Al-Adab Al-Mufrad

Ibn 'Abbas said, "What do you reckon to be nobility? Allah has made nobility clear. The noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the one with the greatest taqwa. What do you reckon as lineage? The best of you in lineage is the best of you in character."

'A'isha said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'The arwah are a massed army. When they already know each other, they are friendly. When they do not know each other, they disagree.'"

Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The spirits are massed armies. Those of them that knew one another are friendly. Those that did not know one another disagree."

Abu Hurayra said, "I heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'While a shepherd was tending to his sheep, a wolf came and snatched one of the sheep. The shepherd went after the wolf which turned to him and said, 'Who will look after them on the 'Day of Wild Beasts'? They will have no shepherd but me.' People said, 'Glory be to Allah!' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'I believe it - I, Abu Bakr and 'Umar.'"

'Ali said, "The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was in a funeral procession an he picked up something and began to scratch the ground with it. He said, 'There is none of you who does not have his seat written either in the Fire or in the Garden.' They said, 'Messenger of Allah, then should we not rely on what is written for us and abandon action?' 'Act.' he said. 'Every thing is easy if you were created for it.' He added, 'As for someone who is one of the people of happiness, it is easy for him to perform the actions of happiness. As for someone who is one of the people of wretchedness, it is easy for him to perform the actions of wretchedness.' Then he recited, 'As for him who gives out and has taqwa and confirms the Good' (92:5-10)

Usayd ibn Abi Usayd reported that his mother said, "I said to Abu Qatada, 'Why don't you relate something from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?' Abu Qatada said, 'I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "Whoever tells lies about me, eases the way for himself to a bed in the Fire." When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said that, he began to wipe his hand on the ground.'"

'Abdullah ibn Mughaffal al-Muzani said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade slings. He said, 'They do not kill game nor injure the enemy. They gouge the eye and break the teeth.'"

Abu Hurayra said, "A fierce wind blew when the people were on the road to Makka while 'Umar was making hajj. 'Umar asked those around him, 'What is the wind?' They did not give any answer. I urged my camel forward and I caught up with him and said, 'I have heard that you asked about the wind. I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "The wind (reeh) is from the spirit (ruh) of Allah. It brings mercy and it brings punishment. Do not curse it. Ask Allah for the good of it and seek refuge from its evil."'"

Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, led us in the Subh prayer at Hudaybiyya after it had rained on us during the night. When he finished, he faced the people and said, 'Do you know what your Lord has said?' They replied, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said, 'This morning My slaves have become divided up into believers and unbelievers. Those who said, "We had rain by the favour and mercy of Allah," believe in Me and reject the stars. Those who said that it was because of a certain star, disbelieve in Me and believe in the stars."'"

'When they saw it as a storm cloud advancing on their valleys...' (46:24)"

'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Paying attention to the bad omen (tayyara) is association (shirk). It has nothing to do with us. Allah will remove it by reliance on Him."

Abu Hurayra heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "Bad omens. The best of that is the good omen. They asked, "What is the good omen?" "A good word which one of you hears," he replied.

'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The nations were presented to me on the Festival in the days of hajj, and I was astonished at the great number of my community. They filled the plains and mountains." They said, "Muhammad, are you content?" "Yes, O Lord!" he said. He said, "In addition to these people there are seventy thousand who will enter the Garden without any reckoning. They are those who do not use charms nor cauterise themselves nor seek omens and who rely on their Lord." 'Ukkasha exclaimed, "Ask Allah to place me among them!" Then another man said, "Ask Allah to put me among them!" The Prophet said, "'Ukkasha has beaten you to it."

'Alqama reported that 'A'isha used to go to children when they were born and make supplication for them. She came to a child and removed its pillow and found a straight razor under his head. She asked about the razor and they said, "We put it there against the jinn. She took the razor, threw it away and forbade them to use it. She said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, disliked and hated seeing bad omens in things. She forbade doing that.

Anas reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "There is no infection* and there are no bad omens, although I am pleased by a good omen - a good word." * The majority of scholars interpret this to mean that these things in and of themselves do not transmit or cause harm through supernatural or hidden means but that Allah is ultimately in control and any fearful superstition around these is false.

Hiba at-Tamimi related from his father that he heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "There is no avenging spirit (hama*), and the most truthful of omens is the good omen. The Evil Eye is a reality."

'Abdullah ibn as-Sa'ib reported that in the year of al-Hudaybiyya, when 'Uthman ibn 'Affan told the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that Suhayl had been sent to him by his people to make a truce with them on the basis that, provided that he leave them this year, they would leave Makka empty for him for three days. When 'Uthman came and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was told, "Suhayl has come," he said, "Allah has made our business easy (sahhala)."

'Abdullah ibn 'Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Bad luck can be found in houses, women and horses."

Sahl ibn Sa'd said, "If there is bad luck in anything, it is in houses, women and horses."

Anas ibn Malik said, "A man said, 'Messenger of Allah, we were in a house and there were a large number of us and we had a lot of property in it. Then we moved to another house and our numbers decreased and our property became less in it (the new house).' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Go back to it (the first house) or leave it (the second house) - it is bad.'"