The Description of the Prophet, may Allah Bless Him and Grant Him Peace

Yahya related to me from Malik that Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn AbiTalha heard Anas ibn Malik say that Abu Talha had said to Umm Sulaym,"I have just been listening to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, and his voice was very weak. I recognisedhunger in it, so, do you have anything?" She replied, "Yes," andbrought out some barley loaves. She took her long head scarf andwrapped up the bread with part of it and put it into my (Anas's) handand gave me part of it to wear. Then she sent me to the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."

Anascontinued, "I took it, and I found the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, sitting in the mosque with some people.I watched them. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, 'Did Abu Talha send you?' I replied, 'Yes.' He said,'For food?' I said, 'Yes.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, said to those with him, 'Let us go.' He set offand I went among them until I came to Abu Talha and told him. AbuTalha said, 'Umm Sulaym! The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, has brought people and we have no food. Whatshall we give them to eat?' She said, 'Allah and His Messenger knowbest.' "

Anas continued, "Abu Talha went out and met theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,approached with Abu Talha until they entered. The Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Come now, Umm Sulaym,what have you got?' She brought out bread. The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, ordered it to be broken intopieces, and Umm Sulaym squeezed out onto it a container of clarifiedbutter which she had seasoned. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, said whatever Allah wished him to say,and said, 'Will you give permission for ten of them to come in?' Hegave them permission, and they ate until they were full and then left.He said, 'Give permission to ten more.' He gave them permission, andthey ate until they were full and left. Then he said, 'Give permissionto ten more.' He gave them permission and they ate until they werefull and left. Then he said, 'Give permission to ten more.' He gavepermission and they ate until they were full and left. There wereseventy or eighty men."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from al-Araj fromAbu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, "The food of two is enough for three, and the food ofthree is enough for four."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zubayr al-Makki fromJabir ibn Abdullah that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, said, "Lock the door, tie the waterskin, turn thevessel over or cover it, and put out the lamp. Shaytan does not open alocked door or untie a tied knot, or uncover a vessel. A mouse may setfire to people's houses about them."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Said ibn Abi Said al-Maqburifrom Abu Shurayh al-Kabi that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, said, "Whoever believes in Allah and the LastDay should speak good or be silent. Whoever believes in Allah and theLast Day should be generous to his neighbour. Whoever believes inAllah and the Last Day, should be generous to his guest. His welcomeis for a day and a night, and his hospitality is for three days.Whatever is more than that is sadaqa. It is not halal for a guest tostay with a man until he becomes a burden."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakrfrom Abu Salih as-Samman from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A man was walking on aroad when he became very thirsty. He found a well and went into it anddrank and came out. There was a dog panting and eating earth out ofthirst. The man said, 'This dog has become as thirsty as I was.' Hewent down into the well and filled his shoe and then held it in hismouth until he climbed out and gave the dog water to drink. Allahthanked him for it and forgave him." They said, "Messenger of Allah,do we have a reward for taking care of beasts?" He said, "There is areward for every one with a moist liver."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Wahb ibn Kaysan that Jabiribn Abdullah said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, sent a delegation to the coast. Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah was in command of them. There were 300 people and I was amongthem. We went out until we had gone part of the way and our provisionswere finished. Abu Ubayda ordered that the provisions of the army begathered up and they amounted to two containers of dates. He used togive us a little provision from it each day until it was finished, andwe used to have only a single date each. I said, 'What use is onedate?' He said, 'We will certainly feel its loss when they arefinished.' "

Jabir continued, "Then we reached the sea andthere was a fish like a small mountain. The army ate from it foreighteen nights. Then Abu Ubayda ordered two ribs from it to be setup. Then he commanded that a camel be ridden underneath them and itdid not touch them."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Amr ibnSad ibn Muadh from his grandmother that the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, said, "O trusting women, none ofyou must consider even a roasted sheep's trotter too small to give toher neighbour."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr said,"The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,said, 'May Allah curse the jews! They were forbidden to eat fat, sothey sold it and ate its price.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Isa ibnMaryam used to say, "O Banu Israil! You must drink pure water and thegreen things of the land and barley bread . Beware of wheat bread, foryou will not be grateful enough for it."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard that the Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, entered the mosqueand found Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and Umar ibn al-Khattab there. Hequestioned them and they said, "Hunger has driven us out." TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,"And hunger has brought me out." They went to Abu'l-Haytham ibn at-Tayyihan al-Ansari. He ordered that some barley that was in the housebe prepared and he got up to slaughter a sheep for them. The Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Leave theone with milk." He slaughtered a sheep for them and brought them sweetwater and it was hung on a palm-tree. Then they were brought the foodand ate it and drank the water. The Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, recited, "Then, on that day, you willbe asked concerning pleasure." (Sura 102 ayat 8).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Umar ibnal-Khattab was eating bread with ghee. He summoned one of the desertpeople and he began to eat and follow the grease in the dish with amorsel of bread. Umar said, "It is as if you were poor." He said, "ByAllah. I have not eaten ghee nor have I seen food with it since such-and-such a time." Umar declared, "I shall not eat clarified butteruntil people are given life again like they were first given life,"(i.e. on the Day of Rising.)

