Arba'un 18 — fear God wherever you are

الأربعون 18 — اتق الله حيثما كنت

The hadith of Abu Dharr and Mu'adh ibn Jabal, the eighteenth of al-Nawawi's Forty and of Ibn Rajab's commentary; transmitted by al-Tirmidhi (1987) as hasan — hasan sahih in some copies — through Sufyan al-Thawri from Habib ibn Abi Thabit from Maymun ibn Abi Shabib from Abu Dharr, and by the same chain from Mu'adh, al-Tirmidhi citing his teacher Mahmud ibn Ghaylan that Abu Dharr's version is sounder and al-Daraqutni preferring the mursal route; al-Hakim graded it sound on the two Shaykhs' condition, which Ibn Rajab shows to be mistaken on two counts — Maymun ibn Abi Shabib has nothing in Bukhari's Sahih and nothing in Muslim's except in his introduction, and his hearing from any Companion is unproven: al-Fallas found no 'I heard' in his Companion reports, Abu Hatim declared his reports from Abu Dharr and A'isha unconnected, and Abu Dawud held he reached neither A'isha nor Ali — and Ibn Rajab sets out the view of al-Bukhari, Ali ibn al-Madini, Abu Zur'a and Abu Hatim that a chain connects only with proven meeting, Ahmad's words pointing the same way and al-Shafi'i stating it in the Risala, all contrary to Muslim's view; the same counsel is transmitted for Mu'adh on his despatch to Yemen and for Abu Dharr in other counsels including 'I counsel you with fear of God in your secret and open affairs', and from Abu Hurayra that what most admits people to Paradise is 'fear of God and good character', a counsel combining God's rights and His servants' rights (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 375–431).