Hadith 12245

Malik related to me from Safiyy, the mawla of Ibn Aflah thatAbu's-Saib, the mawla of Hisham ibn Zuhra said, "I went to Abu Saidal-Khudri and found him praying. I sat to wait for him until hefinished the prayer. I heard a movement under a bed in his room, andit was a snake. I stood up to kill it, and Abu Said gestured to me tosit. When he was finished he pointed to a room in the house and said,'Do you see this room?' I said, 'Yes.' He said, 'There was a young boyin it who had just got married. He went out with the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to al-Khandaq, (theditch which the muslims dug in the 5th year of the Hijra to defendMadina against the Quraysh and their allies).When he wasthere, the youth came and asked his permission, saying, "Messenger ofAllah. Give me permission to return to my family." The Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave him permissionand said, "Take your weapons with you, for I fear the Banu Quraydhatribe. They may harm you." The youth went to his family and found hiswife standing between the two doors. He lifted his spear to stab heras jealousy had been aroused in him. She said, "Don't be hasty untilyou go in and see what is in your house." He entered and found a snakecoiled up on his bed. He transfixed it with his spear and then wentout with it and pitched it into the house. The snake stirred on theend of the spear and the youth fell dead. No one knew which of themdied first, the snake or the youth. That was mentioned to theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and hesaid, "There are jinn in Madina who have become muslim. When you seeone of them, call out to it for three days. If it appears after that,then kill it, for it is a shaytan." "'