The Book of Miscellany

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Piety is good manner, and sin is that which creates doubt and you do not like people to know of it."[Muslim].

I went to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he asked me, "Have you come to inquire about piety?" I replied in the affirmative. Then he said, "Ask your heart regarding it. Piety is that which contents the soul and comforts the heart, and sin is that which causes doubts and perturbs the heart, even if people pronounce it lawful and give you verdicts on such matters again and again."[Ahmad and Ad- Darmi].

"I am not aware that you suckled me, and you did not inform me." So he ('Uqbah) rode to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in Al-Madinah and put the matter before him. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "How can you continue (to be her husband) after what you have been told?" 'Uqbah (May Allah be pleased with him) therefore divorced her and she married another man.[Al- Bukhari].

I have retained these words of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), "Leave what causes you doubt and turn to what does not cause you doubt."[At- Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan Sahih].

Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) had a slave who brought him his earnings and Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) would eat from it. One day he brought him something and when Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) had eaten some of it, the slave asked him whether he knew where he had got that (food) from, Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) asked what it was, and he replied: I acted as a soothsayer for a man in the pre-Islamic period, and not being good at it, I deceived him; today he met me and he rewarded me for that soothsaying what you have eaten. Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) put his hand in his mouth and vomited up all that he had eaten.[Al- Bukhari].

'Umar bin Al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him) fixed the payment amounting to four thousand dirhams for each of the early Emigrants, but for his son, he fixed only three thousand five hundred. He was asked: "He is also an (early) Emigrant, why have you fixed a lesser sum for him?" He said: "It was his father who took him along with him. He is not like one who emigrated by himself."[Al-Bukhari].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "No one will attain complete righteousness until he abandons (certain) unobjectionable (but doubtful) things so as to remain on his guard against something objectionable."[At-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Allah loves a slave who is pious, free of all wants and the unnoticed."[Muslim].

Someone asked Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "Who is the best man?" He (ﷺ) answered, "A believer who strives in the Cause of Allah with his life and his wealth." The man asked: "Who is the next?" He said, "One who retires into a narrow valley and worships his Rubb."Another narration is: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "One who fears Allah and safeguards people against his own mischief."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The best possession of a Muslim will be a herd of sheep with which he retires to the top of a mountain or places where rain is expected to fall (pastures) so as to safeguard with his faith from tribulation."[Al- Bukhari].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Every Prophet has tended sheep". He was asked: "And did you?" He replied, "Yes, I tended them for a few carats for the Makkans."[Al-Bukhari].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The best of people is a man who is holding his horse's rein in the way of Allah (in Jihad) and is galloping towards the place wherever he hears a call for war or detects a note of danger; he goes on proceeding, seeking martyrdom or death wherever it is expected. And a man who retires with some sheep in a mountainside or a valley. He performs Salat regularly and pays the Zakat, continues worshipping his Rubb, till death overtakes him. He does not interfere in the affairs of the people except for betterment."[Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Allah has revealed to me that you should humble yourselves to one another. One should neither hold himself above another nor transgress against another."[Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Wealth does not diminish by giving Sadaqah (charity). Allah augments the honour of one who forgives; and one who serves another seeking the pleasure of Allah, Allah will exalt him in ranks."[Muslim].

The Prophet (ﷺ) used to do the same.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

A slave-girl of Al-Madinah would take hold of the hand of the Prophet (ﷺ) and take him wherever she desired.[Al- Bukhari].

'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) was asked: "What did Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to do inside his house?" She answered: "He used to keep himself busy helping members of his family, and when it was the time for Salat (the prayer), he would get up for prayer."[Al-Bukhari].

I came to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) while he was delivering a Khutbah and said: "O Messenger of Allah, a stranger (meaning himself) has come to inquire about his Deen. He is quite ignorant about his Deen." Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) interrupted his Khutbah and turned to me. Then a chair was brought for him and he sat on it. He started instructing me what Allah had taught him. Then he resumed his Khutbah and completed it.[Muslim].

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) finished eating his food, he would lick his three fingers (i.e., the forefinger, the middle finger and the thumb). He (ﷺ) said, "If anyone of you drops a morsel, he should remove anything harmful from it and then eat it. He should not leave it for Shaitan." He commanded us to clean out the dish saying, "You do not know in what portion of your food the blessing lies."[Muslim].

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Every Prophet has tended sheep." He was asked: "And did you?" He replied: "Yes, I tended them for a few carats for the Makkans."[Al-Bukhari].