The Messenger of Allah (saws) sent me to the Yemen as judge, and I asked: Messenger of Allah, are you sending me when I am young and have no knowledge of the duties of a judge? He replied: Allah will guide your heart and keep your tongue true. When two litigants sit in front of you, do not decide till you hear what the other has to say as you heard what the first had to say; for it is best that you should have a clear idea of the best decision. He said: I had been a judge (for long); or he said (the narrator is doubtful): I have no doubts about a decision afterwards.

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "What is wrong with men who give their sons gifts and then keep them and if the son dies, they say, 'My property is in my possession and I did not give it to anyone.' But if they themselves are dying, they say, 'It belongs to my son, I gave it to him.' Whoever gives a gift, and does not hand it over to the one to whom it was given, the gift is invalid, and if he dies it belongs to the heirs in general."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that one time the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was speaking to Umar ibn al-Khattab while he was travelling with a troop and Umar swore by his father and he (the Messenger) said, "Allah forbids you to swear by your fathers. If anyone swears, let him swear by Allah or keep silent."

Abu Sufyan bin Abu Zuhair, a man from Azd Shanu'a and one of the companions of the Prophet said, "I heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'If one keeps a dog which is meant for guarding neither a farm nor cattle, one Qirat of the reward of his good deeds is deducted daily." I said, "Did you hear this from Allah's Apostle?" He said, "Yes, by the Lord of this Mosque."

The Prophet said, "May Allah be merciful to the mother of Ishmael! If she had left the water of Zamzam (fountain) as it was, (without constructing a basin for keeping the water), (or said, "If she had not taken handfuls of its water"), it would have been a flowing stream. Jurhum (an Arab tribe) came and asked her, 'May we settle at your dwelling?' She said, 'Yes, but you have no right to possess the water.' They agreed."

The Prophet said, "Allah created His creation, and when He had finished it, the womb, got up and caught hold of Allah whereupon Allah said, "What is the matter?' On that, it said, 'I seek refuge with you from those who sever the ties of Kith and kin.' On that Allah said, 'Will you be satisfied if I bestow My favors on him who keeps your ties, and withhold My favors from him who severs your ties?' On that it said, 'Yes, O my Lord!' Then Allah said, 'That is for you.' " Abu Huraira added: If you wish, you can recite: "Would you then if you were given the authority. do mischief in the land and sever your ties of kinship. (47. 22)

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "When a faithful believer is made to sit in his grave, then (the angels) come to him and he testifies that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's Apostle. And that corresponds to Allah's statement: Allah will keep firm those who believe with the word that stands firm . . . (14.27).

Narrated Shu'ba:

Same as above and added, "Allah will keep firm those who believe . . . (14.27) was revealed concerning the punishment of the grave."

The Prophet said, "Don't keep camels and sheep unmilked for a long time, for whoever buys such an animal has the option to milk it and then either to keep it or return it to the owner along with one Sa of dates." Some narrated from Ibn Seereen (that the Prophet had said), "One Sa of wheat, and he has the option for three days." And some narrated from Ibn Seereen, " ... a Sa of dates," not mentioning the option for three days. But a Sa of dates is mentioned in most narrations.

Abu Dawud said: His word "And keep silence" is not guarded; it has been narrated by Sulaiman al-Taimi alone in his version.

I participated in a Ghazwa along with Allah's Apostle The Prophet met me (on the way) while I was riding a camel of ours used for irrigation and it had got so tired that it could hardly walk. The Prophet asked me, "What is wrong with the camel?" I replied, "It has got tired." So. Allah's Apostle came from behind it and rebuked it and prayed for it so it started surpassing the other camels and going ahead of them. Then he asked me, "How do you find your camel (now)?" I replied, "I find it quite well, now as it has received your blessings." He said, "Will you sell it to me?" I felt shy (to refuse his offer) though it was the only camel for irrigation we had. So, I said, "Yes." He said, "Sell it to me then." I sold it to him on the condition that I should keep on riding it till I reached Medina. Then I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I am a bridegroom," and requested him to allow me to go home. He allowed me, and I set out for Medina before the people till I reached Medina, where I met my uncle, who asked me about the camel and I informed him all about it and he blamed me for that. When I took the permission of Allah's Apostle he asked me whether I had married a virgin or a matron and I replied that I had married a matron. He said, "Why hadn't you married a virgin who would have played with you, and you would have played with her?" I replied, "O Allah's Apostle! My father died (or was martyred) and I have some young sisters, so I felt it not proper that I should marry a young girl like them who would neither teach them manners nor serve them. So, I have married a matron so that she may serve them and teach them manners." When Allah's Apostle arrived in Medina, I took the camel to him the next morning and he gave me its price and gave me the camel itself as well.

