It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are three things on which I swear, and a fourth such that, if I were to swear on it too, I hope I would not be sinning: Allah Almighty will not make a servant who has a share in Islam like one who has no share in it; whichever servant Allah Almighty takes under His guardianship in this world, He will not hand him over to anyone else on the Day of Resurrection; and no man loves a people except that he will be with them or among them. And the fourth, on which I hope I would not be sinning were I to swear, is this: whichever servant Allah Almighty covers in this world, He will cover him in the Hereafter as well." The narrator said: I narrated this hadith to Umar bin Abd al-Aziz, and he said: When you hear a hadith like this from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) through Urwah from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), memorise it and preserve it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever sees a fault (in someone) and covers it is like one who has saved a girl buried alive by bringing her out of her grave." This hadith is sahih al-isnad (its chain is authentic), but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ward off the prescribed punishments from the Muslims as far as you can. If you find a way out for a Muslim, let him go, for it is better for the ruler (imam) to err in pardoning than to err in punishing." This hadith is sahih al-isnad (its chain is authentic), but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

Ibn Buraydah narrates from his father that he said: We, the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), used to say among ourselves that if Ma'iz and that woman had not come a fourth time (to confess), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have sought them out.

Asim bin Umar bin Qatadah narrates from his father, and he from his grandfather Sayyiduna Qatadah bin al-Nu'man (may Allah be pleased with him), that he related: The Banu Ubayriq were a family of the tribe of Banu Zafar, and they were three brothers: Bushayr, Bishr and Mubashshir. Bushayr's kunyah was Abu Tu'mah; he was a poet and a hypocrite. He would compose verses satirising the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and then he would say: "So-and-so said this." When this reached the Companions, they would say: "The enemy of Allah has lied; no one said it but he." Then he (Bushayr, reciting verses in his own defence) would say: "Whenever men compose an ode, do they attribute it to me, saying that Ubayriq said it? They come bristling with anger as though I fear them; may God cut off their noses and sever them." In the time of Ignorance and in Islam these people were extremely poor and needy. My uncle Rifa'ah bin Zayd was a wealthy man who lived to see Islam. By Allah, I used to suspect some (weakness) in his Islam. The custom at that time was that when a man had means and a group of traders came from Syria bringing fine flour, he would buy it specially for himself, while the family lived on barley. So a group of traders, namely the Nabataeans (Anbat), came bringing fine flour, and Rifa'ah bought two loads of barley and put them in an upper room of his. In that upper room were also his two coats of mail and the weapons that went with them. At night Bushayr came, broke in through the back of the upper room and took away all the food and the weapons. In the morning my uncle sent for me, and I went to him, and he said: "Last night we were raided, and our food and weapons have been taken." Bushayr and his brothers said: "By Allah, no one stole your goods but Labid bin Sahl." Labid was a dignified and righteous man of our own tribe. When this reached Labid, he drew his sword and said: "By Allah, O Banu Ubayriq, do I steal?! By Allah, either this sword will go into you, or you will certainly make clear who the real culprit of this theft is." They said: "Leave us alone; by Allah, you are entirely innocent of this theft." He said: "Certainly not, when you have accused me." Then we asked around the settlement and investigated until we were told: "By Allah, the Banu Ubayriq lit a fire last night, and we think they were cooking none other than your food." We kept on investigating until we were almost certain that they were the thieves. I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and spoke to him about them. I said: "O Messenger of Allah, a rude and foolish family of our own tribe has wronged my uncle; they broke into his upper room from the back and stole food and weapons. We have no need of the food, but let them return our weapons to us." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I will look into the matter." The Banu Ubayriq had a paternal cousin named Usayr bin Urwah. He gathered the men of his people, came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Rifa'ah bin Zayd and his nephew Qatadah bin al-Nu'man have gone after dignified, honourable and righteous people of our family; they are accusing them of evil and charging them with theft without any proof or testimony." He said whatever he wished with his tongue before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and then left. After that I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and spoke to him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) rebuked me severely and said: "You have done very wrong, and what you intend in this matter is also very wrong. You have gone after people of your own tribe who are dignified and righteous, accusing them of theft and charging them without any proof or verification." I heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) something that grieved me deeply. I came back from there, wishing in my heart that I had lost all my wealth rather than having spoken to him (peace and blessings be upon him) about this matter. When I returned home, my uncle sent word to me: "O my nephew, what did you do?" I said: "By Allah, I only wish I had lost my wealth rather than having spoken to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about it, and by Allah, I will never go to him (peace and blessings be upon him) about this again." My uncle said: "Allah alone is the One whose help is sought." Then the Qur'an was revealed: 'Indeed, We have sent down the Book to you with the truth so that you may judge between the people by what Allah has shown you, and do not be an advocate for the treacherous' [Surah al-Nisa': 105] . The treacherous one meant Abu Tu'mah bin Ubayriq. