When the Khawarij rebelled and fought in An-Nahrawan, ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) stood before his companions and said: These people have shed blood that it is forbidden to shed and have raided the flocks of the people. They are the closest of the enemy to you, but if you go to your enemy, I am afraid that these people may attack what you leave behind. I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: `Some rebels will emerge from my ummah, your prayer will be as nothing compared to their prayer, and your fasting will be as nothing compared to their fasting, and your recitation will be as nothing compared to their recitation. They will recite the Qur`an, thinking that it is in their favour, but it will be against them; it will go no further than their throats. They will pass out of Islam as the arrow passes out of the prey. The sign of that is that among them will be a man who has an upper arm but no forearm, and on it will be something like the nipple of a breast, on which will be some white hairs.` If the army that fights them knew what reward they will have, as spoken on the lips of their Prophet (ﷺ), they would cease striving and rely on that. March forth in the Name of Allah. And he narrated the hadeeth at length.

I heard `Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) say: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade me, but I do not say that he forbade you, to wear gold rings, to wear garments made of a blend of linen and silk or garments dyed with safflower, and to recite Qur`an whilst bowing. He gave me a suit of pure silk and I went out wearing it, and he said: `O ‘Ali, I did not give it to you to wear it.” So I went back to Fatimah (رضي الله عنها) and gave it to her to hold an edge of it, so she took hold of it to fold it with me, but I tore it in two. She said: May your hands be rubbed with dust, O son of Abu Talib! What have you done? I said to her. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade me to wear it. Wear it and give it to your womenfolk.

`Ali (رضي الله عنه) said: I set out and came to a garden and [the owner hired me to draw water]-a date for a bucket. I drew water until I filled my palm [with dates]. Then I went to the water and drank from it. Then I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and gave him some of the dates to eat, and I ate some of them.

The Prophet (ﷺ) wanted me to bring him something on which to write, by means of which his ummah would not be misguided after he was gone. “Ali said: I was afraid that he would die (before I could bring it). I said: I can memorise and understand. He said: “I urge you to pray and pay zakah and to be kind to those whom your right hands possess.”

I said: Ameer al-Mu`mineen will certainly come and I shall certainly ask him about what i heard tonight. After `Isha` I came to him and entered upon him, and he narrated the hadeeth. Then he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: “Jibreel (عليه السلام) came to me and said: `O Muhammad, your ummah will differ after you are gone.` I said to him: ‘What is the solution, O Jibreel?` He said: The Book of Allah, may He be exalted, by means of which Allah will destroy every tyrant. Whoever clings to it will be saved and whoever abandons it will be doomed.` He said it twice. ‘Verily, this (the Qur`an) is the Word that separates (the truth from falsehood, and commands strict laws for mankind to cut the roots of evil). And it is not a thing for amusement` [At-Tariq 86:13-14). It does not wear out from being repeated and its wonders never end; in it is news of what came before you, judgement of what happens among you, and foretelling of what will happen after you are gone.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered upon me and Fatimah (رضي الله عنها) one night and woke us up for prayer, then he went back to his house and prayed for a while at night. He did not hear any sound from us, so he came back to us and woke us up, saying: `Get up and pray,` I sat up, rubbing my eyes, and said: By Allah, we will not offer any prayers but what is decreed for us. Our souls are in the hand of Allah: If He wills, He will wake us up, The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) turned away saying, as he struck his hand against his thigh, “We will not offer any prayers but what is decreed for us, we will not offer any prayers but what is decreed for us. `But, man is ever more quarrelsome than anything` [Al-Kahf 18:54].”

We were with ‘Uthman bin `Affan (رضي الله عنه) in al-Juhfah, and with him were a group of people from Syria, among whom was Habeeb bin Maslamah Al-Fihri. `Uthman said, when joining `Umrah to Hajj (tamattu`) was mentioned to him: It is more perfect for Hajj and umrah that they should not be done together in the months of Hajj. If you delay this ‘Umrah so that you visit this House twice, that will be better, for Allah, may He be exalted, has bestowed a great deal of good. `Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) was at the bottom of the valley, seeding a camel of his. He heard about what `Uthman had said, and he came and stood over `Uthman (رضي الله عنه) and said: Do you want a Sunnah that was established by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and a concession that Allah, may He be exalted, granted to people in His Book to be restricted for them and to forbid it to them? It is for the one who needs it and for the one whose home is remote. Then he entered ihram for Hajj and `Umrah together. ‘Uthman (رضي الله عنه) turned to the people and said: Did I forbid it? I did not forbid it; rather it was only an opinion that I suggested. Whoever wants to follow it may do so and whoever wants to ignore it may do so.

