It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A servant cannot be a believer until he believes in four things: that he bears witness that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah whom He has sent with the truth; that he has certainty in the resurrection after death; and that he believes in destiny (qadar)." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim). Some of the students of Imam al-Thawri fell short in narrating it, but in our view that is of no significance.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) narrated a similar hadith. Imam al-Hakim says: Although Abu Hudhayfah Musa bin Mas'ud al-Nahdi is a narrator of Imam Bukhari, he makes many errors (that is, mistakes occur in his narrations), so he will not be given precedence over firm narrators like Abu Asim al-Nabil and Muhammad bin Kathir; rather, when he contradicts them, error in his narration is to be assumed. The proof of what I have said is that Jarir bin Abd al-Hamid corroborated al-Thawri by narrating this hadith through Mansur from Rib'i from Ali, and Jarir is among those who know the hadith of Mansur best.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A servant cannot be a believer until he believes in four things: that he bears witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and that I am the Messenger of Allah whom He has sent with the truth; and that he will be raised again after death; and that he believes in destiny (qadar) in its entirety."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The affair of this Ummah will remain sound (or he said: close to soundness) as long as they do not speak (argue and debate) about (the fate of deceased) children and about destiny (qadar)." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) and there is no hidden defect ('illah) in it, but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Allah Almighty has distributed your characters among you just as He has distributed your provisions among you. And Allah Almighty certainly gives the world both to the one He loves and to the one He does not love, but He gives faith only to the one He loves." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain, and Ahmad bin Janab al-Missisi is alone in narrating it, but he is trustworthy; and our condition is that we accept the solitary narration of a trustworthy narrator if it is free of any defect. Sufyan bin Uqbah has also corroborated this narration of Isa bin Yunus:

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Allah Almighty has distributed your characters among you just as He has distributed your provisions among you. And Allah Almighty certainly gives wealth both to the one He loves and to the one He does not love, but He gives faith only to the one He loves; so when Allah loves a servant, He grants him faith." As for the corroborating narrator who is not on the condition of this book, he is Abd al-Aziz bin Aban, and this hadith is well known through him. Thus the hadith is established through two corroborators of Isa bin Yunus, and through one corroborator of al-Thawri, Hamzah al-Zayyat.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Kurz bin Alqamah (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "O Messenger of Allah! Does Islam have an end?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes. Any household of the Arabs or non-Arabs for whom Allah intends good, He brings Islam into it. Then (after that) trials will occur like the shadows of (dark) clouds." Ma'mar bin Rashid and Yunus bin Yazid also corroborated it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Kurz bin Alqamah (may Allah be pleased with him) that a Bedouin asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "O Messenger of Allah! Does Islam have an end?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes. Any household of the Arabs or non-Arabs for whom Allah intends good, He brings Islam into it. Then (after that) trials will occur like the shadows of clouds." This hadith is sahih (authentic) and there is no hidden defect ('illah) in it. The two Shaykhs did not take it only because Urwah is the sole narrator from Kurz bin Alqamah, although Kurz is a Companion and his hadith is found in the Musnads of the imams. I heard Ali bin Umar al-Hafiz (Imam al-Daraqutni) say that this hadith was binding upon Bukhari and Muslim (to record), because both of them agreed on the hadith of Itban bin Malik, who has no narrator other than Mahmud bin al-Rabi'.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Fadalah bin Ubayd (may Allah be pleased with him) that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Glad tidings (Tuba) are for the one who was granted guidance to Islam, whose livelihood was just sufficient for his needs, and who was content with it." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, and it has reached me that he recorded it through another chain.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him): I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) making this supplication: 'Allahumma a'udhu bika min al-kufri wal-faqri wa 'adhabil-qabr' (O Allah, I seek refuge in You from disbelief, poverty (destitution) and the punishment of the grave). This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two of them did not record it, although Imam Muslim used Uthman al-Shahham as evidence.