I said, "O Allah's Apostle! Marry my sister, the daughter of Abu Sufyan." He said, "Do you like that?" I said, "Yes, for even now I am not your only wife; and the most beloved person to share the good with me is my sister." The Prophet said, "But that is not lawful for me (i.e., to be married to two sisters at a time.)" I said, "O Allah's Apostle! By Allah, we have heard that you want to marry Durra, the daughter of Abu Salama." He said, "You mean the daughter of Um Salama?" I said, "Yes." He said, "By Allah ! Even if she were not my stepdaughter, she would not be lawful for me to marry, for she is my foster niece, for Thuwaiba has suckled me and Abu Salama; so you should neither present your daughters, nor your sisters to me."

A woman came to Allah's Apostle and said, "I present myself (to you) (for marriage). She stayed for a long while, then a man said, "If you are not in need of her then marry her to me." The Prophet said, "Have you got anything m order to pay her Mahr?" He said, "I have nothing with me except my Izar (waist sheet)." The Prophet said, "If you give her your Izar, you will have no Izar to wear, (so go) and search for something. He said, "I could not find anything." The Prophet said, "Try (to find something), even if it were an iron ring But he was not able to find (even that) The Prophet said (to him). "Do you memorize something of the Qur'an?" "Yes. ' he said, "such Sura and such Sura," naming those Suras The Prophet said, "We have married her to you for what you know of the Qur'an (by heart).

The news of my fasting was mentioned to the Prophet . So he entered upon me and I put for him a leather cushion stuffed with palm-fibres. The Prophet sat on the floor and the cushion was between me and him. He said to me, "Isn't it sufficient for you (that you fast) three days a month?" I said, "O Allah's Apostle! (I can fast more than this)." He said, "You may fast) five days a month." I said, "O Allah's Apostle! (I can fast more than this)." He said, "(You may fast) seven days." I said, "O Allah's Apostle!" He said, "Nine." I said, "O Allah's Apostle!" He said, "Eleven." I said, "O Allah's Apostle!" He said, "No fasting is superior to the fasting of (the Prophet David) which was one half of a year, and he used, to fast on alternate days. (See Hadith No. 300, Vol 3)

Allah's Apostle said to me, "O `Abdullah! Have I not been informed that you fast during the day and offer prayers all the night." `Abdullah replied, "Yes, O Allah's Apostle!" The Prophet said, "Don't do that; fast for few days and then give it up for few days, offer prayers and also sleep at night, as your body has a right on you, and your wife has a right on you, and your guest has a right on you. And it is sufficient for you to fast three days in a month, as the reward of a good deed is multiplied ten times, so it will be like fasting throughout the year." I insisted (on fasting) and so I was given a hard instruction. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have power." The Prophet said, "Fast like the fasting of the Prophet David and do not fast more than that." I said, "How was the fasting of the Prophet of Allah, David?" He said, "Half of the year," (i.e. he used to fast on every alternate day). Afterwards when `Abdullah became old, he used to say, "It would have been better for me if I had accepted the permission of the Prophet (which he gave me i.e. to fast only three days a month).

The Prophet (saws) said: Do not fast one day or two days just before Ramadan except in the case of a man who has been in the habit or observing a fast (on that day); and do not fast until you sight it (the moon). Then fast until you sight it. If a cloud appears on that day (i.e. 29th of Ramadan) then complete the number thirty (days) and then end the fasting: a month consists of twenty-nine days.

The Prophet stayed with Safiya bint Huyai for three days on the way of Khaibar where he consummated his marriage with her. Safiya was amongst those who were ordered to use a veil.

Malik said that if a slave-girl, who was the wife of a slave, was set free before he had consummated the marriage, and she chose herself, then she had no bride-price and it was a pronouncement of divorce. That was what was done among them.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Said ibn al-Musayyab that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "The woman who loses her husband and does not know where he is, waits for four years, then she does idda for four months, and then she is free to marry."

Malik said, "If she marries after her idda is over, regardless of whether the new husband has consummated the marriage or not, her first husband has no means of access to her."

