Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi
Introduction
All Praise is due to Allah, the Lord of
the Worlds, the [One Who] Sustains the Heavens and Earths, Director of all that
is created, who sent the Messengers (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon
all of them) to rational beings, to guide them and explain the religious laws
to them with clear proofs and undeniable arguments. I praise Him for all of His
bounties. I ask Him to increase His Grace and Generosity. I bear witness that
there is none worthy of worship except Allah alone, who has no partner, the
One, Who Subdues, the Generous, the Forgiving. I bear witness that our leader Muhammad
is His servant and Messenger, His beloved and dear one, the best of all
creation. He was honoured with the Glorious Qur’an that has been an enduring
miracle throughout the years. He was also sent with his guiding Sunnah that
shows the way for those who seek guidance. Our leader Muhammad has been
particularised with the characteristic of eloquent and pithy speech, and
simplicity and ease in the religion. May the peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him, the other Prophets and Messengers, all of their families and the rest
of the righteous.
To proceed: we have narrated, through
many chains (isnad, pl. asaneed) and various narrations, from Ali ibn Abee
Talib, Abdullah ibn Masood, Muadh ibn Jabal, Abu ad-Darda, [Abdullah] ibn Umar,
[Abdullah] ibn Abbas, Anas ibn Malik, Abu Hurayrah and Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree —
may Allah be pleased with all of them — that the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Whoever preserves for my ummah forty
hadeeth related to the religion, Allah will then resurrect him in the company of
the pious and the scholars.” Another narration states: “Allah will raise him as
an erudite and learned scholar.” In the narration from Abu ad-Darda, it is
stated: “On the Day of Resurrection, I will be an intercessor and witness for
him.” In the narration from Ibn Masood it is stated that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “It will be said to him ‘Enter Paradise
through any door you wish.’ ” In the narration from Ibn Umar, one finds the
words: “He will be recorded among the company of the scholars and will be
resurrected in the company of the martyrs.” [However,] the scholars of hadeeth
agree that, although this hadeeth has numerous chains, it is weak [i.e.,
dae’ef, and hence cannot be used as a Shareeah proof].
The scholars (may Allah be pleased with
them) have compiled innumerable works of this nature [i.e., collections of
forty hadeeth]. The first one that I know of who compiled such a work was
Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak. After him came ibn Aslam at-Toosee, a pious scholar.
Then came al-Hasan ibn Sufyan an-Nasa’ee, Abu Bakr al-Aajurree, Abu Bakr
Muhammad ibn Ibraheem al-Asfahanee, adDaraqutnee, al-Hakim, Abu Nu’aim, Abu
Abdur-Rahman as-Sulamee, Abu Sa’eed al-Maleenee, Abu ’Uthmaan as-Saboonee,
Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Ansaree, Abu Bakr al-Baihaqee and countless others
both from the earlier and later times.
I have turned to Allah for guidance and
prayed to Him while compiling these forty hadeeth, following the example of
those imams and guardians of Islam. The scholars have agreed that it is
permissible to act in accordance with weak hadeeth that deal with the virtues
of good deeds [i.e., not weak hadeeth that deal with rulings — ahkam — or acts
of worship]. Nonetheless, given that fact, I have not simply relied upon that
[weak] hadeeth [mentioned above], in compiling this work. Instead, I am
following the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him), found in an authentic hadeeth, “Let him who was present among you inform
those who are absent.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
also said, “May Allah make radiant the man who has heard what I said, preserved
it in his memory and conveyed it in the way that he heard it.”
What an-Nawawi is saying here is that
many of the scholars before him have made collections of forty hadeeth, and hence
he is following their good example and not simply following the weak hadeeth
quoted above, thus showing that he considers it improper to base one’s actions
upon weak hadeeth alone.
Scholars have compiled forty hadeeth on
faith and belief (usul ), on practical matters (furoo), on jihad, on austerity
(zuhd ), on etiquette (adab), and even on sermons (khutbahs). All of these [collections]
were concerning righteous aims. May Allah be pleased with those who sought
them. However I have found it best to collect together forty hadeeth which are
more important than all of those. These forty hadeeth incorporate all of those
separate topics. In fact, each hadeeth is by itself a great general precept
from the foundations of the religion. Some scholars state that all of Islam revolves
around these hadeeth. Some have said, about a particular hadeeth, that they are
one-half of Islam, one-third of Islam and so forth.
I have committed myself to including
only authentic hadeeth (saheeh or hasan) in these forty hadeeth. The majority
of them are from Saheeh al-Bukhari or Saheeh Muslim. I have mentioned them
without their chain of narrators in order for it to be easier to memorise them
and thus more [people] will be able to benefit from them, Allah willing. After
the hadeeth, I included a section on the meanings of the obscure expressions
found in the hadeeth.
Everyone who desires and looks forward
to the Hereafter must be familiar with these hadeeth because they cover the
most important aspects of the religion and offer direction
to all forms of obedience of Allah. This is clear to anyone who ponders these
hadeeth.
I rely only upon Allah and I entrust my
affair only to Him. To Him is all Praise
and Grace, from Him is Guidance and protection from error.
