Beginning of the Musnad of Ibn Abbas

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Close up your rows tightly (joined to one another), for I see the devils slipping in among you (through the gaps) as though they were small black sheep." From the scholarly point of view, the chain of this report has an unnamed (unknown) narrator between al-Walid bin Jumay' and Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I saw my Lord in the most beautiful form. Allah Almighty said to me: 'O Muhammad!' I said: 'Labbayka wa sa'dayk' (Here I am, ever ready to obey You). Allah Almighty said: 'About what are the angels of the highest assembly disputing?' I said: 'My Lord, I do not know.' So Allah Almighty placed His Hand between my shoulders, and I felt its coolness in my chest, and everything between the east and the west became clear to me (and I came to know it). Then Allah Almighty said: 'O Muhammad, now tell Me: about what are the angels of the highest assembly disputing?' I said: 'About the expiations (the deeds that wipe out sins); (and they are): walking on foot to the Friday prayers, performing ablution thoroughly even in times of hardship (such as severe cold), and waiting for one prayer after another. Whoever keeps to these deeds lives in goodness and dies in goodness, and becomes as free of his sins as he was on the day his mother gave birth to him.'"

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: An Ansari Companion (may Allah be pleased with him) of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told me that once, while they were sitting in the gathering of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), a star was suddenly shot and shone brightly. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked them: "What did you used to say in the Jahiliyyah when you saw something like this?" They said: "Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) know best. We used to say that a great man has been born tonight, or a great man has died." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is not shot for anyone's death or life. Rather, when our Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, decrees a matter, the bearers of the Throne glorify Him, then the inhabitants of the heaven next to them glorify Him, until the glorification reaches the inhabitants of the lowest heaven. Then those next to the bearers of the Throne ask them: 'What did your Lord say?' They tell them, and so the inhabitants of the heavens ask one another for the news until it reaches the lowest heaven. There the jinn snatch what they hear and cast it to their allies, and they are pelted (with flames). Whatever they bring as it is, is true, but they mix lies into it and add to it." The doubt in this narration (about al-Zuhri's wording in the chain) is from the narrator named Mubashshir.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) fall asleep until the sound of his snoring could be heard, or he began to breathe heavily, so I said: "O Messenger of Allah, you had fallen asleep." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ablution is obligatory only upon one who sleeps lying down, for when a person sleeps lying down, his joints become relaxed."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at his blessed face in the mirror, he would recite this supplication: 'Al-hamdu lillahil-ladhi hassana khalqi wa khuluqi, wa zana minni ma shana min ghayri' (All praise is for Allah who made my form and my character beautiful, and adorned in me what is considered a flaw in others); and when he (peace and blessings be upon him) applied kohl, he would put two applications in each eye and one application shared between the two eyes; and when he (peace and blessings be upon him) put on his blessed sandals he would begin with the right foot, and when he took them off he would take off the left first; and when he (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the mosque he would put his right foot in first; and he (peace and blessings be upon him) loved to begin from the right in every matter, whether taking or giving.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: "Sunday is a day of planting and building; Monday is the day of travel; Tuesday is the day of blood (shedding blood or cupping); Wednesday is a day of taking (goods and property), and there is no giving in it; Thursday is the day of going in to the ruler; and Friday is the day of marriage and consummation."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that a man said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the sacrifice of a camel has become obligatory upon me, and camels have now become scarce; so what do you (peace and blessings be upon him) say about this?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Slaughter seven sheep in its place."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away when he (peace and blessings be upon him) was sixty-five (65) years old," and al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) used to say: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away at the age of sixty (60)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that a man came to him and said: "The accursed Hassan has come." Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said (rejecting this): "He is by no means accursed; he strove (in jihad) alongside the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with his tongue and with his life."

It is narrated from Ubaydullah bin Abdullah bin Utbah bin Mas'ud (may Allah have mercy on him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wrote a noble letter to Caesar (of Rome) inviting him to Islam, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) entrusted this blessed letter of his to Sayyiduna Dihyah al-Kalbi (may Allah be pleased with him), commanding him to hand it to the ruler of Busra so that he would deliver it to Caesar; so the ruler of Busra presented the letter to Caesar. Caesar had vowed that when Allah Almighty defeated the armies of Persia before him, he would walk from Hims to Iliya (Jerusalem) in return for this favour of Allah. When the letter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reached Caesar, he read it and said: "Search: is there anyone of his (the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him)) people here, so that we may ask him some questions about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?"

