Reports on faith and Islam

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: One day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting among the people in an open place. A man came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! What is the reality of faith?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The reality of faith is that you believe from the heart in Allah, His angels, His books, the meeting with Him, and His messengers, and that you believe from the heart in being raised again after death." The man said: "What is the reality of Islam?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The reality of Islam is that you worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him, establish the obligatory prayers, pay the obligatory zakah, and fast Ramadan." He said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! What is the reality of ihsan?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is that you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him; for if you do not see Him, then indeed He sees you."

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: The delegation of the tribe of Abd al-Qays came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Which tribe's delegation is this?" Or he said: "Who are these people?" The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) replied: "They are people of the tribe of Rabi'ah." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Welcome to these people," or he said: "to the delegation; there is neither disgrace for you in this world nor remorse in the Hereafter." Then they said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! We have come to you (peace and blessings be upon him) from a very distant place, and since the tribe of the disbelievers of Mudar lies between us and you (peace and blessings be upon him), we can come to you (peace and blessings be upon him) only in the months in which fighting is forbidden. So may you (peace and blessings be upon him) grant us decisive commands that distinguish truth from falsehood, which we may act upon ourselves and inform those whom we have left behind in our homeland, and by acting upon which we may enter Paradise." The narrator said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded them with four things and forbade them from four things. He (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded them to believe in Allah alone, and said: "Do you know what belief in Allah means?" They said: "Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) know best." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Bearing witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing the prayer, paying zakah, fasting Ramadan, (and besides the four he (peace and blessings be upon him) also commanded a fifth thing) giving one-fifth of the spoils of war." Then he said: "Memorise these and inform those whom you have left behind."

Yazid bin Bishr al-Saksaki (may Allah have mercy on him) said: When I came to Madinah, I went to see Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both). A man from the people of Iraq came to him and said: "O Abdullah! What is the matter with you, that you only perform Hajj and Umrah and have abandoned fighting in the path of Allah?" He said: "Woe to you! Faith is built upon five things: that you worship Allah, keep up the prayer, pay zakah, perform Hajj to the House of Allah, and fast Ramadan." The narrator said: He asked the same question again, and he said: "O servant of Allah! Faith is that you worship Allah, keep up the prayer, pay zakah, perform Hajj to the House of Allah, and fast Ramadan." The narrator said: He repeated that question again, and he said: "O servant of Allah, faith is that you worship Allah, keep up the prayer, pay zakah, perform Hajj to the House of Allah, and fast Ramadan. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said it to us in just this way."

Imam Abu Zur'ah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The firm handholds of faith are four: prayer, zakah, jihad and trustworthiness.

Silah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Islam has eight shares: prayer is a share, zakah is a share, jihad is a share, the fast of Ramadan is a share, commanding good is a share, forbidding evil is a share, and submission is a share; and whoever has no share has indeed failed.

Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We were returning with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from the Battle of Tabuk. When I saw him (peace and blessings be upon him) alone, I asked: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Tell me of a deed by acting upon which I will enter Paradise." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Well done, well done! You have asked about a very great matter, and it is easy for the one for whom Allah makes it easy. It is that one keeps up the obligatory prayer and pays the obligatory zakah, and that you meet Allah in the state that you have not associated anything with Him. And shall I not guide you to the foundation of the matter, its pillar and its summit? As for the foundation of the matter, it is Islam; whoever embraces Islam is safe. Its pillar is prayer, and its summit and hump is fighting in the path of Allah."

Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We set out with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on the Battle of Tabuk; then he mentioned the same content as the preceding report.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are four things without which a man will never find the taste of faith, until he believes in them with certainty from the heart. They are: believing with certainty that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah, alone, and that I am indeed the Messenger of Allah, whom Allah has sent with the truth; believing with certainty that he will die and will be raised again after death; and accepting from the heart every kind of divine decree."

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: A Bedouin came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Peace be upon you, O boy of Banu Abd al-Muttalib!" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "And upon you." Then he said: "I am a man from your maternal relatives, the tribe of Banu Sa'd bin Bakr, and I have come to you as the messenger and envoy of my people. I will ask you (peace and blessings be upon him) some questions, and my questioning of you (peace and blessings be upon him) will be harsh; and I will demand oaths of you, and my demanding oaths of you will be stern." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O brother of Banu Sa'd, ask." The Bedouin said: "Who created you? And is He the Creator of those before you (peace and blessings be upon him) and those after you?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah." The Bedouin asked: "I ask you (peace and blessings be upon him) by that Allah: has He sent you as a Messenger?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes." He asked: "Who created the seven heavens and the seven earths, and spread provision between them?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah." He asked: "I ask you (peace and blessings be upon him) by that Allah: has He sent you as a Messenger?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes." He said: "We find it written in your book, and your envoy has commanded us, that we should offer five prayers in the day and night at their times. I ask you by oath: is this the case?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes." He said: "We find it written in your book, and your envoy has commanded us, that we should take out a fixed portion from our wealth and distribute it among our poor. I ask you by oath: is the matter so?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes." Then he said: "As for the fifth question, I will not ask you about it, nor do I have any need of it." The narrator said: Then he said: "By the One who has sent you with the truth, I, and whoever of my people obeys me, will certainly keep to these deeds." Then he went back, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) laughed so much that his (peace and blessings be upon him) molars became visible. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One in whose hand is my soul, if he has spoken the truth, he will certainly enter Paradise."

Thabit (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We had been forbidden from asking the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about anything, so we used to like it when an intelligent man from the people of the countryside would come and question him (peace and blessings be upon him) while we listened. Then a Bedouin man came and said: "O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! Your envoy came to us and claimed that Allah has sent you as a Messenger." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He spoke the truth." He asked: "Who created the sky?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah." He asked: "Who created the earth?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah." He asked: "Who fixed these mountains in place?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah." He said: "Then by the One who created the sky and created the earth and fixed the mountains: has Allah sent you (peace and blessings be upon him) as a Messenger?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes." He said: "Your envoy also claimed that five prayers are obligatory upon us in the day and night." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He spoke the truth." He asked: "Then by the One who created the sky and created the earth and fixed the mountains: has Allah commanded you with this?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes." He said: "Your envoy also said that it is obligatory upon us to pay zakah on our wealth." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He spoke the truth." He asked: "Then by the One who created the sky and created the earth and fixed the mountains: has Allah commanded you with this?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes." He said: "Your envoy also said that it is binding upon us to fast Ramadan in the year." He said: "He spoke the truth." He asked: "Then by the One who created the sky and the earth and fixed the mountains: has Allah commanded you with this?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes." He said: "Your envoy said that Hajj is obligatory upon those of us who are able to find a way to it." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He spoke the truth." He asked: "Then by the One who created the sky and the earth and fixed the mountains: has Allah commanded you with this?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes." Then he turned back and said: "By the One who has sent you with the truth, I will neither add anything to this nor take anything away from it." So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If he has spoken the truth, he will enter Paradise."