عَنْ مُعَاذٍ رَضِيَ اللّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللّهِ أَخْبِرْنِي بِعَمَلٍ يُدْخِلُنِي الْجَنَّةَ، وَيُبَاعِدُنِي مِنَ النَّارِ؟ قَالَ: «لَقدْ سَأَلْتَ عنْ عَظِيمٍ، وإنَّهُ لَيَسِيرٌ عَلى منْ يَسَّرَهُ اللّهُ تَعَالَى عَلَيْهِ: تَعْبُدُ اللّهَ لا تُشْرِكُ بِهِ شَيْئًا، وَتُقِيمُ الصَّلاةَ، وَتُؤْتِي الزَّكَاةَ، وَتَصُومُ رَمَضَانَ، وتَحُجُّ البَيْتَ» ثُمَّ قَالَ: «أَلا أَدُلُّكَ عَلَى أَبْوَابِ الْخَيْرِ؟ الصَّوْمُ جُنَّةٌ، وَالصَّدَقَةُ تُطْفِئُ الْخَطِيئَةَ كَمَا يُطْفِئُ الْمَاءُ النَّارَ، وَصَلاةُ الرَّجُلِ مِنْ جَوْفِ اللَّيْلِ» ثُمَّ تَلا: تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ المَضَاجِعِ حَتَّى بَلَغَ يَعْمَلُونَ [السجدة: ١٦-١٧]. ثُمَّ قَالَ: «أَلا أُخْبِرُكَ بِرَأْسِ الْأَمْرِ، وَعَمُودِهِ، وَذُرْوَةِ سَنَامِهِ» قُلْتُ: بَلَى يَا رَسُولَ اللّهِ، قَالَ: «رَأْسُ الْأَمْرِ الْإِسْلامُ، وَعَمُودُهُ الصَّلاةُ، وَذُرْوَةُ سَنَامِهِ الْجِهَادُ» ثُمَّ قَالَ: «أَلا أُخْبِرُكَ بِمِلاكِ ذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ؟» قُلْتُ: بَلَى يَا رَسُولَ اللّهِ، فَأَخَذَ بِلِسَانِهِ قَالَ: «كُفَّ عَلَيْكَ هَذَا» قُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللّهِ وَإِنَّا لَمُؤَاخَذُونَ بمَا نَتَكَلَّمُ بِهِ؟ فَقَالَ: «ثَكِلَتْكَ أُمُّكَ وَهَلْ يَكُبُّ النَّاسَ فِي النَّارِ عَلَى وُجُوهِهِمْ إِلّا حَصَائِدُ أَلْسِنَتِهِمْ؟» رَوَاهُ التِّرْمِذِيُّ وَقَالَ: حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ.

Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me of a deed that will admit me to Paradise and distance me from the Fire. He said: "You have asked about something momentous, yet it is easy for the one whom Allah the Exalted makes it easy: you worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, you establish the prayer, you give the zakat, you fast Ramadan, and you make pilgrimage to the House." Then he said: "Shall I not guide you to the gates of goodness? Fasting is a shield, charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire, and the prayer of a man in the depth of the night." Then he recited: "Their sides forsake their beds..." until he reached "...they used to do" [Surah al-Sajdah: 16-17]. Then he said: "Shall I not tell you of the head of the matter, its pillar, and its highest peak?" I said: Certainly, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the prayer, and its highest peak is jihad." Then he said: "Shall I not tell you of the mainstay of all that?" I said: Certainly, O Messenger of Allah. So he took hold of his tongue and said: "Restrain this upon yourself." I said: O Messenger of Allah, are we to be held accountable for what we say? He said: "May your mother be bereaved of you! Is there anything that casts people into the Fire upon their faces but the harvests of their tongues?" Reported by al-Tirmidhi, who said: a hasan sahih hadith.