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan bin Harb (may Allah be pleased with him) told him that he was in Syria with the other traders of Quraysh, and this was during the period when the truce (of Hudaybiyah) was in force between the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the disbelievers of Quraysh. Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A messenger of Caesar (the king of Rome) came to us and took me and my companions with him until we reached Iliya (Jerusalem). We were brought into his court, where he was sitting on his royal throne wearing a crown, with the great chiefs of the Romans around him. Caesar said to his interpreter: "Ask them which of them is the closest relative of this man (Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)) who claims to be a prophet." Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I am his closest relative." He asked: "What is your relationship?" I replied: "He is my cousin." At that time there was no one else from Banu Abd Manaf in the caravan except me. Caesar ordered: "Bring him close to me," and ordered my companions to be placed behind me. Then he said to his interpreter: "I am going to ask this man some questions about this claimant to prophethood; if he lies, you (his companions) contradict him." Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Had it not been for the shame of my companions attributing lies to me, I would certainly have lied (about him (peace and blessings be upon him)) when he questioned me; but I spoke the truth out of fear that they would accuse me of lying." Then Caesar said to his interpreter: "Ask him what lineage this man has among you." I said: "He is of the noblest lineage among us." He asked: "Has anyone among you ever said such a thing (claimed prophethood) before him?" I said: "No." He asked: "Before this claim, did you ever accuse him of lying?" I said: "No." He asked: "Was there any king among his forefathers?" I said: "No." He asked: "Are the great and influential people following him, or the weak?" I said: "Rather, the weak." He asked: "Are his followers increasing or decreasing?" I said: "Rather, they are increasing." He asked: "Does he ever break his covenant?" I said: "No, but we are now in a particular period (of truce) with him, and we fear that he may do so." Sayyiduna Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "In the whole conversation I could find no word other than this one sentence by which I could belittle him, because I feared that something else would be reported from me." Caesar asked: "Have you fought him?" I said: "Yes." He asked: "What is the outcome of the fighting between you and him?" I said: "War is like a bucket (that goes now to one side and now to the other): sometimes they prevail over us and sometimes we prevail over them." He asked: "What does he command you to do?" I said: "He commands us to worship Allah alone and not to associate anything with Him, forbids us to worship the idols our forefathers used to worship, and commands us to pray, to give charity, to fulfil covenants and to render trusts." When I had said all this, Caesar said to his interpreter: "Tell him: I asked you about his lineage, and you said that he is of noble lineage among you; and messengers are sent from the noblest lineage of their people. I asked you whether anyone among you had said such a thing before him, and you said no; had someone made such a claim before him, I would have thought that he was following that statement. I asked you whether you had ever accused him of lying before his claim, and you denied it, so I concluded that it is not possible for a man not to lie to people and then fabricate lies against Allah. I asked you whether there was a king among his forefathers, and you said no; had any of his ancestors been a king, I would have said that he wants to regain his father's kingdom. I asked you whether the noble people follow him or the weak, and you said that the weak are his followers; and these have always been the followers of the messengers." Then he mentioned the rest of the hadith, and this text is in the hadith narrated by Suwayd.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "And We tried you with a thorough trial (futun)" [Taha: 40]. Sa'id bin Jubayr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I asked him what the trials (futun) were. He said: "Come back at the start of the day, O Ibn Jubayr, for there is a long story to them." When morning came, I went early to Ibn Abbas to claim from him what he had promised me of the story of the trials, and he said: Pharaoh and those who sat with him discussed what Allah had promised Ibrahim (peace be upon him): that He would place prophets and kings among his descendants. Some of them said: "The Children of Israel are waiting for that and have no doubt about it. They used to think that it was Yusuf bin Ya'qub (peace be upon them both), but when he died they said: 'It is not like that; Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, promised Ibrahim.'" Pharaoh said: "So what do you think?" They took counsel together and agreed that he should send out men carrying blades, who would go round among the Children of Israel and slaughter every male newborn they found. They did that. When they saw that the elders of the Children of Israel were dying at their appointed times while the young were being slaughtered, they said: "You are about to wipe out the Children of Israel, and then you will end up having to do yourselves the work they used to spare you. So kill every male newborn one year, so that their numbers grow fewer, and leave them one year in which none of them is killed, so that the young grow up in place of the elders who die. They will not become numerous through those you spare, so that you would fear them outnumbering you, nor will they be wiped out through those you kill, so that you would come to need them." So they agreed on that.
The mother of Musa (peace be upon him) became pregnant with Harun (peace be upon him) in the year in which boys were not slaughtered, and she gave birth to him openly and in safety. The following year she became pregnant with Musa, and worry and grief fell into her heart - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr - because of what entered his mother's heart concerning what was intended for him. So Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, revealed to her: "Do not fear and do not grieve; indeed, We will return him to you and make him one of the messengers" [Al-Qasas: 7], and He commanded her that when she gave birth she should put him in a chest and then cast him into the river. When she gave birth, she did that with him. When her son had passed out of her sight, Satan came to her, and she said to herself: "What have I done to my son? Had he been slaughtered in my presence and I had shrouded him and buried him, that would have been dearer to me than casting him with my own hand to the surging waves of the sea and its fishes." The water carried him along until it brought him to the landing-place where the slave girls of Pharaoh's wife drew water. When they saw him they took him, and they were about to open the chest, but one of them said: "There is wealth in this, and if we open it, the king's wife will not believe us about what we found in it." So they carried it just as it was, without moving anything in it, until they handed it to her. When she opened it she saw a boy in it, and a love for him was cast into her heart such as she had never felt for any human being. And the heart of Musa's mother became empty of the remembrance of everything except the remembrance of Musa.