Yahya related to me from Malik fromAbdullah ibn Dinar that Abdullah ibn Umar said, ''Umar ibn al-Khattabwas asked about locusts. He said, 'I would like to have a basket ofthem, from which we could eat.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Halhalathat Humayd ibn Malik ibn Khu'haym said, "I was sitting with AbuHurayra on his land at al-Aqiq. Some people rode out from Madina tocall upon Abu Hurayra. He told me to go to his mother, sending hisgreetings and asking her to prepare some food." Humayd continued, "Sheset down three loaves on a plate and some oil and salt. Then she putit on my head and I carried it to them. When I set it before them, AbuHurayra said, 'Allah is greater' and added, 'Praise be to Allah whohas filled us with bread after our food had previously been only waterand dates,' as the people did not touch any of the food.

Whenthey left, he said, 'O son of my brother, be good to your sheep andwipe the mucus from them and clean their pen. Pray in their quarterfor they are among the animals of the Garden. By He in Whose Hand myself is, a time is about to come upon people when a small group ofsheep will be more beloved to their owner than the house of Marwan . '"

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Nuaym that Wahb ibnKaysan said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, was brought food while his stepson Umar ibn Salama was withhim. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,said to him, 'Say "Bismillah," and eat what is in front of you.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said that hehad heard al-Qasim ibn Muhammad say that a man came to Abdullah ibnAbbas and said to him, "I have an orphan and he has camels. Can Idrink from the camels' milk?" Ibn Abbas said, "If you search for thelost camels of his and treat the camels' mange and fill in the cracksin their water basin and give it water on the day it drinks, thendrink it without doing harm to the suckling camels by milking themexcessively."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that hisfather never brought food or drink, nor even a remedy which he ate ordrank but that he said, "Praise be to Allah who has guided us and fedus and given us to drink and blessed us. Allah is greater. O Allah! Wehave found Your blessing with every evil, give us every good in themorning and evening. We ask You for its completion and its gratitude.There is no good except Your good. There is no god other than You, theGod of the salihun and the Lord of the Worlds. Praise be to Allah.There is no god but Allah. What Allah wills. There is no power exceptin Allah. O Allah! Bless us in what You have provided us with andprotect us from the punishment of the Fire!"

Al-hamdulillahi-lladhi hadana wa at amana wa saqana wa naamana. Allahu akbar.Allahumma'l fatna nimatik bi-kulli sharr. Fa asbahna minha wa amsaynabi-kulli khayr. Nasaluka tamamaha wa shukraha. La khayr illa khayruk.Wa la ilaha ghayruk. Ilaha'-saliheen wa rabba'l-alameen. Al-hamdulillah. Wa la ilaha illa'llah. Ma sha'Allah. Wa la quwwata illabillah. Allahumma barik lana fima razaqtana. Waqina adhaba'n-nar.

Yahya said that Malik was asked, "Can a woman eat with other thanher relative or slave?" Malik said, "There is no harm in that if it isin a manner which is accepted for a woman to eat with men."

Malik said, "A woman sometimes eats with her husband and with othershe dines with or with her brother in the same way. It is disapprovedof for a woman to be alone with a man when there is no relationshipbetween them by blood, marriage or suckling that would prevent himmarrying her."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that Umar ibnal-Khattab said, "Beware of meat. It has addictiveness like theaddictiveness of wine."

Yahya related to me from Malik fromYahya ibn Said that Umar ibn al-Khattab saw Jabir ibn Abdullahcarrying some meat. He said, "What is this?" He said, "Amir al-muminin. We desired meat and I bought some meat for a dirham." Umarsaid, "Does one of you want to fill his belly apart from his neighbouror nephew? How can you overlook this ayat? 'You squandered your goodthings in the life of this world and sought comfort in them.' " (Sura46 ayat 20).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Dinar from'Abdullah ibn 'Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, used to wear a gold ring. Then the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood up and threw itaway and said, "I will never wear it." He said, "So the people threwaway their rings."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Sadaqa ibn Yasar said, "Iasked Said ibn al-Musayyab about wearing a ring. He said, 'Wear it,and tell people that I gave you that decision.' "