The Book on Salutations and Greetings

'Abdullah. Ibn 'Abbas reported: A person from the Ansar who was amongst the Companions of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) reported to me: As we were sitting during the night with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him), a meteor shot gave a dazzling light. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: What did you say in the pre-Islamic days when there was such a shot (of meteor)? They said: Allah and His Messenger know best (the actual position), but we, however, used to say that that very night a great man had been born and a great man had died, whereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: (These meteors) are shot neither at the death of anyone nor on the birth of anyone. Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, issues Command when He decides to do a thing. Then (the Angels) supporting the Throne sing His glory, then sing the dwellers of heaven who are near to them until this glory of God reaches them who are in the heaven of this world. Then those who are near the supporters of the Throne ask these supporters of the Throne: What your Lord has said? And they accordingly inform them what He says. Then the dwellers of heaven seek information from them until this information reaches the heaven of the world. In this process of transmission (the jinn snatches) what he manages to overhear and he carries it to his friends. And when the Angels see the jinn they attack them with meteors. If they narrate only which they manage to snatch that is correct but they alloy it with lies and make additions to it.

The hadith has been narrated on the authority of Zuhri through the same chain of transmitters but with a slight variation of wording.

Safiyya reported from some of the wives of Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) having said: He who visits a diviner ('Arraf) and asks him about anything, his prayers extending to forty nights will not be accepted.

'Amr b. Sharid reported on the authority of his father that there was in the delegation of Thaqif a leper. Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) sent a message to him: We have accepted your allegiance, so you may go.

'A'isha reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) commanded the killing of a snake having stripes over it, for it affects eyesight and miscarries pregnancy.

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Hisham. He said: The short-tailed snake and the snake having stripes over it should be killed.

Salim, on the authority of his father. reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: Kill the snakes having stripes over them and short-tailed snakes, for these two types cause miscarriage (of a pregnant woman) and they affect the eyesight adversely. So Ibn 'Umar used to kill every snake that he found. Abu Lubaba b. 'Abd al-Mundhir and Zaid b. Khattab saw him pursuing a snake, whereupon he said: They were forbidden (to kill) those snakes who live in houses.

Ibn 'Umar reported: I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) commanding the killing of dogs and the killing of the striped and the short-tailed snakes, for both of them affect the eyesight adversely and cause miscarriage. Zuhri said: We thought of their poison (the pernicious effects of these two). Allah, however, knows best. 'Abdullah b. 'Umar said: I did not spare any snake. I rather killed everyone that I saw. One day as I was pursuing a snake from amongst the snakes of the house, Zaid b. Khattab or Abu Lubaba happened to pass by me and found me pursuing it. He said: 'Abdullah, wait. I said: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) commanded (us) to kill them, whereupon he said that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) forbade the killing of the snakes of the houses. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Zuhri with the same chain of transmitters but with a slight variation of wording.

Nafi' reported that Abu Lubaba talked to Ibn 'Umar to open a door in his house which would bring them nearer to the mosque and they found a fresh slough of the snake, whereupon 'Abdullah said: Find it out and kill it. Abu Lubaba said: Don't kill them, for Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) forbade the killing of the snakes found in houses.

Nafi' reported that Ibn 'Urnar used to kill all types of snakes until Abu Lubaba b. 'Abd al-Mundhir Badri reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) had forbidden the killing of the snakes of the houses, and so he abstained from it.

Nafi' reported that he heard Abu Lubaba informing Ibn 'Umar that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) had forbidden the killing of domestic snakes.

'Abdullah reported that Abu Lubaba had informed him that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) had forbidden the killing of the snakes found in the house.

Nafi' reported that Abu Lubaba b. 'Abd al-Mundhir al-Ansari (first) lived in Quba. He then shifted to Medina and as he was in the company of 'Abdullah b. 'Umar opening a window for him, he suddenly saw a snake in the house. They (the inmates of the house) attempted to kill that. Thereupon Abu Lubaba said: They had been forbidden to make an attempt to kill house snakes and they had been commanded to kill the snakes having small tails, small snakes and those having streaks over them, and it was said: Both of them affect the eyes and cause miscarriage to women.

Nafi' reported on the authority of his father that as 'Abdullah b. 'Umar saw one day (standing) near the ruin (of his house) the slough of a snake and said (to the people around him): Pursue this snake and kill it. Abu Lubaba Ansari said: I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him). He forbade the killing of snakes found in the houses except the short-tailed snakes and those having streaks upon them, for both of them obliterate eyesight and affect that which is in the wombs of (pregnant) women.

