Al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār said: “Suwayd Abū Ḥātim narrated to us; ʿAyyāsh ibn ʿAbbās told me, on the authority of al-Ḥārith ibn Yazīd, from ʿAlī ibn Rabāḥ, from Junādah ibn Abī Umayyah, from ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit—may Allah be pleased with him—who heard the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, say:

When he was asked, ‘Which deeds are the best?’ he replied, ‘Faith in Allah and affirmation of His Book.’

Abū ʿAbd Allāh commented, ‘In this statement the Prophet ﷺ counted faith, affirmation, jihad, and every form of goodness as “deed.”’

The Prophet ﷺ also said, ‘A group of people will emerge who will look down on your deeds in comparison with theirs. They will recite the Qur’an, yet it will not pass beyond their throats; they will shoot out of the religion as an arrow shoots through its prey.’

This makes it clear that the very recitation of the Qur’an is itself a deed.”