In the hadith transmitted on the authority of Yahya, he (the Holy Prophet) permitted the keeping of dogs for (the protection of) herds, for hunting and (the protection of) cultivated land.

Jabir said, "The Prophet ordered `Ali to keep on assuming his Ihram." The narrator then informed about the narration of Suraqa.

Abu Bakr went to a lady from the Ahmas tribe called Zainab bint Al-Muhajir and found that she refused to speak. He asked, "Why does she not speak." The people said, "She has intended to perform Hajj without speaking." He said to her, "Speak, for it is illegal not to speak, as it is an action of the pre-islamic period of ignorance. So she spoke and said, "Who are you?" He said, "A man from the Emigrants." She asked, "Which Emigrants?" He replied, "From Quraish." She asked, "From what branch of Quraish are you?" He said, "You ask too many questions; I am Abu Bakr." She said, "How long shall we enjoy this good order (i.e. Islamic religion) which Allah has brought after the period of ignorance?" He said, "You will enjoy it as long as your Imams keep on abiding by its rules and regulations." She asked, "What are the Imams?" He said, "Were there not heads and chiefs of your nation who used to order the people and they used to obey them?" She said, "Yes." He said, "So they (i.e. the Imams) are those whom I meant."

I married a woman and then a black lady came to us and said, "I have suckled you both (you and your wife)." So I came to the Prophet and said, "I married so-and-so and then a black lady came to us and said to me, 'I have suckled both of you.' But I think she is a liar." The Prophet turned his face away from me and I moved to face his face, and said, "She is a liar." The Prophet said, "How (can you keep her as your wife) when that lady has said that she has suckled both of you? So abandon (i.e., divorce) her (your wife).

There was a dispute amongst the people of the tribe of Bani `Amr bin `Auf. The Prophet went to them along with some of his companions in order to make peace between them. The time for the prayer became due but the Prophet did not turn up; Bilal pronounced the Adhan (i.e. call) for the prayer but the Prophet did not turn up, so Bilal went to Abu Bakr and said, "The time for the prayer is due and the Prophet i detained, would you lead the people in the prayer?" Abu Bakr replied, "Yes, you wish." So, Bilal pronounced the Iqama of the prayer and Abu Bakr went ahead (to lead the prayer), but the Prophet came walking among the rows till he joined the first row. The people started clapping and they clapped too much, and Abu Bakr used not to look hither and thither in the prayer, but he turned round and saw the Prophet standing behind him. The Prophet beckoned him with his hand to keep on praying where he was. Abu Bakr raised his hand and praised Allah and then retreated till he came in the (first) row, and the Prophet went ahead and lead the people in the prayer. When the Prophet finished the prayer, he turned towards the people and said, "O people! When something happens to you during the prayer, you start clapping. Really clapping is (permissible) for women only. If something happens to one of you in his prayer, he should say: 'Subhan Allah', (Glorified be Allah), for whoever hears him (saying so) will direct his attention towards him. O Abu Bakr! What prevented you from leading the people in the prayer when I beckoned to you (to continue)?" Abu Bakr replied, "It did not befit the son of Abu Quhafa to lead the prayer in front of the Prophet.

That a woman of Banu Asad: One day I was with Zaynab, the wife of the Messenger of Allah (saws), and we were dyeing her clothes with red ochre. In the meantime the Messenger of Allah (saws) peeped us. When he saw the red ochre, he returned. When Zaynab saw this, she realised that the Messenger of Allah (saws) disapproved of what she had done. She then took and washed her clothes and concealed all redness. The Messenger of Allah (saws) then returned and peeped, and when he did not see anything, he entered.

from the black thread." was revealed, but: '... of dawn' was not revealed (along with it) so some men, when intending to fast, used to tie their legs, one with white thread and the other with black thread and would keep on eating till they could distinguish one thread from the other. Then Allah revealed' ... of dawn,' whereupon they understood that meant the night and the day.

I saw `Abdullah bin `Umar crossing his legs while sitting in the prayer and I, a mere youngster in those days, did the same. Ibn `Umar forbade me to do so, and said, "The proper way is to keep the right foot propped up and bend the left in the prayer." I said questioningly, "But you are doing so (crossing the legs)." He said, "My feet cannot bear my weight."

