The Righteous Life and Blessed Works of Im am al-Nawaw i€¦ · The Righteous Life and Blessed Works of Im am al-Nawaw i by Gibr il Fou ad H.add ad includes the Wird al-Nawaw i

The Righteous Life and Blessed Works

of Imam al-Nawawi

by Gibril Fouad H. addad

includes the Wird al-Nawawi

c© Harith Moin 2003

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44 Wird of Imam al-Nawawi

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The Righteous Life and Blessed Works

of Imam al-Nawawi

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficient, the Most Merciful

...Is it not through the remembrance

of God that hearts find tranquillity?

-Qur’an (13:28)

Al-Wird al-Imam al-Nawawi 43

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CONTENTS

TRANSLITERATION KEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

The Righteous Life and Blessed Works of Imam al-Nawawi . . . . . . 1

ARABIC & TRANSLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

TRANSLITERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

ARABIC APPENDIX: Wird al-Nawawi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

TRANSLITERATION KEY

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ARABIC APPENDIX: Wird al-Nawawi

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min jamı↪i khalqihi.

↩inna wa liyyı ’l-lahu ’lladhı nazzala ’lkitaba wa huwa yatawalla’s.-s. alih. ına, wa ↩idha qara↩ta ’l-qur↩ana ja↪alna baynaka wabayna ’l-ladhına la yu↩minuna bi-’l-↩akhirati h. ijaban masturan. waja↪alna-↪ala qulubihim ↩akinnatan ↩an yfqahuhu wafı ↩adhanihim waqran,wa ↩idha dhakarta rabbaka fı ’l-qur↩ani wah. dahu wallawa ↪ala ↩adba-rihim nufuran. fa↩i-n tawallawa faqul: h. asbiya ’l-lahu la ↩ilaha ↩illahu ↪alayhi tawakkaltu wahuwa rabbu ’l↪arshi ’l↪az. ımi (sab↪an).

walah. awla wa la quwwata ↩illa bi-’l-lahi ’l↪aliyyi ’l↪az. ımi (thala-than),

was.alla ’l-lahu ↪ala sayyidina muh. ammadin wa ↪ala ↩alihiwas.ah. bihi wasallama.

khaba↩tu nafsı fı khaza↩ini bismi ’l-lahi, ↩aqfaluha thiqatı bi-’l-la-hi, mafatıh. uha laquwwata ↩illa bi-’l-lahi, ↩udafi↪u bika ’l-lahumma↪an nafsı ma ↩ut.ıqu wama la ↩ut.ıqu, la t.aqata limakhluqin ma↪aqudrati ’l-khaliqi.

h. asbiya ’l-lahu wani↪ma ’l-wakılu, walah. awla wala quwwata↩illa bi-’l-lahi ’l-↪aliyyi ’l-↪az. ımi, was.alla ’l-lahu ↪ala sayyidina-muh. ammadin wa ↪ala ↩alihi was.ah. bihi wasallama (thalathan).

I

The Righteous Life and Blessed Works of Imam

al-Nawawi


Yah.ya ibn Sharaf, Muh. yi al-Din Abu Zakariyya al-Nawawi1 al-

H. izami al-H. awrani al-Shafi‘i (631-676) is the Pole-Saint – Qut.b – of Syro-

Palestine, the pious, ascetic, most learned, scrupulously Godwary, accomplished

Jurisprudent and H. adith Master, impeccable Shaykh al-Islam by the unanimity

of the people of the Sunna of the Prophet , fearless before kings, lordly and

chaste, who died young yet, in a short life of 45 years, produced works of learning

that made him the principal authority in the later Shafi‘i School, “the standard-

bearer of the Friends of God” (al-Dhahabi) who said of himself, “Allah has

blessed me in the right use of my time,” named after his original town of Nawa

near Damascus, “the Pole of the noble Friends of Allah, the Jurist of Humankind,

the Reviver of the Sunna and Slayer of Innovation” (al-Sakhawi) – Allah have

mercy on him, bless him, and reward him on behalf of every Muslim!

