al-Nawawi's Forty Hadith
الأربعون النوويةThe universal entry point to the hadith sciences.
- Compiler
- Imam Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī
- Dates
- 1233–1277 CE / 631–676 AH
- Hadith
- 42
About this collection
al-Nawawi compiled these 42 hadith as the essential starting collection for every serious student of Islam. The texts are drawn primarily from Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, and they cover belief, worship, character, and the inner life in compact, memorable form. Seven centuries after he wrote it, it is still the first hadith collection most Muslims ever memorize.
Methodology
Selected for their comprehensiveness — each hadith, al-Nawawi wrote, "is an axis on which Islam turns."
13 hadith from al-Nawawi's Forty Hadith
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#1 The first hadith — the inner measure of every deed.
Foundations"Actions are only by intentions, and every person shall have only what they intended."
Narrated by ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb
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#2 The religion in three words: Islam, Īmān, Iḥsān.
Foundations"Islam is that you bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, establish the prayer, give zakāt, fast Ramadan, and make pilgrimage to the House if you are able. Īmān is that you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and in divine decree — its good and its bitter. Iḥsān is that you worship Allah as though you see Him; and if you do not see Him, He sees you."
Narrated by ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb
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#3 The five pillars.
Foundations"Islam is built on five: the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; the establishment of prayer; the paying of zakāt; the pilgrimage to the House; and fasting Ramadan."
Narrated by Ibn ʿUmar
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#4 The soul and the decree written in the womb.
Foundations"The creation of each of you is gathered in the womb of their mother for forty days as a drop, then a clinging thing for the same period, then a lump of flesh for the same period. Then the angel is sent, who breathes the soul into it, and is commanded to write four things: its provision, its term of life, its deeds, and whether it will be wretched or blessed."
Narrated by ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd
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#5 Innovation in the religion is returned to its introducer.
Foundations"Whoever introduces into this matter of ours something that is not from it — it is rejected."
Narrated by ʿĀʾishah
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#6 The doubtful matters — and the caution that preserves both faith and reputation.
Foundations"The lawful is clear, and the unlawful is clear. Between them are matters of doubt, which many people do not know. Whoever avoids the doubtful has protected his religion and his honour."
Narrated by al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr
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#7 Religion as naṣīḥah — sincere, constructive counsel, upward and across.
Foundations"The religion is sincere counsel. We said: To whom? He said: To Allah, to His Book, to His messenger, to the leaders of the Muslims, and to the common people."
Narrated by Tamīm al-Dārī
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#13 The test of faith: wanting the same good for others that you want for yourself.
Belief"None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."
Narrated by Anas ibn Mālik
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#16 The Prophet's ﷺ three-word answer for a lifetime.
Character"A man said to the Prophet ﷺ: Counsel me. He said: "Do not be angry." The man asked several times, and each time the Prophet said: "Do not be angry.""
Narrated by Abū Hurayrah
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#17 Even slaughter has its ethics — because iḥsān is owed everywhere.
Character"Allah has written iḥsān — excellence — upon everything. So when you kill, kill well; and when you slaughter, slaughter well. Sharpen your blade and bring ease to the animal."
Narrated by Shaddād ibn Aws
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#15 Two honourable choices for the tongue.
Character"Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent."
Narrated by Abū Hurayrah
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#25 The heart as the pivot of the whole person.
Heart"In the body there is a piece of flesh — if it is sound, the whole body is sound; if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. It is the heart."
Narrated by al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr
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#40 Not renunciation — orientation.
Hereafter"Be in this world as though you were a stranger, or a traveller passing through."
Narrated by Ibn ʿUmar