The Forty Hadiths
of Imam al-Nawawī
Foreword by Imam al-Nawawī
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Eternal Guardian of the heavens and earths, Disposer of all created beings, Dispatcher of Messengers (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon them) [who were sent] to those they have been entrusted to guide and to reveal the religious laws, with positive signs and clear-cut proofs. I praise Him for His favors and ask Him to increase His grace and generosity. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, He having no associate, the One, the Subduer, the Generous, the Pardoner, and I bear witness that our Master Muhammad is His Servant and His Messenger, His dear one and His beloved, the best of created beings, who was honored with the precious Qur’ān, the enduring miracle through the passing of the years, and with the sunnas that enlighten spiritual guides; our Master Muhammad, singled out for pithiness of speech and tolerance in religion (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, upon the rest of the Prophets and Messengers, and upon all their families and upon all of the righteous).
To proceed: It has been transmitted to us on the
authority of ‘Alī bin Abī
Tālib, ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd, Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal, Abū
al-Dardā’, Ibn ‘Umar, Ibn ‘Abbās,
Anas ibn Mālik, Abū Huraira and Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī (may
Allah be pleased with them), through many chains of authorities and in various
versions, that the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) said: “Whosoever memorizes and preserves for my People forty Hadith relating to their religion, Allah will resurrect him
on the Day of Judgment in the company of jurists and religious scholars.” In
another version it reads: “On the Day of Judgment I shall be an intercessor and
a witness for him.” In the version of Ibn Mas‘ūd it reads: “It will be said to him: Enter by
whichever of the doors of
The religious scholars (may Allah be pleased with them) have composed innumerable works in the field. The first one I knew of who did so was ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubārak, followed by Ibn Aslam al-Ţūsī, the godly scholar, then al-Ĥasan ibn Sufyān al-Nasā’ī, Abū Bakr al-Ājurrī, Abū Bakr Muĥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Aşfahānī, ad-Dāraqutnī, al-Ĥākim, Abū Nu‘aim, Abū ‘Uthmān al-Şābūnī, ‘Abdullah ibn Muĥammad al-Anşārī, Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī, and countless others, both ancient and modern.
I have asked Allah Almighty for guidance in bringing together forty Hadith in emulation of those eminent religious leaders and guardians of Islam. Religious scholars are agreed it is permissible to put into practice a weak Hadith if virtuous deeds are concerned; despite this, I do not rely on this Hadith but on his having said (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) the [following] sound Hadith: “Let him who was a witness among you inform him who is absent,” and on his having said (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): “May Allah make radiant [the face of] someone who has heard what I have said, has learnt it by heart and has transmitted it as he heard it.” Furthermore, there were some religious scholars who brought together forty Hadith on the basic rules of religion, on subsidiary matters, or on jihād, while others did so on asceticism, on rules of conduct or on sermons. All these are godly aims—may Allah be pleased with those who pursued them. I, however, considered it best to bring together forty Hadith more important than all of these, being forty Hadith which would incorporate all of these, each Hadith being one of the great precepts of religion, described by religious scholars as being “the axis of Islam” or “the half of Islam” “the third of it,” or the like, and to make it a rule that these forty Hadith be classified as sound and that the majority of them be in the Şaĥīĥs of al-Bukhārī and Muslim. I give them without the chains of authorities so as to make it easier to memorize them and to make them of wider benefit, if Allah Almighty wills.
Every person wishing to attain the Hereafter should know these Hadith because of the important matters they contain and the directions they give in respect of all forms of obedience, this being obvious to anyone who has reflected upon it. On Allah do I rely and depend, and to Him do I entrust myself; to Him be praise and grace, and with Him is success and immunity to error.
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Hadith 1
On the authority of the Commander of the Faithful,1 Abū Ĥafş ‘Umar ibn al-Khaţţāb2 (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say:
Actions are but by intention and every man shall have but that which he intended. Thus he whose migration3 was for Allah and His Messenger, his migration was for Allah and His Messenger, and he whose mirgration was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in marriage, his migration was for that for which he migrated.
It was related by the two Imams of the scholars of Hadith, Abū ‘Abdullah
Muhammad ibn Ismā‘īl
ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mughīra ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhārī and Abū
al-Ĥusain Muslim ibn
al-Ĥajjāj ibn
Muslim al-Qushairī al-Naisābūrī, in their two Şaĥīĥs, which are the soundest of the
compiled books.4
1 Title given to the Caliphs.
2 The second Caliph in Islam.
3 This is a reference to religious migration,
in particular to that from
4 i.e., collections of Hadith.
