(1) See Sunan Abi Dawud, Book of Dress, chapter “Those who regarded it as disliked (i.e. wearing silk),” hadith no. 4048 (4/324). The report is corroborated in al-Tirmidhi, hadith no. 2788, Book of Etiquette, chapter “Perfume for men and women” (5/107); al-Tirmidhi says: “This hadith is hasan gharib in this transmission.” It is also narrated by al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-kubra (3/246). (2) This is the hadith of Abu Rayhanah, in which men are forbidden to place silk on the lower part of their garments or over their shoulders like non-Arab foreigners; the ruling therefore amounts to karaha (dislike) rather than absolute prohibition. (3) The companion is Rafiʿ ibn Khadij ibn Rafiʿ ibn ʿAdi ibn Yazid al-Ansari al-Awsi. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, first considered him too young to fight at Uhud, then permitted him, and he fought in that battle and thereafter. He later served as the headman of his clan in Medina and died there from wounds originally received at Uhud that reopened many years later, in 59 AH—some say 73 AH—at the age of eighty-six. See: Ibn Hajar, al-Isabah, 1/495-496, no. 2526. (4) al-mada is the plural of midyah, meaning a blade or knife; see al-Mukhtar al-sihah, root m-d-y, p. 619. (5) al-qasab: Lisān al-Arab states, “Qasab is any plant with hollow, jointed stalks; a single stalk is qasabah. Every plant whose stem is segmented and tubular is called qasab.” See Lisān al-Arab, 1/674, root q-s-b. (6) See Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Partnership, chapter “Division of sheep,” hadith no. 2488 (Fath al-Bari 5/131), as well as nos. 2507, 3075 and others; and Sahih Muslim, Book of Sacrificial Animals, chapter “Permissibility of slaughtering with any instrument that lets the blood flow except a tooth, a claw, or other bones,” hadith no. 1968 (3/1558).