Allah's Apostle used to visit Um Haram bint Milhan she was the wife of 'Ubada bin As-Samit. One day the Prophet visited her and she provided him with food and started looking for lice in his head. Then Allah's Apostle slept and afterwards woke up smiling. Um Haram asked, "What makes you smile, O Allah's Apostle?" He said, "Some of my followers were presented before me in my dream as fighters in Allah's Cause, sailing in the middle of the seas like kings on the thrones or like kings sitting on their thrones." (The narrator 'Is-haq is not sure as to which expression was correct). Um Haram added, 'I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Invoke Allah, to make me one of them;" So Allah's Apostle invoked Allah for her and then laid his head down (and slept). Then he woke up smiling (again). (Um Haram added): I said, "What makes you smile, O Allah's Apostle?" He said, "Some people of my followers were presented before me (in a dream) as fighters in Allah's Cause." He said the same as he had said before. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Invoke Allah to make me from them." He said, "You are among the first ones." Then Um Haram sailed over the sea during the Caliphate of Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan, and she fell down from her riding animal after coming ashore, and died.

Narrated Abu Huraira

The Prophet said, "A man from Bani Israel asked someone from Bani Israel to give him a loan of one thousand Dinars and the later gave it to him. The debtor went on a voyage (when the time for the payment of the debt became due) but he did not find a boat, so he took a piece of wood and bored it and put 1000 diners in it and threw it into the sea. The creditor went out and took the piece of wood to his family to be used as fire-wood." (See Hadith No. 488 B, Vol. 3). And the Prophet narrated the narration (and said), "When he sawed the wood, he found his money."

(as regards the explanation of Hadith 454). 'Indeed, it (Hell) throws about sparks (huge) as Forts.' We used to collect wood in the form of logs, three cubits long or shorter. for heating purposes in winter., and we used to call such wood, the Qasr.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) gave him that wood as a protected land.

When Umar ibn al-Khattab succeeded, Sufyan ibn Wahb wrote to Umar asking him about this wood. Umar ibn al-Khattab wrote to him: If he (Hilal) pays you the tithe on honey what he used to pay to the Messenger of Allah (saws), leave the protected land of Salabah in his possession; otherwise those bees are like those of any wood; anyone can take the honey as he likes.

The Prophet sent for a woman from the emigrants and she had a slave who was a carpenter. The Prophet said to her "Order your slave to prepare the wood (pieces) for the pulpit." So, she ordered her slave who went and cut the wood from the tamarisk and prepared the pulpit, for the Prophet. When he finished the pulpit, the woman informed the Prophet that it had been finished. The Prophet asked her to send that pulpit to him, so they brought it. The Prophet lifted it and placed it at the place in which you see now."

The Prophet said, "One would rather take a rope and cut wood and carry it than ask others).

Abu Dawud said : By aloes wood he meant costus.

I asked the Prophet (saws) about the blood of menstruation on the clothe. He said: Erase it off with a piece of wood and then wash it away with water and the leaves of the lote-tree.

I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I let loose my hound after a game and mention Allah's Name on sending it." The Prophet said, "If you let loose your hound after a game and you mention Allah's Name on sending it and the hound catches and kills the game and eats of it, then you should not eat of it, for it has killed it for itself." I said, "Sometimes when I send my hound after a game, I find another hound along with it and I do not know which of them has caught the game." He said, "You must not eat of it because you have not mentioned, the Name of Allah except on sending your own hound, and you did not mention it on the other hound." Then I asked him about the game hunted with a Mi'rad (i.e. a sharp edged piece of wood or a piece of wood provided with a sharp piece of iron used for hunting). He said, "If the game is killed with its sharp edge, you can eat of it, but if it is killed by its broad side (shaft), you cannot eat of it, for then it is like an animal beaten to death with a piece of wood."

