Harith reported,
The Prophet ﷺ said, "Allah commanded Yahya bin Zakariya with five words to act upon and to command the children of Israil to act upon them, but he was about to delay in doing so.Isa said to him, 'Allah has commanded you with five words to act upon and to command the children of Israil to act upon them. Either you command them, or I shall command them.'Yahya replied, 'I fear that if you precede me with this, I shall be swallowed up by the earth or punished.'So he gathered the people in Bayt al-Maqdis, and the mosque filled until people sat on the elevated places. He said, 'Allah has commanded me with five words to act upon, and I command you to act upon them.The first is that you worship Allah and associate nothing with Him. The likeness of one who associates partners with Allah is that of a man who purchases a slave from his own pure wealth, with gold or silver, then says to him, This is my house and this is my work, so do the work and pay your earnings to me. But the slave works and pays his earnings to someone other than his master. Which of you would be pleased to have his slave behave in such a way?Allah has commanded you to pray, and when you pray do not turn your faces aside, for Allah sets His Face toward the face of His servant during his prayer so long as he does not turn aside…'"
Azami 315
Sahihعن الحارث الأشعري
أن النبي ﷺ قال: إن الله أمر يحيى بن زكريا بخمس كلمات أن يعمل بها ويأمر بني إسرائيل أن يعملوا بها، وإنه كاد أن يبطئ بها. قال عيسى: إن الله أمرك بخمس كلمات لتعمل بها وتأمر بني إسرائيل أن يعملوا بها، فإما أن تأمرهم وإما أن آمرهم، فقال يحيى: أخشى إن سبقتني بها أن يخسف بي أو أعذب، فجمع الناس في بيت المقدس فامتلأ المسجد وتعدوا على الشرف، فقال: إن الله أمرني بخمس كلمات أن أعمل بهن، وآمركم أن تعملوا بهن. أولهن: أن تعبدوا الله ولا تشركوا به شيئا، وإن مثل من أشرك بالله كمثل رجل اشترى عبدا من خالص ماله بذهب أو ورق فقال: هذه داري وهذا عملي، فاعمل وأد إلي، فكان يعمل ويؤدي إلى غير سيده، فأيكم يرضى أن يكون عبده كذلك؟ وإن الله أمركم بالصلاة فإذا صليتم فلا تلتفتوا، فإن الله ينصب وجهه لوجه عبده في صلاته ما لم يلتفت…
Tirmidhi (2863) narrated it from Muhammad bin Ismail (Bukhari), who said, Musa bin Ismail told us, Aban bin Yazid told us, Yahya bin Abu Kathir told us, from Zayd bin Salam, that Abu Salam told him, and he related the hadith in full, which has already been given in its place. Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan sahih gharib hadith." Muhammad bin Ismail (Bukhari) said, "Harith Ashari was a companion, and he has other hadiths besides this one."Tirmidhi also narrated it from Muhammad bin Bashshar, who said, Abu Dawud Tayalisi told us, Aban bin Yazid told us, from Yahya bin Abu Kathir, from Zayd bin Salam, from Abu Salam, from Harith Ashari, from the Prophet ﷺ, with the same meaning. He said, "This is a hasan gharib hadith. Abu Salam's name was Mamtur. Ali bin Mubarak also narrated it from Yahya bin Abu Kathir." End of quote.I say, Imam Ahmad (17170) also narrated it, and Ibn Khuzayma (1895), Ibn Hibban (6233), and Hakim (1/421) all graded it sahih, all of them through various routes from Yahya bin Abu Kathir, with a similar chain to the same effect. Hakim said, "It is sahih according to the standard of the two sheikhs (Bukhari and Muslim)."Abu Salam is Mamtur al-Aswad al-Habashi, the grandfather of Zayd bin Salam, as Imam Ahmad made clear in his Musnad (17170), where he narrated it through another route from Yahya bin Abu Kathir, from Zayd bin Salam, from his grandfather Mamtur, from Harith Ashari, relating the same account.