The Complete Forty Hadith of Imam an Nawawi
The Complete Forty Hadith with Commentary,
*[A5] Paperback - 182 pages, [Third Revised Edition],
by Imam an-Nawawi [d.676h.], [Arabic / English]
Transl. into English with Commentary by Abdassamad Clarke,
by Taha Publishers.
Description:
Imam an-Nawawi, May Allah be pleased with him, compiled his collection of forty hadith with the minimum of fiqh and commentary necessary so that they would not be misunderstood by people. Ibn 'Unaynah said, 'Ahadith are misleading except to those who have fiqh'. This collection of ahadith contains essentially useful knowledge. Ibn Wahb said, “Every man of hadith who has no Imam in fiqh is astray. If Allah had not rescued us by Malik and al-Layth we would have gone astray."
It is clear from reading the hadith literature that the Companions, who were pre-eminently men of fiqh, received their Islam by means of what we would call ‘taqlid’ which continued to be the means of Islam’s transmission from one generation to the next. Taqlid is that people see with the eyes of the heart something so overwhelmingly clear that they imitate it, whether consciously or unconsciously. While this is not a decision to abandon the intellect, this word is usually translated pejoratively as ‘blind imitation’. Many modern Muslims imagine that we have a wisdom superior to that because of living in a ‘more enlightened’ techno-scientific age. We place that concept in inverted commas because our measure of all enlightenment is the noble conduct of the Messenger of Allah, May Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions in Madinah, a measure which shows this age to be one of the most barbaric there has ever been.
About Imam al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277).
Imam Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi, alayhi ar-Rahman w'al Ridwan, was born in the village of Nawa in Southern Syria. Imam Nawawi spent most of his life in Damascus where he lived in a simple manner, devoted to Allah, engaging single-mindedly in worship, study, writing and teaching various Islamic sciences.
Although best known for his works in hadith, Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi was also the Imam of the later Shafi'i school of Jurisprudence, and widely acknowledged as the intellectual heir to Imam Shafi'i, May Allah be pleased with him. He was a renowned scholar and jurist who dedicated his life to the pursuit of Islamic learning. Imam Nawawi died at the young age of 44 years, leaving behind him numerous great works.
Abdassamad Clarke : Originally from Belfast and formally educated at Edinburgh University in Mathematics and Physics. He went onto study Arabic and tajwid in Cairo and other Islamic sciences. He accepted Islam at the hands of Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi in 1973. In the 80s he was secretary to the Imam of the Dublin Mosque, and in the early 90's Imam Khatib of the Norwich Mosque, where he is currently an Imam and teacher. He is a prolific translator of many classical and semi classical texts into English.
Table of Contents :
---Acknowledgements,
---Preface to the First Edition,
---Preface to the Second Edition,
---Preface to the Third Edition,
---Translator's Introduction,
---Imam an-Nawawi's Introduction,
---The Complete Forty Hadith,
------[1]. - [40]. in Arabic, with English translation and Commentary.