibrahim like the tradition narrated by Ibrahim. The version of Shu'bah from Sa'd has: "for a man who has strength and is robust." The other version of this tradition from the Prophet (saws) have the words "for a man who has strength and is robust." Others have "for a man who has strength and is sound in limbs." 'Ata bin Zuhair said that he had met 'Abd Allah bin 'Amr who said: "Sadaqah is not lawful for a strong man nor for a man who has strength and is sound in limbs."

When the Verse:-- "Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home)" (4.95) was revealed, Allah Apostle called for Zaid who wrote it. In the meantime Ibn Um Maktum came and complained of his blindness, so Allah revealed: "Except those who are disabled (by injury or are blind or lame..." etc.) (4.95)