Al-Wāfī - A Thorough Commentary of the Forty Nawāwiyyah

Publisher's summary

AL-WĀFĪ is a well-known Arabic book on the commentary of forty ḥadīths compiled by the great jurist and ḥadīth scholar Imam Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī, commonly known as al-Nawawī or Imam Nawawī (d. 676 AH).

The book is widely used in schools and religious classes. It has been translated into several languages and this is the first published English version.

It is authored by two of Damascus’ internationally well-known and respected scholars, Shaykh Muṣṭafā Dīb Al-Bughā and Shaykh Muḥyī Ad-Dīn Dīb Mistū. Both are esteemed professors in the field of Islamic knowledge and authors of several critically acclaimed books.

This book is ideal for those who wish to read for personal edification as well as those who would like to conduct classes. Every ḥadīth is followed by a detailed explanation of its importance, its vocabulary, followed by its fiqh rulings, along with other insights that can be gleaned from it.

It is hoped that as the reader reads through the text, his understanding and appreciation of the Prophet’s words ﷺ will deepen, and he will also come to see the immense wisdom in Imam an-Nawawī’s choices. If Allah so wills, the reader will emerge with a broader and more thorough understanding of Islam itself.

‘I saw that I should gather forty ḥadīths that are more important than all of them, and they are forty ḥadīths that comprise all of that, each one being an immense foundation of the Religion and the scholars have described it by saying that Islam revolves around it, or it is half of Islam or a third of it, and so forth.’

Imam Abu Zakariya Yahya al-Nawawi

‘We were then determined to write a commentary on The Forty of Imam an-Nawawī, and add the fifty-first commentary to the other commentaries on these blessed ḥadīths, not so that it would be forgotten on old library shelves and become tasty food for insects and dust. Rather, we wanted it to become, with Allah’s permission, printed letters, words, and pages, so that it reaches the Muslim reader in the easiest script, the clearest method and the most beautiful garb.’

Shaykh Muṣṭafā Dīb Al-Bughā & Shaykh Muḥyī Ad-Dīn Dīb Mistū