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Hadith 2
Also on the authority of ‘Umar1 (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
One day while we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) there appeared before us a man whose clothes were exceedingly white and whose hair was exceedingly black; no signs of journeying were to be seen on him and none of us knew him. He walked up and sat down by the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Resting his knees against his and placing the palms of his hands on his thighs, he said: O Muĥammad, tell me about Islam. The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: Islam is to testify that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to perform the prayers, to pay the zakāt,2 to fast in Ramađān, and to make the pilgrimage to the House3 if you are able to do so. He said: You have spoken rightly, and we were amazed at him asking him and saying that he had spoken rightly. He said: Then tell me about īmān.4 He said: It is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and to believe in divine destiny, both the good and the evil thereof. He said: You have spoken rightly. He said: Then tell me about iĥsān.5 He said: It is to worship Allah as though you are seeing Him, and while you see Him not yet truly He sees you. He said: Then tell me about the Hour.6 He said: The one questioned about it knows no better than the questioner. He said: Then tell me about its signs. He said: That the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress7 and that you will see the barefooted, naked, destitute herdsmen competing in constructing lofty buildings. Then he took himself off and I stayed for a time. Then he said: O ‘Umar, do you know who the questioner was? I said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: It was Jibril, who came to you to teach you your religion.
It is related by Muslim.
1 i.e., ‘Umar ibn al-Khaţţāb, the second Caliph.
2 Often rendered as “alms-tax” or “poor-due,” it is a tax levied on a man’s wealth and distributed among the poor.
3 The Ka‘ba
and Holy Mosque in
4 Īmān is generally rendered as “religious belief” or “faith.” However, being a fundamental term in Islam, the Arabic word has been retained.
5 In this context the word iĥsān has a special religious significance and any single rendering of it would be inadequate. Dictionary meanings for iĥsān include “right action,” “goodness,” “charity,” “sincerity,” and the like. The root also means “to master or be proficient at” and it is to be found in this meaning in Hadith 17 of the present collection.
6 i.e., of the Day of Judgment.
7 This phrase is capable of
more than one interpretation. Among those given by al-Nawawī
in his commentary is that slave-girls will give birth
to sons and daughters who will become free and so be the masters of those who
bore them. The word ama, normally translated
“slave-girl,” is also capable of meaning any woman in that we are all slaves or
servants of God. The words are thus capable of bearing the meaning: “When a woman
will give birth to her master” i.e., a time will come when children will have
so little respect for their mothers that they will treat them like servants.
The commentators also point out that here the word rabba
(mistress) includes the masculine rabba
(master).
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Hadith 3
On the authority of Abū ‘Abd al-Raĥmān ‘Abdullah, the son of ‘Umar ibn al-Khaţţāb (may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say:
Islam has been built on five [pillars]:1 testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, performing the prayers, paying the zakāt, making the pilgrimage to the House, and fasting in Ramađān.
It was related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
1 The word “pillars” does not
appear in the Arabic but has been supplied for clarity of meaning. Pillars (arkān) is the
generally accepted term in this context.
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Hadith 4
On the authority of Abū ‘Abd al-Raĥmān ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and he is the truthful, the believed, narrated to us:
Verily the creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother’s belly for forty days in the form of a seed, then he is a clot of blood for a like period, then a morsel of flesh for a like period, then there is sent to him the angel who blows the breath of life into him and who is commanded about four matters:1 to write down his rizq (means of livelihood),2 his life span, his actions, and whether happy or unhappy. By Allah, other than Whom there is no god, verily one of you behaves like the people of Paradise until there is but an arm’s length between him and it, and that which has been written over-takes him and so he behaves like the people of Hell-fire and thus he enters it; and one of you behaves like the people of Hell-fire until there is but an arm’s length between him and it, and that which has been written over-takes him and so he behaves like the people of Paradise and thus he enters it.
It is related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
1 Lit. “words.”
2 The Arabic word rizq
also possess such shades of meaning as “daily bread,” “Fortune,” “lot in life,”
“sustenance provided by Allah,” etc.
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Hadith 5
On the authority of the Mother of the Faithful,1 Umm ‘Abdullah ‘Ā’isha (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
He who innovates something in this matter of ours that is not of it will have it rejected.
It was related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim. In one version by Muslim it reads:
He who does an act which our matter is not [in agreement] with will have it rejected.