Some people went to Sahl bin Sa`d As-Sa`idi and told him that they had different opinions regarding the wood of the pulpit. They asked him about it and he said, "By Allah, I know of what wood the pulpit was made, and no doubt I saw it on the very first day when Allah's Apostle took his seat on it. Allah's Apostle sent for such and such an Ansari woman (and Sahl mentioned her name) and said to her, 'Order your slave-carpenter to prepare for me some pieces of wood (i.e. pulpit) on which I may sit at the time of addressing the people.' So she ordered her slave-carpenter and he made it from the tamarisk of the forest and brought it (to the woman). The woman sent that (pulpit) to Allah's Apostle who ordered it to be placed here. Then I saw Allah's Apostle praying on it and then bowed on it. Then he stepped back, got down and prostrated on the ground near the foot of the pulpit and again ascended the pulpit. After finishing the prayer he faced the people and said, 'I have done this so that you may follow me and learn the way I pray.' "

The Prophet said, "No doubt, it is better for a person to take a rope and proceed in the morning to the mountains and cut the wood and then sell it, and eat from this income and give alms from it than to ask others for something."

Allah's Apostle said, "No doubt, it is better for any one of you to cut a bundle of wood and carry it over his back rather than to ask someone who may or may not give him."

Allah's Apostle said, "No doubt, you had better gather a bundle of wood and carry it on your back (and earn your living thereby) rather than ask somebody who may give you or not."

I asked Allah's Apostle about Al Mirad (i.e. a sharp-edged piece of wood or a piece of wood provided with a piece of iron used for hunting). He replied, "If the game is hit by its sharp edge, eat it, and if it is hit by its broad side, do not eat it, for it has been beaten to death." I asked, "O Allah's Apostle! I release my dog by the name of Allah and find with it at the game, another dog on which I have not mentioned the name of Allah, and I do not know which one of them caught the game." Allah's Apostle said (to him), 'Don't eat it as you have mentioned the name of Allah on your dog and not on the other dog."

Abu Dawud said: Al-Qassah means lime used as mortar.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had wanted to take two pieces of wood to strike them together to gather people for the prayer, and Abdullah ibn Zayd al-Ansari, then of the tribe of Harith ibn al-Khazraj, was shown two pieces of wood in his sleep. He said, 'These are close to what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, wants.' Then it was said, 'Do you not call to the prayer?', so when he woke up he went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and mentioned the dream to him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ordered the adhan."

The Prophet (saws) said: Do not fast on Saturday except what has been made obligatory on you; and if one of you can get nothing but a grape skin or a piece of wood from a tree, he should chew it.

The Prophet used to invoke Allah with the following invocation: 'Rabbi-ghfir-li Khati 'ati wa jahli wa israfi fi `Amri kullihi, wa ma anta a'lamu bihi minni. Allahumma ighfirli khatayaya wa 'amdi, wa jahli wa jiddi, wa kullu dhalika'indi. Allahumma ighrifli ma qaddamtu wa ma akhartu wa ma asrartu wa ma a'lantu. Anta-l-muqaddimu wa anta-l-mu'akh-khiru, wa anta 'ala kulli shai'in qadir.'

I asked the Prophet about the game killed by a Mi'rad (i.e. a sharp-edged piece of wood or a piece of wood provided with a sharp piece of iron used for hunting). He said, "If the game is killed with its sharp edge, eat of it, but if it is killed with its shaft, with a hit by its broad side then the game is (unlawful to eat) for it has been beaten to death." I asked him about the game killed by a trained hound. He said, "If the hound catches the game for you, eat of it, for killing the game by the hound, is like its slaughtering. But if you see with your hound or hounds another dog, and you are afraid that it might have shared in hunting the game with your hound and killed it, then you should not eat of it, because you have mentioned Allah's name on (sending) your hound only, but you have not mentioned it on some other hound.

When the Prophet got up at night to offer the night prayer, he used to say: "Allahumma laka l-hamdu; Anta nuras-samawati wal ardi wa man fihinna. wa laka l-hamdu; Anta qaiyim as-samawati wal ardi wa man flhinna. Wa lakaI-hamdu; Anta-l-,haqqun, wa wa'daka haqqun, wa qauluka haqqun, wa liqauka haqqun, wal-jannatu haqqun, wannaru haqqun, was-sa atu haqqun, wan-nabiyyuna huqqun, Mahammadun haqqun, Allahumma laka aslamtu, wa Alaika tawakkaltu, wa bika amantu, wa ilaika anabtu, wa bika Khasamtu, wa ilaika hakamtu, faghfirli ma qaddamtu wa ma akh-khartu, wa ma asrartu, wa ma a'lantu. Anta al-muqaddimu, wa anta al-mu-'akhkhiru. La ilaha il-la anta (or La ilaha ghairuka)"

