This narration was collected by Imām Aḥmad, al-Tirmidhī, and al-Dāramī; al-Tirmidhī judged it to be ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ. Imām Aḥmad and al-Tirmidhī also transmitted it through the Companion Muʿādh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him).

Know, then, that treating people with good character—though it is one of the noble traits enjoined by the religion—is not, in and of itself, the religion. A person who possesses it does not become a Muslim unless he also upholds the five pillars of Islam. How many individuals behave toward others with fine manners while nonetheless not being Muslims at all! Indeed, in many Christian countries Muslims encounter kinder treatment than they find in some nations that claim to belong to Islam—yet those countries are not Muslim. This alone exposes the falsity of the slogan, “Religion is simply dealings.”

As for his statement, “They are unaware that religion is sincere counsel,” the reply is that the concept of counsel must be restricted to what is stated in the authentic ḥadīths: “for Allah, for His Book, for His Messenger, for the leaders of the Muslims, and for their common folk.” This ḥadīth was narrated by Imām Aḥmad, Muslim, and al-Nasāʾī from Tamīm al-Dārī (may Allah be pleased with him), and by Imām Aḥmad, al-Nasāʾī, and al-Tirmidhī from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). Al-Tirmidhī said: