Jurisprudence and Juristic Principles

Al-Barā’ ibn ‘Āzib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us with seven and forbade us from seven: He commanded us to visit the sick, to follow the funeral, to say Tashmīt to the sneezer, to fulfill the oath, or the one making an oath, to support the oppressed, to respond to the inviter, and to spread the greeting of peace. He forbade us from rings—or from wearing rings—of gold, from drinking in silver, from Mayāthir, from Qassiy, and from wearing silk, Istabraq, and Dībāj.

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man who had drunk alcohol was brought to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), who hit him with a palm stalk with about forty lashes.

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) cut off (a thief's hand) for a shield that was worth three dirhams.

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Jews came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him that a man and a woman from among them had committed unlawful sexual intercourse. The Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) asked them: "What do you find in the Torah about stoning?" They said: "We disclose their sin and flog them." ‘Abdullāh ibn Salām said: "You have lied! The verse of stoning is there (in the Torah)." They fetched the Torah, spread it out, and one of them placed his hand over the verse of stoning. He recited what was before it and what was after it. Thereupon, ‘Abdullāh ibn Salām told him to lift his hand. He lifted his hand and there was the verse of stoning. They said: "He has spoken the truth, O Muhammad." So, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that they be stoned. ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar added: "I saw the man leaning over the woman to protect her from the stones."

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that a woman was found killed in one of the expeditions of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and so the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) denounced killing women and boys.

‘Imrān ibn Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man bit another man's hand, so the latter pulled his hand out of his mouth by force, causing two of the former's incisors to fall out. They referred their dispute to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), who said: "One of you bites his brother like a male camel does! There is no blood money for you."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about mead, and he said: "Every drink that intoxicates is unlawful."

‘Abdullāh ibn Abu Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) during one of the days wherein he met the enemy, waited until the sun had declined. Thereafter, he stood up among them and said: "O people, do not wish to meet the enemy, and ask Allah for safety. And if you meet them, have patience and know that Paradise lies under the shadows of swords." Then, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Allah, Revealer of the Book, Mover of the Clouds, Defeater of the Armies, Defeat them and help us against them!"

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that ‘Umar, while standing on the Prophet's pulpit, said: "O people, the prohibition of wine was revealed, which is made of five things: grapes, dates, honey, wheat, and barley. Wine is anything that clouds the mind (i.e. intoxicates). There are three things that I wish the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) had left us something decisive to which we would refer: the grandfather (his share of inheritance), the Kalālah (one who leaves neither ascendants nor descendants), and some questions related to usury."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Quraysh were greatly concerned about the case of the Makhzūmi woman who had committed theft. They wondered who should intercede for her with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him). Some said: "Only Usāmah ibn Zayd, the Prophet’s beloved one, would dare do so." As Usāmah spoke to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) about this issue, he said to him: "Do you intercede regarding one of the punishments prescribed by Allah?" Then, he got up and addressed the people, saying: "The people before you were ruined because if a noble person among them committed theft, they would leave him unpunished, but if a weak person among them committed theft, they would inflict the legal punishment on him. By Allah! Were Fātimah, the daughter of Muhammad, to commit theft, I would cut off her hand." Another wording reads: "She was a woman who used to borrow things from people and deny having taken them. So, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that her hand should be cut off.”

Abu Tha‘labah al-Khushani (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I went to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and asked: "We live in the land of the People of the Book; can we eat in their plates? It is also a land of game, and I hunt the game with my bow, with my untrained hound and with my trained hound. What is lawful for me to eat?" He said: "As for what you have mentioned about the plates of the People of the Book, if you can find other plates, do not use theirs, but if you cannot find (other than theirs), wash their plates and eat in them. If you hunt an animal with your bow after mentioning Allah's name, eat it. If you hunt something with your trained hound after mentioning Allah's name, eat it. If you hunt something with your untrained hound and manage to slaughter it (before it dies), eat it."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah has assigned (in a wording of Sahih Muslim: Allah guaranteed) for the one who goes out (to fight) in His cause, driven by nothing but (desire for) Jihad in My cause and belief in Me and in My messengers, then he has a guarantee from Me that I will admit him into Paradise or return him to his abode whence he came forth, receiving whatever reward or war booty he managed to obtain." A narration of Muslim reads: "The Mujāhid in the cause of Allah, and Allah knows best who fights in His cause, is like the one who fasts and stands (in prayer at night), and Allah has guaranteed for the one who fights in His cause to admit him into Paradise if He takes his soul, or to return him safe and sound with reward or booty."

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: We chased a rabbit at Marr Azh-Zhahrān. The people ran after it but they got tired. I ran after it and eventually caught it, and brought it to Abu Talhah. He then slaughtered it and sent its hip and two thighs to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and he accepted them.

Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) heard voices arguing at the door of his house. He went out to them and said: "I am only a human being, and you refer your disputes to me. Perhaps some of you are more eloquent than others, so I deem him truthful and rule in his favor. He whom I, by my judgment, give an undue share of a Muslim's right, then it is indeed a portion of fire, so let him burden himself with it or abandon it."

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbade vowing and said: "Indeed, it does not bring any good; rather it is only a means to extract something from the miser."

Abu Mūsa al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I went to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) along with a group of Ash‘ari people, asking him for mounts. He said: "By Allah, I will not give you anything to ride, and I have nothing to mount you on." We stayed there as long as Allah wished. Then some camels were brought to him, and he ordered that we be given three camels. When we set out, some of us said to others: "Allah will not bless us, as we all went to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) asking him for mounts, and although he had sworn that he would not give us mounts, he did give us." Abu Mūsa said: We went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned that to him. He said: "I have not provided you with mounts, but Allah has. By Allah, Allah Willing, if I ever take an oath and then see that another option is better than the first, I will make expiation for my oath and do what is better."

‘Ā’ishah, Mother of the Believers, (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The hand is to be cut off for a quarter of a dinar or more."

‘Ā’ishah, Mother of the Believers, (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: Hind bint ‘Utbah, the wife of Abu Sufyān, entered upon the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, Abu Sufyān is a stingy man. He does not give me provision that is sufficient for me and my children except that which I take from his money without his knowledge. Is there any blame upon me for doing so? The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take from his money in a reasonable manner what suffices you and suffices your children."

Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that a man from the Ansār declared that a slave of his would be free after his death. Another version says that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was told that a man from his Companions declared that a slave of his would be free after his own death although he had no property other than him (this slave). So, the Prophet sold him for eight hundred dirhams and sent the money to him.

Sahl ibn Sa‘d as-Sā‘idi (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Observing Ribāt (guarding the Muslims' frontiers) for one day in the cause of Allah is better than the world and everything in it. The place occupied by the whip of one of you in Paradise is better than the world and everything in it. The evening or morning walk that one takes in the cause of Allah is better than the world and everything in it."