the worship of Allah and kindness to His creation. Allah Most High says:

“Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and be good to parents, relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbor, the distant neighbor, the companion at your side, the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed, Allah does not love anyone who is arrogant and boastful.”

He made His religion consist of three levels: Islam, then faith, then excellence. He made Islam rest upon five pillars. Among the most firmly enjoined of these is prayer, comprising five obligatory prayers, and He coupled it with zakat. Prayer is thus among the most firmly enjoined acts of worship, followed by zakat: prayer is worship of Him, while zakat is kindness to His creation. He therefore repeatedly enjoined prayer in numerous verses of the Quran, never mentioning it without coupling it with zakat. Among these is His saying, Most High:

“Establish prayer and give zakat.”

He also says:

“But if they repent, establish prayer, and give zakat, then they are your brothers in religion.”

And He says:

“They were commanded only to worship Allah, devoting their religion sincerely to Him, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and give zakat. That is the upright religion.”

The two Sahīhs relate a hadith from Abū Hurayrah, also narrated by Muslim from Umar:

“Gabriel asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about Islam