Early Education and Teachers

He came to Damascus in 649 and lived in the Madrasat al-Rawwah. iyya whose

bread he ate exclusively of any other food. He memorized Abu Ish. aq al-Shirazi’s

manual of Shafi‘i fiqh entitled al-Tanbih in four and a half months and a quarter

of Abu Ish. aq’s al-Muhadhdhab fi al-Madhhab with his shaykh Ish. aq ibn Ah.mad

al-Maghribi, after which he went on pilgrimage with his father – ailing during

most of the trip – and took up residence in Madina for a month and a half then

returned to Damascus. Among his teachers: al-Rad. i ibn al-Dahhan, Shaykh

al-Shuyukh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Muh. ammad al-Ans.ari, Zayn al-Din ibn ‘Abd al-

Da’im, ‘Imad al-Din ‘Abd al-Karim ibn al-Harastani, Zayn al-Din Khalid ibn

Yusuf, Taqi al-Din ibn Abi al-Yusr, Jamal al-Din ibn al-S. ayrafi, Shams al-Din

ibn Abi ‘Umar, Abu Ish. aq Ibrahim ibn ‘Isa al-Muradi in the two S. ah. ih. s, al-

Taflisi in us. ul, Ah.mad al-Mis.ri in grammar, and Imam Ibn Malik – the author

of the Alfiyya – in language.

1Pronounced both Nawawi and Nawawi, the latter after his native town of Nawa, the

former according to the autograph spelling of his name.

2 Life of Imam al-Nawawi

Curriculum and Daily Schedule

Al-Nawawi’s student ‘Ala’ al-Din Abu al-H. asan Ibn al-‘At.t.ar – al-Dhahabi’s

teacher – said that the Imam every day read before his shaykhs the following

“explanatory and corrective” (sharh. an wa tas.h. ih. an) lessons: two sessions on

Imam al-Ghazzali’s al-Wasit., one in Abu Ish. aq’s al-Muhadhdhab – both in Shafi‘i

jurisprudence –, on in Ibn al-Jinni’s al-Luma‘ in grammar, one in al-Jam‘ bayn

al-S. ah. ih. ayn in h. adith,2 one on S. ah. ih. Muslim, one in Abu Ish. aq’s al-Luma‘ and

al-Fakhr al-Razi’s al-Muntakhab in the principles of jurisprudence, one in Ibn al-

Sikkit’s (d. 244) Is. lah. al-Mant.iq in philology, one in verbal inflections (al-s.arf),

one in the principles of jurisprudence (us. ul al-fiqh), one in h. adith narrator-

criticism (al-rijal), and one in Islamic doctrine (us. ul al-din). Also among al-

Nawawi’s students: the orator S. adr al-Din Sulayman al-Ja‘fari, Shihab al-Din

al-Irbidi, Ibn Abi al-Fath. , and the h. adith Master al-Mizzi.

During his period of study, the Imam said that he spent six years during

which he wasted no time, whether day or night, except he spent it studying,

even when walking in the street. He lived in this fashion for a period of six

years, after which he began writing and teaching.

His Asceticism and Extremely Simple Living

Al-Nawawi was a strict ascetic in the manner of the early Muslims, neither eating

nor sleeping except out of necessity. He fasted permanently all year long – as

did, among the Salaf, ‘Umar ibn al-Khat.t.ab, his son ‘Abd Allah, ‘Uthman, Abu

T. alh. a, A’isha, Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab, Thabit al-Bunani, Abu H. anifa, Sa‘d ibn

Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd al-Rah.man ibn ‘Awf al-Zuhri, Shu‘ba, al-Shafi‘i, al-Tustari,

Mans.ur ibn al-Mu‘tamir Abu ‘Attab al-Sulami, Waki‘ and countless others –

eating a simple dish after ‘isha’ and drinking some water before dawn, once

every twenty-four hours. He avoided moist foods such as fruit and cucumber

in order not to induce drowsiness. He avoided the public bath and dressed

austerely, owning only one long shirt and a small turban, dividing his time

between worship and learning.

His Strict Scrupulosity and Eating Habits

Asked why he never allowed himself to eat food grown in Damascus he said:

“Damascus abounds in endowments (awqaf) and properties restricted to those

under legal guardianship, and to make use of them is impermissible except in

the most appropriate and beneficial manner. In addition, the normal procedure

2Abu ‘Abd Allah al-H. umaydi all-Andalusi’s (d. 488) al-Jam‘ bayn al-S. ah. ih. ayn. There is

also Ibn al-Qaysarani’s (d. 507) al-Jam‘ bayn Rijal al-S. ah. ih. ayn.


bismi ’l-lahi khayri ’l-↩asma↩i fı ’l-↩ard. i wa fı ’s-sama↩i, bismi’l-lahi ↩aftatih. u wabihi ↩akhtatimu, al-lahu ’l-lahu ’l-lahu, al-lahurabbı la ↩ushriku bihi shay↩an, al-lahu ’l-lahu ’l-lahu, al-lahu rabbıla ↩ilaha ↩illa ’l-lahu, al-lahu ↩a↪azzu wa ↩ajallu wa ↩akbaru, mimma↩akhafu wa ↩ah. dharu.

