An-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths
An-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths
الأربعون النووية
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of the Commander of the Faithful, Abu Hafs ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: “Actions are only according to intentions, and each person will have only what he intended. Thus, whoever emigrated for Allah and His Messenger, his emigration was for Allah and His Messenger; and whoever emigrated for some worldly benefit he sought, or for a woman he wished to marry, his emigration was for that for which he emigrated.”
It was narrated by the two leading hadith scholars: Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Isma‘il ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Mughira ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhari al-Ju‘fi [no. 1], and Abu al-Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj ibn Muslim al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi [no. 1907]—may Allah be pleased with them both—in their two Sahih collections, which are the soundest of the authored books.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
رَوَاهُ إِمَامَا الْمُحَدِّثِينَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ إِسْمَاعِيل بن إِبْرَاهِيم بن الْمُغِيرَة بن بَرْدِزبَه الْبُخَارِيُّ الْجُعْفِيُّ [رقم:1]،
The supplied English witness gives only a brief attribution and does not translate the Arabic compiler’s full transmission note, names, reference numbers, blessing, or statement about the two collections.
Can the English witness’s shorter scope be confirmed against the Arabic source? The translation follows the full assigned Arabic text.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) also said: One day, while we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), a man appeared before us, wearing exceedingly white clothes and with exceedingly black hair. No trace of travel could be seen on him, and none of us knew him. He came and sat close to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), rested his knees against his knees, placed his palms on his thighs, and said, “O Muhammad, tell me about Islam.”
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Islam is that you testify that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; establish the prayer; give the zakah; fast Ramadan; and make pilgrimage to the House, if you are able to find a way to it.” He said, “You have spoken truthfully.” We were astonished: he asked him and then affirmed him! He said, “Tell me about faith.” He replied, “That you believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and that you believe in destiny, its good and its evil.” He said, “You have spoken truthfully.” He said, “Tell me about excellence.” He replied, “That you worship Allah as though you see Him; for if you do not see Him, He sees you.”
He said, “Tell me about the Hour.” He replied, “The one questioned about it knows no more than the questioner.” He said, “Then tell me about its signs.” He replied, “That a slave woman will give birth to her mistress, and that you will see the barefoot, naked, destitute shepherds of sheep vying in building ever taller structures.” Then he departed, and I remained for a while. Then he said, “O ‘Umar, do you know who the questioner was?” I said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said, “It was Gabriel. He came to you to teach you your religion.” [Narrated by Muslim].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
قُلْتُ: اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ.
The Arabic text contains stray bidirectional control characters before this utterance and an extra final full stop after the Muslim attribution. They appear to be source markup artifacts; the translation does not reproduce them.
Can the source punctuation and control characters be checked against a clean edition?
وَأَنْ تَرَى الْحُفَاةَ الْعُرَاةَ الْعَالَةَ رِعَاءَ الشَّاءِ يَتَطَاوَلُونَ فِي الْبُنْيَانِ.
The English witness inserts the parenthetical interpretation “competing with each other” and says “lofty buildings”; the Arabic states that they vie/strive in building, without that parenthetical wording.
Is the witness’s parenthetical best treated as interpretation? The translation follows the Arabic wording.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say, “Islam is built upon five: bearing witness that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; establishing the prayer; giving the zakah; making pilgrimage to the House; and fasting Ramadan.” [Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)—the truthful, the one whose truthfulness is affirmed—related to us: “Each of you is brought together in his mother’s womb for forty days as a drop; then he becomes a clinging clot for a like period; then he becomes a morsel of flesh for a like period. Then the angel is sent to him and breathes the spirit into him, and is commanded with four matters: to write down his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or happy. By Allah, other than whom there is no deity, one of you acts with the deeds of the people of Paradise until only an arm’s length remains between him and it, then what is written overtakes him, and he acts with the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it. And one of you acts with the deeds of the people of the Fire until only an arm’s length remains between him and it, then what is written overtakes him, and he acts with the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it.” [Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
وَيُؤْمَرُ بِأَرْبَعِ كَلِمَاتٍ: بِكَتْبِ رِزْقِهِ،
The English witness explains the terms with a parenthetical about entering Paradise, which is not stated in the Arabic wording.
