The Complete Forty Hadith

Imam an-Nawawi assembled his collection of forty-two ahadith together with the absolute minimum of fiqh and commentary necessary for people not to misunderstand their import. Ibn 'Uyaynah said, "Ahadith are misleading except to those who have fiqh." Ibn Wahb said, "Every man of hadith who has no Imam in fiqh is astray." Of the huge number of collections of forty hadith, the one by Imam an-Nawawi is undoubtedly the most famous and most enduring. This is, to our knowledge, that work's first full translation into English and so we have called it The Complete Forty Hadith of Imam an-Nawawi.

The Author: Imam an-Nawawi

Muhyi'd-Din Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi was born in Muharram of the year 631 AH/October 1233 CE. He was one of the principle scholars of hadith in his day, and an important faqih in the Shafi'i madhhab. Apart from his great learning, he was known for his fearless counselling of the leaders of his time and his doing-without in the world. He died in his father's house on Wednesday 24th Rajab 676 AH/22nd December 1277 CE. The

Translator: Abdassamad Clarke

Abdassamad Clarke was born in Belfast and has studied in Edinburgh and Cairo. He has translated the chapters on al-Khulafa' ar-Rashidun from as-Suyuti's Tarikh al-Khulafa', published as The History of the Khalifahs, the Kitab al-Jami' of Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani, published as The Madinan View, and is co-author with the late Professor Abdur Rahman I. Doi of the second edition of Shariah: Islamic Law.