Al-Arbain an-Nawawiyyah 4.0

Nawawi's Forty (known in Arabic as al-arbaʿīn al-nawawiyyah) is an influential collection of forty hadiths compiled by Imam al-Nawawi. The compilation predominantly draws from Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari, two of the most authentic collections in Islamic tradition. Over the centuries, this work has been highly regarded for its conciseness and depth, serving as a distilled presentation of core principles within Islamic sacred law, or Sharīʿah, as articulated by one of the most esteemed scholars of Islamic jurisprudence.

In assembling this collection, Imam al-Nawawi explicitly intended that each hadith would serve as a fundamental rule (qāʿida ʿaẓīma) of the religion. He noted that these hadiths have been described by religious scholars as representing "the axis of Islam," "half of Islam," or "a third of it," emphasizing their central role in understanding the faith. He also emphasized the importance of their authenticity, establishing a criterion that these forty hadiths be classified as sound (ṣaḥīḥ).

This work stands as a quintessential example of the arbaʿīniyyāt genre of hadith compilations, exemplifying its significance within Islamic scholarship and pedagogical tradition.