Home > The 40 Hadith of Nawawi > Hadith 8 of Nawawi
Hadith number 8 of the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi, in a faithful English translation.
Updated on 10 September 2026 at 2:45 AM
📖 18 min readThis hadith belongs to the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him), the most studied hadith compilation in the world: foundations of faith, worship and character, all authentic narrations.
Imam Ahmad reports from the hadith of Muadh ibn Jabal, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "I was only commanded to fight the people until they establish the prayer, give the zakat and witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, no partner with Him, and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. When they do that, they have protected from me their blood and their wealth except by its right, and their account is with Allah the Mighty and Majestic." Ibn Majah reports it abbreviated. A like report comes also from the hadith of Abu Hourayra (may Allah be pleased with him). But the famous narration of Abu Hourayra contains neither establishing the prayer nor giving the zakat. In the two Sahihs, from Abu Hourayra (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "I was commanded to fight the people until they say: there is no deity but Allah. Whoever says: there is no deity but Allah, has protected from me his wealth and his self except by its right, and his account is with Allah the Mighty and Majestic." In a version of Muslim: "until they witness that there is no deity but Allah and believe in me and in what I came with." Muslim reports it also from the hadith of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), with the wording of Abu Hourayra's first hadith, adding at its end, then he recited: "So remind: you are only a reminder; you have no authority over them." And he reports also from the hadith of Abu Malik al-Ashja'i, from his father: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: "Whoever says: there is no deity but Allah, and disbelieves in what is worshipped besides Allah, his wealth, his blood and his account are made inviolable, claimed to Allah [the Mighty and Majestic]."
It is reported from Soufyan ibn Ouyayna that he said: "This was at the beginning of Islam, before the prescription of prayer, fast, zakat and migration." This is very weak, and its authenticity from Soufyan is debated; for the narrators of these hadiths accompanied the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) only in Madina, and some of them embraced Islam late.
Then his word: "they preserved from me their blood and their wealth" indicates that at the time of this saying he was commanded fighting, and killing whoever refused Islam. And all that after his migration to Madina.
Known by necessity: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) accepted from every comer wanting to enter Islam the two testimonies alone, preserving his blood thereby and making him a Muslim: he disapproved of Ousama ibn Zayd killing one who said there is no deity but Allah when the sword was raised upon him, and his disapproval was strong; and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would not require of one coming to him wanting Islam commitment to prayer and zakat; it is even reported that he accepted Islam from people on condition of not giving zakat. In the Mousnad of Imam Ahmad, from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him): Thaqif stipulated to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) no charity imposed on them and no jihad, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "They will give charity and fight." And therein also, from Nasr ibn Asim al-Laythi, from one of them: he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and embraced Islam on condition of praying only two prayers, and he accepted it from him. Ahmad took from these hadiths and said: Islam is valid upon the corrupt condition, then he is held to all the laws of Islam. He argued also that Hakim ibn Hizam said: "I covenanted with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) never to touch but standing." Ahmad said: meaning he prostrates without bowing.
Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi reports with a very weak chain, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) accepted not from him who answered the call of Islam without establishing prayer and giving zakat, these two being obligations upon whoever attested Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and Islam, by the word of Allah the Most High: "Then, as they did not, and Allah turned in forgiveness to them: establish the prayer and give the zakat."
This is not established; and were it established, its meaning is that he accepted none entering Islam upon leaving prayer and zakat, and that is right: for he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) commanded Muadh, when sending him to the Yemen, to call them first to the two testimonies and said: "If they obey in that, teach them the prayer, then the zakat." His intent: whoever became Muslim by entering Islam is afterwards commanded establishing prayer, then giving zakat.
And whoever asked him about Islam was mentioned with the two testimonies the rest of Islam's pillars, as he said to Jibril (peace upon him) when he asked him about Islam. And as he said to the Bedouin coming to him with disheveled hair asking about Islam.
By what we established appears the reconciliation of the wordings of the hadiths of this chapter, and it becomes clear they are all true: the two words of the testimonies alone preserve their comer, who thereby becomes Muslim; when he enters Islam, if he establishes prayer and gives zakat and acts upon Islam's laws, he has what the Muslims have and owes what they owe; and were he to miss something of these pillars, if they are a group having strength, they are fought.
Some thought the hadith's meaning is that the disbeliever is fought until he brings the two testimonies, establishes prayer and gives zakat, making that proof of addressing the disbelievers with the branches. In that a look, and the Prophet's sira (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in fighting the disbelievers indicates otherwise.
