The Forty Hadith of Imam al-Nawawi

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© Light Publishing 2022

al-Nawawi, Yahya bin Sharaf

The Forty Hadith of Imam al-Nawawi

ISBN 978-1-915570-02-4

www.lightpublishing.co.uk

Contents

PREFACE–I

Imam AL-NAWAWI–III

INTRODUCTION–VII

Hadith No. 1–1

Hadith No. 2–5

Hadith No. 3–12

Hadith No. 4–15

Hadith No. 5–20

Hadith No. 6–23

Hadith No. 7–26

Hadith No. 8–29

Hadith No. 9–32

Hadith No. 10–36

Hadith No.11–38

Hadith No. 12–40

Hadith No. 13–42

Hadith No. 14–44

Hadith No. 15–49

Hadith No. 16–52

Hadith No. 17–55

Hadith No. 18–57

Hadith No. 19–60

Hadith No. 20–64

Hadith No. 21–66

Hadith No. 22–68

Hadith No. 23–70

Hadith No. 24–72

Hadith No. 25–78

Hadith No. 26–82

Hadith No. 27–84

Hadith No. 28–87

Hadith No. 29–90

Hadith No. 30–94

Hadith No. 31–97

Hadith No. 32–101

Hadith No. 33–103

Hadith No. 34–106

Hadith No. 35–111

Hadith No. 36–119

Hadith No. 37–125

Hadith No. 38–130

Hadith No. 39–134

Hadith No. 40–139

Hadith No. 41–143

Hadith No. 42–146

PREFACE

All praise is due to Allah, of whom we ask blessings and peace upon His final prophet, Muhammad.

The collection of Forty Hadith compiled by Imam Yahya bin Sharaf al-Nawawi (which actually contains 42 hadiths) has been widely studied in traditional Arabic circles of learning and continues to be one of the basic subjects taught in Islamic courses throughout the world today. This is primarily due to:

(1) The soundness of the collection as a whole – most of its narrations having been taken from the two authentic traditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim,

(2) The conciseness and comprehensiveness of the prophetic statements contained therein, and

(3) The fact that they are derived from many of the basic principles of ‘‘aqidah (belief) and shari’ah’ (Islamic law).

A translation into English of Al-Nawawi’s Forty Hadith by Ezzeddin Ibrahim and Denys Johnson-Davies was first published in 1976 and has since then enjoyed numerous reprints. Although a faithful translation, it is limited to the text of each hadith. Imam al-Nawawi had himself included some explanatory annotation, and numerous scholars subsequently contributed further explanation and commentary on Al-Nawawi’s Forty in Arabic. Most of this material, however, has remained inaccessible to those without knowledge of the language.

Explanatory commentary is based upon that of Imam al-Nawawi himself, as well as the concise Sharh of Ibn Daqiq al-‘Eid (d. 702 H.) and the more detailed Jami’ul-‘Ulum wal-Hikam by Imam Ibn Rajab (d. 795 H.).

This modest work is submitted for the acceptance of Allah and with hope that it will prove useful to His servants.

Imam AL-NAWAWI

Abu Zakariyya Yahya Sharaf al-Nawawi was born in the town of al-Nawa, south of Damascus, in the year of Hijri 631, corresponding to 1233 of the Gregorian calendar. He was encouraged from childhood by his father toward religious scholarship, and so strong was his love for Qur’anic studies that he refused to be distracted by other boys urging him to play. At the age of nineteen his father took him to Damascus, which was then a prominent seat of learning and accommodated the best scholars of his time.

Al-Nawawi recalls that for the first two years of study under his shaykh, al-Kamal al-Maghrabi, he hardly ate or slept while devoting himself to the memorisation and understanding of volumes of fiqh, and later, under other distinguished scholars, those of hadith, fundamentals of religion, Arabic language and other related specialties. He never tired of reading and writing, allowing himself to rest only when sleep overcame him during a limited portion of the night and then quickly awakening to continue his work. During this six year period he was examined daily in eleven lessons pertaining to various subjects.

Imam al-Nawawi was blessed with an exceptional memory coupled with such insight and understanding that enabled him to put together and assess all that he had read at different times from various sources. Additionally, he embodied the Islamic traits of modesty, patience and courage in support of the truth. He practiced counsel and advice in a manner that people found acceptable and positive.