1 A title accorded to any of the Prophet’s wives.
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Hadith 6
On the authority of Abū ‘Abdullah al-Nu‘mān the son of Bashīr (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say:
That which is lawful is plain and that which is unlawful is plain and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which not many people know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, but he who falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful, like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Truly every king has a sanctuary, and truly Allah’s sanctuary is His prohibitions. Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be whole, all the body is whole and which, if it be diseased, all of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart.
It was related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
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Hadith 7
On the authority of Abū Ruqayya Tamīm ibn Aus al-Dārī (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Religion is sincerity (naşīĥa). We said: To whom? He said: To Allah and His Book, and His Messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk.
It was related by Muslim.
[The Arabic word naşīĥa
has a variety of meanings, the most common being “good advice,” which is
obviously unsuitable in the context. It also gives the meaning of “doing
justice to a person or situation,” “probity,” “integrity,” and the like.]
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Hadith 8
On the authority of the son of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) that the Messenger of Allah (the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
I have been ordered to fight1 against people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and until they perform the prayers and pay the zakāt, and if they do so they will have gained protection from me for their lives and property, unless [they do acts that are punishable] in accordance with Islam, and their reckoning will be with Allah the Almighty.
It was related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
1 Islam advocates that conversion be by
conviction. The Qur’an says: “No compulsion in
religion,” and in another passage the Almighty says: “Call unto the way of they
Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and reason with them in the better way.”
The waging of war is enjoined against certain categories of persons such as
those who attack a Muslim country, those who prevent the preaching and spread
of Islam by peaceful means, and apostates.
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Hadith 9
On the authority of Abū
Hurayra ‘Abd al-Raĥmān ibn Şakhr (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I
heard the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) say:
What I have
forbidden to you, avoid; what I have ordered you to do, do as much of it as you
can. It was only their excessive questioning and their disagreeing with their
Prophets that destroyed those who were before you.
It was related
by al-Bukhārī
and Muslim.
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Hadith 10
On the authority of Abū
Hurayra (may
Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (may
the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Allah the Almighty is good and accepts only that which
is good. Allah has commanded the Faithful to do that which he commanded the Messengers,
and the Almighty has said: “O ye Messengers! Eat of the good things, and do
right” (
It was related by Muslim.
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Hadith 11
On the authority of Abū Muhammad al-Ĥasan the son of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ţālib, the grandson of the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and the one much beloved of him1 (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:
I memorized from the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt.
It was related by al-Tirmidhī and al-Nasā’ī,2 al-Tirmidhī saying that it was a good and sound Hadith.
1 Lit. ‘and his fragrant flower.’ The word rayĥāna was used by the Prophet in respect of al-Ĥasan and al-Ĥusayn, the sons of ‘Alī ibn Abī Ţālib, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law.
2 At-Tirmidhī
and al-Nasā’ī were
compilers of two of the six recognized collections of Hadith,
the other compilers being: al-Bukhārī,
Muslim, Abū Dāwud,
and Ibn Mājah.
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Hadith 12
On the authority of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Part of someone’s being a good Muslim is his leaving alone that which does not concern him.
A good Hadith which was related by al-Tirmidhī and others in this form.
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Hadith 13
On the authority of Abū Ĥamza Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him), the servant1 of the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), that the Prophet said:
None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.
It was related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
1 Anas ibn Mālik, when still a youth, was employed by the Prophet as a servant and is the authority for many Hadith. He is often referred to as “the servant and friend of the Messenger of Allah.”
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Hadith 14
On the authority of Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
The blood of a Muslim may not be legally spilt other than in one of three [instances]: the married person who commits adultery; a life for a life; and one who forsakes his religion and abandons the community.
It was related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
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Hadith 15
On the authority of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with), that the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day either speak good or keep silent, and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his neighbor, and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his guest.
It was related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
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Hadith 16
On the authority of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
A man said to the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): Counsel me.
He (the Prophet) said: Do not become angry.1 The man repeated [his request] several times, and he said: Do not become angry.
It was related by al-Bukhārī.
1 al-Nawawī, in
his commentary, points out that anger is a natural human trait and that the Hadith is an exhortation not to act when in a state of
anger.
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Hadith 17
On the authority of Abū Ya‘lā Shaddād ibn Aus (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Verily Allah has prescribed proficiency in all things. Thus, if you kill, kill well; and if you slaughter, slaughter well. Let each one of you sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he slaughters.
It was related by Muslim.