Nafi' reported that Abu Lubaba happened to pass by Ibn 'Umar who lived in the fortified place near the house of 'Umar b. Khattab and was busy in keeping his eyes upon a snake and killing it, the rest of the hadith is the same.

'Abdullah reported: We were with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) in a cave when there was revealed to him (the Sura al-Mursalat, i. e. Sura lxxvii.:" By those sent forth to spread goodness" ) and we had just heard (it) from his lips that there appeared before us a snake. He said: Kill it. We hastened to kill it, but it slipped away from us, thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Allah saved it from your harm just as he saved you from its evil.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of al-A'mash with the same chain of transmitters.

'Abdullah reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) commanded a Muhrim (one who is in the state of pilgrimage) to kill the snake at Mina.

'Abdullah reported: While we were with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) in the cave, the rest of the hadith is the same as the one narrated above.

Abu as-Sa'ib, the freed slaved of Hisham b. Zuhra, said that he visited Abu Sa'id Khudri in his house, (and he further) said: I found him saying his prayer, so I sat down waiting for him to finish his prayer when I heard a stir in the bundles (of wood) lying in a comer of the house. I looked towards it and found a snake. I jumped up in order to kill it, but he (Abu Sa'id Khudri) made a gesture that I should sit down. So I sat down and as he finished (the prayer) he pointed to a room in the house and said: Do you see this room? I said: Yes. He said: There was a young man amongst us who had been newly wedded. We went with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) (to participate in the Battle) of Trench when a young man in the midday used to seek permission from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) to return to his family. One day he sought permission from him and Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) (after granting him the permission) said to him: Carry your weapons with you for I fear the tribe of Quraiza (may harm you). The man carried the weapons and then came back and found his wife standing between the two doors. He bent towards her smitten by jealousy and made a dash towards her with a spear in order to stab her. She said: Keep your spear away and enter the house until you see that which has made me come out. He entered and found a big snake coiled on the bedding. He darted with the spear and pierced it and then went out having fixed it in the house, but the snake quivered and attacked him and no one knew which of them died first, the snake or the young man. We came to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and made a mention to him and said: Supplicate to Allah that that (man) may be brought back to life. Thereupon he said: Ask forgiveness for your companion and then said: There are in Medina jinns who have accepted Islam, so when you see any one of them, pronounce a warning to it for three days, and if they appear before you after that, then kill it for that is a devil.

Asma' b. 'Ubaid reported about a person who was called as-Sa'ib having said: We visited Abu Sa'id Khudri. When we had been sitting (with him) we heard a stir under his bed. When we looked we found a big snake, the rest of the hadith is the same. And in this Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) is reported to have said: Verily in these houses there live aged (snakes), so when you see one of them, make life hard for it for three days, and if it goes away (well and good), otherwise kill it for (in that case) it would be a nonbeliever. And he (the Holy Prophet) said (to his Companions): Go and bury your companion (who had died by the snake bite).

Abu Sa'id Khudri reported Allah's Messenger having said: There is a group of jinns in Medina who accepted Islam, so he who would see anything from these occupants should warn him three times; and if he appears after that, he should kill him for he is a satan.

Umm Sharik reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) commanded her to kill geckos. This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Ibn Abi Shaiba with a slight variation of wording.

Umm Sharik reported that she consulted Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) in regard to killing of geckos, and he commanded to kill them and Umm Sharik is one of the women of Bani 'Amir b. Luwayy. This hadith has been reported through another chain of transmitters with the same meaning.

'Amir b. Sa'd reported on the authority of his father that Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) commanded the killing of geckos, and he called them little noxious creatures.

'A'isha reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said about the gecko as a noxious creature". Harmala made this addition that she said: I did not hear that he had commanded to kill them.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: He who killed a gecko with the first stroke for him is such and such a reward, and he who killed it with a second stroke for him is such and such reward less than the first one, and he who killed it with the third stroke for him is such and such a reward less than the second one.

This hadith has been reported on the authority of Abu Huraira through another chain of transmitters (and the words are): - He who killed a gecko with the first stroke for him are ordained one hundred virtues, and with the second one less than that and with the third one less than that.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying (that he who kills a gecko) with the first stroke there are seventy rewards for him.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: An ant had bitten a Prophet (one amongst the earlier Prophets) and he ordered that the colony of the ants should be burnt. And Allah revealed to him:" Because of an ant's bite you have burnt a community from amongst the communities which sings My glory."