Should that parenthetical remain classified as an interpretation? The translation renders the source terms without it.
[وَمُسْلِمٌ] .
The Arabic text has a stray period after the Muslim attribution.
Can the trailing punctuation be checked against a clean edition?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of the Mother of the Believers, Umm ‘Abd Allah ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever introduces into this affair of ours something that does not belong to it, it is rejected.” [Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim]. In a narration of Muslim: “Whoever does an act that is not in accordance with our affair, it is rejected.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
قَالَتْ: قَالَ: رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم "مَنْ أَحْدَثَ فِي أَمْرِنَا هَذَا مَا لَيْسَ مِنْهُ فَهُوَ رَدٌّ
The Arabic has an apparent repeated reporting verb in “قالت: قال: رسول الله”; its syntax is irregular, though the intended attribution appears to be that ‘A’ishah said the Messenger said.
Can the duplicated قال be checked in a clean edition? The translation preserves the apparent attribution without reproducing the malformed syntax.
قَالَتْ: قَالَ: رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم "مَنْ أَحْدَثَ فِي أَمْرِنَا هَذَا مَا لَيْسَ مِنْهُ فَهُوَ رَدٌّ
The supplied witness adds “by Allah,” which is not explicit in this Arabic wording.
Is “by Allah” an interpretive addition in the witness? The translation follows the Arabic text.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Nu‘man ibn Bashir (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: “The lawful is clear, and the unlawful is clear; between them are doubtful matters that many people do not know. Whoever guards against doubtful matters has cleared himself with regard to his religion and his honor; and whoever falls into doubtful matters falls into the unlawful. He is like a shepherd grazing around a protected pasture, soon to graze within it. Indeed, every king has a protected pasture, and indeed Allah’s protected pasture is what He has forbidden. Indeed, in the body is a morsel of flesh: if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Indeed, it is the heart.” [Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
وَمَنْ وَقَعَ فِي الشُّبُهَاتِ وَقَعَ فِي الْحَرَامِ،
The witness includes the adverb “[eventually]”, which is absent from the Arabic text.
Is the adverb an editorial gloss? The translation does not add it.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Ruqayyah Tamim ibn Aws al-Dari (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Religion is sincere counsel.” We said, “To whom?” He said, “To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims, and their common people.” [Narrated by Muslim].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
عَنْ أَبِي رُقَيَّةَ تَمِيمِ بْنِ أَوْسٍ الدَّارِيِّ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ: "الدِّينُ النَّصِيحَةُ.
The Arabic term النصيحة has a semantic range that the witness renders with “advice, sincerity”; no project glossary entry was supplied to determine a single preferred English equivalent.
Which context-sensitive rendering should be preferred in the approved English glossary?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “I have been commanded to fight the people until they bear witness that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establish the prayer, and give the zakah. When they do that, they have protected their blood and property from me, except by a right of Islam, and their reckoning is with Allah, the Exalted.” [Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم قَالَ: "أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أُقَاتِلَ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَشْهَدُوا أَنْ لَا إلَهَ إلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ،
The source’s wording and scope have significant interpretive and legal implications; the supplied passage alone does not settle the intended referent or application, and the English witness adds a parenthetical legal gloss to the exception.
What source-based contextual interpretation should govern the referent and scope of “the people” and the exception? This requires qualified human review; no ruling is inferred here.
فَإِذَا فَعَلُوا ذَلِكَ عَصَمُوا مِنِّي دِمَاءَهُمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُمْ إلَّا بِحَقِّ الْإِسْلَامِ،
The English witness supplies bracketed wording about acts punishable in Islam, which is more explicit than the Arabic phrase.