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Hadith 18
On the authority of Abū Dharr Jundub ibn Junāda and Abū ‘Abd al-Raĥmān Mu‘ādth ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with them both), that the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Fear Allah wherever you are, and follow up a bad deed with a good one and it will wipe it out, and behave well towards people.
It was related by al-Tirmidhī, who said it was a good Hadith, and in some copies [of al-Tirmidhī’s collection] it was said to be a good and sound Hadith.
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Hadith 19
On the authority of Abū ‘Abbās ‘Abdullah the son of ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:
One day I was behind1 the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and he said to me: Young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice]: Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; if you seek help, seek help of Allah. Know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, it would benefit you only with something that Allah had already prescribed for you, and that, if they gather together to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah had already prescribed for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.
It was related by al-Tirmidhī, who said it was a good and sound Hadith.
In a version other than that of al-Tirmidhī it reads:
Be mindful of Allah, you will find Him before you. Get to know Allah in prosperity and He will know you in adversity. Know that what has passed you by was not going to befall you and that what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship.
1 i.e., riding behind him on the same mount.
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Hadith 20
On the authority of Abū Mas‘ūd ‘Uqba ibn ‘Amr al-Anşārī al-Badrī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Among the words people obtained from the First Prophecy1 are: If you feel no shame, then do as you wish.2
It was related by al-Bukhārī.
1 i.e., from those Prophets who preceded Muhammad.
2 This Hadith is recognized as having two possible interpretations: The first, that one may safely act according to one’s conscience so long as one feels no shame; and the second, that if one is not capable of any feeling of shame there is nothing to prevent one from behaving as one likes, i.e., badly.
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Hadith 21
On the authority of Abū ‘Amr – and he is also given as Abū ‘Amra – Sufyān ibn ‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me something about Islam which I can ask of no one but you. He said: Say, I believe in Allah – and thereafter be upright.
It was related by Muslim.
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Hadith 22
On the authority of Abū ‘Abdullah Jābir the son of ‘Abdullah al-Anşārī (may Allah be pleased with both of them):
A man asked the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): Do you think that if I perform the obligatory prayers, fast in Ramađān, treat as lawful that which is lawful and treat as forbidden that which is forbidden, and do nothing futher, I shall enter Paradise? He said: Yes
It was related by Muslim.
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Hadith 23
On the authority of Abū Mālik al-Ĥārith ibn ‘Āşim al-Ash‘arī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Purity is half of faith. Al-ĥamdu
lillāh [Praise be
to Allah], fills the scales, and subĥāna
llāh wa al-ĥamdu lillāh [How
far is Allah from every imperfection and praise be to Allah] fill that which is
between heaven and earth. Prayer is light; charity is a proof; patience is
illumination; and the Qur’an is an argument for or
against you. Everyone starts his day and is a vendor of his soul, either
freeing it or bringing about its ruin.
It was related by Muslim.
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Hadith 24
On the authority of Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is that among the sayings he relates from his Lord1 (may He be glorified) is that He said:
O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another.
O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you.
O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to
harm Me, and you will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me. O My
servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the
jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that
would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you
and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as
the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My kingdom
in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the
human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of
Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what
I have, any more than a needle decreases the sea if put into it.2
O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up
for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good3
praise Allah and let him who finds other than that blame no one but himself.
It was related by Muslim.
1 This is a ĥadīth qudsī (sacred Hadith) i.e., one in which the Prophet reports what has been revealed to him by Allah, though not necessarily in His actual words. A ĥadīth qudsī is in no way regarded as part of the Holy Qur’an.
2 This refers to the minute amount of water adhering to a needle if dipped into the sea and withdrawn.
3 i.e., in the Hereafter.
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Hadith 25
Also on the authority of Abū Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him):
Some of the Companions1 of the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): O Messenger of Allah, the affluent have made off with the rewards: they pray as we pray, they fast as we fast, and they give away in charity the superfluity of their wealth.
He said: Has not Allah made things for you to give away in charity? Truly every tasbīĥa2 is a charity, every takbīra3 is a charity, every taĥmīda4 is a charity, and every tahlīla5 is a charity; to enjoin a good action is a charity, and in the sexual act of each of you there is a charity.
They said: O Messenger of Allah, when one of us fulfils
his sexual desire will he have some reward for that? He said: Do you [not]
think that were he to act upon it unlawfully he would be sinning? Likewise, if
he has acted upon it lawfully he will have a reward.
It was related by Muslim.