In the Sahih of Muslim, from Abu Hourayra (may Allah be pleased with him): the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) called Ali on the day of Khaybar, gave him the banner and said: "Walk, and turn not, until Allah opens for you." Ali walked some (not turning), then stopped and cried: O Messenger of Allah! Upon what do I fight the people? He said: "Fight them until they witness there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; when they do that, they have protected from you their blood and wealth except by its right, and their account is with Allah the Mighty and Majestic." He made the mere answering with the two testimonies preserving souls and wealth except by their right, and of their right: refusing prayer and zakat after entering Islam, as the Companions understood (may Allah be pleased with them).
Among what indicates fighting the group refusing establishing prayer and giving zakat, from the Quran: His word "If they repent, establish the prayer and give the zakat, free their way"; His word "If they repent, establish the prayer and give the zakat: they are your brothers in religion"; His word "And fight them until there is no fitna and the religion is wholly Allah's", with His word "They were commanded only to worship Allah, sincere to Him in religion, upright, establishing the prayer and giving the zakat: that is the religion of uprightness." And it is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), when raiding a people, attacked them not at dawn until daybreak: if he heard the adhan he abstained, else he attacked, with the possibility they had entered Islam. He counseled his columns: "If you hear a muezzin or see a mosque, kill no one." He sent Ouayna ibn Houssayn to a people of Banou al-Anbar: he raided them and heard no adhan; they claimed having embraced Islam before that. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wrote the people of Oman a letter: "From Muhammad the Prophet to the people of Oman: peace upon you. Then: attest the testimony that there is no deity but Allah, give the zakat, build mosques, or I raid you." Reported by al-Bazzar, at-Tabarani and others. All that indicates he considered the state of those entering Islam: if they established prayer and gave zakat, he abstained from fighting them, else not. Therein occurred the debate of Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), as in the two Sahihs, from Abu Hourayra (may Allah be pleased with him): "At the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the succession of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq after him, when some Arabs disbelieved, Umar said to Abu Bakr: how fight the people, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: I was commanded to fight the people until they say there is no deity but Allah; whoever says there is no deity but Allah, his wealth and self are protected from me except by its right, and his account is with Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By Allah, I will fight whoever separated prayer and zakat, for zakat is the right of wealth; by Allah, were they to withhold from me a young goat they used to give to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), I would fight their withholding. Umar said: By Allah, it was only seeing Allah had opened Abu Bakr's chest to fighting that I knew it was the truth."
Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) took their fighting from his word: "except by its right", indicating the lawfulness of fighting him who brought the two testimonies, whose right is giving the wealth's obligatory due. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) thought the mere bringing of the two testimonies protected blood in this world, holding to the generality of the hadith's opening, as a portion of people thought whoever brings the two testimonies is prevented from entering the Fire in the hereafter, holding to the generality of come wordings. The affair is not so. Then Umar returned to agreement with Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him).
An-Nasai reports the story of the debate of Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) with an addition: Abu Bakr said to Umar: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "I was commanded to fight the people until they witness there is no deity but Allah and that I am the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer and give zakat." Ibn Khuzayma reports it in his Sahih; but this version is an error: Imran al-Qattan erred in it in chain and text, as said the imams of memory, among them Ali ibn al-Madini, Abu Zur'a, Abu Hatim, at-Tirmidhi and an-Nasai. And this hadith was not upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) with this wording with Abu Bakr nor Umar. Abu Bakr said rather: "By Allah, I will fight whoever separated prayer and zakat, for zakat is the right of wealth", and that is what he took of it, and Allah knows best, from his word in the hadith: "except by its right", and in a version: "except by the right of Islam", making of Islam's right establishing prayer and giving zakat, as of its right is not committing the punishments. He made all that of what he excepted by his word: except by its right.
His word: "I will fight whoever separated prayer and zakat; zakat is the right of wealth" indicates that whoever leaves the prayer is fought, for it is the body's right; likewise whoever leaves zakat, the wealth's right.
Herein an allusion that fighting the prayer-leaver is a unanimously agreed matter, for he made it an original measured upon him, and it is not mentioned in the hadith by which Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) argued; he took it from his word: "except by its right", and likewise zakat, for it is of its right. And all that is of Islam's rights.
One also argues the fighting over leaving the prayer by what is in the Sahih of Muslim, from Umm Salama, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Leaders will be appointed over you: you will approve and disapprove. Whoever disapproves is quit; whoever hates is safe; but whoever agrees and follows." They said: "O Messenger of Allah, do we not fight them?" He said: "No, while they pray."
[Fighting over abandoning the rest of Islam's pillars]: the ruling on whoever leaves the other pillars of Islam: that they be fought as they fight over leaving prayer and zakat. Ibn Chihab reports from Hanzala ibn Ali ibn al-Asqa' that Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) sent Khalid ibn al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) and ordered him fighting the people over five: whoever leaves one of the five, fight them over it as they fight over the five: the testimony there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, establishing prayer, giving zakat and fasting Ramadan. And Sa'id ibn Joubayr said, from Umar ibn al-Khattab: "Were the people to leave the pilgrimage, we would fight them over it as we fight over prayer and zakat." That is concerning fighting the party refusing something of these obligations.
