Sahīh Muslim also contains the hadith of Abū Mālik al-Ashʿarī, who reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Purification is half of faith. ‘Praise be to Allah’ fills the Scale. ‘Glory be to Allah’ and ‘Praise be to Allah’—the two fill, or he said, it fills—the space between heaven and earth. Prayer is light, charity is proof, patience is radiance, and the Quran is evidence for you or against you. Everyone goes out in the morning and sells his soul, either setting it free or bringing it to ruin.”

He thus stated that it fills the space between heaven and earth, which is greater than filling the Scale.

In the hadith of Talhah ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kurayz recorded in al-Muwattaʾ, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The best supplication is the supplication on the Day of ʿArafah, and the best thing that I and the prophets before me have said is: ‘There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, with no partner. His is the dominion and His is all praise, and He has power over all things.’”

Thus, in this hadith he brought together “the best supplication and the best praise, for remembrance is of two kinds: supplication and praise. He said: ‘The best supplication is the supplication on the Day of ʿArafah,’ and ‘The best thing I have said is this declaration.’” He did not say, “The best thing I have said on the Day of ʿArafah is this declaration.” Rather, it is the best thing he has said without qualification. Likewise, a hadith narrated by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā states:

“The best remembrance is ‘There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,’ and the best supplication is ‘Praise be to Allah.’”

Furthermore, an authentic hadith from Abū Hurayrah reports that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Faith has seventy-odd branches. The highest is saying, ‘There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,’ and the lowest is removing something harmful from the road.”

He thus explicitly stated that the highest of the branches of