The Book of Miscellany

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "You will soon conquer a land where people deal with Qirat."And according to another version: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "You will soon conquer Egypt where Al-Qirat is frequently mentioned. So when you conquer it, treat its inhabitants well. For there lies upon you the responsibility because of blood ties or relationship (with them)".[Muslim].

When this Verse was revealed: "And warn your tribe (O Muhammad (ﷺ)) of near kindred". (26:214) Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) called the Quraish; when they gathered, he said to them: "O sons of 'Abd Shams; O sons of Ka'b bin Lu'ai, rescue yourselves from the Fire! O sons of Murrah bin Ka'b, rescue yourselves from the Fire! O sons of 'Abd Manaf, rescue yourselves from the Fire! O sons of 'Abdul-Muttalib, rescue yourselves from the Fire! O Fatimah, rescue yourself from the Fire, for I have no power (to protect you) from Allah in anything except that I would sustain relationship with you".[Muslim].

I heard Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying openly not secretly, "The family of so-and-so (i.e., Abu Talib) are not my supporters. My supporter is Allah and the righteous believing people. But they (that family) have kinship (Rahm) with whom I will maintain good the ties of kinship".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

A man came to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said, "Direct me to a deed which will admit me to Jannah and take me away from the Fire". The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Worship Allah and associate no partner with Him, perform As-Salat, pay Zakat, and maintain the ties of kinship".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "When you break fast, you should do it with a date-fruit for there is blessing in it, and if you do not find a date- fruit, break it with water for it is pure." Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) added: "Charity towards a poor person is charity, and towards a relation is both charity and maintaining the ties (of kinship)".[At-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan].

I had a wife whom I loved but 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) disliked her. He asked me to divorce her and when I refused, 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) went to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and mentioned the matter to him. Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked me to divorce her.[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan Sahih].

A man came to me and said, "I have a wife whom my mother commands me to divorce". I replied him that I had heard Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, "A parent is the best of the gates of Jannah; so if you wish, keep to the gate, or lose it."[At-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan Sahih].

I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying: "A mother's sister is equivalent to (real) mother (in status)".[At-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan Sahih]

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Shall I not inform you of the biggest of the major sins?" Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked this question thrice. We said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah. (Please inform us.)". He said, "Ascribing partners to Allah, and to be undutiful to your parents". Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat up from his reclining position and said, "And I warn you against giving forged statement and a false testimony; I warn you against giving forged statement and a false testimony". Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) kept on repeating that warning till we wished he would stop.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "(Of the) major sins are: to ascribe partners to Allah, disobey parents, murder someone, and to take a false oath (intentionally)".[Al- Bukhari].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "It is one of the gravest sins to abuse one's parents." It was asked (by the people): "O Messenger of Allah, can a man abuse his own parents?" Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "He abuses the father of somebody who, in return, abuses the former's father; he then abuses the mother of somebody who, in return, abuses his mother".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].Another narration is: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "One of the major sins is to curse one's parents". It was submitted: "O Messenger of Allah! How can a man curse his own parents?" He (ﷺ) said, "When someone curses the parents of another man who in return abuses the former's father; and when someone abuses the mother of another man who in return abuses his mother."

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The person who severs the bond of kinship will not enter Jannah".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has forbidden you: disobedience to your mothers, to withhold (what you should give), or demand (what you do not deserve), and to bury your daughters alive. And Allah dislikes idle talk, to ask too many questions (for things which will be of no benefit to one), and to waste your wealth".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

'Abdullah bin 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) met a bedouin on his way to Makkah, he greeted him, offered him to mount the donkey he was riding and gave him the turban he was wearing on his head. Ibn Dinar said to him: "May Allah make you pious! Bedouins can be satisfied with anything you give them (i.e., what you have given the bedouin is too much). Upon this, 'Abdullah bin 'Umar said, the father of this man was one of 'Umar's friends whom he loved best, and I heard Messenger of Allah saying, "The finest act of goodness is the good treatment of someone whom one's father loves".Another narration goes: When 'Abdullah bin 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) set out to Makkah, he kept a donkey with him to ride when he would get tired from the riding of the camel, and had a turban which he tied round his head. One day, as he was riding the donkey, a bedouin happened to pass by him. He ('Abdullah bin 'Umar) said, "Aren't you so-and-so?" The bedouin said, "Yes". He ('Abdullah bin 'Umar) gave him his donkey and his turban and said, "Ride this donkey, and tie this turban round your head". Some of his companions said, "May Allah forgive you, you gave to this bedouin the donkey which you enjoyed to ride for change, and the turban which you tied round your head".'Abdullah bin 'Umar said,"I heard Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, 'The finest act of goodness is the kind treatment of a person to the loved ones of his father after his death,' and the father of this person was a friend of 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him).[Muslim].

