Forty Hadith On Prayer

This classical short commentary on Imam Nawawi’s famous collection of forty-two traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and give him peace, is an authoritative introduction to key Islamic principles and teachings, Accounted as hadith master, in this collection Imam Nawawi collected together those traditions that he considered were axial to the entire Islamic faith. As the first title in Kube’s new Treasury Series in Islamic Thought and Civilization, this accessible translation is presented in a beautiful gift format.

Ibn Daqiq al-‘Id (d.1302) was a Shafi’i mujtahid imam, who was educated in Damascus, Alexandria, and Egypt. Accounted as one of the greatest scholars in Islam in the fundamentals of law and belief, he wrote extensively in the areas of law, principles of jurisprudence, hadith, and tenets of faith. Imam Nawawi (d.1277) was accounted as an Imam of the later Shafi’i school and was known for his piety and knowledge.

This work covers, the Islamic creed, Pillars of Islam, Lawful & Unlawful, Piety and Righteousness, with commentary of Imam al-Ajurri. Anumber of scholars throughout Muslim history have penned their respective compilation of Forty Hadith books. Imam al-Ajurri’s kitab ularba` in Hadithan is among the earliest. It is a highly regarded text for Muslims to study and memorise, for it addresses fundamental aspects of religion, with particular focus on Creed, Pillars of Islam, the Halal and Haram as well as Piety and righteousness.

Islam is based on two major souces : the Quran and the Sunnah, and the latter is available to us in the form of hadiths. The Prophet said, “Whoever comes to know one hadith of mine should spread it.”

I have come to the realization that many youth from among the Muslims have not memorized even one hadith of the Prophet. For this reason I have chosen smaller hadiths so that they can be easily memorized by them and they can spread them to others.

I supplicate to Allah to make this book a source of light on the Day of Judgment for us.

This edition of Riyad-us-Saliheen has selected hadith from the full 2 volume edition. It has Arabic text, followed by English translation. It does not contain commentary like the larger editions.

Imam Nawawi was a great scholar of Hadith and Fiqh of his time. He compiled Riyad-us-Saliheen which acclaimed an important position in the Hadith Collections. It is an extremely popular and useful compilation of authentic hadith. Commentaries on the Ahadith were added by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf of Pakistan.

Keeping in view the problems of our times, we wished to print a concise volume of Riyad-us-Saliheen. For this volume, Sheikh Safi-ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri has made the selection of Ahddith.