(1) The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Allah is pleased with three things for you: that you worship Him and associate nothing with Him; that you all hold fast to the rope of Allah and do not become divided; and that you offer sincere counsel to whomever He has placed in authority over you” (2).
He also said: “Three things keep a Muslim’s heart free from rancor: devoting one’s deeds sincerely to Allah, offering sincere counsel to those in authority, and adhering to the Muslim community, for their call encompasses those beyond them (3)” (4).
Both of these are good hadiths (5).
It is reported from him in the Sahīh (6) that he said: “Religion is sincere counsel; religion is sincere counsel; religion is sincere counsel (7).” They asked, “To whom, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, and the leaders of
(1) In the other manuscripts, the following appears before this passage as an abridgment of what has already appeared in the original manuscript: “The Salaf—such as al-Fudayl ibn Iyād, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and others—used to say: ‘If we had a supplication certain to be answered, we would offer it for the ruler.’”
(2) Manuscripts Yā and Zāy add: “Narrated by Muslim.” It appears in *Sahīh Muslim* (1715), from Abū Hurayra—may Allah be pleased with him.
(3) The final sentence is from the other manuscripts.
(4) Narrated by Ahmad (21590), Abū Dāwūd (3660), al-Tirmidhī (2656), Ibn Mājah (230), Ibn Hibbān in *al-Ihsān* (680), and others, all from Zayd ibn Thābit—may Allah be pleased with him.
Al-Tirmidhī graded it a good hadith, and Ibn Hibbān authenticated it.
It is corroborated by the hadith of Anas, narrated by Ahmad (13350) and Ibn Mājah (236).
(5) In manuscripts Yā and Zāy, this sentence reads: “Narrated by the authors of the Sunan collections.” In manuscript Zā, it is in the singular: “This is a good hadith.” As noted above, one of the two appears in *Sahīh Muslim*.
(6) Narrated by Muslim (55), from Tamīm al-Dārī—may Allah be pleased with him.
(7) The phrase “Religion is sincere counsel” occurs only once in manuscript Zā.