Religion is Sincere Advice: Explanation and Benefits

June 5, 2022

By Eman Abdallah Kamel

Eman is a writer and an engineer. She also studied at Zad Scientific Academy (an online academy) for Islamic Studies and the Arabic language.

The scholars said that the hadith of (religion is sincere advice) is from the principles of religion. Here, you will learn the explanation of the hadith and its benefits.

Hadith

Tamīm ibn Aws Ad-Dāri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Religion is sincere advice.” We said: “To whom?” He said: “To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the Muslim leaders, and the general body of Muslims.”
Sahih Muslim 55, In-book reference: Book 1, Hadith 103, English reference: Book 1, Hadith 98

Who was Tamīm ibn Aws Ad-Dāri (Narrator of Hadith)?

Tamim bin Aws bin Kharjah Al-Dari (may Allah be pleased with him) was born in Palestine. He was a monk and then came to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) to be a Muslim.

He was a Christian and became a Muslim in the ninth year of the Hijrah. Tamim accompanied the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) and fought with him and narrated from him.

Tamim Al-Dari was famous for a lot of worship, praying at night, and reciting the Qur’an.

He lived in Madinah and then moved to the Levant. He died in the fortieth year of Hijrah (660 AD).

Vocabulary

Religion	Islam (Submission to God). The basis of religion is advice.
Advice	(Advice) In the Arabic language, “to rid” something of the impurities of corruption. Advice is to give helpful guidance to those you advise.

The Explanation

This hadith indicates the importance of advice because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) named it the religion.

Allah said in the Holy Quran: “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious and Most Merciful

There is not upon the weak or upon the ill or upon those who do not find anything to spend any discomfort [i.e., guilt] when they are sincere to Allāh and His Messenger. There is not upon the doers of good any cause [for blame]. And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.
Noble Quran, Surah At-Tawbah (The Repentance) 9:91

The Hadith includes sincere advice towards:

Allah, Exalted and Glorified
His Book (Quran)
His Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)
Leaders of Muslims
All Muslims

1. The Advice Towards Allah

Belief and acknowledgment of the oneness of Allah Almighty.
The complete belief that Allah, Exalted and Glorified, is free of any imperfection, describing Him with perfect attributes.
To be sincere in your worship of God.
Obedience to Allah Almighty and to avoid disobedience. The greatest obedience to God is to keep the five daily prayers (salah) on time.
Acknowledge God’s blessings and thank Him for them.

2. The Advice Towards the Quran

Believing that the Qur’an is the speech of God, revealed and not created. God revealed the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), the last of the prophets, through the angel Gabriel.
Glorify the Qur’an, recite it, and reflect on its verses.
Belief in its verses and acting upon its commands.
Preserve it from distortion.

3. The Advice Towards the Prophet Muhammad

The belief is that the Prophet Muhammad is the last of God’s prophets.
Follow his Sunnah.
Sincere love for the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) by following his great morals. When the Prophet’s wife, Aisha (may God be pleased with her), was asked about the Prophet’s character, she said, “His character was the Qur’an.” (Muslim 746)
The Prophet used to do what the Quran commanded and avoid what the Quran forbade.
To obey his commands and avoid his prohibitions. Allah said in the Holy Quran:

Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “If you ˹sincerely˺ love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins. For Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Noble Quran, Surah Ali ‘Imran (Family of Imran) 3:31

4. The Advice Towards Muslim Leaders

By helping and reminding them to do the right thing.
Remind them of what they forget or ignore.
Do not obey them in disobedience.

5. The Advice Towards All Muslims

That you love good for them as you love it for yourself, and hate evil for them as you hate it for yourself.
Guide them to the truth, and refrain from harming them.
Make sure to teach them what benefits them.

Benefits

Emphasize the importance of advice.
It is essential to offer sincere advice to everyone.
The hadith illustrates the Prophet’s excellent method of teaching, where he used to mention something in general and then detail it. Teaching in this way grabs the listener’s attention and makes a more profound impression than when things are told directly.
Hadith also confirms that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) were eager to learn. If any point needed clarification, they asked about it.
Emphasize a point through repetition to attract attention and facilitate understanding. As in another narration of Abu Hurairah, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Religion is sincerity, religion is sincerity, religion is sincerity.” They said, “To whom, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims, and to their common folk.”
(Sunan an-Nasa’i 4199, In-book reference: Book 39, Hadith 51, English translation: Vol. 5, Book 39, Hadith 4204)

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