The minimal definition: your community is safe from you.
Narrated by ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr (عبد الله بن عمرو)
الْمُسْلِمُ مَنْ سَلِمَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ مِنْ لِسَانِهِ وَيَدِهِ
"The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the Muslims are safe."
The hadith is a floor, not a ceiling. Before any discussion of advanced piety, the question is: are the people around you — your family, neighbours, colleagues — safer because you are Muslim? The tongue and the hand are the two instruments through which most daily harm flows. Safety on both is the starting point of Islam in a community.
Passages that draw on this hadith
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"excellence in conduct, being soft-spoken, offering acts of kindness, feeding others, spreading peace, visiting a sick Muslim whether righteous or sinful, attending a Muslim's funeral, showing good neighborliness to whoever is your neighbor, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, respecting an elder Muslim,"
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"God planted the garden of Eden with his hand, and he planted the tree of Tuba with his hand. He wrote the Torah with his hand and handed it to Moses from his hand to Moses' hand. He spoke to Moses directly without any intermediary or translator."
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"them. By greeting, one avoids the sin of shunning a Muslim. It is recommended for a Muslim to shake hands with their brother and not withdraw their hand until the other does if they initiated it. If they embrace and one kisses the other's head or hand as a sign of respect and devotion,"
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"The hand holds more honor than the foot, so one should start with it. Furthermore, the right hand has precedence over the left hand, so it should be started with first. The right hand has five fingers, with the index finger being the most noble as it is used to point during the two testifications of faith."
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"If it is suggested that a non-Muslim dhimmi should be allowed to enjoin good upon a Muslim if they see them committing adultery, because saying, "Do not commit adultery," is inherently right, we respond: If the non-Muslim acts to prevent the Muslim, it is an exercise of power and is therefore prevented,"
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"The hadith states: "Do you know who the Muslim is? They replied, "Allah and His Messenger know best. He said, "A Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand Muslims are safe." In another narration, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Shall I not inform you of the believer?"
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"'No Muslim who supports another Muslim in a place where his honor is violated and his sanctity breached, except that Allah shall support him in a place where he loves to be supported. And no Muslim who abandons another Muslim in a place where his sanctity is violated,"
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"mentioning charity and refraining from asking—"The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The upper hand is the one that gives, and the lower hand is the one that asks." In صَحِيح مُسْلِم, it is narrated from أَبُو هُرَيْرَة that the Prophet مُحَمَّد,"