Although he studied in depth the fiqh of other madhhabs and their sources, al-Nawawi considered himself to be of the Shafi’i school and was in fact among the prominent scholars of that madhhab. This did not prevent him, however, from advocating adherence to a sound hadith even though it might be contrary to the knowledge of the Shafi’i scholars or even to Imam ash-Shafi’i himself. This was clearly stated in his Fatawa. He was also among the strongest opponents of bid’ah (innovations in religion) and wrote: ‘Know that the correct choice is that which was practiced by the salaf... and do not be deceived by the great numbers who differ from it.’¹

The Imam authored a great number of books in various disciplines, including fiqh, hadith and its sciences, Arabic definition, and biography, all of which are outstanding in expression and precision. His easy, yet eloquent style, was something uncommon to his age and was appreciated by his successors. Among the best known of his works in the field of fiqh are:

Rawdhat at-Talibin (12 volumes)

Al-Minhaj

Al-Majmu’ (9 volumes but incomplete due to his death)

Fatawa (collected by his student, ‘Ala’uddin al- ‘Attar)

Those in the field of hadith are:

Sharh Sahih Muslim, an explanation of and commentary on Muslim’s collection

Riyadh as-Salihin, a collection of ahadith pertaining to faith, one’s relationship with Allah and righteous conduct

Al-Adhkar, a collection of supplications from the Qur’an and sunnah

Al-Arba’un, the ‘Forty Hadith’

Al-Nawawi remained for 28 years in Damascus, studying and teaching. In the year 676 H. he returned all the books he had borrowed and visited his colleagues from among the shuyukh and the graves of those of them who had passed on. He then returned to his home in Al-Nawa, where shortly thereafter he became ill and died at the age of forty-five. The city of Damascus was shaken by the news of his death, and Muslims everywhere mourned the loss of a unique scholar — may Allah have mercy upon him.

INTRODUCTION

Praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Sustainer of the heavens and the earths, director of created beings, sender of messengers (may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them all) to responsible beings² in order to guide them and clarify the ways of religion by means of decisive evidences and clear proofs. I praise Him for all His favours and ask Him for an excess of His bounty and generosity. I testify that there is no deity but Allah alone, there being no associate with Him – the One, the Prevailing, the Generous, the Perpetual Forgiver. And I testify that our master, Muhammad, is His servant and messenger, His beloved and His pure friend, the best of creatures, the one honoured through the mighty Qur’an [which has been] the continuing miracle over the succession of years and through sunnahs that enlighten the rightly guided – our master, Muhammad, distinguished for comprehensive speech and ease in religion. May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him and upon all the prophets and messengers, their families and all righteous people.

To proceed – it has been related to us from ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ud, Mu‘adh bin Jabal, Abu-Darda’, Ibn ‘Umar, Ibn ‘Abbas, Anas bin Malik, Abu Hurayrah and Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with them) through numerous chains with varied narrations that the Messenger of Allah said, ‘Whoever preserves for my nation forty hadiths concerning its religion – Allah will resurrect him on the Day of Resurrection among the jurists and scholars’. In one narration it says, ‘...Allah will resurrect him as a jurist and scholar,’ and in that of Abu-Darda’, ‘...I³ will be for him on the Day of Resurrection an intercessor and a witness’. In the narration of Ibn Mas‘ud it says, ‘...he will be told, ‘Enter by any of the doors of Paradise you wish,’ ‘and in that of Ibn ‘Umar, ‘...he will be registered among the scholars and resurrected among the martyrs’. But hadith scholars have agreed that it is a weak hadith despite its many narrations.

Learned men have compiled within this context countless collections. The first one I have known to do so was ‘Abdullah bin al-Mubarak and then Ibn Aslam at-Tusi, the godly scholar; then al-Hasan bin Sufyan al-Nasa’i, Abu Bakr al-Ajurri, Abu Bakr Muhammad bin Ibrahim al-Asfahani, ad-Daraqutni, al-Hakim, Abu Nu’aym, Abu ‘Abdur-Rahman as-Sulami, Abu Sa’id al-Malini, Abu ‘Uthman as-Sabuni, ‘Abdullah bin Muhammad al-Ansari, Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi and innumerable others from among both previous and later ones.