We proceeded with the Messenger of Allah (saws) on the occasion of al-Hudaybiyyah. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Who will keep watch for us? Bilal said: I (shall do). The overslept till the sun arose. The Prophet (saws) awoke and said: Do as you used to do (i.e. offer prayer as usual). Then we did accordingly. He said: Anyone who oversleeps or forgets (prayer) should do similarly.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim that Abdullah ibn Umar told him that he used to see Abdullah ibn Umar cross his legs in the sitting position of the prayer.He said, "So I did the same, and I was young at the time. Abdullah ibn Umar forbade me and said, 'The sunna of the prayer is that you keep your right foot vertical and lay your left foot down.' I said to him, 'But you do the same (as I did).' He said, 'My feet do not support me.' "

`Ali came to the Prophet (p.b.u.h) from Yemen (to Mecca). The Prophet asked `Ali, "With what intention have you assumed Ihram?" `Ali replied, "I have assumed Ihram with the same intention as that of the Prophet." The Prophet said, "If I had not the Hadi with me I would have finished the Ihram." Muhammad bin Bakr narrated extra from Ibn Juraij, "The Prophet said to `Ali, "With what intention have you assumed the Ihram, O `Ali?" He replied, "With the same (intention) as that of the Prophet." The Prophet said, "Have a Hadi and keep your Ihram as it is."

While a man was delivering a speech in the tribe of Kinda, he said, "Smoke will prevail on the Day of Resurrection and will deprive the hypocrites their faculties of hearing and seeing. The believers will be afflicted with something like cold only thereof." That news scared us, so I went to (Abdullah) Ibn Mas`ud while he was reclining (and told him the story) whereupon he became angry, sat up and said, "He who knows a thing can say, it, but if he does not know, he should say, 'Allah knows best,' for it is an aspect of knowledge to say, 'I do not know,' if you do not know a certain thing. Allah said to His prophet. 'Say (O Muhammad): No wage do I ask of you for this (Qur'an), nor I am one of the pretenders (a person who pretends things which do not exist.)' (38.86) The Qur'aish delayed in embracing Islam for a period, so the Prophet invoked evil on them, saying, 'O Allah! Help me against them by sending seven years of (famine) like those of Joseph.' So they were afflicted with such a severe year of famine that they were destroyed therein and ate dead animals and bones. They started seeing something like smoke between the sky and the earth (because of severe hunger). Abu Sufyan then came (to the Prophet) and said, "O Muhammad! You came to order us for to keep good relations with Kith and kin, and your kinsmen have now perished, so please invoke Allah (to relieve them).' Then Ibn Mas`ud recited:-- 'Then watch you for the day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible....but truly you will return! (to disbelief) (44.10-15) Ibn Mas`ud added, Then the punishment was stopped, but truly, they reverted to heathenism (their old way). So Allah (threatened them thus): 'On the day when we shall seize you with a mighty grasp.' (44.16) And that was the day of the Battle of Badr. Allah's saying- "Lizama" (the punishment) refers to the day of Badr Allah's Statement: Alif-Lam-Mim, the Romans have been defeated, and they, after their defeat, will be victorious,' (30.1- 3) (This verse): Indicates that the defeat of Byzantine has already passed.

We were with the Prophet in a funeral procession, and he started scraping the ground with a small stick and said, "There is none amongst you but has been assigned a place (either) in Paradise and (or) in the Hell-Fire." The people said (to him), "Should we not depend upon it?" He said: carry on doing (good) deeds, for everybody will find easy such deeds as will lead him to his destined place. He then recited: "As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah.." (92.5)

`Uqba married the daughter of Abu Ihab bin `Aziz, and then a woman came and said, "I suckled `Uqba and his wife." `Uqba said to her, "I do not know that you have suckled me, and you did not inform me." He then sent someone to the house of Abu Ihab to inquire about that but they did not know that she had suckled their daughter. Then `Uqba went to the Prophet in Medina and asked him about it. The Prophet said to him, "How (can you keep your wife) after it has been said (that both of you were suckled by the same woman)?" So, he divorced her and she was married to another (husband).

