Muaz reported, "I was with the Prophet ﷺ on a journey, and one morning I found myself riding close to him as we traveled along. I said, 'Messenger of Allah, tell me of a deed that will admit me to Paradise and keep me far from the Fire.'"The Prophet ﷺ replied, "You have asked me about something great, yet it is easy for whoever Allah makes it easy for. Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, establish the prayer, pay the zakat, fast Ramadan, and make the pilgrimage to the House."Then he said, "Shall I not show you the gateways to good? Fasting is a shield, charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire, and so does a man's prayer in the depth of the night."Then he recited, "Their sides shun their beds" until he reached "what they used to do" [Sajdah 32:16–17].Then he said, "Shall I not tell you of the head of the whole matter, its pillar, and the summit of its peak?"Muaz said, "Yes indeed, Messenger of Allah."He said, "The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the prayer, and the summit of its peak is jihad."Then he said, "Shall I not tell you what holds all of this together?"Muaz said, "Yes indeed, Prophet of Allah."So he took hold of his own tongue and said, "Keep this in check."Muaz said, "Prophet of Allah, are we really to be held accountable for what we say?"He replied, "May your mother lose you, Muaz! Is there anything that throws people into the Fire on their faces, or on their nostrils, other than the harvest of their tongues?"
كنت مع النبي ﷺ في سفر فأصبحت يوما قريبا منه ونحن نسير، فقلت: يا رسول الله، أخبرني بعمل يدخلني الجنة، ويباعدني من النار. قال: لقد سألتني عن عظيم، وإنه ليسير على من يسره الله عليه؛ تعبد الله ولا تشرك به شيئا، وتقيم الصلاة، وتؤتي الزكاة، وتصوم رمضان، وتحج البيت. ثم قال: ألا أدلك على أبواب الخير؟ الصوم جنة، والصدقة تطفئ الخطيئة كما يطفئ الماء النار، وصلاة الرجل من جوف الليل. قال: ثم تلا {تتجافى جنوبهم عن المضاجع} حتى بلغ {يعملون} [سورة السجدة: ١٦-١٧]. ثم قال: ألا أخبرك برأس الأمر كله وعموده وذروة سنامه؟ قلت: بلى يا رسول الله، قال: رأس الأمر الإسلام، وعموده الصلاة، وذروة سنامه الجهاد. ثم قال: ألا أخبرك بملاك ذلك كله؟ قلت: بلى يا نبي الله، فأخذ بلسانه قال: كف عليك هذا. فقلت: يا نبي الله، وإنا لمؤاخذون بما نتكلم به؟ فقال: ثكلتك أمك يا معاذ وهل يكب الناس في النار على وجوههم- أو على مناخرهم- إلا حصائد ألسنتهم؟
Tirmidhi (2616) narrated it, and this is his wording, as did Ibn Majah (3973), both from Muhammad bin Abu Umar Adani, who said, Abdullah bin Muaz Sanaani narrated to us, from Mamar, from Asim bin Abu Najud, from Abu Waail, from Muaz bin Jabal, and he related the hadith. Tirmidhi said, "Hasan sahih." Abdul-Razzaq also narrated it in his Musannaf (20303), and from him Imam Ahmad (22016). Its isnad is hasan on account of the discussion regarding Asim bin Abu Najud, though he is hasan al-hadith.Abu Waail is Shaqiq bin Salama, who was born in the first year of the Hijrah, though his companionship with the Prophet has not been established. He narrated from a number of the companions, among them Muaz bin Jabal, and he was among the most knowledgeable people of Kufa regarding the hadith of Abdullah bin Masud. He died in the year 82 AH. His narration from Abu Bakr is mursal, and people have doubted whether he actually heard from Ayesha and Abu Darda, though he was not known for tadlis.This isnad is among the best through which this hadith has been narrated, and the hadith has other isnads, some of which will come later in the book on jihad.