Anas bin Malik said, “The Prophet (ﷺ) used to visit all his wives in a round, during the day and night and they were eleven in number.” I asked Anas, “Had the Prophet (ﷺ) the strength for it?” Anas replied, “We used to say that the Prophet (ﷺ) was given the strength of thirty (men).” And Sa`id said on the authority of Qatada that Anas had told him about nine wives only (not eleven).
Anas bin Malik said, “The Prophet (ﷺ) and Zaid bin Thabit took the ‘Suhur’ together and after finishing the meal, the Prophet (ﷺ) stood up and prayed (Fajr prayer).” I asked Anas, “How long was the interval between finishing their ‘Suhur’ and starting the prayer?” He replied, “The interval between the two was just sufficient to recite fifty ‘Ayat.” (Verses of the Qur’an).
Anas I said, “While Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) (p.b.u.h) was delivering the Friday Khutba (sermon) a man came and said, ‘O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! Rain is scarce; please ask Allah to bless us with rain.’ So he invoked Allah for it, and it rained so much that we could hardly reach our homes and it continued raining till the next Friday.” Anas further said, “Then the same or some other person stood up and said, ‘O Allah’s Apostle! Invoke Allah to withhold the rain.’ On that, Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) I said, ‘O Allah! Round about us and not on us.’ ” Anas added, “I saw the clouds dispersing right and left and it continued to rain but not over Medina.”
Anas bin Malik said, “The Prophet (p.b.u.h) and Zaid bin Thabit took their Suhur together. When they finished it, the Prophet (ﷺ) stood for the (Fajr) prayer and offered it.” We asked Anas, “What was the interval between their finishing the Suhur and the starting of the morning prayer?” Anas replied, “It was equal to the time taken by a person in reciting fifty verses of the Qur’an.”
I asked Anas how many times the Prophet (ﷺ) had performed `Umra. He replied, “Four times. 1. `Umra of Hudaibiya in Dhi-l-Qa’da when the pagans hindered him; 2. `Umra in the following year in Dhi-l- Qa’da after the peace treaty with them (the pagans); 3. `Umra from Al-Ja’rana where he distributed the war booty.” I think he meant the booty (of the battle) of Hunain. I asked, “How many times did he perform Hajj?” He (Anas) replied, “Once. “
I asked Anas (about the Prophet’s `Umra) and he replied, “The Prophet (ﷺ) performed `Umra when the pagans made him return, and Umra of al-Hudaibiya (the next year), and another `Umra in Dhi-l-Qa’da, and another `Umra in combination with his Hajj.”
Anas went to the Prophet (ﷺ) with barley bread having some dissolved fat on it. The Prophet (ﷺ) had mortgaged his armor to a Jew in Medina and took from him some barley for his family. Anas heard him saying, “The household of Muhammad did not possess even a single Sa of wheat or food grains for the evening meal, although he has nine wives to look after.” (See Hadith No. 685)
I asked Anas, “Did the Prophet (ﷺ) use to dye (his) hair?” He said, “No, for there were only a few white hairs on his temples.”
Anas said, “The Qur’an was collected in the lifetime of the Prophet (ﷺ) by four (men), all of whom were from the Ansar: Ubai, Mu`adh bin Jabal, Abu Zaid and Zaid bin Thabit.” I asked Anas, “Who is Abu Zaid?” He said, “One of my uncles.”
We do not know of any tribe amongst the ‘Arab tribes who lost more martyrs than Al-Ansar, and they will have superiority on the Day of Resurrection. Anas bin Malik told us that seventy from the Ansar were martyred on the day of Uhud, and seventy on the day (of the battle of) Bir Ma’una, and seventy on the day of Al-Yamama. Anas added, “The battle of Bir Ma’una took place during the lifetime of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) and the battle of Al-Yamama, during the caliphate of Abu Bakr, and it was the day when Musailamah Al-Kadhdhab was killed.”
I said to Sa`id bin Al-Musaiyab, “I have been informed that Jabir bin `Abdullah said that the number (of Al-Hudaibiya Muslim warriors) was 1400.” Sa`id said to me, “Jabir narrated to me that they were 1500 who gave the Pledge of allegiance to the Prophet (ﷺ) on the day of Al-Hudaibiya.’
I asked Anas bin Malik: “Who collected the Qur’an at the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) ?” He replied, “Four, all of whom were from the Ansar: Ubai bin Ka`b, Mu`adh bin Jabal, Zaid bin Thabit and Abu Zaid.”
I asked Anas bin Malik about the recitation of the Prophet. He said, “He used to pray long (certain sounds) very much.
Anas was asked, “How was the recitation (of the Qur’an) of the Prophet?’ He replied, “It was characterized by the prolongation of certain sounds.” He then recited: In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful prolonging the pronunciation of ‘In the Name of Allah, ‘the most Beneficent,’ and ‘the Most Merciful.
We were in the company of Anas whose baker was with him. Anas said, The Prophet (ﷺ) did not eat thin bread, or a roasted sheep till he met Allah (died).
We used to visit Anas bin Malik while his baker was standing (and baking). Anas would say, “Eat! I do not know that the Prophet (ﷺ) had ever seen well-baked bread till he met Allah, nor had he ever seen a roasted sheep with his own eyes.”
I asked Anas, “What kind of clothes was most beloved to the Prophet?” He replied, “The Hibra (a kind of Yemenese cloth).
l asked Anas bin Malik about the hair of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ). He said, “The hair of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) was neither much straight, nor much curly, and it used to hang down till between his shoulders and his earlobes.
I asked Anas, “Was it a custom of the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) to shake hands with one another?” He said, “Yes.”
We used to go to Anas bin Malik and see his baker standing (preparing the bread). Anas said, “Eat. I have not known that the Prophet (ﷺ) ever saw a thin well-baked loaf of bread till he died, and he never saw a roasted sheep with his eyes.”