The Prophet said, "An Israeli man asked another Israeli to lend him one thousand Dinars. The second man required witnesses. The former replied, 'Allah is sufficient as a witness.' The second said, 'I want a surety.' The former replied, 'Allah is sufficient as a surety.' The second said, 'You are right,' and lent him the money for a certain period. The debtor went across the sea. When he finished his job, he searched for a conveyance so that he might reach in time for the repayment of the debt, but he could not find any. So, he took a piece of wood and made a hole in it, inserted in it one thousand Dinars and a letter to the lender and then closed (i.e. sealed) the hole tightly. He took the piece of wood to the sea and said. 'O Allah! You know well that I took a loan of one thousand Dinars from so-and-so. He demanded a surety from me but I told him that Allah's Guarantee was sufficient and he accepted Your guarantee. He then asked for a witness and I told him that Allah was sufficient as a Witness, and he accepted You as a Witness. No doubt, I tried hard to find a conveyance so that I could pay his money but could not find, so I hand over this money to You.' Saying that, he threw the piece of wood into the sea till it went out far into it, and then he went away. Meanwhile he started searching for a conveyance in order to reach the creditor's country.

One day the lender came out of his house to see whether a ship had arrived bringing his money, and all of a sudden he saw the piece of wood in which his money had been deposited. He took it home to use for fire. When he sawed it, he found his money and the letter inside it. Shortly after that, the debtor came bringing one thousand Dinars to him and said, 'By Allah, I had been trying hard to get a boat so that I could bring you your money, but failed to get one before the one I have come by.' The lender asked, 'Have you sent something to me?' The debtor replied, 'I have told you I could not get a boat other than the one I have come by.' The lender said, 'Allah has delivered on your behalf the money you sent in the piece of wood. So, you may keep your one thousand Dinars and depart guided on the right path.' "

The Prophet said, "No doubt, one had better take a rope (and cut) and tie a bundle of wood and sell it whereby Allah will keep his face away (from Hell-fire) rather than ask others who may give him or not."

The Prophet used to invoke Allah, saying, "Allahumma ighfirli khati'ati wa jahli wa israfi fi `Amri, wa ma anta a-'lamu bihi minni. Allahumma ighfirli hazali wa jiddi wa khata'i wa amdi, wa kullu dhalika 'indi."

Allah s Apostle said, "When you intend going to bed at night, put out the lights, close the doors, tie the mouths of the water skins, and cover your food and drinks." Hamrnam said, "I think he (the other narrator) added, 'even with piece of wood across the utensil.'

Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hand my life is, it is better for anyone of you to take a rope and cut the wood (from the forest) and carry it over his back and sell it (as a means of earning his living) rather than to ask a person for something and that person may give him or not."

The Prophet sent an army unit (for some campaign) and appointed a man from the Ansar as its commander and ordered them (the soldiers) to obey him. (During the campaign) he became angry with them and said, "Didn't the Prophet order you to obey me?" They said, "Yes." He said, "I order you to collect wood and make a fire and then throw yourselves into it." So they collected wood and made a fire, but when they were about to throw themselves into, it they started looking at each other, and some of them said, "We followed the Prophet to escape from the fire. How should we enter it now?" So while they were in that state, the fire extinguished and their commander's anger abated. The event was mentioned to the Prophet and he said, "If they had entered it (the fire) they would never have come out of it, for obedience is required only in what is good." (See Hadith No. 629. Vol. 5)

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "It is better for anyone of you to take a rope (and cut) and bring a bundle of wood (from the forest) over his back and sell it and Allah will save his face (from the Hell-Fire) because of that, rather than to ask the people who may give him or not."

The Prophet used to teach us the Istikhara for each and every matter as he used to teach us the Suras from the Holy Qur'an. (He used to say), "If anyone of you intends to do something, he should offer a two-rak`at prayer other than the obligatory prayer, and then say: 'Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi'ilmika, wa astaqdiruka biqudratika, wa as'aluka min fadlika-l-'azim, fa innaka taqdiru wala aqdiru, wa ta'lamu wala a'lamu, wa anta'allamu-l-ghuyub. Allahumma in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha-lamra khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati `Amri (or said, fi 'ajili `Amri wa ajilihi) fa-qdurhu li, Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna ha-dha-l-amra sharrun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati `Amri (or said, fi ajili `Amri wa ajilihi) fasrifhu 'anni was-rifni 'anhu wa aqdur li alkhaira haithu kana, thumma Raddani bihi," Then he should mention his matter (need).

