It is narrated from Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Battle of Tabuk, and we were afflicted by intense heat. The people scattered here and there (in search of shade), and I saw that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was the closest of them to me. I drew near to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me of a deed that will admit me into Paradise and keep me far from the Fire. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You have asked about a very great matter, yet it is very easy for the one for whom Allah makes it easy: that you worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him, establish the obligatory prayers, pay the obligatory zakah, and fast in Ramadan." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you wish, shall I not tell you about the gates of Paradise?" I said: Certainly, O Messenger of Allah! He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Fasting is a shield, charity wipes out sins (just as water extinguishes fire), and a servant's standing (in prayer) in the darkness of the night for the sake of Allah's pleasure." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this verse: "Their sides forsake their beds; they call upon their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend out of what We have provided them." [Surah al-Sajdah: 16] Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you wish, shall I not tell you about the root of this religion, its pillar and its peak?" I said: Certainly, O Messenger of Allah! He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The root of the religion is Islam, its pillar is the prayer, and its peak is jihad in the path of Allah. And if you wish, shall I not tell you about the foundation of all these things (upon which all of them depend)?" The narrator says: Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) fell silent, and meanwhile two riders were coming towards us swiftly. I feared that they would distract him (peace and blessings be upon him) from my matter, so I said: O Messenger of Allah, what is it? He (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed with his blessed finger towards his tongue. I said: O Messenger of Allah, will we also be taken to account for what we say with our tongues? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Ibn Jabal, may your mother lose you! What else will throw people on their noses into Hell except the harvest of their tongues (evil speech)?" This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.