1 The Arabic word şaĥābī (pl. aşĥāb or şaĥāba) is given to a person who met the Prophet, believed in him, and died a Muslim.
2 To say subĥāna llāh (How far is Allah from every imperfection).
3 To say Allāhu akbar ( Allah is most great).
4 To say al-ĥamdu lillāh (Praise be to Allah).
5 To say lā
ilāha illā llāh (There is no god but Allah).
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Hadith 26
On the authority of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Each person’s every joint must perform a charity every day the sun comes up: to act justly between two people is a charity; to help a man with his mount, lifting him onto it or hoisting up his belongings onto it is a charity; a good word is a charity; every step you take to prayers is a charity; and removing a harmful thing from the road is a charity.
It was related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
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Hadith 27
On the authority of al-Nawwās ibn Sam‘ān (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Righteousness is good morality, and wrongdoing is that which wavers in your soul and which you dislike people finding out about.
It was related by Muslim.
On the authority of Wābişa ibn Ma‘bad (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
I came to the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and he said: You have come to ask about righteousness. I said: Yes. He said: Consult your heart. Righeousness is that about which the soul feels tranquil and the heart feels tranquil, and wrongdoing is that which wavers in the soul and moves to and fro in the breast even though people again and again have given you their legal opinion [in its favour].1
A good Hadith which we have related in the two Musnads2 of the two Imām’s, Aĥmad ibn Ĥanbal and al-Dārimī, with a good chain of authorities.
1 The compiler placed these two Hadiths together probably because of the similarity of subject matter and phrasing.
2 Collections of Hadith arranged not in accordance with subject matter but under the name of the person who transmitted them from the Prophet.
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Hadith 28
On the authority of Abū Najīĥ al-‘Irbāđ ibn Sāriya (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
The Messenger of Allah (may
the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) gave us a sermon by which our
hearts were filled with fear and tears came to our eyes. We said: O Messenger
of Allah, it is as though this is a farewell sermon, so counsel us. He said: I
counsel you to fear Allah (may He be glorified) and to
give absolute obedience even if a slave becomes your leader. Verily he among
you who lives [long] will see great controversy, so you must keep to my sunna1
and to the sunna of the rightly-guided al-khulafā’ al-rāshidūn2 – cling
to them stubbornly.3 Beware of newly invented matters, for every
invented matter is an innovation and every innovation is a going astray and
every going astray is in Hell-fire.
It was related by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī, who said that it was a good and sound Hadith.
1 The original meaning of the word is “way” or “path to be followed,” but it is used as a technical term for those words, actions and sanctions of the Prophet that were reported and have come down to us.
2 The expression al-khulafā’ al-rāshidūn is generally translated ‘orthodox caliphs’ but the connotations of the word ‘orthodox’ render it unsuitable. al-khulafā’ al-rāshidūn is the title given to the first four caliphs in Islam.
3 Lit. “clench your teeth on them.”
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Hadith 29
On the authority of Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me of an act which
will take me into
It was related by al-Tirmidhī, who said it was a good and sound Hadith.
1 See Note 2 to Hadith 2.
2 See Note 3 to Hadith 2.
3 Qur’an: Chapter 32, Verse 16. In the original Arabic, as is often the practice with a long quotation from the Qur’an, only the initial words and the final word or words are given.
4 Though the Arabic jihād
is generally rendered “holy war,” its meaning is wider than this and includes
any effort made in furtherance of the cause of Islam; it has therefore been
decided to retain the Arabic word.
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Hadith 30
On the authority of Abū
Tha‘laba al-Khushanī Jurthūm ibn Nāshir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the
Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said:
Allah the
Almighty has laid down religious duties, so do not neglect them; He has set
boundaries, so do not overstep them; He has prohibited some things, so do not
violate them; about some things He was silent – out of compassion for you, not
forgetfulness – so seek not after them.
A good Hadith related by al-Dāraqutnī
and others.
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Hadith 31
On the authority of Abū al-‘Abbās Sahl ibn Sa‘d al-Sā‘idī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
A man came to the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, direct me to an act which, if I do it, [will cause] Allah to love me and people to love me. He said: Renounce the world and Allah will love you, and renounce what people possess and people will love you.
A good Hadith related by Ibn Mājah and others with good chains of authorities.
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Hadith 32
On the authority of Abū Sa‘īd Sa‘d ibn Mālik bin Sinān al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him) the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.
