Sunan an-Nasa'i 1218

Ishaq ibn Mansur reported to us; he said: Muhammad ibn Yusuf reported to us; he said: al-Awza‘i reported to us; he said: Yahya ibn Abi Kathir narrated to me, from Hilal ibn Abi Maymunah, who said: ‘Ata’ ibn Yasar narrated to me, from Mu‘awiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami, who said: I said: “O Messenger of Allah, we were only recently in a state of ignorance, then Allah brought Islam. Yet there are men among us who take omens.” He said: “That is something they find within themselves, so let it not turn them away.” I said: “And there are men among us who go to soothsayers.” He said: “Do not go to them.” I said: “And there are men among us who draw lines.” He said: “One of the Prophets used to draw lines. Whoever’s line matches his, that is the one.”

He said: While I was praying with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), a man among the people sneezed, and I said: “May Allah have mercy on you.” The people stared hard at me, so I said: “May my mother lose me! Why are you looking at me?” The people struck their hands against their thighs. When I realized that they were trying to silence me, I fell silent. When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had finished, he called me. May my father and mother be sacrificed for him: he neither struck me, nor rebuked me, nor reviled me. I have never seen, before or after him, a teacher better than he. He said: “This prayer of ours is not a place for any speech of people; it is only glorification of Allah, declaring His greatness, and recitation of the Qur’an.”

He said: Then I went to look at a small flock of sheep of mine, which a girl in my service was tending near Uhud and al-Jawwaniyyah. When I looked, I found that the wolf had taken one of the sheep. I am a man from the children of Adam, and I become angry as they do, so I struck her once. Then I went to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and told him. He regarded what I had done as a grave matter. I said: “O Messenger of Allah, should I set her free?” He said: “Bring her to me.” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to her: “Where is Allah, the Mighty and Majestic?” She said: “In the heaven.” He said: “And who am I?” She said: “You are the Messenger of Allah.” He said: “She is a believer, so set her free.”