When the slaughterers heard about him, they came with their blades to Pharaoh's wife to slaughter him - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr. She said to them: "Leave him, for this single one will not add to the Children of Israel, until I go to Pharaoh and ask him to give him to me. If he gives him to me, you will have done well and acted kindly; and if he orders him to be slaughtered, I will not blame you." She brought him to Pharaoh and said: "A comfort of the eye for me and for you." Pharaoh said: "He may be that for you; as for me, I have no need of it." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One by whom I swear, had Pharaoh acknowledged that he would be a comfort of the eye for him, as his wife acknowledged, Allah would have guided him through him as He guided his wife; but He deprived him of that." She then sent for every woman around her who had milk, to choose a wet-nurse for him. But every time one of those women took him to suckle him, he would not accept her breast, until Pharaoh's wife feared that he would refuse milk and die, and that grieved her. So he was taken out to the market and the gathering-place of the people, she hoping to find a wet-nurse whose milk he would take, but he would not accept. The mother of Musa became distraught, and she said to his sister: "Follow him; trace his tracks and search for him. Do you hear any mention of him? Is my son alive, or have the beasts eaten him?" - and she had forgotten what Allah had promised her concerning him. His sister watched him from a distance while they did not perceive it - "from a distance" (an junub) means that a person's gaze rises to something far off while he is beside it and is not noticed. When the wet-nurses had worn them out, she said out of joy: "Shall I direct you to a household who will take care of him for you and be sincere to him?" They seized her and said: "How do you know what their sincerity to him would be? Do you (people) know him?" so that they became suspicious about it - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr. She said: "Their sincerity to him and their tenderness for him would be out of desire for a tie with the king and hope of his favour." So they let her go. She went to her mother and told her the news, and his mother came. When she placed him in her lap he leapt to her breast and sucked it until both his sides were filled. A bearer of good news went to Pharaoh's wife to give her the good news: "We have found a wet-nurse for your son." She sent for her, and she was brought along with him. When she saw what he did with her, she said to her: "Stay with me and nurse this son of mine, for I have never loved anything as I love him." The mother of Musa said: "I cannot leave my house and my children, for they would be lost. If you are content to give him to me, so that I take him to my house and he stays with me, I will spare no effort in doing him good; otherwise I will not leave my house and my children." The mother of Musa remembered what Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, had promised her, so she held out firmly against Pharaoh's wife, certain that Allah would fulfil His promise. She returned to her house with her son. And the people of the town became united, protected from forced labour and injustice as long as he was among them.
He said: When he grew up, Pharaoh's wife said to the mother of Musa: "I want you to show me my son." She promised her a day on which she would show him to her. Pharaoh's wife said to her treasurers, stewards and nurses: "Let not one of you remain without receiving my son today with a gift and honour, so that I may see that for him; and I am sending a trustworthy person who will record everything each one of you does." Gifts, honours and presents kept greeting him from the time he left his mother's house until he was brought in to Pharaoh's wife. When he came in to her, she honoured him, treated him generously, rejoiced in him and admired him, and she honoured his mother for the good effect she had had on him. Then she said: "I will take him to Pharaoh, and he will surely honour him and treat him generously." When she took him in to him, she placed him in his lap, and Musa took hold of Pharaoh's beard and pulled it down to the ground. The misguided ones, the enemies of Allah, said to Pharaoh: "Do you not see what Allah promised His prophet Ibrahim: that this one would overpower you, rise above you and throw you down?" So he sent for the slaughterers to slaughter him - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr, after every trial with which he was tried; trials were intended for him. Pharaoh's wife came hurrying to Pharaoh and said: "What has come over you regarding this boy whom you gave to me?" He said: "Do you not see that he claims he will throw me down and rise above me?" She said: "Set something between me and you by which you will know the truth: bring two live coals and two pearls and put them near him. If he grabs the two pearls and avoids the two coals, you will know that he has understanding; but if he takes the two coals and does not want the two pearls, you will know that no one who has understanding prefers two coals to two pearls." He put that near him, and he took the two coals, and they snatched them from his hand for fear that they would burn him. The woman said: "Do you not see?" So Allah turned him away from him after he had resolved to do it; Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, was to accomplish His purpose in him.
