Description

Excerpt from the Introduction:

The translations of the well-known al-Arba’īn an-Nawawiyah (40 ḥadīth by Imām an-Nawawī) in English are numerous, and each publication has its own focus and usefulness. Before you is the second edition of al-Arba’īn an-Nawawiyah by Maktabah Takhrīj al-Ḥadīth, with which we have tried to benefit to the reader in several ways:

1️⃣ The matn is based on one of the most accurate publications of al-Arba’īn an-Nawawīyah.

The matn in this publication was prepared under the care of Shaykh Niẓām bin Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ Ya’qūbī. It was based on five manuscripts, all of which have a high status and importance among researchers. The manuscript that was taken as the basis for this research is attributed to none other than ‘Ala’ ad-Dīn ‘Alī bin Ibrāhīm al-‘Aṭṭār ad-Dimashqī [d. 724H], who is also known as an-Nawawī as-Ṣagḥīr [the little Nawawī], and he is among the well-known students of Imām an-Nawawī.

Shaykh Dr. Maḥbūb Abū ‘Āṣim ḥafiẓahullāh reviewed the matn in our publication. He holds a PhD in ḥadīth from Qaṣīm University and is one of the students of Shaykh Muḥammad bin Ṣāliḥ al-‘Uthaymīn raḥimahullāh.

2️⃣ The introduction of Imām an-Nawawī has been added.

In the introduction of a book, the author expresses his intention for writing his book. Therefore, we thought it necessary to include it in our publication. We have relied entirely on the magnificent work of Jamaal al-Din Muhammad Zarabozo for the translation of this introduction: Commentary on the Forty Ḥadīth of al-Nawawī.

3️⃣ We have included the eight narrations that Imām ibn Rajab added to al-Arba’īn an-Nawawīyah.

As an added benefit to the reader, we have included the eight complementary narrations that Imām ibn Rajab added to the aḥādīth of Imām an-Nawawī in his work Jāmi’ al-‘Ulūm wal-Ḥikam, which is regarded as the best explanation of al-Arba’īn an-Nawawīyah. The matn was taken from the excellent taḥqīq of ‘Abdu ‘Alī Kawshak, who based his research on five manuscripts and took as his basis a manuscript from Maktabah aẓ-Ẓāhiriyyah, and it is said to be a copy of the book, written only a few years after the death of Imām ibn Rajab.

4️⃣ Takhrīj for kutub as-sittah, as well as from Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ and Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn have been added wherever applicable.

This has the advantage that students of knowledge can refer back to these references to see how the ḥadīth scholars used these narrations in their respective books. In addition, references to Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ and Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn have been added because, along with the kutub as-sittah, many explanations of the narrations in these books are available in Arabic as well as in various other languages. Along with the broadening of possible sources to find explanations for these narrations that speak about fundamental aspects of our religion, the list of sources for classifications and additional research regarding the chains and matn of the narrations is also being broadened.

5️⃣ References to research of the narrations were added.

All narrations without an asterisk (*) are authentic according to all ḥadīth scholars that we have listed as muḥaqqiqīn, i.e., Shaykh Muḥammad Nāṣir ud-Dīn al-Albānī [d. 1420H], Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna’ūṭ [d. 1438H], Shaykh Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir [d. 1377H], and Ḥāfiẓ Abū Ṭāhir Zubayr ‘Alī Za’ī [d. 1435H], may Allāh have mercy upon all of them. For those that have an asterisk, there are different views regarding their authenticity. Since the meaning of all the narrations is considered to be correct and in order not to confuse the general reader, the different classifications of the different scholars have not been mentioned. But the sources where one can look up their research on the narrations have been added.