He also narrated through a sound chain of transmission from Ibn Abī Najīh, from Mujāhid, who said concerning “Allah’s natural disposition”: “The religion—Islam.”

He said: “Ibn Humayd narrated to us: Yahyā ibn Wādih narrated to us: Yūnus ibn Abī Ishāq narrated to us, from Yazīd ibn Abī Maryam, who said:

‘Umar passed by Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal and asked, ‘What sustains this community?’

Mu‘ādh replied, ‘Three things, which bring deliverance: sincerity—which is the natural disposition, the natural disposition with which Allah created mankind; prayer, which is the religion; and obedience, which is protection.’

‘Umar said, ‘You have spoken the truth.’”

He said: “Ya‘qūb—meaning al-Dawraqī—narrated to me: Ibn ‘Ulayyah narrated to us: Ayyūb narrated to us, from Abū Qilābah, that ‘Umar said to Mu‘ādh, ‘What sustains this community?’ He then related a similar account.”

He said:

“Regarding His words, ‘There is no altering Allah’s creation,’ he says: There is no changing Allah’s religion; that is, this is not right and ought not to be done.”

He then cited, through a sound chain of transmission, “Ibn Abī Najīh, from Mujāhid, who said: ‘No