I order you with five things which Allah ordered me with

From al-Haarith al-Ash’aree (radiyallaahu ’anhu) who said that the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahi ’alayhi wa sallam) said:

“Indeed Allah - The Most High - ordered Yahyaa Ibn Zakariyyaa with five things; that he should act upon them and order the Children of Israa’eel to act upon them. ’Eesaa Ibn Maryam said to him, ‘Indeed Allah ordered you with five things, that you act upon them, and that you order the Children of Israa’eel to act upon them. So either you order them, or I will order them.’ So Zakariyyaa said, ‘If you precede me in that, I fear that I will be punished, or swallowed up by the earth.’ So he gathered the people in the Mosque of Jurusalem until it was filled, and the people sat upon its walls. He admonished them saying, ‘Indeed Allah has ordered me with five things which I should act upon, and order you to act upon. The first thing is that you should worship Allah and not associate anything along with Him in this worship. Verily one who worships anything along with Allah is like a man who bought a slave with his own wealth - either gold or silver - and said, ‘This is my house and this is my work so give the wages to me. So the slave worked, and gave the wages to other than his owner. So which of you would be pleased for his slaves to be like that? But Allah created you and provides for you, so do not associate anything in worship along with Him.

And I order you with prayer, and when you pray, then do not turn aside.

And I order you with fasting. And that is the like of a man, amongst a group of people, who had a small pouch containing musk. Each of them likes to smell it. And to Allah, the fasting person is better than the smell of musk.

And I order you with Sadaqah (charity). For its like is that of a man taken prisoner by the enemy, so they will take a hold of him and tie his hand to his neck, so he will say, ‘Will you not allow me to ransom myself for you?’ So he gives them small and large amounts to escape from them.

And I order you to make mention and remember Allah a lot. And the like of this is a man being chased by the enemy, who are hastening after him. So he comes to a protected fortress and enters into its protection. Likewise is the case for the servant. For he does not protect himself from Shaytaan except by the remembrance of Allah - the Mighty and Majestic.”

The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahi ’alayhi wa sallam) said: “I order you with five things which Allah ordered me with: The Jamaa’ah, hearing, obeying, hijrah (migration), and Jihaad in the way of Allah - the Mighty and Majestic. So whosoever separates from the Jamaa’ah by a hand-span, throws off the yoke of Islam from his neck, unless he repents. And whosoever calls with the calls of the days of ignorance, then he is from the horde of the Hellfire.” It was said, “Even if he fasts and prays?” He said, “Even if he fasts and prays. So call with the Call of Allah which Allah gave: The Muslims, the Believers, Worshippers of Allah."