Nawawi’s 40 Hadith: The Essential Guidance of Islam

Course Overview

This is a Level Two course in the Islamic Studies Curriculum.

In this in-depth course, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani explains the essence of Prophetic wisdom and guidance gathered in Imam Nawawi’s 40 Hadiths. The explanations are provided using classical commentaries and a wide range of reference works in Islamic scholarship.

The importance of the 40 Hadith of Imam Nawawi cannot be over-emphasized. Each hadith is based on a foundational principle of Islam. Each hadith showcases the beauty of the comprehensive words of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).This collection has been recognized, accepted, and appreciated by Muslim scholars for the last seven centuries.

This course will clarify for the student, the meanings, beauty, and guidance in these central Prophetic sayings, which Imam Nawawi selected as being hadiths around which the message of Islam revolves.

This course will nurture your faith, deepen your religious understanding, increase your love for the beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and clarify how you can live the essence of his wisdom in these contemporary times.

About the Text

Imam Nawawi’s 40 Hadith have come to be known as the most comprehensive and holistic collection of hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). They convey the essence of Islam as each hadith is based on a foundational principle of our religion.

Imam Nawawi compiled a total of 42 hadiths for this collection, not 40. This collection has been recognized, accepted, and appreciated by Muslim scholars for the last seven centuries.

Its significance lay in the fact that these selected forty hadith comprise the main, essential, and fundamental concepts of Islam. These are the unique hadith which are the minimum level of knowledge required for every Muslim. These hadiths provide essential guidance. Thus, it is very important to have a good understanding of these Hadith based on scholarly interpretations.

About the Author

Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf ibn Hasan ibn Husain al-Nawawi was born in 631 AH in Nawa, a village near the region of Damascus.

Imam Nawawi was a scholar in many different disciplines of Islamic studies. He studied Hadith, Islamic Jurisprudence - its principles, syntax, and etymology from renowned scholars of his time.

Imam Nawawi had three distinctive commendable qualities in his person. If anybody has only one out of these three, people turn to him in abundance for guidance. First, having knowledge and its dissemination. Second, to evade completely from the worldly inclinations, and the third, inviting to all that is good, enjoining virtue, and forbidding vice. Imam Nawawi had all three of these qualities in him.

Along with the 40 Hadiths, he authored Riyad al-Salihin (Gardens of the Righteous), Kitab al-Adhkar (The Book of Remembrances), and a commentary of Sahih Muslim.

Allah granted him blessing and success in his work so that he could make great contributions to Islam before passing away at a relatively young age. He died in 676 AH and is buried in his hometown Nawa.

This course is for teenagers and adults.
It is particularly beneficial for students of knowledge.
It is a Level Two course. Please complete Level One before taking this course.
This course can also be taken by anyone interested in learning from Prophetic wisdom and guidance.

Learning Outcomes

Understand the foundational principles of Islam.
Contextualize this Prophetic guidance to our contemporary lives.
Understand the spiritual dimensions of these comprehensive words.
Gain familiarity with the narrators of hadith.
Increase in faith and love for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Understand how to turn to Allah and seek His closeness.

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