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) recited 'And seek forgiveness of Allah' until he reached the verse 'then casts it upon an innocent one' [Surah al-Nisa': 112] . The innocent one meant Labid bin Sahl. Then He said: 'And were it not for the grace of Allah upon you (O Prophet) and His mercy, a group of them would have resolved to lead you astray' [Surah al-Nisa': 113] . This meant Usayr bin Urwah and his companions. Then concerning them He said, from 'There is no good in much of their secret talk' up to His words 'and He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills' [Surah al-Nisa': 114 - 116] , meaning that his sin was less than polytheism. When the Qur'an was revealed, Bushayr fled and went to Makkah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent the two coats of mail and their equipment to me, and I returned them to Rifa'ah. Qatadah said: When I brought the coats of mail and the other things with them to my uncle, he said: "O my nephew, all of this is (dedicated) in the way of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic." Then I became hopeful that my uncle's Islam was excellent, whereas before that my opinion of him had been otherwise. Ibn Ubayriq went to Makkah and stayed with Sulafah bint Sa'd bin Shuhayd, who was a sister of the tribe of Banu Amr bin Awf and was married to Talhah bin Abi Talhah in Makkah. There Bushayr began to revile the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions. So Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) struck back at him with some verses and said: "The thief of the two coats of mail, if you would remember, is no man of nobility with whom I would keep peace. The daughter of Sa'd gave him lodging, and by morning she was grappling with him. Why did you not come to your neighbour Usayr, seeking his help, instead of setting upon him and disputing with him? You thought that what you had done would stay hidden, while among you is a Prophet to whom comes the revelation that makes everything clear. Were it not for men among you whom you revile for this, its calamities would have fallen upon you. So if you remember Ka'b when you forget, is there any hide without its shanks? I found them hoping in you, as you know, just as the fat camel and the one that follows it hope for the rain." When the verses of Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him) reached Sulafah, she took up Ubayriq's belongings, put them on her head and threw them into the valley of al-Abtah. Then she abused him, scolded him harshly and swore, saying: "You spent a black night in my house; you gifted me the verses of Hassan bin Thabit; you did not come to stay with me for any good." When she threw him out, he went to Ta'if. There he entered a house in which there was no one, and suddenly the house fell on him and he perished. At this Quraysh began to say: "By Allah, none of the companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in whom there is any good ever leaves him." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever commits a sin in this world, and Allah conceals it for him and pardons him, then Allah is far too generous to go back (to punish) something He has already pardoned and concealed; and whoever commits a sin in this world and is punished for it, then Allah is far too just to punish His servant twice for it." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: Shall I not tell you about the most excellent verse in the Book of Allah, which the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told me about? (It is this): "And whatever calamity befalls you is because of what your own hands have earned, and He pardons much." [Surah al-Shura: 30] . So Allah is far too generous to repeat the punishment upon them (in the Hereafter), and whatever Allah has pardoned in this world, Allah is far too generous to go back on His pardon.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Khuzaymah bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Any servant who commits something that Allah has forbidden, and then the prescribed punishment (hadd) for it is carried out on him, that punishment becomes an expiation for that sin of his." This hadith has an authentic (sahih) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that a mentally afflicted woman who had committed fornication was brought to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and he ordered that she be stoned. Meanwhile Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by, while children were following behind the woman. He asked: What is this matter? The people said that Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had ordered that she be stoned. The narrator said: So he took her back, went with her to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: Do you not know that the pen has been lifted from three kinds of people? (They are): the insane until he regains his reason, the (mentally) afflicted until he recovers, the sleeper until he wakes up, and the child until he reaches puberty. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that an insane woman who was pregnant was brought to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). He intended to stone her, but Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: Do you not know that the pen has been lifted from three kinds of people? (They are): the insane until he becomes rational, the child until he reaches puberty, and the sleeper until he wakes up. So he let her go.