The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said three times, "Religion is sincere counsel."They asked, "To whom, Messenger of Allah?"He replied, "To Allah, to His Book, to the leaders of the Muslims, and to the Muslim community at large."
حدثنا محمد بن بشار حدثنا صفوان بن عيسى عن محمد بن عجلان عن القعقاع بن حكيم عن أبي صالح
قال رسول الله ﷺ الدين النصيحة ثلاث مرار قالوا يا رسول الله لمن قال لله ولكتابه ولأئمة المسلمين وعامتهم
[Sahih]. Ahmad narrated it, 2/297, from the hadith of Safwan bin Isa, and Nasai, no. 4204, from the hadith of Muhammad bin Ajlan, through him. This hadith has many corroborating narrations, including the one that follows.On this subject there are also narrations from Ibn Umar [Darimi, no. 2757], Tamim Dari [Muslim, no. 55], Jareer [coming up, no. 1936], Hakeem bin Abu Yazid from his father [Ahmad, 3/418, 4/259, and Abd bin Humayd, no. 438], and Thawban [Tabarani in Awsat, 3/107, no. 1206].