Sa`d bin al-Hadi said: I heard `Ali (رضي الله عنه) say: I never heard the Prophet (ﷺ) mention his father and mother together (in the phrase `may my father and mother be sacrificed for you`) for anyone except Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas. I heard him say on the day of Uhud: `Shoot, O Sa`d, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you!`

Abu Mas’ood ‘Uqbah bin `Amr al-Ansari entered upon `Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) and `Ali said to him: Are you the one who says that in one hundred years time there will be on earth no eye that blinks? Rather the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “In one hundred years time there will be no eye that blinks left on earth of those who are alive today` By Allah there is a great hope for this ummah after one hundred years.

It was narrated from Salimah and Mujalid, from ash-Sha`bi, that they heard him narrate that ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) said concerning a woman from Koofah who he had flogged on Thursday and stoned on Friday. I flogged her in accordance with the Book of Allah and stoned her in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ).

Abu Mas`ood ‘Uqbah bin `Amr al-Ansari entered upon `Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) and ‘Ali said to him: Are you the one who says that in one hundred years time there will be no soul left on earth? Rather the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `In one hundred years time, there will be no soul left on earth of those who are alive today,” By Allah, there is great hope for this ummah after one hundred years.

On Friday, the devils emerge to try to push the people to the markets, and they have banners with them. The angels sit at the doors of the mosques, writing down people`s names according to their status: the one who comes early, the one who prays, and the one who comes after him, until the imam comes out. Whoever is close to the imam and is silent or listens, and does not engage in idle talk, will have a twofold reward. The one who is further away from the imam but is silent or listens, and does not engage in idle talk will have one reward. The one who is close to the imam but engages in idle talk and does not keep silent or listen will have a twofold burden of sin. The one who is further away from the imam and engages in idle talk and does not keep silent and listen will have one burden of sin. And the one who says, Be quiet, has spoken, and the one who speaks has no Jumu’ah. Then he said: This is what I heard from your Prophet (ﷺ) say.

I heard Hubairah say: I heard ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) say: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade - or the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade me - to wear gold rings or garments made of a blend of linen and silk, and to use red saddle cloths.

`Blood money will be paid for the mukatab (a slave with a contract of manumission) commensurate with as much as he had paid off.`

Enter it. Some people wanted to enter it, but others said: This is what we wanted to flee from. That was mentioned to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he said to those who had wanted to enter it: “If you had entered it you would have remained in it until the Day of Resurrection.” He said some kind words to the others, then he said: `There is no obedience in that which involves disobedience towards Allah; obedience is only with regard to that which is right and proper.`

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught me some words and told me to say them if some distress or hardship befell me: `There is no god but Allah, the Most Generous, the Forbearing, glory be to Him, Blessed be Allah, Lord of the mighty Throne and praise be to Allah the lord of the Worlds.

A man asked “Ali (رضي الله عنه) about (sacrificing) a cow. He said: (it may be sacrificed) on behalf of seven people. He said: (What about a cow with) a broken horn? He said. It doesn`t matter. He said: (What if it is) lame? He said: If it can reach the place of sacrifice, then slaughter it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded us to examine the eyes and ears.

“When her bleeding ends, carry out the hadd punishment on her. Carry out the Hadd punishments on those whom your right hands possess (i.e., slave women).”

`Stay where you are.” He came and sat down, and I could feel the coolness of his feet. And he said: “Shall I not tell you of something that is better for you than a servant? When you go to your bed, say Subhan Allah thirty three times, Alhamdulillah thirty three times and Allahu Akbar thirty four times.`

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had large hands and feet and big joints.