Distribution of Water

Narrated Sahl ibn Sad: A cup was brought to the Prophet (ﷺ), and he drank from it. To his right was a boy, the youngest of the people present, and to his left were elders. He said, “Boy, will you permit me to give it to the elders?” The boy said, “I would not give anyone preference over myself for my share, Messenger of Allah.” So he gave it to him.

Narrated al-Zuhri: Anas ibn Malik told me that a domestic sheep was milked for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) while he was in Anas’s house. Its milk was diluted with water from the well in Anas’s house. A cup was given to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he drank from it. When he removed the cup from his mouth, Abu Bakr was on his left and a Bedouin on his right. Umar, fearing that he might give it to the Bedouin, said, “Give it to Abu Bakr, Messenger of Allah; he is beside you.” But he gave it to the Bedouin on his right, then said, “The one on the right first, then the one on the right.”

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Do not withhold surplus water in order to prevent access to pasture.”

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Do not withhold surplus water in order to withhold surplus pasture.”

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “A mine is without liability; a well is without liability; injury caused by an animal is without liability; and one fifth is due on buried treasure.”

Narrated Abdullah ibn Masud: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Whoever swears an oath by which he wrongfully seizes another person’s property will meet Allah while He is angry with him.” Then Allah Most High revealed: “Those who purchase a small price with Allah’s covenant and their oaths…” (Quran 3:77). Al-Ashath came and said, “What Abu Abd al-Rahman has told you was revealed concerning me. I had a well on the land of a cousin of mine. He said to me, ‘Bring your witnesses.’ I said, ‘I have no witnesses.’ He said, ‘Then his oath.’ I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, then he will swear.’ The Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned this report, and Allah revealed that verse confirming it.”

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “There are three whom Allah will neither look at nor purify on the Day of Resurrection, and they will have a painful punishment: a man who had surplus water along a road and withheld it from a wayfarer; a man who pledged allegiance to a ruler only for worldly gain, being pleased if he received something of it and resentful if he did not; and a man who displayed his goods for sale after the afternoon prayer and said, ‘By Allah, besides whom there is no god, I was offered such-and-such for this,’ and another man believed him.” Then he recited this verse: “Those who purchase a small price with Allah’s covenant and their oaths…” (Quran 3:77).

Narrated Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr: An Ansari man disputed with al-Zubayr before the Prophet (ﷺ) over the channels of al-Harra through which they watered their date palms. The Ansari said, “Let the water flow through,” but al-Zubayr refused. They brought their dispute before the Prophet (ﷺ), who said to al-Zubayr, “Water your land, Zubayr, then let the water flow to your neighbor.” The Ansari became angry and said, “Is it because he is your aunt’s son?” The Messenger of Allah’s (ﷺ) face changed color, then he said, “Water your land, Zubayr, then hold the water until it reaches the embankment.” Al-Zubayr said, “By Allah, I think this verse was revealed concerning that: ‘But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they make you judge concerning what arises between them…’” (Quran 4:65).

Narrated Urwa: An Ansari man disputed with al-Zubayr, and the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Zubayr, irrigate first, then let the water flow on.” The Ansari said, “It is because he is your aunt’s son.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Irrigate, Zubayr, until the water reaches the embankment, then hold it.” Al-Zubayr said, “I think this verse was revealed concerning that: ‘But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they make you judge concerning what arises between them…’” (Quran 4:65). Muhammad ibn al-Abbas said: Abu Abd Allah said that no one reports Urwa from Abdullah except al-Layth.

Narrated Urwa ibn al-Zubayr: An Ansari man disputed with al-Zubayr over a channel in al-Harra used to irrigate date palms. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to al-Zubayr, directing him to act fairly, “Irrigate, Zubayr, then let the water flow to your neighbor.” The Ansari said, “Is it because he is your aunt’s son?” The Messenger of Allah’s (ﷺ) face changed color, then he said, “Irrigate, then hold the water until it returns to the embankment.” He thus gave al-Zubayr his full right. Al-Zubayr said, “By Allah, this verse was revealed concerning that: ‘But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they make you judge concerning what arises between them…’” (Quran 4:65). Ibn Shihab said to me: The Ansar and the people understood the Prophet’s words, “Irrigate, then hold the water until it returns to the embankment,” to mean until it reached the ankles.

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “As a man was walking, he became very thirsty. He went down into a well and drank from it. When he came out, he saw a dog panting and eating the earth from thirst. He said, ‘This has reached the same state of thirst that I reached.’ He filled his shoe with water, held it in his mouth, climbed up, and gave the dog water. Allah thanked him for that and forgave him.” They said, “Messenger of Allah, is there a reward for us in caring for animals?” He said, “There is a reward in every living creature.” Hammad ibn Salama and al-Rabi ibn Muslim also transmitted it from Muhammad ibn Ziyad.

Narrated Asma bint Abi Bakr: The Prophet (ﷺ) prayed the eclipse prayer and said, “The Fire came so near me that I said, ‘My Lord, am I among them?’ Then there was a woman—I think he said—being scratched by a cat.” He asked, “What is the matter with her?” They said, “She imprisoned it until it died of hunger.”

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “A woman was punished because of a cat she imprisoned until it died of hunger, and she entered the Fire.” He said—and Allah knows best—“You neither fed it nor gave it water while you kept it imprisoned, nor did you release it to eat the small creatures of the earth.”

Narrated Sahl ibn Sad: A cup was brought to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he drank from it. To his right was a boy, the youngest of the people, and to his left were elders. He said, “Boy, do you permit me to give it to the elders?” The boy said, “I would not give anyone preference over my share from you, Messenger of Allah.” So he gave it to him.

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “By the One in whose hand is my soul, I will drive men away from my Basin just as a stray she-camel is driven away from a watering place.”

Narrated Ibn Abbas: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “May Allah have mercy on the mother of Ishmael. Had she left Zamzam—or, he said, had she not scooped water from it—it would have been a flowing spring. Then Jurhum came and said, ‘May we settle near you?’ She said, ‘Yes, but you have no right to the water.’ They said, ‘Agreed.’”

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “There are three whom Allah will neither speak to nor look at on the Day of Resurrection: a man who swears about a commodity that he was offered more for it than he was actually offered, while he is lying; a man who swears a false oath after the afternoon prayer in order to seize the property of a Muslim; and a man who withholds surplus water. Allah will say, ‘Today I will withhold My bounty from you, as you withheld the surplus of what your own hands did not make.’” Ali said: Sufyan narrated it to us more than once, from Amr, who heard it from Abu Salih, attributing it to the Prophet (ﷺ).

Narrated Ibn Abbas: Al-Sab ibn Jaththama said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “There is no protected pasture except for Allah and His Messenger.” It has reached us that the Prophet (ﷺ) set aside al-Naqi, and that Umar set aside al-Sharaf and al-Rabadha.