Mukhtaṣar Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim · Kitāb al-Īmān
Muslim, 1/35–36 (no. 17); al-Bukhārī, no. 53. Mukhtaṣar no. 1.
The delegation of ʿAbd al-Qays came to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. He said: “Who are the delegation?” — or, “Who are the people?” They said: “Rabīʿah.” He said: “Welcome to the people” — or, “to the delegation — not disgraced, nor regretful.” They said: “O Messenger of Allāh, we come to you from a far distance, and between us and you is this quarter of the disbelievers of Muḍar, so we cannot reach you save in a sacred month. Command us with a decisive matter, that we may tell it to those we left behind and enter Paradise by it.” So he commanded them with four and forbade them four. He commanded them to believe in Allāh alone, saying: “Do you know what belief in Allāh alone is?” They said: “Allāh and His Messenger know best.” He said: “The testimony that there is none worthy of worship except Allāh and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allāh, the establishment of the prayer, the payment of zakāh, the fast of Ramaḍān, and that you render a fifth of the spoils.” And he forbade them the gourd, the green jar, and the pitch-lined vessel, and said: “Memorise it, and tell it to those behind you.”
Summarised from al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ al-Thajjāj, 1/325–401
1. The delegation's eagerness for the religion. Their asking for a decisive command to carry back to their people shows the merit of seeking knowledge and conveying it, and the fine manners of a delegation before the Prophet ﷺ.
2. Welcoming with good words. His greeting them — “Welcome to the people, not disgraced nor regretful” — is a proof of receiving visitors and delegations with gladness and gentle speech.
3. Faith is named by its works. He explained belief in Allāh by the pillars — the two testimonies, the prayer, the zakāh, the fast — adding, for a people of war, the rendering of a fifth of the spoils: a proof that deeds enter into the name of faith.
4. Conveying what one learns. “Memorise it, and tell it to those behind you” lays upon the one present the duty of carrying knowledge to the one absent.
5. The forbidden vessels, later permitted. The ban on steeping drink in the gourd, the green jar, and the pitch-lined vessel guarded against intoxication; it was later eased, the intoxicant itself remaining forbidden in every vessel.
6. Two qualities Allāh loves. His praise of al-Ashajj of ʿAbd al-Qays for ḥilm (forbearance) and anāh (unhurried deliberateness) shows that Allāh loves these two, and that a man may be praised to his face when it is safe from vanity.