(12) باب كَفِّ اللِّسَانِ فِي الْفِتْنَةِ
It was narrated that Mu'adh bin Jabal said:
"I was with theMessengerof Allah (ﷺ) on a journey. One morning I drew close tohim when wewere on the move and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, tellme of an actionthat will gain me admittance to Paradise and keep mefar away fromHell.' He said: 'You have asked for somethinggreat, but it is easyfor the one for whom Allah makes it easy.Worship Allah and do notassociate anything in worship with Him,establish prayer, pay charity,fast Ramadan, and perform Hajj to theHouse.' Then he said: 'Shall Inot tell you of the means ofgoodness? Fasting is a shield, andcharity extinguishes sin as waterextinguishes fire, and a man'sprayer in the middle of the night.'Then he recited: "Their sidesforsake their beds" until hereached: "As a reward for what they usedto do."[32:16-17] Thenhe said: 'Shall I not tell you of the head ofthe matter, and itspillar and pinnacle? (It is) Jihad.' Then he said:'Shall I nottell you of the basis of all that?' I said: 'Yes.' Hetook holdof his tongue then said: 'Restrain this.' I said: 'O ProphetofAllah, will we be brought to account for what we say?' He said:'May your mother not found you, O Mu'adh! Are people thrown ontotheirfaces in Hell for anything other than the harvest of theirtongues?'"
Reference: Sunan Ibn Majah 3973
In-book reference: Book 36, Hadith 48
English translation: Vol. 5, Book 36, Hadith 3973