Hadith Arbain Nawawi (English)

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 hadeethrelated 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.”