Should the supplied witness’s bracketed gloss be treated as interpretation? The translation retains the source’s broader wording.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Sakhr (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: “Whatever I have forbidden you, avoid it; and whatever I have commanded you, do of it as much as you are able. For it was only the abundance of their questions and their disagreement with their prophets that destroyed those who came before you.” [Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allah is good and accepts only what is good. Allah commanded the believers with what He commanded the messengers. The Exalted said: ‘O messengers, eat of the good things and do righteous deeds’; and the Exalted said: ‘O you who believe, eat of the good things We have provided for you.’ Then he mentioned a man who travels a long distance, disheveled and dusty, stretching his hands toward the sky and saying, ‘My Lord! My Lord!’ while his food is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, his clothing is unlawful, and he has been nourished with the unlawful. How, then, can he be answered?” [Narrated by Muslim].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم "إنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ لَا يَقْبَلُ إلَّا طَيِّبًا،
The adjective طيب can carry contextual senses beyond the simple English “good”; the Arabic here does not itself give a gloss.
Which context-specific English rendering is preferred by a reviewed glossary?
وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ أَمَرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ بِمَا أَمَرَ بِهِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ فَقَالَ تَعَالَى: "يَا أَيُّهَا الرُّسُلُ كُلُوا مِنْ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا"،
The witness adds a food gloss and Qur’anic verse number not present in the Arabic passage supplied here.
Can these be confirmed as editorial annotations of the witness rather than text in the assigned source? The translation omits them as additions.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, the grandson and “rayhanah” of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: I memorized from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): “Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt.” It was narrated by al-Tirmidhi [no. 2520] and al-Nasa’i. Al-Tirmidhi said: “A hasan sahih hadith.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
عَنْ أَبِي مُحَمَّدٍ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ أَبِي طَالِبٍ سِبْطِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم وَرَيْحَانَتِهِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا،
The Arabic honorific ريحانته is a figurative endearment; literal botanical translation may mislead, while the English witness paraphrases it as “the one much loved by him.” No approved glossary or commentary is included.
Which sourced, context-sensitive rendering of this epithet should be used?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Among the excellence of a person’s Islam is leaving what does not concern him.” A hasan hadith, narrated by al-Tirmidhi [no. 2318] and Ibn Majah [no. 3976].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ،
The witness says “and others,” whereas this Arabic text explicitly names al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah and gives their numbers.
Can the additional scope in the witness be verified against its edition? This translation follows the names and numbers in the assigned Arabic text.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Hamzah Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), the servant of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: “None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” It was narrated by al-Bukhari [no. 13] and Muslim [no. 45]. [Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ [رقم:13]،
The Arabic source repeats the attribution to al-Bukhari and Muslim, first with numbers and then again without numbers, with unusual punctuation and line breaks.
Is the repeated attribution present in the source edition or introduced during extraction? It is retained here pending verification.
رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ [رقم:13]،
The witness does not include the Arabic source’s hadith numbers 13 and 45.
Can these numbers be confirmed as part of the assigned source references? They are translated as printed.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The blood of a Muslim is not lawful [one who bears witness that there is no deity but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah] except in one of three cases: a previously married adulterer; a life for a life; and one who abandons his religion and separates from the community.” [Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
عَنْ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم "لَا يَحِلُّ دَمُ امْرِئٍ مُسْلِمٍ [ يشهد أن لا إله إلا الله،
This is a legal passage concerning protected life and specified cases. The Arabic source includes a bracketed profession of faith, but the provided context does not establish how that inserted phrase relates to the sentence or governs legal scope.
How should the bracketed profession be construed, and what contextual legal qualification is required? Qualified human review is needed; this translation does not supply a ruling.
وأني رسول الله] إلَّا بِإِحْدَى ثَلَاثٍ: الثَّيِّبُ الزَّانِي،
The term الثيب has a legal-cultural range that is not fully established by this source passage; the English witness gives “married person.”
Which sourced rendering of الثيب is appropriate in this legal context?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him honor his neighbor. And whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him honor his guest.” [Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), a man said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), “Advise me.” He said, “Do not be angry.” The man repeated this several times, and he said, “Do not be angry.” [Narrated by al-Bukhari].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
قَالَ: لَا تَغْضَبْ" .
