It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to set out for the land of the Negus (Abyssinia). This news reached Quraysh, so they sent Amr bin al-As and Umarah bin al-Walid with gifts for the Negus. We arrived, and those two also arrived before the Negus. They presented the gift to the Negus, which he accepted, and they prostrated to him. Then Amr bin al-As said to him: "Some people from among us have abandoned our religion and they are residing in your land." The Negus asked: "In my land?" They said: "Yes." So he sent for us. Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said to us: "None of you should speak; today I will be your spokesman." We came to the Negus while he was sitting in his court, with Amr bin al-As on his right and Umarah on his left, and the priests and monks were sitting in two rows. Amr and Umarah said to him: "These people do not prostrate to you." When we reached him, the priests and monks who were present rebuked us, saying: "Prostrate to the king!" Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "We do not prostrate to anyone except Allah." The Negus asked: "What is this about?" He said: "Indeed, Allah has sent among us His Messenger, and he is the very Messenger whose glad tidings Isa (peace be upon him) gave: 'of a Messenger who will come after me, whose name is Ahmad (peace and blessings be upon him)'. He commanded us to worship Allah and not associate anything with Him, to establish the prayer and to give the zakah, and he commanded us to do good and forbade us from evil." The narrator said: The people were greatly pleased with his words. When Amr saw this, he said to the king: "May Allah set the king right! These people oppose you regarding Isa bin Maryam." The Negus asked Sayyiduna Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him): "What does your companion (the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)) say about the son of Maryam?" He said: "He says about him what Allah has said: he is the spirit of Allah and His word, whom Allah brought forth from the chaste virgin (the pure Maryam (peace be upon her)) whom no human being had touched." The narrator said: The Negus picked up a twig from the ground, raised it and said: "O assembly of priests and monks! What these people say about the son of Maryam does not exceed what you say by even the weight of this twig. Welcome to you all, and to the one from whom you have come. I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allah and that he is the one whose glad tidings Isa bin Maryam gave. Were it not for this kingship (that binds me), I would certainly go to him so that I could carry his sandals. Stay in my land as long as you wish." He ordered food and clothing for them and said: "Return the gifts of these two to them." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it. I have mentioned it here following our Shaykh Abu Yahya al-Khaffaf, for he recorded it in the explanation of this saying of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: "The Messiah (peace be upon him) would never disdain to be a servant of Allah" [Surah an-Nisa: 172] .

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that a man came to him and said: "A man has died and left behind a daughter and a full sister (from both father and mother)?" He said: "The daughter gets half and the sister gets nothing; whatever remains belongs to his (other) agnatic heirs ('asabah)." Upon this a man said to him: "But Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) judged otherwise: he gave half to the daughter and half to the sister." Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Do you know better, or Allah?" Ma'mar said: I did not understand the reason for this until I met Ibn Tawus. I mentioned this hadith of al-Zuhri to him, and he said: My father informed me that he heard Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) say that Allah Almighty has said: "If a man dies having no child and he has a sister, then she gets half of what he left" [Surah an-Nisa: 176] . Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Yet you people say that she (the sister) gets half even if he (the deceased) has a child!" This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.