Ka'b b. Malik said that the Prophet used to arrive from a journey only in the daytime during the forenoon, and that when he arrived he went first to the mosque where he prayed two rak'as, after which he sat in it and gave audience to the people.
He told that when the Prophet came to Medina he slew a camel or a cow.*
* There seems to be no certainty as to whether this refers to the arrival at the time of the Hijra, or whether the tradition means to indicate a general practice. It is said that the sunna requires one who returns from a journey to provide such entertainment as is within his means. If the use of "or” in the tradition does not indicate a doubt on the part of the transmitter as to which word is correct, but is a real alternative, this would justify the view that the tradition speaks of a practice of the Prophet. But the Arabic construction really suggests one occasion rather than any time the Prophet came back to Medina.
He reported the Prophet as saying, “When you arrive during the night do not go in to your family till the woman whose husband has been away cleans herself and the dishevelled woman combs herself.”