Amr ibn Uqaysh had given usurious loans in pre-Islamic period; so he disliked to embrace Islam until he took them. He came on the day of Uhud and asked: Where are my cousins? They (the people) replied: At Uhud. He asked: Where is so-and-so? They said: At Uhud. He asked: Where is so-and-so? They said: At Uhud. He then put on his coat of mail and rode his horse; he then proceeded towards them. When the Muslims saw him, they said: Keep away, Amir. He said: I have become a believer. He fought until he was wounded. He was then taken to his family wounded. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh came to his sister: Ask him (whether he fought) out of partisanship, out of anger for them, or out of anger for Allah. He said: Out of anger of Allah and His Apostle. He then died and entered Paradise. He did not offer any prayer for Allah.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) would give a third of the spoils after he would keep off the fifth.

"Whenever the Prophet passed by (my mother Um-Sulaim) he used to enter her and greet her. Anas further said: Once the Prophet way a bridegroom during his marriage with Zainab, Um Sulaim said to me, "Let us give a gift to Allah's Apostle ." I said to her, "Do it." So she prepared Haisa (a sweet dish) made from dates, butter and dried yoghurt and she sent it with me to him. I took it to him and he said, "Put it down," and ordered me to call some men whom he named, and to invite whomever I would meet. I did what he ordered me to do, and when I returned, I found the house crowded with people and saw the Prophet keeping his hand over the Haisa and saying over it whatever Allah wished (him to say). Then he called the men in batches of ten to eat of it, and he said to them, "Mention the Name of Allah, and each man should eat of the dish the nearest to him." When all of them had finished their meals, some of them left and a few remained there talking, over which I felt unhappy. Then the Prophet went out towards the dwelling places (of his wives) and I too, went out after him and told him that those people had left. Then he returned and entered his dwelling place and let the curtains fall while I was in (his) dwelling place, and he was reciting the Verses:-- 'O you who believe! Enter not the Prophet's house until leave is given you for a meal, (and then) not (as early as) to what for its preparation. But when you are invited, enter, and when you have taken your meals, disperse without sitting for a talk. Verily such (behavior) annoys the Prophet; and he would be shy of (asking) you (to go), but Allah is not shy of (telling you) the Truth.' (33-53) Abu Uthman said: Anas said, "I served the Prophet for ten years."

My ears heard and my heart grasped (the statement which) the Prophet said, "The period for keeping one's guest is three days (and don't forget) his reward." It was asked, "What is his reward?" He said, "In the first night and the day he should be given a high class quality of meals; and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should entertain his guest generously; and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should talk what is good (sense) or keep quiet."

That she used to hate that one should keep his hands on his flanks while praying. She said that the Jew used to do so.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Shu'ba with the same chain of transmitters and they did not doubt about keeping the dates between his fingers (as is expressed in the previous hadith).

AbuKhirash heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: If one keeps apart from his brother for a year, it is like shedding his blood.

The Prophet (saws) said: A man's prayer does not avail him unless he keeps his back steady when bowing and prostrating.

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.''

A man said to the Prophet "Tell me of such a deed as will make me enter Paradise." The people said, "What is the matter with him? What is the matter with him?" The Prophet said, "He has something to ask. (What he needs greatly) The Prophet said: (In order to enter Paradise) you should worship Allah and do not ascribe any partners to Him, offer prayer perfectly, pay the Zakat and keep good relations with your Kith and kin." (See Hadith No. 12, Vol 8).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Ziyad that Muhammad ibn Kab al-Quradhi said, ''Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan said from the mimbar, 'O people! Nothing keeps away what Allah gives and nothing gives what Allah keeps away. The earnestness of the earnest one does not profit him. When Allah desires good for him, he gives him understanding in the deen.' Then Muawiya said, 'I heard these words from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on these blocks of wood.' "

`Uqba bin Al-Harith said that he had married the daughter of Abi Ihab bin `Aziz. Later on a woman came to him and said, "I have suckled (nursed) `Uqba and the woman whom he married (his wife) at my breast." `Uqba said to her, "Neither I knew that you have suckled (nursed) me nor did you tell me." Then he rode over to see Allah's Apostle at Medina, and asked him about it. Allah's Apostle said, "How can you keep her as a wife when it has been said (that she is your foster-sister)?" Then `Uqba divorced her, and she married another man.

Allah's Apostle said, "Bilal pronounces the Adhan at night, so keep on eating and drinking (Suhur) till Ibn Um Maktum pronounces the Adhan."

I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "whoever desires an expansion in his sustenance and age, should keep good relations with his Kith and kin."