We were sitting with the Prophet ﷺ when he asked, "Which of the handholds of Islam is the firmest?"They replied, "Prayer."He said, "It is good, but it is not that."They said, "Zakat."He said, "It is good, but it is not that."They said, "Fasting Ramadan."He said, "It is good, but it is not that."They said, "The Hajj."He said, "It is good, but it is not that."They said, "Jihad."He said, "It is good, but it is not that."Then he said, "The firmest handhold of faith is to love for the sake of Allah and to hate for the sake of Allah."
حدثنا إسماعيل حدثنا ليث عن عمرو بن مرة عن معاوية بن سويد بن مقرن
كنا جلوسا عند النبي ﷺ فقال أي عرى الإسلام أوسط قالوا الصلاة قال حسنة وما هي بها قالوا الزكاة قال حسنة وما هي بها قالوا صيام رمضان قال حسن وما هو به قالوا الحج قال حسن وما هو به قالوا الجهاد قال حسن وما هو به قال إن أوسط عرى الإيمان أن تحب في الله وتبغض في الله
No references are available.
Its chain is hasan, because of Layth bin Abu Salim. The hadith was narrated by Ibn Abu Shayba (11/41, no. 10469), Tayalisi (2/48, no. 2110), and Bayhaqi in Shu'ab (1/45, no. 13).