bika ’l-lahumma ↩a↪udhu min sharrinafsı wa min sharri ghayrıwa min sharrima khalaqa rabbı wa dhara↩a wa bara↩a, wa bika ’l-la-humma ↩ah. tarizu minhum, wa bika ’l-lahumma ↩a↪udhu min shuru-rihim, wa bika ’l-lahumma ↩adr↩u fı nuh. urihim. wa ↩uqaddimu baynayadayya wa ↩aydihim.

bismi ’l-lahi ’r-rah.mani ’r-rah. ım. qul huwa ’l-lahu ↩ah. adun,al-lahu ’s.-s.amadu, lam yalid wa lam yulad, wa lam yakun lahukufuwan ↩ah. adun (thalathan).

wa mithlu dhalika ↪an yamını wa↩aymanihim, wa mithlu dhalika↪an shimalı wa↪an shama↩ilihim, wamithlu dhalika ↪an ↩amamı-wa ↩amamihim, wamithlu dhalika min khalfı wamin khalfihim,wamithlu dhalika min fawqı wa min fawqihim, wamithlu dhalikamin tah. tı wa min tah. tih. im, wa mithlu dhalika muh. ıt.un bı wa bihim.

al-lahumma ↩innı ↩as↩aluka lı wa lahum min khayrika bikhayrika’lladhı la yamlikuhu ghayruka, al-lahumma ’j↪alnı wa ↩iyyahum fı↪ibadika wa ↪iyadhika wa jiwarika wa↩amanika wah. izbika wa h. irzikawa kanafika, min sharrikulli shayt.anin wasult.anin wa ↩insin waja-nnin wa baghin wah. asidin wa sabu↪in wa h. ayyatin wa ↪aqrabin, wamin sharrikulli dabbatin ↩anta ↩akhidhun binas. iyatiha, ↩inna rabbı↪ala s. irat.in mustaqımin.

h. asbiya ’r-rabbu mina ’l-marbubına, h. asbiya ’l-khaliqu mina ’l-makhluqına, h. asbiya ’r-raziqu mina ’l-marzuqına, h. asbiya ’s-satirumina ’l-masturına, h. asbiya ’n-nas. iru mina ’l-mans. urına, h. asbiya’l-qahiru mina ’l-maqhurına, h. asbiya ’lladhı huwa h. asbı, h. asbı manlam yazal h. asbı, h. asbiya ’l-lahu wa ni↪ma ’l-wakılu, h. asbiya ’l-lahu

III

TRANSLITERATION

↩aqulu ↪ala nafsı wa↪ala dını wa ↪ala ↩ahlı wa ↪ala ↩awladı wa ↪alamalı wa ↪ala ↩as.h. abı wa ↪ala ↩adyanihim wa ↪ala ↩amwalihim ↩alfabismi ’l-lahi.

al-lahu ↩akbaru, al-lahu ↩akbaru, al-lahu ↩akbaru.

↩aqulu ↪ala nafsı wa ↪ala dını wa ↪ala ↩ahlı wa ↪ala ↩awladı wa ↪alamalı wa ↪ala ↩as.h. abı wa ↪ala ↩adyanihim wa ↪ala ↩amwalihim ↩alfa↩alfi bismi ’l-lahi.

al-lahu ↩akbaru, al-lahu ↩akbaru, al-lahu ↩akbaru.

↩aqulu ↪ala nafsı wa ↪ala dını wa ↪ala ↩ahlı wa ↪ala ↩awladı wa ↪alamalı wa ↪ala ↩as.h. abı wa ↪ala ↩adyanihim wa ↪ala ↩amwalihim ↩alfa↩alfi la h. awla wala quwwata ↩illa bi-’l-lahi ↩al↪aliyi ’l-↪az. ımi.

bismi ’l-lahi wa bi-’l-lahi wa mina ’l-lahi wa ↩ila ’l-lahi wa ↪ala’l-lahi wa fı ’l-lahi wa la h. awla wa la quwwata ↩illa bi-’l-lahi ’l↪aliyyi’l↪az. ımi.

bismi ’l-lahi ↪ala dını wa ↪ala nafsı wa ↪ala ↩awladı bismi ’l-lahi↪ala malı wa↪ala ↩ahlı, bismi ’l-lahi ↪ala kulli shay↩in ↩a↪t.anıhi rabbı,bismi ’l-lahi rabbi ’s-samawati ’s-sab↪i wa rabbi ’l-↩arad. ına ’s-sab↪iwa rabbi ’l↪arshi ’l↪az. ımi.

bismi ’l-lahi ’lladhı la yad. urru ma↪a ’smihi shay↩un fı ’l-↩ard. iwala fı ’s-sama↩i wahuwa ’s-samı↪u ’l↪alımu (thalathan).