Malik said, "That is what is done among us and if her husband reaches her before she has remarried, he is more entitled to her."

Malik said that he had seen people disapproving of someone who said that one of the people (of knowledge) attributed to Umar ibn al-Khattab that he said, "Her first husband chooses when he comes either her bride-price or his wife."

Malik said, "I have heard that Umar ibn al-Khattab, speaking about a woman whose husband divorced her while he was absent from her, and then he took her back and the news of his taking her back had not reached her, while the news of his divorcing her had, and so she had married again, said, 'Her first husband who divorced her has no means of access to her whether or not the new husband has consummated the marriage.' "

Malik said, "This is what I like the best of what I heard about the missing man."

Allah's Apostle said, "Fasting is a shield (or a screen or a shelter). So, the person observing fasting should avoid sexual relation with his wife and should not behave foolishly and impudently, and if somebody fights with him or abuses him, he should tell him twice, 'I am fasting." The Prophet added, "By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, the smell coming out from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the sight of Allah than the smell of musk. (Allah says about the fasting person), 'He has left his food, drink and desires for My sake. The fast is for Me. So I will reward (the fasting person) for it and the reward of good deeds is multiplied ten times."

Zaid bin Haritha came to the Prophet complaining about his wife. The Prophet kept on saying (to him), "Be afraid of Allah and keep your wife." Aisha said, "If Allah's Apostle were to conceal anything (of the Qur'an he would have concealed this Verse." Zainab used to boast before the wives of the Prophet and used to say, "You were given in marriage by your families, while I was married (to the Prophet) by Allah from over seven Heavens." And Thabit recited, "The Verse:-- 'But (O Muhammad) you did hide in your heart that which Allah was about to make manifest, you did fear the people,' (33.37) was revealed in connection with Zainab and Zaid bin Haritha."

Yahya related to me from Malik, from Nafi, from Nubayh ibn Wahb, who was from the tribe of Bani Abd ad-Dar, that Umar ibn Ubaydullah sent a message to Aban ibn Uthman (who was amir of the hajj at the time), while both of them were in ihram, saying, "I want to marry Bint Shayba ibn Jubayr to Talha ibn Umar and I want you to be present." Aban told him that he should not do that and said, "I heard Uthman ibn Affan say that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'A man in ihram should not marry, or give in marriage, or get betrothed.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that the daughter of Ubaydullah ibn Umar whose mother was the daughter of Zayd ibn al- Khattab, married the son of Abdullah ibn Umar. He died and had not yet consummated the marriage or specified her bride-price. Her mother wanted the bride-price, and Abdullah ibn Umar said, "She is not entitled to a bride-price. Had she been entitled to a bride-price, we would not have kept it and we would not do her an injustice. "The mother refused to accept that. Zayd ibn Thabit was brought to adjudicate between them and he decided that she had no bride-price, but that she did inherit.

Ibn `Abbas said, "Allah's Apostle travelled in the month of Ramadan and he fasted till he reached (a place called) 'Usfan, then he asked for a tumbler of water and drank it by the daytime so that the people might see him. He broke his fast till he reached Mecca." Ibn `Abbas used to say, "Allah's Apostle fasted and sometimes did not fast while traveling, so one may fast or may not (on journeys)"

The Prophet visited her (Juwairiya) on a Friday and she was fasting. He asked her, "Did you fast yesterday?" She said, "No." He said, "Do you intend to fast tomorrow?" She said, "No." He said, "Then break your fast." Through another series of narrators, Abu Aiyub is reported to have said, "He ordered her and she broke her fast."

'A'isha, the Mother of the Believers (Allah be pleased with her), reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to fast (so continuously) that we said that he would not break, and did not fast at all till we said that he would not fast. And I did not see the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) completing the fast of a month, but that of Ramadan, and I did not see him fasting more in any other month than that of Sha'ban.

The Prophet (saws) said: There is no marriage without the permission of a guardian.