We were sitting with Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when a man of Banu Salamah came to him and asked, "O Messenger of Allah! Is there any obedience to parents left that I can show to them after their death?" He (ﷺ) replied, "Yes, to pray for them, to supplicate for their forgiveness, to fulfill their promises after their death, to maintain the ties of kinship which cannot be maintained except through them, and honour their friends."[Abu Dawud].

I never felt jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) as much as I did of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her), although I have never seen her, but the Prophet (ﷺ) used to mention her very often. Whenever he slaughtered a sheep, he would cut it into pieces and send them to the women friends of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her). When I sometimes said to him: "You treat Khadijah in such a way as if there is no woman on earth except her". He (ﷺ) would say, "Khadijah was such and such (commending her and speaking well of her), and I had children from her".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].Another narration is: And if he (ﷺ) slaughtered a sheep, he would send meat to the friends of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her) as a present as much as would suffice them.Another narration is: When a sheep was slaughtered, he (ﷺ) would say, "Send this meat to Khadijah's friends." Once, Halah bint Khuwailid (May Allah be pleased with her), sister of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her), sought permission of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to enter. He recognized and recalled to his mind the manner of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her) and was deeply moved. He said, "O Allah, she must be Halah bint Khuwailid".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

I set out along with Jarir bin 'Abdullah Al-Bajali (May Allah be pleased with him) on a journey and he served me. I said to him: "Don't do that." Thereupon, he said, "I have seen the Ansar doing this with Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and I swore by Allah, whenever I accompany anyone of the Ansar, I would serve him".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

I went along with Husain bin Sabrah and 'Amr bin Muslim to Zaid bin Arqam (May Allah be pleased with them) and, as we sat by his side, Husain said to him, "Zaid, you acquired great merits, you saw Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), listened to him talking, fought by his side in (different) battles, and offered Salat (prayer) behind him. Zaid, you have indeed earned great merits. Could you narrate to us what you heard from Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)?" Zaid said, "By Allah! I have grown old and have almost spent up my age and I have forgotten some of the things which I remembered in connection with Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), so accept what I narrate to you, do not compel me to narrate what I fail to narrate". He then said, "One day Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood up to deliver a Khutbah at a watering place known as Khumm between Makkah and Al-Madinah. He praised Allah, extolled Him, and exhorted (us) and said, 'Amma Ba'du. O people, I am a human being. I am about to receive a messenger (the angel of death) from my Rubb and I will respond to Allah's Call, but I am leaving with you two weighty things: the first is the Book of Allah, in which there is right guidance and light, so hold fast to the Book of Allah and adhere to it.' He exhorted (us to hold fast) to the Book of Allah and then said, 'The second is the members of my household, I remind you (to be kind) to the members of my family. I remind you (to be kind) to the members of my family. Husain said to Zaid, "Who are the members of his household, O Zaid? Aren't his wives the members of his family?" Thereupon Zaid said, "His wives are the members of his family. (But here) the members of his family are those for whom Zakat is forbidden". He asked, "Who are they?" Zaid said, "Ali and the offspring of 'Ali, 'Aqil and the offspring of 'Aqil and the offspring of Ja'far and the offspring of 'Abbas." Husain asked, "For all of them the acceptance of Zakat is forbidden?" Zaid (May Allah be pleased with him) said, "Yes".[Muslim].Another narration is: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "I am leaving behind me two weighty things. One of them is the Book of Allah; that is the strong rope of Allah. Whosoever holds firmly to it, will be the guided, and whosoever leaves it goes astray".

Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) said: "Show reverence to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) by honouring the members of his family."[Al- Bukhari].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The person who is best versed in the recitation of the Book of Allah, should lead the prayer; but if all those present are equally versed in it, then the one who has most knowledge of the Sunnah; if they are equal in that respect too, then the one who has emigrated (to Al-Madinah) first, if they are equal in this respect also, then the oldest of them. No man should lead another in prayer where the latter has authority, or sit in his house, without his permission".[Muslim].In another narration in Muslim: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "One who is senior most in accepting Islam, should lead the Salat (prayer)".Yet another narration is: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "A man who is well versed in the Book of Allah and can recite it better, should lead the Salat (prayer); if (all those present) are equal in this respect, then the man who is senior most in respect of emigration, if they are equal in that respect too, then the oldest of them should lead the prayer".[Muslim].