Hazrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that 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 the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked: O Messenger of Allah! What is the reality of faith? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: The reality of faith is that you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, meeting with Him, and His messengers from your heart. And that you believe from your heart in being raised again after death. The man asked: What is the reality of Islam? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: The reality of Islam is that you worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him, establish the obligatory prayers, pay the obligatory zakat, and fast in Ramadan. He asked: O Messenger of Allah! What is the reality of Ihsan? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: It is that you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him. If you cannot see Him, then (know that) He is seeing you.

Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the delegation of the tribe of Abdul Qais came to the service of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Which tribe's delegation is this?" or he said: "Who are you people?" The companions (may Allah be pleased with them) replied: "They are people from the tribe of Rabi'ah." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Welcome to these people," or he said, "Welcome to the delegation. There is neither disgrace for you in this world nor shame in the Hereafter." Then they said: "O Messenger of Allah! We have come to you from a very distant place, and since there is the tribe of the disbelievers of Mudar between us and you, we can only come to you in those months in which fighting is forbidden. Therefore, grant us such commands that distinguish between truth and falsehood, so that we may act upon them ourselves and also inform those whom we have left behind in our homeland. And by acting upon them, we may enter Paradise." The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded them regarding four things and forbade them from four things; he (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded them to have faith in one Allah. And he said: "Do you know what it means to have faith in Allah?" They replied: "Allah and His Messenger know best." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "To bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to establish prayer, to give zakat, and to fast in Ramadan." (And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, commanded a fifth thing in addition to the four:) "To give one-fifth (khums) from the spoils of war." Then he said: "Remember these things and inform those whom you have left behind."

Hazrat Yazid bin Bishr al-Saksaki (may Allah have mercy on him) says that when I came to Madinah, I presented myself before Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both). Then a man from among the people of Iraq came to him and said: O Abdullah! What has happened to you that you only perform Hajj and Umrah and have abandoned striving in the path of Allah? He (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: Woe to you, the foundation of faith is built upon five things: that you worship Allah, establish prayer, pay zakat, perform Hajj to the House of Allah, and fast in Ramadan. The narrator says he asked the same question again, so he (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: O servant of Allah! Faith is that you worship Allah, establish prayer, pay zakat, perform Hajj to the House of Allah, and fast in Ramadan. The narrator says he repeated the question again, so he (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: O servant of Allah, faith is that you worship Allah, establish prayer, pay zakat, perform Hajj to the House of Allah, and fast in Ramadan. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told us this in the same way.

Imam Abu Zur‘ah (may Allah have mercy on him) states that Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The beginning of faith is four things: prayer, zakat, jihad, and trustworthiness.

Hazrat Sila, may Allah have mercy on him, narrates that Hazrat Hudhaifa, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Islam consists of eight parts! Prayer is one part, Zakat is one part, Jihad is one part, fasting in Ramadan is one part, enjoining good is one part, forbidding evil is one part, obedience is one part, and whoever has no part in any of these, indeed he is deprived.

Hazrat Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that we were returning from the expedition of Tabuk with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When I saw that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was alone, I asked, "O Messenger of Allah! Inform me of an action which, if I do it, I will enter Paradise." The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Wonderful, wonderful! Indeed, you have asked about a great matter. And it is easy for the one for whom Allah makes it easy: it is that you observe the obligatory prayers, pay the obligatory zakat, and meet Allah in such a 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 peak? Indeed, the foundation of the matter is Islam; whoever embraces Islam is safe. Its pillar is prayer, and its peak and hump is striving in the path of Allah."

Hazrat Muadh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that we set out with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) for the Battle of Tabuk, and then he mentioned the same subject as before.

Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There are four things such that a person can never taste the sweetness of faith until he wholeheartedly believes in them: These things are: to believe that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, He is alone; and certainly, I am the Messenger of Allah, Allah has sent me with the truth; and to believe that he will die and after death he will be raised again; and to accept every kind of destiny wholeheartedly.

Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that a Bedouin came to the service of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Peace be upon you, O son of Abdul Muttalib." So the Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: "And upon you be peace." Then he said: "Indeed, I am a man from your maternal tribe, the tribe of Banu Sa'd bin Bakr. And I have come to you as a messenger and envoy from my people. And I will ask you some questions. And my questioning will be in a harsh manner. And I will demand oaths from you, so my demand for oaths will be strict." The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "O brother of Banu Sa'd, ask." The Bedouin said: "Who created you? And is He the one who created the people before you and those who will come after you?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Allah did." The Bedouin asked: "I ask you by Allah, did He send you as a Messenger?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Yes." He asked: "Who created the seven heavens and the seven earths, and who spread sustenance between them?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Allah did." He asked: "I ask you by Allah, did He send you as a Messenger?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Yes." He said: "So we find written in your Book and your envoy has commanded us that we should perform five prayers in their times during the day and night. I ask you by oath, is this the case?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Yes." He said: "So we find 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 this the case?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Yes." Then he said: "In any case, I will not ask you about the fifth matter, nor do I have any doubt about it." The narrator says, then he said: "By the One who sent you with the truth, I and those of my people who obey me will certainly adhere to these deeds." Then he returned. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) laughed so much that his molar teeth became visible. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "By the One in whose hand is my soul, if he has spoken the truth, he will certainly enter Paradise."

Hazrat Thabit (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that Hazrat Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Indeed, we were forbidden from asking the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about anything, so we used to like that an intelligent man from among the villagers would come and ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and we would listen. So a Bedouin man came and said: O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon you)! Your messenger came to us and claimed that Allah has sent you as a Messenger. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He spoke the truth. He asked: Who created the earth? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Allah did. He asked: Who set up these mountains? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Allah did. He said: Then by the One who created the sky and the earth and set up the mountains, has Allah sent you as a Messenger? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes! He said: And your messenger claimed that it is obligatory for us to perform five prayers in the day and night. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He spoke the truth. He asked: Then by the One who sent you as a Messenger, did Allah command you to do this? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes! He said: Your messenger also said that it is obligatory for us to pay zakat from our wealth. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He spoke the truth. He asked: Then by the One who sent you as a Messenger, did Allah command you to do this? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes! He said: Your messenger also said that it is obligatory for us to fast one month in the year. The Prophet (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 set up the mountains, did Allah command you to do this? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes! He said: Your messenger said that Hajj is obligatory upon those among us who are able to find a way to it. The Prophet (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 set up the mountains, did Allah command you to do this? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes! Then he turned and said: And by the One who sent you with the truth, I will neither add anything to this nor subtract anything from it. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If he has spoken the truth, he will enter Paradise.