I have made istikharah⁴ to Allah concerning the collecting of forty hadiths following the example of those outstanding imams and guardians of Islam. For the scholars have agreed upon the permissibility of acting on a weak hadith in regard to virtuous deeds. But in spite of this, my reliance is not upon that hadith but rather on his statement among the authentic ones: ‘Let the one present along you convey to the absent’⁵ and his saying: ‘May Allah make radiant [the face of] a person who heard my statement and understood it and passed it on as he heard it’.⁶

Then there were some scholars who collected forty [hadiths] on the fundamentals, while others [did so] on derived matters, others on jihad, others on indifference to worldly things, others on conduct, others on speeches, etc., and all of them are sound directions; may Allah be pleased with those who followed them. But I have considered collecting forty more important than all of those, and they would be forty hadiths inclusive of all that, but each hadith would be a great precept from those of the religion – one that scholars had described as being the ‘axis’ of Islam or ‘half’ of Islam or ‘a third’ of it or something similar. Furthermore, I would commit myself, regarding these forty, to their being authentic, and most of them are [found] within the two Sahih’s of al-Bukhari and Muslim. I cite them with the chains of narration deleted in order to make their memorisation easy and their benefit widespread, insha’Allah. I then follow up [each of] them with a section defining their more obscure wordings.⁷

Everyone desiring the Hereafter ought to know these hadiths for what they contain of important information and because they alert one to all kinds of obedience, which is obvious to whoever reflects upon it. Upon Allah is my dependence, and to Him is my commitment, and [He is] my support. To Him belongs [all] praise and favour, and from Him is [all] success and protection.

- Imam al-Nawawi

Hadith No. 1

عن أمير المؤمنين أبي حفص عمر بن الخطاب قال: سمعت رسول الله يقول: «إِنَّمَا الأَعمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلٍّ امرِئٍ مَا نَوَى، فَمَن كَانَت هِجرَتُهُ إِلَى اللهِ وَ رَسُولِهِ فَهِجرَتُهُ إِلَى اللهِ وَرَسُولِهِ، وَ مَن كَانَت هِجرَتُهُ لِدُنيَا يُصيبُهَا أَوِ امرَأَةٍ يَنكِحُهَا فَهِجرَتُهُ إِلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إِلَيه»

On the authority of the Commander of the Faithful, Abu Hafs, ‘Umar bin al-Khattab, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘Actions are according to one’s intentions, and every man shall have only what he intended. So one whose hijrah [emigration] was to Allah and His Messenger – his hijrah was to Allah and His Messenger. But one whose hijrah was to achieve a worldly aim or towards a woman he would marry – then his hijrah was to that for which he emigrated.’

(Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim)

This hadith has been described as the axis of Islam or that about which the religion revolves. Imam Ahmad observed that the fundamental precepts of Islam are found in three hadiths: that of ‘Umar: Actions are according to one’s intentions’, that of ‘A’ishah: ‘Whoever innovates in this matter of ours…’ ⁸ and that of al-Nu’man bin Bashir: ‘Halal is clear and haram is clear…’⁹Al-Bukhari began his collection with this hadith, almost as if making it an introductory discourse in which he indicates the worthlessness of any deed not done solely for Allah. Muslim placed the hadith at the conclusion of his chapter on jihad. Ash-Shafi‘i has said that it is included in seventy subjects of fiqh and that it contains a third of knowledge. The reason given by al-Bayhaqi and others is that a servant of Allah earns and acquires benefit through his heart, his tongue and his limbs, the intention being one of the three means.

The niyyah (intention), which is primarily in the heart, serves two functions:

(1) To define the worship intended – for example, what specific prayer will one be performing at a given time, or whether a ghusl (bath) is one required for the lifting of impurity or is a sunnah, such as that preceding ihram for hajj or ‘umrah.

(2) To discern whether the particular act is one of worship – i.e., performed for Allah, or is one of habit, custom or worldly motivation.

Indeed it is the intention, the truth of which is known only to Allah, which distinguishes the righteous deed from that of a hypocrite or one done for a worldly gain. Imam Ahmad added that the niyyah serves to check the self – that one is not doing the deed for anything other than Allah. Numerous sound hadiths illustrate the importance of correct intentions and the evil consequences of corrupt ones on the Day of Judgement. But above and beyond the consideration of reward and punishment in the Hereafter is the gratitude to Allah for His countless blessings, both obvious and otherwise, felt by His sincere servant while acknowledging the inadequacy of his own worship. Anxietythat his deeds may not be wholly acceptable¹⁰ motivates him toward an excess of work, always seeking the approval of Allah.

The hadith begins with the