The people said, "O Allah's Apostle ! How may we send Salat on you?" He said, "Say: Allahumma Salli 'ala- Muhammadin wa azwajihi wa dhurriyyatihi kama sal-laita 'ala `Ali Ibrahim; wa barik 'ala Muhammadin wa azwajihi wa dhurriyyatihi kamabarakta 'ala `Ali Ibrahim innaka hamidun majid."

That the Prophet advised a man, saying, "If you intend to lie down (i.e. go to bed), say, 'Allahumma aslamtu nafsi ilaika wa fauwadtu `Amri ilaika, wa wajjahtu wajhi ilaika wa alja'tu zahri ilaika, reghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika. La malja'a wa la manja minka illa ilaika. Amantu bikitabikal-ladhi anzalta; wa nabiyyikalladhi arsalta.' And if you should die then (after reciting this before going to bed) you will die on the religion of Islam"

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z Zubayr al-Makki from Tawus al-Yamani from Abdullah ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say, when he rose for prayer in the middle of the night, "O Allah, praise belongs to You. You are the light of the heavens and the earth and praise belongs toYou.You are the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and praise belongs to You. You are the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them. You are the Truth, and Your words are true. Your promise is true, and the meeting with You is true. The Garden is true and the Fire is true and the Hour is true. O Allah, I submit toYou and I accept You and I trust in You and I turn to You and I argue by You and I summon toYou for judgement. Forgive me what I have sent before me and what I have left behind, what I have kept secret and what I have proclaimed, You are my god - there is no god but You."

Allahumma laka'l-hamdu anta nuru's-samawati wa'l-ardi, wa laka'l-hamdu anta qayamu's-Samawati wa'l-ardi, wa laka'l-hamdu anta rabbu's-Samawati wa'l-ardi,wamanfihina.Anta'l-haqqu,waqawluka'lhaqqu, wa waduka'l-haqqu, wa liqa'uka haqqun, wa jannatu haqqun, wa naru haqqun, wa sactu haqqun. Allahumma laka aslamtu, wa bikaamantu, waalayka tawakaltu, wa ilayka anabtu, wa bika khasamtu, wa ilayka hakamtu, fa'ghfirliy ma qadamtu wa akhartu wa asrartu, wa alantu. Anta ilahiy, la ilaha illa ant.

[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi].

When we prayed with the Prophet we used to say, "Peace be on Allah from His slaves and peace be on so and so." The Prophet said, "Don't say As-Salam be on Allah, for He Himself is As-Salam, but say, at-tahiyatu li l-lahi wa s-salawatu wa t-taiyibat. As-salamu `alaika aiyuha n-Nabiyu wa rahmatu l-lahi wa barakatuh. As-salamu `alaina wa `ala `ibadi l-lahi s-salihin. (If you say this then it will reach all the slaves in heaven or between heaven and earth). Ash-hadu al la-ilaha illa l-lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `Abduhu wa Rasuluh.' Then select the invocation you like best and recite it." (See Hadith No. 794, 795 & 796).

When Allah's Apostle went to bed, he used to sleep on his right side and then say, "All-ahumma aslamtu nafsi ilaika, wa wajjahtu wajhi ilaika, wa fauwadtu `Amri ilaika, wa alja'tu zahri ilaika, raghbatan wa rahbatan ilaika. La Malja'a wa la manja minka illa ilaika. Amantu bikitabika al-ladhi anzalta wa nabiyyika al-ladhi arsalta! Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever recites these words (before going to bed) and dies the same night, he will die on the Islamic religion (as a Muslim).

We used to pray behind the Prophet and used to say: "As-Salamu 'Al-Allah. The Prophet said, "Allah himself is As-Salam (Name of Allah), so you should say: 'at-Tahiyatu lil-lahi was-sala-watu wattaiyibatu, as-salamu `alaika aiyyuha-n-nabiyyu wa rahmatu-l-lahi wa barakatuhu, as-salamu `alaina wa `ala `ibadi-l-lahi as-salihin. Ashhadu an la ilaha il-lallah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `abduhu wa rasuluhu."'