Love for the Sake of Allah and Hate for the Sake of Allah

6. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn abu ‘Abd Allah from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Yahya (as far as I know) from ‘Amr ibn Mudrik al-Ta’i from Abu ‘Abdillah عليه السلام who has said the following: “The Messenger of Allah once asked his companions, ‘Which ring of belief is stronger to hold on to?’ They said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ Certain individuals among them said, ‘It is prayer,’ others said, ‘It is al-Zakat (charity)’, a few of them said, ‘It is fasting’, others said, ‘It is Hajj and ‘Umrah’ and still others said, ‘It is Jihad (hard work against the enemies).’ “The Messenger of Allah then said, ‘For everything you said there is a merit but is not such a ring. In fact the strongest ring of belief to hold on to is love for the sake of Allah, hate for the sake of Allah, support and love those who have received authority from Allah and to disassociate from the enemies of Allah.’”