When he reached his full strength and became one of the men, no one of Pharaoh's people could reach any of the Children of Israel with injustice or forced labour while he was with them, so that they became fully protected. While Musa was in a part of the city, he came upon two men fighting, one a Pharaonite and the other an Israelite. The Israelite called on him for help against the Pharaonite, and Musa became extremely angry, because the Pharaonite had laid hands on him while knowing Musa's standing among the Children of Israel and his protection of them; people did not know that this was only because of the nursing, except Musa's mother, unless Allah had informed Musa of it in a way He had not informed anyone else. Musa struck the Pharaonite and killed him, and no one saw them except Allah and the Israelite. When he had killed the man, Musa said: "This is of the work of Satan; indeed, he is a clear, misleading enemy" [Al-Qasas: 15]. Then he said: "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, so forgive me. So He forgave him; indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful" [Al-Qasas: 16]. He became fearful in the city, watching for news. Pharaoh was approached and told: "The Children of Israel have killed a man from Pharaoh's people, so take our right for us and do not let them off." He said: "Find me his killer and someone to testify against him, for the king, even if his favour lies with a people, cannot rightly exact retaliation without proof or evidence. So find out the facts of it for me, and I will take your right for you." While they were going round finding no evidence, Musa saw, the next day, that same Israelite fighting another man from Pharaoh's people. The Israelite called on him for help against the Pharaonite. But it so happened that Musa had come to regret what he had done, and he disliked what he saw. Out of anger at the Israelite, while he meant to seize the Pharaonite, he said to the Israelite - because of what he had done yesterday and today - "Indeed, you are clearly misguided" [Al-Qasas: 18]. The Israelite looked at Musa when he said this to him, and saw that he was angry, as angry as he had been the day before, so he feared that it was him he meant and not the Pharaonite. He did not mean him; he meant only the Pharaonite. But the Israelite was afraid, so he got away from the Pharaonite and said: "O Musa, do you want to kill me as you killed a soul yesterday?" [Al-Qasas: 19]. He said that only out of fear that it was him Musa meant to kill. They quarrelled and then parted, and the Pharaonite went to his people and told them the news he had heard from the Israelite when he said: "Do you want to kill me as you killed a soul yesterday?" [Al-Qasas: 19]. So Pharaoh sent the slaughterers to kill Musa. Pharaoh's messengers took the main road, walking at their ease in search of Musa, not fearing that he would escape them, when a man of Musa's party came from the farthest end of the city, took a short cut by a near path so as to reach Musa before them, and told him the news - and that is one of the trials, O Ibn Jubayr.
Musa set out heading for Madyan. He had never faced a trial before that, and he had no knowledge of the road except his good opinion of his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, for he said: "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to the right way. And when he arrived at the water of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people watering (their flocks), and he found apart from them two women holding back" [Al-Qasas: 23] - meaning holding back their sheep. He said to them: "What is the matter with you, standing apart and not watering with the people?" They said: "We have no strength to push against the people; we are only waiting for what is left over in their troughs." So he watered for them, drawing a great deal of water in the bucket, until they were the first of the shepherds to finish. They went back with their sheep to their father, and Musa went off and took shade under a tree, and said: "My Lord, indeed I am in need of whatever good You send down to me" [Al-Qasas: 24]. Their father found it strange that they had come back so quickly with their sheep, their udders full and their bellies filled, and said: "Something has happened with you today." They told him what Musa had done, and he ordered one of them to call him to him. She came to Musa and called him. When he had spoken with him, he said: "Do not fear; you have escaped from the wrongdoing people" [Al-Qasas: 25]; Pharaoh and his people have no authority over us, and we are not in his kingdom. He said: "One of the two women said: O my father, hire him; indeed, the best one you can hire is the strong, the trustworthy" [Al-Qasas: 26]. Jealous concern moved him to say: "And how do you know what his strength and his trustworthiness are?" She said: "As for his strength, it is what I saw of him with the bucket when he watered for us: I have never seen a man stronger than him at that watering. As for his trustworthiness, he looked at me when I came towards him and appeared before him, and when he realised that I was a woman he lowered his head and did not raise it or look at me until I had conveyed your message to him. Then he said: 'Walk behind me and describe the way to me.' He would not do this unless he were trustworthy." Her father was relieved; he believed her and thought of him as she had said. He said to him: Would you agree "that I marry you to one of these two daughters of mine on the condition that you work for me for eight years; and if you complete ten, that will be from you. I do not wish to put you in hardship; you will find me, if Allah wills, among the righteous" [Al-Qasas: 27]? He agreed. So eight years were obligatory upon the Prophet of Allah Musa (peace be upon him), and the two years were a promise from him; Allah fulfilled his promise on his behalf, and he completed ten. Sa'id said: A man from among the Christians, one of their scholars, met me and said: "Do you know which of the two terms Musa fulfilled?" I said: "No" - and at that time I did not know. Then I met Ibn Abbas and mentioned that to him, and he said: "Did you not know that the eight were obligatory upon Musa, and the Prophet of Allah would not have left out any of them, and he knew that Allah would fulfil on Musa's behalf the promise he had made? So he completed ten years." I met the Christian and told him that, and he said: "The one you asked, who told you this, knows more about it than you." I said: "Yes indeed, and he is more