Abu Dawud said: The narrator Yunus also transmitted on the authority of Abu Burdah, and Isra'il narrated from Abu Ishaq on the authority of Abu Burdah.

When Ali married Fatimah, the Prophet (saws) said to him: Give her something. He said: I have nothing with me. He said: Where is your Hutamiyyah (coat of mail).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father used to be cupped while he was fasting and he would not then break his fast. Hisham added, "I only ever saw him being cupped when he was fasting."

Malik said, "Cupping is only disapproved of for some one who is fasting out of fear that he will become weak and if it were not for that, it would not be disapproved of. I do not think that a man who is cupped in Ramadan and does not break his fast, owes anything, and I do not say that he has to make up for the day on which he was cupped, because cupping is only disapproved of for someone fasting if his fast is endangered. I do not think that someone who is cupped, and is then well enough to keep the fast until evening, owes anything, nor does he have to make up for that day."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "What I have heard from the people of knowledge is that if a man succumbs to an illness which makes fasting very difficult for him and exhausts him and wears him out, he can break his fast. This is the same as with a sick man in the prayer, who finds standing to be too difficult and exhausting, (and Allah knows better than the slave that it is an excuse for him and that it really cannot be described). If the man is in such a condition he prays sitting, and the deen of Allah is ease.

Allah has permitted a traveller to break the fast when travelling, and he has more strength for fasting than a sick man. Allah, the Exalted, says in His book, 'Whoever among you is ill or on a journey (must fast) a number of other days,' and Allah has thus permitted a traveller to break his fast when on a journey, and he is more capable of fasting than a sick man.

Allah's Apostle was informed about my fasts, and he came to me and I spread for him a leather cushion stuffed with palm fires, but he sat on the ground and the cushion remained between me and him, and then he said, "Isn't it sufficient for you to fast three days a month?" I replied, "O Allah's Apostle! (I can fast more)." He said, "Five?" I replied, "O Allah's Apostle! (I can fast more)." He said, "Seven?" I replied, "O Allah's Apostle! (I can fast more)." He said, "Nine (days per month)?" I replied, "O Allah's Apostle! (I can fast more)" He said, "Eleven (days per month)?" And then the Prophet said, "There is no fast superior to that of the Prophet David it was for half of the year. So, fast on alternate days."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his father that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The day of Ashura was a day the Quraysh used to fast in the jahiliyya, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used also to fast it during the jahiliyya. Then when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to Madina he fasted it and ordered that it be fasted. Then Ramadan was made obligatory, and that became the fard instead of Ashura, but whoever wanted to, fasted it, and whoever did not want to, did not fast it."

That Al-Ash'ath entered upon him while he was eating. Al-Ash'ath said, "Today is 'Ashura." I said (to him), "Fasting had been observed (on such a day) before (the order of compulsory fasting in) Ramadan was revealed. But when (the order of fasting in) Ramadan was revealed, fasting (on 'Ashura') was given up, so come and eat."

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Rabi' b. Sabra that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) forbade to contract temporary marriage with women at the time of Victory, and that his father had contracted the marriage for two red cloaks.

Abu Bakr married a woman from the tribe of Bani Kalb, called Um Bakr. When Abu Bakr migrated to Medina, he divorced her and she was married by her cousin, the poet who said the following poem lamenting the infidels of Quraish: "What is there kept in the well, The well of Badr, (The owners of) the trays of Roasted camel humps? What is there kept in the well, The well of Badr, (The owners of) lady singers And friends of the honorable companions; who used to drink (wine) together, Um Bakr greets us With the greeting of peace, But can I find peace After my people have gone? The Apostle tells us that We shall live again, But what sort of life will owls and skulls live?:

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).

`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).

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that al-Qasim ibn Muhammad and Salim ibn Abdullah and Sulayman ibn Yasar said about the virgin given by her father in marriage without her permission, "That is binding on her."

Allah's Apostle said, "From among all the conditions which you have to fulfill, the conditions which make it legal for you to have sexual relations (i.e. the marriage contract) have the greatest right to be fulfilled."