Arba'un 15 — speak good or keep silent

الأربعون 15 — فليقل خيراً أو ليصمت

Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him)'s hadith, the fifteenth of al-Nawawi's Forty and of Ibn Rajab's commentary; transmitted by al-Bukhari (6018, 6475, 6136) and Muslim (74–76) through several routes from Abu Hurayra, some wordings running 'let him not harm his neighbour', others 'let him be generous in hosting his guest', others 'let him keep the ties of kin' in place of the neighbour, transmitted in meaning also from Abu Shurayh al-Khuza'i and reported from A'isha, Ibn Masud, Abdullah ibn Amr, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may God be pleased with him) and Ibn Abbas; Ibn Rajab explains that the formula 'whoever believes in God and the Last Day' shows these traits are of the traits of iman and that deeds enter into iman, that the hadith commands the believer three things — speaking good or keeping silent, honouring the neighbour and withholding harm from him, and honouring the guest — the first belonging to God's rights and the latter two to His servants' rights together with refraining from harm, citing al-Tabarani's report of Aswad ibn Asram's counsel 'do not say with your tongue except what is good and do not extend your hand except to good' and the Musnad's report that the tongue's uprightness is of the traits of iman (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 314–342).