is answered.

Relevance of the ḥadith to the chapter: The very first call must be to the testimony that lā ilāha illā Allah (there is no deity but Allah), and the ḥadith establishes the practice of sending envoys to deliver that call.

Points derived from the ḥadith:

1. The legitimacy of dispatching preachers who invite people to Allah.
2. The testimony that lā ilāha illā Allah is the foremost obligation and the first matter to which people should be summoned.
3. The meaning of that testimony is to single out Allah in worship and abandon the worship of anything else.
4. A non-Muslim is not deemed Muslim until he utters the two testimonies of faith.
5. A person may recite scripture yet not understand lā ilāha illā Allah, or he may understand it but not act upon it—like many of the People of the Book.
6. Addressing the learned is not the same as addressing the ignorant: “You are coming to a people who possess scripture.”
7. A person—especially a preacher—must have clear insight into his religion so he can escape the doubts spread by the sophists; this is achieved by seeking knowledge.
8. After the two testimonies, the prayer is the greatest of all obligations.
9. Zakah is the most compulsory pillar after the prayer.
10. The ḥadith specifies one legitimate recipient category of zakah, namely the poor, and shows that limiting the distribution to them is permissible.
11. It is unlawful to take zakah from the choicest part of a person’s wealth without his consent.
12. A warning against oppression: the supplication of the oppressed is answered even if he himself is sinful.