worthy of that." When Musa travelled with his family, there happened the matter of the fire, the staff and his hand that Allah has related to you in the Qur'an. He complained to his Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, of what he feared from Pharaoh's people concerning the killing, and of the knot in his tongue, for there was a knot in his tongue that kept him from much speech; and he asked his Lord to help him with his brother Harun, to be a support for him and to speak on his behalf much of what his tongue could not express clearly. Allah granted him his request and loosened a knot from his tongue. Allah revealed to Harun and commanded him to meet him, so Musa set off with his staff until he met Harun, and they went together to Pharaoh. They stayed at his door for a time without being given permission; then permission was given to them after strict screening. They said: "We are the messengers of your Lord" [Taha: 47]. He said: "So who is the Lord of you two, O Musa?" [Taha: 49]. He told him what Allah has related to you in the Qur'an. He said: "What do you want?" and he reminded him of the man who had been killed, and Musa excused himself with what you have heard, and said: "I want you to believe in Allah and to send the Children of Israel with me." He refused him that and said: "Bring a sign, if you are one of the truthful." So he threw down his staff, and behold, it was a huge serpent, its mouth gaping, rushing towards Pharaoh. When Pharaoh saw it heading for him, he feared it, leapt from his throne and appealed to Musa to hold it back from him, and he did so. Then he drew his hand out of the opening of his garment, and he (Pharaoh) saw it white without any harm - meaning without leprosy - then he put it back and it returned to its original colour. He consulted the chiefs around him about what he had seen, and they said to him: "These two are magicians who want to drive you out of your land by their magic and do away with your exemplary way" [Taha: 63] - meaning the kingdom they were in, and their way of life. They refused to give him anything of what he asked, and said to him: "Gather the magicians for us, for they are many in your land, so that their magic may overcome the magic of these two." So he sent into the city, and every magician skilled in the craft was gathered for him. When they came to Pharaoh they said: "With what does this magician work?" They said: "He works with serpents." They said: "No, by Allah, there is no one on earth who works magic with serpents and staffs as we do. So what will our reward be if we win?" He said to them: "You are my relatives and my close associates, and I will do for you everything you like." So they fixed the appointment for the day of adornment, "and that the people be assembled in the forenoon" [Taha: 59].
Sa'id said: Ibn Abbas told me that the day of adornment is the day on which Allah gave Musa victory over Pharaoh and the magicians, and it is the day of Ashura. When they had gathered on an open plain, the people said to one another: "Come, let us attend this matter, 'that we may follow the magicians, if they are the victors'" [Al-Shu'ara: 40] - meaning Musa and Harun, mocking the two of them. The magicians said - because of the power they had through their magic - "O Musa, either you throw, or we will be the ones to throw" [Al-A'raf: 115]. He said: "Rather, you throw." "So they threw down their ropes and their staffs and said: By the might of Pharaoh, it is we who will be the victors" [Al-Shu'ara: 44]. Musa saw such magic of theirs that he sensed fear within himself, so Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, revealed to him: "Throw your staff" [Al-A'raf: 117]. When he threw it, it became a huge serpent with gaping mouth, and the staffs, by Musa's supplication, became entangled with the ropes until they became pieces going towards the serpent and entering it, until it left no staff and no rope without swallowing it. When the magicians realised that, they said: "If this were magic, it would not have gone this far against our magic; rather, it is a matter from the command of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted. We believe in Allah and in what Musa has brought, and we repent to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, from what we were upon." And Allah broke the back of Pharaoh and his followers at that place, and made the truth prevail, "and what they were doing was made void. So they were defeated there and turned back humiliated" [Al-A'raf: 118]. Pharaoh's wife had come out into the open in humble clothes, praying to Allah for victory for Musa over Pharaoh; whoever of Pharaoh's people saw her thought that she had humbled herself out of concern for Pharaoh and his followers, whereas her grief and worry were only for Musa. When Musa's stay grew long because of Pharaoh's false promises - every time he brought him a sign, he would promise him at that point to send the Children of Israel, and when it passed he would break his promises and say: "Can your Lord do anything other than this?" - Allah sent upon him and his people the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs and the blood, as distinct signs. Each time he would complain to Musa and ask him to remove it from him, and would agree with him that he would send the Children of Israel with him; and when it was removed from him, he would break his promise and violate his covenant. At last Musa was commanded to go out with his people, and he went out with them by night. When Pharaoh woke in the morning and saw that they had gone, he sent gatherers into the cities, and he followed them with huge, numerous armies. Allah revealed to the sea: "When My servant Musa strikes you with his staff, split into twelve parts so that Musa and those with him may cross; then close over whoever of Pharaoh and his followers remain after him." Musa forgot to strike the sea with the staff, and he reached the sea while it was roaring, fearing that Musa would strike it while it was heedless and that it would thus become disobedient. When the two hosts saw each other and drew close, Musa's people said: "We are surely overtaken" [Al-Shu'ara: 61]; "Do what your Lord has commanded you, for you have not lied and you have not been lied to." He said: "He promised me that when I came to the sea it would split for me into twelve parts so that I could cross it." Then after that he remembered the staff, and he struck the sea with his staff, and it split for him when the first of Pharaoh's army had come close to the last of