The Book of Faith-07b

The reciter: Muhammad ibn 'Abbad al-Makki narrated to us, he said: Sufyan narrated to us, he said: I said to Sahl: Umar narrated to us from al-Qa'qa' from your father. He said: I hoped that one man would be dropped from the chain. He said: He said: I heard it from the one from whom my father heard it; he was his friend in Sham. Then Sufyan narrated to us from Sahl from 'Ata ibn Yazid from Tamim al-Dari that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .

The Shaykh : His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This phrase implies exclusivity, because both its ends are definite nouns, meaning: Religion is sincere advice, so it is not possible for there to be religion without sincere advice. Then the Companions understood the meaning of sincere advice, which is to be sincere in a matter, to perfect it, and to do it with excellence, from their saying: "He gave sincere advice to the spinning," meaning: he perfected it. So they asked the Messenger: For whom is this sincere advice which is religion? He said: For Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims, and their common people. So sincere advice to Allah is: sincerity to Him, humility and submission, hope, good opinion, and other things that a person must believe regarding his Lord (Mighty and Majestic). As for the Messenger: sincere advice to him is by believing his reports, obeying his command, loving him, and defending his Shari'ah. As for the leaders of the Muslims: it is the plural of imam, and it refers to those who have people who follow him and take his command, whether the imamate is imamate of authority or imamate of knowledge, and whether it is general or specific. Sincere advice to the leaders comes before sincere advice to the common people, because if the leaders are righteous, the common people will be righteous. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began with them before sincere advice to the common Muslims. Then after that, sincere advice to the common Muslims. And sincere advice to the leaders of the Muslims and their common people is that you love for them what you love for yourself. This is the criterion, because this is the perfection of sincerity and the perfection of love: that you love for them what you love for yourself.