An-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths
Hadith 27, 40 Hadith an-Nawawi
عَنْ النَّوَّاسِ بْنِ سَمْعَانَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه و سلم قَالَ: "الْبِرُّ حُسْنُ الْخُلُقِ، وَالْإِثْمُ مَا حَاكَ فِي صَدْرِك، وَكَرِهْت أَنْ يَطَّلِعَ عَلَيْهِ النَّاسُ" رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ [رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ]. وَعَنْ وَابِصَةَ بْنِ مَعْبَدٍ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: أَتَيْت رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم فَقَالَ: "جِئْتَ تَسْأَلُ عَنْ الْبِرِّ؟ قُلْت: نَعَمْ. فقَالَ: استفت قلبك، الْبِرُّ مَا اطْمَأَنَّتْ إلَيْهِ النَّفْسُ، وَاطْمَأَنَّ إلَيْهِ الْقَلْبُ، وَالْإِثْمُ مَا حَاكَ فِي النَّفْسِ وَتَرَدَّدَ فِي الصَّدْرِ، وَإِنْ أَفْتَاك النَّاسُ وَأَفْتَوْك" . حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ، رَوَيْنَاهُ في مُسْنَدَي الْإِمَامَيْنِ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ حَنْبَلٍ [رقم:4/227]، وَالدَّارِمِيّ [2/246] بِإِسْنَادٍ حَسَنٍ.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of al-Nawwas ibn Sam‘an (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: ‘Righteousness is good character, and sin is what troubles your heart and what you dislike people seeing.’ It was narrated by Muslim. [Narrated by Muslim].
And on the authority of Wabisah ibn Ma‘bad (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said, ‘Have you come to ask about righteousness?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Seek a ruling from your heart. Righteousness is that with which the soul is at ease and the heart is at rest. Sin is what troubles the soul and wavers in the breast, even if people give you their legal opinions.’ A hasan hadith. We narrated it in the Musnads of the two imams, Ahmad ibn Hanbal [no. 4/227] and al-Darimi [2/246], with a hasan chain.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
وَكَرِهْت أَنْ يَطَّلِعَ عَلَيْهِ النَّاسُ" رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ [رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ].
The Arabic gives Muslim twice in immediate succession, once inline and again bracketed; this looks like a duplicated attribution in the source extraction.
Can the duplicate be checked against the source edition? Both instances are retained here.
وَإِنْ أَفْتَاك النَّاسُ وَأَفْتَوْك" .
The Arabic says ‘even if people give you fatwas/opinions’; the witness adds ‘repeatedly’ and ‘in its favour,’ which are not explicit in the source wording.
Should these modifiers be treated as interpretation? This translation does not add them.