The Prophet of Allah ﷺ said that Allah commanded Yahya bin Zakariya, peace be upon them both, with five words to act upon and to command the Children of Israil to act upon. He was about to be slow in conveying them, so Isa said to him, "You have been commanded with five words to act upon and to command the Children of Israil to act upon. Either you convey them, or I will convey them."Yahya replied, "My brother, I fear that if you precede me in this, I will be punished or the earth will swallow me up."So Yahya gathered the Children of Israil in Bayt al-Maqdis until the mosque was filled. He sat on the elevated place, praised Allah and extolled Him, then said, "Allah
has commanded me with five words to act upon and to command you to act upon them.The first is that you worship Allah and associate nothing with Him. The likeness of that is a man who bought a slave from his pure wealth with silver or gold, and the slave began working and giving his earnings to someone other than his master. Which of you would be pleased that his slave behave in such a way? Allah
created you and provides for you, so worship Him and associate nothing with Him.I command you with prayer. When Allah
sets His face toward the face of His servant, He continues to do so as long as the servant does not turn away. So when you pray, do not turn aside.I command you with fasting. The likeness of that is a man in a group, with a pouch of musk, all of them finding the fragrance of musk. The breath of the fasting person is sweeter to Allah than the fragrance of musk.I command you with charity. The likeness of that is a man captured by the enemy, who tied his hands to his neck and brought him forward to strike his neck. He said, 'May I ransom myself from you?' So he began ransoming himself from them with little and much until he freed himself.And I command you to remember Allah
often. The likeness of that is a man whose enemy pursued him swiftly on his trail, until he came to a fortified stronghold and took refuge in it. The servant is most protected from Satan when he is in the remembrance of Allah
."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, "And I command you with five that Allah commanded me with. Holding to the community, listening, obedience, migration, and striving in the path of Allah. Whoever departs from the community even by a hand's span has cast off the yoke of Islam from his neck, unless he returns. And whoever calls with the call of pre-Islamic ignorance is among the kneeling crowds of Hell."They asked, "Messenger of Allah, even if he fasts and prays?"He replied, "Even if he fasts and prays and claims to be a Muslim. So call the Muslims by their names by which Allah
has named them, the Muslims, the believers, the servants of Allah
."
حدثنا عفان حدثنا أبو خلف موسى بن خلف كان يعد في البدلاء حدثنا يحيى بن أبي كثير عن زيد بن سلام عن جده ممطور
أن نبي الله ﷺ قال إن الله عز وجل أمر يحيى بن زكريا عليهما السلام بخمس كلمات أن يعمل بهن وأن يأمر بني إسرائيل أن يعملوا بهن وكاد أن يبطئ فقال له عيسى إنك قد أمرت بخمس كلمات أن تعمل بهن وتأمر بني إسرائيل أن يعملوا بهن فإما أن تبلغهن وإما أن أبلغهن فقال يا أخي إني أخشى إن سبقتني أن أعذب أو يخسف بي قال فجمع يحيى بني إسرائيل في بيت المقدس حتى امتلأ المسجد فقعد على الشرف فحمد الله وأثنى عليه ثم قال إن الله عز وجل أمرني بخمس كلمات أن أعمل بهن وآمركم أن تعملوا بهن أولهن أن تعبدوا الله لا تشركوا به شيئا فإن مثل ذلك مثل رجل اشترى عبدا من خالص ماله بورق أو ذهب فجعل يعمل ويؤدي غلته إلى غير سيده فأيكم سره أن يكون عبده كذلك وإن الله عز وجل خلقكم ورزقكم فاعبدوه ولا تشركوا به شيئا وآمركم بالصلاة فإن الله عز وجل ينصب وجهه لوجه عبده ما لم يلتفت فإذا صليتم فلا تلتفتوا وآمركم بالصيام فإن مثل ذلك كمثل رجل معه صرة من مسك في عصابة كلهم يجد ريح المسك وإن خلوف فم الصائم عند الله أطيب من ريح المسك وآمركم بالصدقة فإن مثل ذلك كمثل رجل أسره العدو فشدوا يديه إلى عنقه وقدموه ليضربوا عنقه فقال هل لكم أن أفتدي نفسي منكم فجعل يفتدي نفسه منهم بالقليل والكثير حتى فك نفسه وآمركم بذكر الله عز وجل كثيرا وإن مثل ذلك كمثل رجل طلبه العدو سراعا في أثره فأتى حصنا حصينا فتحصن فيه وإن العبد أحصن ما يكون من الشيطان إذا كان في ذكر الله عز وجل قال فقال رسول الله ﷺ وأنا آمركم بخمس الله أمرني بهن بالجماعة والسمع والطاعة والهجرة والجهاد في سبيل الله فإنه من خرج من الجماعة قيد شبر فقد خلع ربقة الإسلام من عنقه إلا أن يرجع ومن دعا بدعوى الجاهلية فهو من جثاء جهنم قالوا يا رسول الله وإن صام وإن صلى قال وإن صام وإن صلى وزعم أنه مسلم فادعوا المسلمين بأسمائهم بما سماهم الله عز وجل المسلمين المؤمنين عباد الله عز وجل
Its isnad is sahih. Musa bin Khalaf Ammi, Abu Khalaf Basri, the well-known devoted worshipper, about whom Ahmad said here that he was counted among the abdal, that is, the substitutes. We have already explained who the abdal are, and we have explained that whoever denies their existence is either an ignorant fool or a knowing scholar who conceals the truth for the sake of his own desires.As for Zayd bin Salam bin Muti, he is a well-known trustworthy narrator, as is his grandfather, and both have already been discussed previously.The hadith was narrated by Tirmidhi, 5/148, number 2863, in the chapter on parables, where he said, hasan sahih gharib. It was also narrated by Tabarani in Kabir, 3/285, number 3427, and by Ibn Hibban, 298, number 1222, in Mawarid. Hakim graded it sahih, 1/117, and Dhahabi agreed with him. See also Sharh al-Sunnah by Baghawi, 10/209.