Musa's army. The sea split as his Lord had commanded it and as He had promised Musa. When Musa and all his companions had crossed, and Pharaoh and his companions had entered, it closed over them as Allah had commanded. When Musa had crossed the sea, his companions said: "We fear that Pharaoh may not have drowned, and we cannot be sure of his destruction." So he prayed to his Lord, and He brought him out for him with his body, until they became certain of his destruction. Then they passed by a people devoted to idols of theirs. "They said: O Musa, make for us a god just as they have gods. He said: Indeed, you are an ignorant people. What these people are engaged in is destroyed, and void is what they used to do" [Al-A'raf: 138]; "You have seen lessons and heard what should suffice you." He went on, and Musa settled them in a place and said to them: "Obey Harun, for I have appointed him as my deputy over you, and I am going to my Lord." He set them a term of thirty days in which he would return to them. When he came to his Lord and wanted to speak to Him at the end of the thirty days, having fasted them, nights and days, he disliked speaking to his Lord while the smell of a fasting person's mouth came from his mouth, so Musa took something of the plants of the earth and chewed it. When he came to Him, his Lord said to him: "Have you broken your fast?" - and He knew best what had happened. He said: "My Lord, I disliked speaking to You except with a sweet-smelling mouth." He said: "Did you not know, O Musa, that the smell of the fasting person's mouth is sweeter to Me than the scent of musk? Go back and fast ten days, then come to Me." Musa did as he was commanded. When Musa's people saw that he had not returned to them at the appointed time, that troubled them. Harun had addressed them, saying: "You came out of Egypt while Pharaoh's people had loans and deposits with you, and you have the like of that with them. My view is that you count your property with them as given up (for Allah's reward); I do not make lawful for you any deposit or loan, and we will neither return any of it to them nor keep it for ourselves." So he dug a pit and ordered every group that had any of that, whether goods or jewellery, to throw it into that pit; then he lit a fire over it and burned it, and said: "It will be neither for us nor for them." Al-Samiri was a man from a people who worshipped cows, neighbours of theirs, and he was not from the Children of Israel. He had set out with Musa and the Children of Israel when they set out. It was decreed for him that he saw a trace, and he took a handful from it. He passed by Harun, and Harun said to him: "O Samiri, will you not throw down what is in your hand?" - he was clutching it, and no one had seen it all that time. He said: "This is a handful from the trace of the messenger who brought you across the sea. I will not throw it down for anything unless you pray to Allah that when I throw it, it becomes what I want." He threw it, and Harun prayed for him, and he said: "I want it to become a calf." So whatever goods, jewellery, copper or iron were in the pit gathered together and became a hollow calf with no soul in it, which had a lowing sound. Ibn Abbas said: "No, by Allah, it never had any voice at all; the wind would enter from its rear and come out of its mouth, and that sound came from that." The Children of Israel split into groups. One group said: "O Samiri, what is this? You know best about it." He said: "This is your lord, but Musa has lost the way." Another group said: "We will not deny this until Musa returns to us. If it is our lord, we will not have neglected it or fallen short regarding it when we saw it; and if it is not our lord, we will follow what Musa says." Another group said: "This is the work of Satan; it is not our lord, and we will neither believe in it nor accept it." And one group had their hearts filled with belief in what al-Samiri said about the calf, and they openly declared their denial (of the truth). Harun said to them: "O my people, you are only being tried by it, and indeed your Lord is the Most Merciful" [Taha: 90]; it is not like this. They said: "Then what is the matter with Musa? He promised us thirty days and then broke his promise to us; here forty have passed." Their foolish ones said: "He has missed his Lord, so he is searching for Him and following Him." When Allah spoke to Musa and said to him what He said, He informed him of what his people had encountered after him. "So Musa returned to his people, angry and grieved" [Taha: 86], and he said to them what you have heard in the Qur'an, "and he seized his brother by the head, dragging him towards himself" [Al-A'raf: 150], and he threw down the tablets. Then he accepted his brother's excuse and sought forgiveness for him, and turned to al-Samiri and said to him: "What drove you to do what you did?" He said: "I took a handful from the trace of the messenger; I perceived it while it was hidden from you, and I threw it in. 'And thus did my soul entice me. He said: Then go; indeed, it is for you in this life to say: No contact. And indeed, you have an appointment which you will not fail to keep. And look at your god to which you remained devoted: we will surely burn it and then scatter it in the sea, a scattering' [Taha: 96]." Had it been a god, that could not have been done to it. So the Children of Israel became certain, and those whose view about it had been like Harun's view were glad, and all of them said to Musa: "Ask your Lord for us to open for us a door of repentance which we may carry out, so that it expiates what we have done." So Musa chose from his people seventy men for that, for going to the mountain, from among those who had not taken part in (worshipping) the calf. He went with them to ask for repentance for them, and the earth shook with them. The Prophet of Allah felt ashamed before his people and his delegation at what had been done to them, and he said: "My Lord, had You willed, You could have destroyed them before, and me. Will You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done?" [Al-A'raf: 155]. Among them were some in whom Allah had seen the love of the calf that had filled their hearts, believing in it, and that is why the earth shook with them. He (Allah) said: "My mercy encompasses all things. So I will decree it for those who are mindful (of Me) and give zakah, and those who believe in Our signs - those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written with them in the Torah and the Gospel" [Al-A'raf: 156].