The Arabic has an extra space before the closing quotation mark and a detached period; these appear to be punctuation artifacts.
Can the source punctuation be checked against a clean edition?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Ya‘la Shaddad ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: “Allah has prescribed excellence in all things. So when you kill, kill well; and when you slaughter, slaughter well. Let each of you sharpen his blade and give ease to the animal he slaughters.” [Narrated by Muslim].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
وَلْيُرِحْ ذَبِيحَتَهُ".
The English witness renders the Arabic instruction to give ease to the slaughtered animal as “spare suffering”; this is a plausible interpretation but is more explicit than the wording here.
Is the witness’s gloss considered explanatory? The translation follows the source wording without adding “suffering.”
عَنْ أَبِي يَعْلَى شَدَّادِ بْنِ أَوْسٍ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم قَالَ: "إنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ الْإِحْسَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ،
الإحسان has a range of context-specific senses; the source does not provide an English gloss, while the witness offers “proficiency, perfection.”
Which rendering is preferred in the project’s reviewed terminology?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Dharr Jundub ibn Junadah and Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman Mu‘adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with them both), from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: “Be mindful of Allah wherever you are; follow a bad deed with a good deed, and it will erase it; and treat people with good character.” It was narrated by al-Tirmidhi [no. 1987], who said: “A hasan hadith”; and in some copies: “hasan sahih.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم قَالَ: "اتَّقِ اللَّهَ حَيْثُمَا كُنْت،
The Arabic اتق الله is a concise religious imperative. The witness glosses taqwa as “fear,” which may narrow its meaning; no approved glossary was provided.
Which context-sensitive rendering of taqwa is preferred by the project?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: One day I was behind the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said, “Young man, I shall teach you some words: Be mindful of Allah, and He will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him before you. When you ask, ask Allah; when you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that if the nation were to gather to benefit you with anything, they would benefit you only with something Allah had already written for you; and if they were to gather to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah had already written against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.” It was narrated by al-Tirmidhi [no. 2516], who said: “A hasan sahih hadith.”
In a narration other than al-Tirmidhi’s: “Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him before you. Know Allah in times of ease, and He will know you in hardship. Know that what missed you was never going to befall you, and what befell you was never going to miss you. Know that victory is with patience, relief is with distress, and with hardship is ease.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
إنِّي أُعَلِّمُك كَلِمَاتٍ: احْفَظْ اللَّهَ يَحْفَظْك،
The repeated imperative احفظ الله is a compact religious expression; the English witness interprets it as “be mindful” and adds “alone” to another command. No approved glossary is included.
Which context-sensitive rendering of احفظ الله should be used consistently?
عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ: "كُنْت خَلْفَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم يَوْمًا،
The supplied English witness adds the bracketed detail that Ibn ‘Abbas was riding on the same mount, which is not present in the Arabic text supplied here.
Is this bracketed detail from another source or editorial explanation? It is not included in this translation.
وَفِي رِوَايَةِ غَيْرِ التِّرْمِذِيِّ: "احْفَظْ اللَّهَ تَجِدْهُ أمامك،
The Arabic explicitly labels a different narration and includes its full wording; the English witness also has this content but inserts explanatory bracketed material elsewhere.
Can each added English bracket be source-checked independently? The translated variant follows the Arabic passage.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu Mas‘ud ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amr al-Ansari al-Badri (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Among what people received from the words of the first prophethood is: ‘If you feel no shame, then do as you wish.’” [Narrated by al-Bukhari].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
عَنْ أَبِي مَسْعُودٍ عُقْبَةَ بْنِ عَمْرٍو الْأَنْصَارِيِّ الْبَدْرِيِّ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم "إنَّ مِمَّا أَدْرَكَ النَّاسُ مِنْ كَلَامِ النُّبُوَّةِ الْأُولَى: إذَا لَمْ تَسْتَحِ فَاصْنَعْ مَا شِئْت" .
The wording may be understood as permission or as a warning about shameless action; this isolated Arabic passage does not resolve its force.
Which interpretation is supported by the relevant commentary and context? The translation preserves the ambiguity.