The Book of Greetings

كتاب السلام

Chapter 35: The Prohibition Of Soothsaying And Going To Soothsayers

The hadith has been narrated on the authority of Zuhri through the same chain of transmitters but with a slight variation of wording.

Chapter 36: Avoiding Lepers Etc.

'Amr b. Sharid reported on the authority of his father that there was in the delegation of Thaqif a leper. Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) sent a message to him

We have accepted your allegiance, so you may go.

Chapter 37: Killing Snakes Etc.

Nafi' reported that Ibn 'Urnar used to kill all types of snakes until Abu Lubaba b. 'Abd al-Mundhir Badri reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had forbidden the killing of the snakes of the houses, and so he abstained from it.

Nafi' reported that he heard Abu Lubaba informing Ibn 'Umar that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had forbidden the killing of domestic snakes.

'Abdullah reported

We were with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) in a cave when there was revealed to him (the Sura al-Mursalat, i. e. Sura lxxvii.:" By those sent forth to spread goodness" ) and we had just heard (it) from his lips that there appeared before us a snake. He said: Kill it. We hastened to kill it, but it slipped away from us, thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Allah saved it from your harm just as he saved you from its evil.

Chapter 38: It Is Recommended To Kill Geckos

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying (that he who kills a gecko) with the first stroke there are seventy rewards for him.

Chapter 39: The Prohibition Of Killing Ants

Abu Huraira reported so many ahadith and one of them was this that Allah' Messenger (ﷺ) said

When an Apostle from amongst the Apostles of Allah came to sit under a tree an ant bit him. He commanded his luggage to be removed from under the tree and he commanded it to be burnt in the fire and Allah revealed to him:" Why one ant (which had bitten you) was not killed (and why did you burn the others)?

Chapter 40: The Prohibition Of Killing Cats

Nafi' reported from 'Abdullah that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said

A woman was punished because she had kept a cat tied until it died, and (as a punishment of this offence) she was thrown into the Hell. She had not provided it with food, or drink, and had not freed her so that she could eat the vermin of the earth.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

A woman was punished because of a cat. She had neither provided her with food nor drink, nor set her free so that she might eat the vermin of the earth.

Hammam b. Manabbih reported this hadith on the authority of Abu Huraira.

Chapter 37: Killing Snakes Etc.

Nafi' reported on the authority of his father that as 'Abdullah b. 'Umar saw one day (standing) near the ruin (of his house) the slough of a snake and said (to the people around him)

Pursue this snake and kill it. Abu Lubaba Ansari said: I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). He forbade the killing of snakes found in the houses except the short-tailed snakes and those having streaks upon them, for both of them obliterate eyesight and affect that which is in the wombs of (pregnant) women.

'Abdullah reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) commanded a Muhrim (one who is in the state of pilgrimage) to kill the snake at Mina.

Asma' b. 'Ubaid reported about a person who was called as-Sa'ib having said

We visited Abu Sa'id Khudri. When we had been sitting (with him) we heard a stir under his bed. When we looked we found a big snake, the rest of the hadith is the same. And in this Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) is reported to have said: Verily in these houses there live aged (snakes), so when you see one of them, make life hard for it for three days, and if it goes away (well and good), otherwise kill it for (in that case) it would be a nonbeliever. And he (the Holy Prophet) said (to his Companions): Go and bury your companion (who had died by the snake bite).

Abu Sa'id Khudri reported Allah's Messenger having said

There is a group of jinns in Medina who accepted Islam, so he who would see anything from these occupants should warn him three times; and if he appears after that, he should kill him for he is a satan.

Chapter 38: It Is Recommended To Kill Geckos

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

He who killed a gecko with the first stroke for him is such and such a reward, and he who killed it with a second stroke for him is such and such reward less than the first one, and he who killed it with the third stroke for him is such and such a reward less than the second one.

This hadith has been reported on the authority of Abu Huraira through another chain of transmitters (and the words are)

- He who killed a gecko with the first stroke for him are ordained one hundred virtues, and with the second one less than that and with the third one less than that.

Chapter 40: The Prohibition Of Killing Cats

Abu Huraira reported this hadith through another chain of transmitters.

Chapter 41: The Virtue Of Giving Food And Water To Animals Which Are Unlawful To Eat

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as sayings

A person suffered from intense thirst while on a journey, when he found a well. He climbed down into it and drank (water) and then came out and saw a dog lolling its tongue on account of thirst and eating the moistened earth. The person said: This dog has suffered from thirst as I had suffered from it. He climbed down into the well, filled his shoe with water, then caught it in his mouth until he climbed up and made the dog drink it. So Allah appreciated this act of his and pardoned him. Then (the Companions around him) said: Allah's Messenger, is there for us a reward even for (serving) such animals? He said: Yes, there is a reward for service to every living animal.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

There was a dog moving around a well whom thirst would have killed. Suddenly a prostitute from the prostitutes of Bani Isra'il happened to see it and she drew water in her shoe and made it drink, and she was pardoned because of this.

Chapter 37: Killing Snakes Etc.

Abu as-Sa'ib, the freed slaved of Hisham b. Zuhra, said that he visited Abu Sa'id Khudri in his house, (and he further) said

I found him saying his prayer, so I sat down waiting for him to finish his prayer when I heard a stir in the bundles (of wood) lying in a comer of the house. I looked towards it and found a snake. I jumped up in order to kill it, but he (Abu Sa'id Khudri) made a gesture that I should sit down. So I sat down and as he finished (the prayer) he pointed to a room in the house and said: Do you see this room? I said: Yes. He said: There was a young man amongst us who had been newly wedded. We went with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (to participate in the Battle) of Trench when a young man in the midday used to seek permission from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) to return to his family. One day he sought permission from him and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (after granting him the permission) said to him: Carry your weapons with you for I fear the tribe of Quraiza (may harm you). The man carried the weapons and then came back and found his wife standing between the two doors. He bent towards her smitten by jealousy and made a dash towards her with a spear in order to stab her. She said: Keep your spear away and enter the house until you see that which has made me come out. He entered and found a big snake coiled on the bedding. He darted with the spear and pierced it and then went out having fixed it in the house, but the snake quivered and attacked him and no one knew which of them died first, the snake or the young man. We came to Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) and made a mention to him and said: Supplicate to Allah that that (man) may be brought back to life. Thereupon he said: Ask forgiveness for your companion and then said: There are in Medina jinns who have accepted Islam, so when you see any one of them, pronounce a warning to it for three days, and if they appear before you after that, then kill it for that is a devil.