حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ نَجِيحٍ، وَكَانَ ثِقَةً، عَنْ أَبِي عِمْرَانَ الْجَوْنِيِّ، عَنْ جُنْدُبِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ: كُنَّا مَعَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَنَحْنُ فِتْيَانٌ حَزَاوِرَةٌ، فَتَعَلَّمْنَا الْإِيمَانَ قَبْلَ أَنْ نَتَعَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ، ثُمَّ تَعَلَّمْنَا الْقُرْآنَ فَازْدَدْنَا بِهِ إِيمَانًا

Book 0: The book of sunnah
Chapter 9: Regarding faith

Ḥadīth [61]: It was narrated that Jundub bin ‘Abdullāh said: “We were with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him), and we were strong youths, so we learned faith before we learned Qurān. Then we learned Qurān and our faith increased thereby.”

a) Knowledge of the Oneness of Allāh and other basic beliefs gets priority over acts of worship and the code of daily dealings. That is why the main focus in Makkan Sūrah (chapters) of the Qurān is on basic beliefs while the Madinite Sūrah mostly deal with daily dealings and transactions.
b) Increase in knowledge leads to increase in faith.
c) The last sentence in the ḥadīth is a proof of the phenomenon of increase and decrease in faith.

• Reference: [61 (1/114-115), Sunan ibn Mājah, Dārussalām (Eng)]

• Bayhayqī’s Sunan al-Kubrā (5292 (3/171))
• Al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr (1678 (2/165))
• Siyar A’lām an-Nubalā’ (3/174-175)

Grade:

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh al-Albānī (Sunan ibn Mājah)
• Ṣaḥīḥ isnād by Ḥāfiẓ Zubayr ‘Alī Za’ī (Sunan ibn Mājah)
• Ṣaḥīḥ isnād by Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna’ūṭ (Sunan ibn Mājah)