He (Musa) said: "My Lord, I asked You for repentance for my people, and You said that You have decreed Your mercy for a people other than my people. Would that You had delayed me until You brought me forth alive in the nation of that man, the nation shown mercy." Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said to him: "Their repentance is that every man of them kills whoever he meets, father or son, killing him with the sword, not caring whom he kills in that place." And those whose sins had been hidden from Musa and Harun, while Allah knew of them, came forward and confessed them, and they did what they were commanded; so Allah forgave both the killer and the killed. Then Musa travelled with them heading for the Holy Land, and he took up the tablets after his anger had subsided. He commanded them with the duties he had been commanded to convey to them, but that was heavy for them and they refused to accept them. So Allah raised the mountain over them as if it were a canopy, and it came close to them until they feared it would fall on them. So they took the Book with their right hands while leaning towards the mountain and the ground, the Book in their hands, looking at the mountain for fear that it would fall on them. Then they went on until they came to the Holy Land, and found in it a city with a tyrannical people (jabbarun) of monstrous build, and they mentioned something amazing about the size of their fruits. They said: "O Musa, in it is a people of tyrants" [Al-Ma'idah: 22]; we have no power against them, and we will not enter it as long as they are in it; "so if they leave it, then we will enter" [Al-Ma'idah: 22]. "Two men from among those who feared" [Al-Ma'idah: 23] - from the tyrants, who had believed in Musa - came out to him and said: "We know our people best. If you are afraid only because of what you see of their bodies and their numbers, they have no hearts and no power to resist, so enter upon them through the gate, 'and when you have entered it, you will be victorious'" [Al-Ma'idah: 23].
Some people say that the two of them were from Musa's people, and it is reported from Sa'id bin Jubayr that they were from the tyrants and had believed in Musa. He says that "from among those who feared" [Al-Ma'idah: 23] means only those whom the Children of Israel feared. "They said: O Musa, we will never enter it as long as they are in it; so go, you and your Lord, and fight; we are sitting right here" [Al-Ma'idah: 24]. They angered Musa, so he prayed against them and called them defiantly disobedient (fasiqin). He had not prayed against them before that, despite the disobedience and wrongdoing he had seen from them, until that day. Allah answered him and called them fasiqin, as Musa had called them, and He forbade it to them for forty years, wandering in the land: every morning they would set out and travel, having no settled place. Then He shaded them with clouds in the wilderness (al-tih), sent down to them manna and quails, and gave them clothes that neither wore out nor became dirty. He placed among them a square stone and commanded Musa, who struck it with his staff, "and there gushed forth from it twelve springs" [Al-Baqarah: 60], three springs on each side; and He made known to each tribe its spring from which they would drink. They would not move from any stopping-place without that stone being found among them in the same place it had been the day before.
Ibn Abbas attributed this hadith to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And what confirmed that for me is that Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) heard Ibn Abbas narrate this hadith and objected to his saying that it was the Pharaonite who disclosed against Musa the matter of the man who was killed. He said: "How could he disclose it against him, when no one knew of it or witnessed it except the Israelite who was present and saw it?" Ibn Abbas became angry, took Mu'awiyah by the hand and went with him to Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Malik al-Zuhri (may Allah be pleased with him), and said: "O Abu Ishaq, do you remember the day when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told us about the man from Pharaoh's people whom Musa killed: was it the Israelite who disclosed it against him or the Pharaonite?" He said: "It was the Pharaonite who disclosed it against him, from what he had heard from the Israelite who witnessed it and was present."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "My dear friend (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade me three things and commanded me three things. He forbade me to peck (in prayer) like a rooster, to look about like a fox, or to squat like a beast of prey (sitting on my buttocks with my legs raised); and he commanded me to pray witr before sleeping, to fast three days of every month, and to pray the forenoon (duha) prayer."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to deliver the sermon on Friday standing, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) would sit, then he would stand again and deliver the sermon"; while the narrator Ibn Abi Layla (may Allah have mercy on him) added a phrase: "That sitting of his (peace and blessings be upon him) was very brief."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) "something similar to this."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Sulayk al-Ghatafani (may Allah be pleased with him) came into the mosque while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was delivering the sermon on Friday. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: "Have you prayed?" He said: "No." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then pray two rak'ahs and keep them brief."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The night prayer is two by two (rak'ahs); so when you fear (the onset of) the morning (dawn), make it witr by praying one rak'ah. Indeed, Allah Almighty is Witr (One), and He loves witr, because He is One."

Something similar to this (with the same meaning as the previous report) is also narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever catches one rak'ah of the Friday prayer, let him join another rak'ah to it and complete his prayer."

