The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Shall I not guide you to that by which Allah erases sins and raises ranks? Taking many steps to the mosques, performing ablution thoroughly despite difficulties, and waiting for the next prayer after completing one. That is the true vigilance."
حدثنا عبد الرزاق حدثنا مالك عن العلاء بن عبد الرحمن عن أبيه
قال رسول الله ﷺ ألا أدلكم على ما يكفر الله به الخطايا ويرفع به الدرجات الخطى إلى المساجد وإسباغ الوضوء عند المكاره وانتظار الصلاة بعد الصلاة فذلك الرباط
Its isnad is sahih. It is a longer version of 7208, which we have already presented there, and we noted that it appears in Muwatta 161, and that Muslim and Nasai narrated it through Malik's route. As for his saying "that is the ribat," in Muwatta it says "that is the ribat" repeated three times.Ibn Athir said, ribat originally means remaining steadfast in fighting the enemy through war, and tethering horses and preparing them. The righteous deeds and worship mentioned were likened to this.Qutaybi said, the origin of muraabatah is that two opposing groups tether their horses at a frontier post, each side prepared for the other, so remaining at the frontier posts came to be called ribat. From this comes his saying, "that is the ribat," meaning that persisting in purification and prayer is like jihad in the path of Allah. Ribat would thus be a verbal noun from raabattu, meaning "I persisted."It has also been said that here it is a noun for that with which something is bound, that is, tied. The meaning is that these qualities bind their possessor back from sins and restrain him from forbidden acts.