As for killing the individual refusing them: most scholars hold that the one refusing the prayer is killed, the opinion of Malik, ash-Chafi'i, Ahmad, Abu Obayd and others. Indicating that what is in the two Sahihs, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri: Khalid ibn al-Walid sought the Prophet's permission (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to kill a man; he said: "No: perhaps he prays?" Khalid said: how many praying ones say with their tongue what is not in their heart! The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "I was not commanded to probe people's hearts nor to split their bellies." In the Mousnad of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), from Obaydillah ibn Adi ibn al-Khiyar: a man of the Ansar related to him that he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and sought his permission to kill a hypocrite. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Does he not witness there is no deity but Allah?" He said: yes, but he has no testimony. [He said: "Does he not witness Muhammad is the messenger of Allah?" He said: yes.] He said: "Does he not pray?" He said: yes, but no prayer for him! He said: "Those are whom Allah forbade us killing."
As for killing him refusing to give zakat: two opinions, for him who says the prayer-refuser is killed. The first: he is killed too, the famous of Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), arguing by this hadith of Ibn Umar. The second: he is not killed, the opinion of Malik, ash-Chafi'i, and Ahmad in a narration.
As for the fast: Malik and Ahmad in a narration of him say: he is killed for leaving it. Ash-Chafi'i and Ahmad in a narration say: he is not killed for that. Argument: the hadith of Ibn Umar and others in its sense; for nothing of them mentions the fast. Therefore Ahmad said in Abu Talib's narration: of the fast, nothing came.
I say: it is reported from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), in raised and suspended form: whoever leaves the two testimonies, or the prayer, or the fast is a disbeliever, lawful of blood, unlike zakat and pilgrimage.
Its explanation already came in the hadith "Islam is built on five".
As for pilgrimage: from Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), two narrations on killing for leaving it. Some of our companions understood the narration of his killing upon one delaying it resolved on leaving it entirely; or delaying it and death dominating his view in his year. As for one delaying it believing in the ease, as many scholars say: no killing for that.
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "except by its right", and in a version: "except by the right of Islam": Abu Bakr already made into this right the act of prayer and zakat, and among the scholars those entering therein also the fast and the pilgrimage. And of its right is committing what makes a Muslim's blood lawful of the forbidden. Its interpretation that way has come: at-Tabarani and Ibn Jarir at-Tabari report it from the hadith of Anas, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "I was commanded to fight the people until they say: there is no deity but Allah. When they say it, they preserve from me their blood and wealth except by its right, and their account is with Allah the Mighty and Majestic. It is said: and what is its right? He said: adultery after marriage, disbelief after faith, and killing a person for which one is killed." And the last may be of Anas's word. And it has been said: the correct is stopping the whole hadith upon that.
Testifying to that what is in the two Sahihs, from Ibn Mas'oud (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Not lawful is the blood of a Muslim man witnessing there is no deity but Allah and that I am the messenger of Allah, except in one of three: the married adulterer, life for life, and the leaver of his religion abandoning the community." The speech on this hadith will come complete at its mention, at its place in this book, Allah the Most High willing. His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "and their account is with Allah the Mighty and Majestic" means the two testimonies with establishing prayer and giving zakat protect their owner's blood and wealth in this world, unless comes what makes his blood lawful. As for the hereafter, his account is with Allah the Mighty and Majestic: if sincere, Allah enters him thereby Paradise; if lying, he is of the hypocrites in the lowest pit of the Fire. It already came that in some versions of the Sahih of Muslim: "then he recited: So remind: you are only a reminder; you have no authority over them, except him who turns away and disbelieves, Allah will punish him with the greatest punishment; to Us is their return, then upon Us is their account." The meaning: only upon you reminding them of Allah and calling them to Him; you are not invested with forcing faith into their hearts by force, nor charged with that. Then the Most High informed that all servants' return is to Him, and their account upon Him. In the Mousnad of al-Bazzar, from Iyad al-Ansari, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "There is no deity but Allah: a word dear to Allah, having with Allah a station; a word by which whoever says it sincerely, Allah enters him Paradise; and whoever says it falsely, his wealth and blood are preserved, and he meets Allah tomorrow who counts him."
By this argues him seeing acceptance of the zindiq, who is the hypocrite, when manifesting return to Islam, and seeing not his killing by the mere manifestation of his hypocrisy, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) treated the hypocrites and let them run under the Muslims' rulings in appearance, with his knowledge of some of their inward hypocrisy. That is the opinion of ash-Chafi'i and Ahmad in a narration of him. Al-Khattabi cites it of most of the scholars, and Allah knows best.