that it was the truth. This is clear evidence of the gravity of the prayer, and that people may be fought for abandoning it until they perform it. Allah is the One who grants success.

1077 – Muʿādh (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me to Yemen and said, “You are going to a people from the People of the Scripture. Call them to testify that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. If they accept that, then let them know that Allah has made five prayers obligatory for them in every day and night. If they accept that, then let them know that Allah has ordained zakah, to be taken from their rich and given back to their poor. If they accept that, then beware of taking the best of their property, and fear the supplication of one who is wronged, for between it and Allah there is no veil.” Agreed upon.

Explanation
Imam al-Nawawi—may Allah have mercy on him—quotes in his Riyad al-Salihin, in the Book on Maintaining the Prayers, the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) from Muʿadh ibn Jabal that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) dispatched him to Yemen. Yemen lies to the south of the Arabian Peninsula, and the Prophet sent him there in Rabiʿ al-Awwal of the tenth year after the Hijrah. When he was about to send him off he said, “You are going to a people from the People of the Scripture.” The People of the Scripture are the Jews and the Christians, for Allah revealed the Torah to the Jews and the Gospel to the Christians. He informed him of this so that he would be mentally prepared to engage with them.