from Hab?b Ibn Sulaim from Bil?l Ibn Yahy? to have said: ‘Once a man came to the prophet ( - ) and asked him a question. The prophet ( - ) answered: ‘Sal?t is the main pole on which religion rests’. The had?th’s chain of narrators is Mursal and all the narrators are reliable ones’!

I believe that Ibn Hajar’s comment is not a good one for Hab?b’s reliability is unknown and hence the had?th’s chain of narrators is weak. However, the had?th which is narrated by Ahmad in his “Musnad” (vol. 5 / no. 231 and 237), At-Tirmith? in “Al-J?m?‘” (no. 2616) and Ibn M?jah in “As-Sunnan” (no. 3973) -from Mu‘?th Ibn Jabal is sufficient. It states: ‘ ... then the prophet ( - ) said: ‘Shall I inform you of the thing from which all goodness gushes out and the main pole on which it rests and its highest rank?’ Mu‘?th ( - رضي الله عنه -) answered in the affirmative. He ( - ) said: ‘The spring from which all goodness gushes out is Isl?m, its main pole on which it rests is Sal?t and ... ’. The had?th is Hasan [good]. See: “Al-Maq?sidul Hasanah” (p. 632), “An-N?filah Fil Ah?d?th Ad-Da‘?fah Wal B?tilah” (no. 171), “Al-Faw?’idul Majm?‘ah” (p. 27) (no. 49).

54 - ’Umm Salamah said: ‘Once a man entered [the prophet’s ( - ) chamber] and said: ‘O All?h’s ( - عز وجل -) Messenger! I caused my Sal?t to loss, what should I do?!’.

He ( - ) said: ‘Having repented [to All?h ( - عز وجل -)] , you should perform eight-Rak‘ah Sal?t on the night preceding Friday reciting S?rah Al-Ikhl?s twenty five times in each of which. Then after finishing the Sal?t, say “Sall? All?hu ‘Al? Muhammad” [may All?h shower His Sal?t on Muhammad] one thousand times.

Doing so will redeem your sin of abandoning Sal?t even for two hundred years, you will be rewarded for each Rak‘ah a reward equal to that given for the one who does acts of worship for a year, you will be granted a whole city in Paradise, you will be granted one thousand H?r for each ?yah you recited and you will see me at night in your dream’.