A good Hadith related by Ibn Mājah, al-Dāraqutnī and others and ranked as musnad.1 It was also related by Mālik in al-Muwaţţa’2 as mursal3 with a chain of authorities from ‘Amr ibn Yaĥyā, from his father, from the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), but leaving out Abū Sa‘īd, and he has other chains of authorities that support one another.
1 A musnad Hadith is one with a complete chain of authorities from the narrator to the Prophet himself.
2 A classic work on Hadith and jurisprudence by Mālik ibn Anas (died 179 A.H.).
3 A Hadith that is
described as mursal is one where the chain of
authorities ends with the Follower and does not give the name of the Companion
who lies, in the chain, between the Follower and the Prophet himself. The
authenticity of a mursal Hadith
is strengthened if supported by another mursal
Hadith with a different chain of authorities. A
Companion, as has been explained in the note to Hadith
25, is a Muslim who had met the Prophet; a Follower (tābi‘i
pl. tābi‘un)
is a Muslim who had met a Companion.
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Hadith 33
On the authority of the son of ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Were people to be given in accordance with their claim, men would claim the fortunes and lives1 of [other] people, but the onus of proof is on the claimant and the taking of an oath is incumbent upon him who denies.
A good Hadith related by
al-Bayhaqī and others in this form, and part of
it is in the two Şaĥīĥs.2
1 Lit. “blood.”
2 i.e., the collections of al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
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Hadith 34
On the authority of Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say:
Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart – and that is the weakest of faith.
It was related by Muslim.
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Hadith 35
On the authority of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Do not envy one another; do not inflate prices one to another; do not hate one another; do not turn away from one another; and do not undercut one another, but be you, O servants of Allah, brothers. A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim: he neither oppresses him nor does he fail him, he neither lies to him nor does he hold him in contempt. Piety is right here – and he pointed to his breast three times. It is evil enough for a man to hold his brother Muslim in contempt. The whole of a Muslim for another Muslim is inviolable: his blood, his property, and his honor.
It was related by Muslim.
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Hadith 36
On the authority of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Whosoever removes a worldly grief from a believer,
Allah will remove from him one of the griefs of the
Day of Judgment. Whosoever alleviates [the lot of] a needy person, Allah will
alleviate [his lot] in this world and the next. Whosoever shields a Muslim,
Allah will shield him in this world and the next. Allah will aid a servant [of
His] so long as the servant aids his brother. Whosoever follows a path to seek
knowledge therein, Allah will make easy for him a path to
It is related by Muslim in these words.
1 i.e., on his path to
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Hadith 37
On the authority of the son of ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them both), from the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), is that among the sayings he relates from his Lord (glorified and exalted be He) is that He said:
Allah has written down the good deeds and the bad ones. Then He explained it [by saying that] he who has intended a good deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as from ten good deeds to seven hundred times, or many times over. But if he has intended a bad deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed.
It was related by al-Bukhārī and Muslim in their two Şaĥīĥs in these words.
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Hadith 38
On the authority of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Allah the Almighty has said: Whosoever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, I shall be at war with him. My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have imposed upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him; and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it.
It was related by al-Bukhārī.
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Hadith 39
On the authority of the son of ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
Allah has pardoned for me my people for [their] mistakes and [their] forgetfulness and for what they have done under duress.
A good Hadith related by Ibn Mājah, al-Bayhaqī, and others.
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Hadith 40
On the authority of the son of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:
The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) took me by the should and said: Be in the world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer.
The son of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to say:
At evening do not expect [to live till] morning, and at morning do not expect [to live till] evening. Take from your health for your illness and from your life for your death.1
It was related by al-Bukhārī.
1 i.e., while you are in good health you are able to perform your religious duties and should therefore take advantage of this fact. The same applies to the state of being alive.
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Hadith 41
On the authority of Abū Muhammad ‘Abdullah the son of ‘Amr ibn al-‘Āş (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
None of you [truly] believes until his inclination is in accordance with what I have brought.
A good and sound Hadith which we have transmitted from Kitāb al-Ĥujja1 with a sound chain of authorities.2
1 The title of a book by Abū al-Qāsim Ismā‘īl ibn Muhammad al-Aşfahānī (died 535 A.H.).
2 The compiler has allowed himself to add two further Hadith to the recognized number of forty, although the title of the work remains “al-Nawawī’s Forty”.
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Hadith 42
On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say:
Allah the Almighty has said: O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.1
It was related by al-Tirmidhī, who said that it was a good and sound Hadith.
1 i.e., as the earth, meaning that Allah will give forgiveness in like measure to a man’s sins.
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