The like of this is reported from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) "forbade that a sound or a fire should follow the deceased (with the funeral)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that "the polytheists kept the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) occupied (and prevented him) from the Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha prayers until a part of the night had passed. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him), and he gave the adhan and the iqamah, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) led the Zuhr prayer; then he ordered him, and he gave the adhan and the iqamah, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) led the Asr prayer; then he ordered him, and he gave the adhan and the iqamah, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) led the Maghrib prayer; then he ordered him, and he gave the adhan and the iqamah, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) led the Isha prayer."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Tha'labah al-Udhri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said concerning the martyrs of Uhud: "I will be a witness over these on the Day of Resurrection. Wrap them (in their shrouds) with their wounds and their blood, and do not wash them."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Najdah wrote to him asking: Does a slave have a fixed share of the spoils of war? Did women take part in battle with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? When does a share in the spoils become due for a boy? He also asked about the share of the near relatives (dhawi al-qurba). Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) wrote back to him: "A slave has no (fixed) right in the spoils, but he is given something (as a gift); and he also wrote that women used to go out with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (on campaigns), treating the wounded, and that they too were given something; and that a boy has no right in the spoils until he reaches puberty; and he wrote to him about the share of the near relatives that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had offered us that he would use this wealth to arrange the marriages of our widows and to pay off our debts, but we refused to accept that, our demand being that he hand over the entire share to us; but he refused that."

It is narrated from Yazid bin Hurmuz (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: I myself wrote the letter of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) to Najdah, in which he wrote in reply: "You asked me about killing children, and (argued) that the scholar of Musa (peace be upon him) (al-Khidr) killed a boy; yet the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the killing of children. So if you come to know about children what the scholar of Musa (peace be upon him) knew, then do it (otherwise it is not permissible). And you wrote asking whether women used to take part in battle with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), whether they were given something from the spoils, and whether they had a fixed share. They did take part in battle with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and they were given something (from the spoils, as a gift), but no fixed share was allotted to them." Isma'il (the narrator) added in the hadith: "And you asked me about slaves: did they take part in battle with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and did they have a fixed share? So he wrote to him about the slaves just as he had written about the women. And you asked me about the orphan: when does he come out of orphanhood? When he reaches puberty he comes out of orphanhood, and (if they take part in battle) a share is allotted to them."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever stands (in prayer) on Laylat al-Qadr out of faith and seeking reward, all his previous sins will be forgiven."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) praying in his (blessed) sandals."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that "a bucket of Zamzam (water) was brought to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he (peace and blessings be upon him) was circumambulating the House, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) drank it standing."

Something similar to this (like the previous report) is also narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was praying while riding a donkey, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) was facing towards Khaybar (during the journey)."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that a woman asked her about the menstruating woman who makes up the fasts but does not make up the prayer. She (may Allah be pleased with her) asked her: "Are you a Haruriyyah (a Kharijite)? We used to be with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and we would make up the fasts but would not make up the prayers."

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: "When the prayer was first made obligatory, it was two rak'ahs each; then (rak'ahs) were added to the prayer of the resident, and the prayer of the traveller was kept in its original state."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Malik bin Buhaynah (may Allah be pleased with him) that "he saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) pray the night prayer, and he did not sit after the first two rak'ahs (for the first sitting); so he (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the two prostrations of forgetfulness in that same place."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Goodness and blessing have been tied to the forelocks of horses."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Good and goodness have been tied to the forelocks of horses."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Goodness has been tied to the forelocks of horses."

It is narrated from Abd al-Malik bin Umayr (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: "I saw the blessed head of Sayyiduna al-Husayn bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) brought to Ubaydullah bin Ziyad; then I saw the head of Ubaydullah bin Ziyad brought to al-Mukhtar bin Abi Ubayd; then I saw the head of al-Mukhtar brought to Mus'ab bin al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him); and then I saw the head of Mus'ab (may Allah have mercy on him) presented before Abd al-Malik bin Marwan (may Allah have mercy on him)."
Imam Abu Ya'la (may Allah have mercy on him) said (commenting on these events): "It is as though these people had no other business except heads (exchanging and displaying them)!"

It is narrated from Abu Awanah (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: I prepared food and invited Sulayman al-A'mash (may Allah have mercy on him). Then word reached me from him that he had said: "Waddah invited us to a bone stripped of meat and a sour pomegranate." Abu Awanah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Then I met Raqabah bin Masqalah (may Allah have mercy on him) and complained to him about Sulayman al-A'mash (may Allah have mercy on him). He said: "I will take care of it for you (that is, I will speak to him)." Then he met him and said: "O Abu Muhammad, one of our brothers invited you and honoured you, and then you go about saying it was just a bone and a sour pomegranate? By Allah, as far as I know you, you are extremely ill-tempered, always frowning, quickly bored, and you think little of the rights of visitors; it is as if mustard were being forced up your nose whenever you are asked to narrate something."

Hammad bin Zayd (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated: I prompted Salamah bin Alqamah (may Allah have mercy on him) (with something), and he narrated it to me, but then he retracted it and said: "When you want your companion to be belied, then prompt him (that is, put your own words into his mind)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Sahl bin Sa'd al-Sa'idi (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna al-Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for permission to emigrate, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "O my uncle, stay where you are, for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will seal the emigration with you just as He sealed prophethood with me."