It is narrated from al-Harith al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I command you with five things that Allah has commanded me with: (holding to) the Jama'ah, listening, obeying, Hijrah (emigration), and Jihad in the path of Allah. So whoever goes out from the Jama'ah even by the measure of a handspan has cast off the collar of Islam from his head, unless he returns."

It is narrated from al-Harith al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Allah has commanded me with five things which I act upon" (then he mentioned the whole lengthy hadith). Mu'awiyah bin Sallam and Aban bin Yazid al-Attar have also narrated it in the same way from Yahya bin Abi Kathir.

It is narrated from al-Harith al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Allah Almighty commanded Yahya bin Zakariya (peace be upon him) with five things, and said that he should act upon them himself and command the Children of Israel to act upon them"; then he mentioned the whole hadith, and in it is also that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Allah has commanded me too with five things" (then he mentioned the whole lengthy hadith). This hadith is sahih according to the principles we have laid down concerning the Companions, that even if only one narrator is found from a Companion, it is still accepted; for al-Harith al-Ash'ari is a well-known Companion, and Imam Yahya bin Ma'in has also confirmed his being a Companion.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever leaves the Jama'ah of the Muslims even by the measure of a handspan enters the Fire." The fifth hadith indicating that consensus is a proof is as follows.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whoever separates from his Ummah (its Jama'ah), or returns to being a Bedouin (the nomadic desert life) after his Hijrah, will have no excuse (proof) (on the Day of Resurrection)." The two Shaykhs have recorded a similar hadith from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): "Whoever separates from the Jama'ah and dies, dies a death of Jahiliyyah," but this text is different from that one. The sixth hadith indicating that consensus is a proof is as follows.

It is narrated from Rib'i bin Hirash that he said: I came to Sayyiduna Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) in the days when the people had set out against Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) (to rebel against him), and he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whoever separates from the Jama'ah and holds authority (government, the order of the state) in contempt will meet Allah having no proof (in his defence)." Abu Asim corroborated it from Kathir.

It is narrated from Rib'i bin Hirash that he came to visit Sayyiduna Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) (Hudhayfah's sister was married to Rib'i). Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: O Rib'i, what have your people done? (This was the time when the people had gone out against Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him).) Rib'i said: Some of them have gone out, and he named a few of them. Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whoever separates from the Jama'ah and holds authority in contempt will be presented before Allah in such a state that no proof of his will be accepted with Allah." This hadith is sahih; Kathir bin Abi Kathir is trustworthy and there is no criticism against him.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Fadalah bin Ubayd (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are three kinds of people about whom you should not ask me (because of their ruin, i.e. they are among the ruined): a man who separated from the Jama'ah, disobeyed his Imam and died in that state of disobedience; a slave, male or female, who ran away from his master and died in that state; and a woman whose husband is absent (on a journey) and has fully provided for her worldly expenses, yet in his absence she displays her adornment (before other men). So do not ask about them." This hadith is sahih on the condition of the two Shaykhs; all its narrators are ones they used as evidence, but they did not record it, and there is no hidden defect ('illah) in it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The period from one obligatory prayer to the next obligatory prayer is an expiation for sins, and from one Friday to the next Friday, and from one month (Ramadan) to the next Ramadan, is an expiation for sins." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Except for three sins," and I understood that this was something particular. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Associating partners with Allah, breaking the pledge of allegiance, and abandoning the Sunnah." I said: O Messenger of Allah, as for associating partners, we know it; what is "breaking the pledge" and "abandoning the Sunnah"? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Breaking the pledge is that you give your pledge of allegiance at the hand of a man (a ruler), then turn against him and rise up against him with your sword; and abandoning the Sunnah is that you go out from the Jama'ah." This hadith is sahih on the condition of Imam Muslim, and there is no hidden defect ('illah) in it.

Abu Bakr bin Abi Zuhayr al-Thaqafi narrates from his father (Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him)) that he said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying at a place called al-Naba'ah (or al-Nabawah): "Soon you will recognise the people of Paradise from the people of Hell," or he said: "You will recognise the best among you from the worst." It was said: O Messenger of Allah, how? He said: "By people's good praise and bad praise, for you are witnesses (for Allah) over one another." The chain of this hadith is sahih. According to Imam Bukhari, Abu Zuhayr (Mu'adh) al-Thaqafi is a Companion, and Abu Bakr bin Abi Zuhayr is among the senior Tabi'un. This is the ninth hadith indicating that consensus is a proof.