Life of Imam al-Nawawi 3

in Damascus is to use one-crop sharecropping contracts (al-musaqat), and there

is disagreement [among the jurists] over it [being lawful]: how then can I rest

happy to eat this?”

Nor did he accept anything from someone who did not study with him, except

in very rare cases. One time a poor man offered him a jug and he accepted it.

Shaykh Burhan al-Din al-Iskandarani pressed him to break fast at his house,

so the Imam said: “You bring the food here and we shall break fast together.”

This was one of the occasions he ate from two dishes and at two different times

of the day. Al-Nawawi and ‘Ala’i al-Din al-Baji were friends and he would often

invite al-Baji to eat with him. The latter said: “I would go and find nothing

but watered-down kishk” – a soup made of dried yoghurt mixed with potatoes

and garlic – “which I found unappetizing.” Time after time al-Baji responded

to al-Nawawi’s invitation until one day he absented himself. Al-Nawawi came

to him with the kishk and said: “By Allah, O Shaykh ‘Ala’ al-Din! Truly I love

you, and I love kishk ! I dislike to prepare it except if we eat it together, you and

I. So either come to me, or I shall come to you!” Al-Baji replied: “By Allah,

Shaykh Muh. yi al-Din! Truly I love you, but I do not love your kishk !”3

His Superlative H. adith Mastership and Jurisprudence

Al-Dhahabi said: “In addition to his perseverance in the struggle against the

ego, his application in scrupulous Godwariness, watchfulness over his soul, the

purification of the soul from its defects and its discipline, he was, at the same

time, an accomplished Master in h.adith and its sciences, its narrators, the

authentic and the defective, and a foremost authority in the [Shafi‘i] School.” A

recent study shows that Imam al-Nawawi’s verdicts on narrator-commendation

are generally identical to those of Imam Ibn H. ajar al-‘Asqalani, a remarkable

assessment in view of Ibn H. ajar’s position as the greatest of all the h. adith

Masters after the giants of the early centuries.4

His Fearless Nas.ih. a to Princes

Al-Nawawi used to address those in power and admonish them for the sake

of Allah according to the obligation of admonishing princes which he himself

defined as: “Nas. ih. a to the leaders of the Muslims consists in. . . appraising them

of any remissness of which they are unaware concerning the rights of Muslims.”

He did this several times in the palace of al-Malik al-Z. ahir who once exclaimed:

“I am scared of him!” Al-Nawawi once wrote to al-Z. ahir to ask him to help

3Narrated by Ibn al-Subki in T. abaqat al-Shafi‘iyya al-Kubra (10:339-342).4Cf. H. usayn Isma‘il al-Jamal’s introduction to al-Nawawi’s Khulas.at al-Ah. kam fi

Muhimmat al-Sunan wa Qawa‘id al-Islam, 2 vols. (Beirut: Mu’assasat al-Risala, 1997).


the people of Damascus who were suffereing from drought and the high cost of

living, whereupon al-Z. ahir – prompted by perfidious advisers – sent an inflamed

reply which caused alarm. Unfazed, al-Nawawi replied: “Concerning what the

reply said about our failing to denounce the presence of the disbelievers in our

country: How can Muslim kings and believers in the Qur’an be compared with

the rebellious infidels who believe in nothing in our Religion? As for threatening

the fold because of our advice or threatening a certain group, such an act is not

what we hoped for from the justice and kindness of the Sultan. . . As for myself,

no threats nor what is more than threats harm me in the least, nor shall the

like prevent me from the Sultan’s nasiha. For I believe that the latter is an

obligation upon me and others.”5

Al-Dhahabi’s shaykh Ibn Farah. said: “Shaykh Muh. yi al-Din reached three

high stations, each of which would suffice to make its owner someone people

travel to see: knowledge (al-‘ilm), asceticism (al-zuhd), and commanding good

and forbidding evil (al-amr bi al-ma‘ruf wa al-nahi ‘an al-munkar).” In truth,

this is why Shaykh Muh. yi al-Din is the most deserving of all the great Ulema,

after the magnificent Salaf, of the titles of “Greatest Master” (al-Shaykh al-

Akbar) and “Authority of Islam” (Shaykh al-Islam).

Headmastership of Dar al-H. adith al-Ashrafiyya in

Damascus

He took up the headmastership of Dar al-H. adith al-Ashrafiyya in Damascus

after the death of his shaykh Abu Shama in 665 and held it until his own death,

never accepting any compensation for his needs.

Ibn al-Subki reports in his masterpiece T. abaqat al-Shafi‘iyya al-Kubra that

after his father, the great Imam, Qad. i al-Qud. at, Shaykh al-Islam ‘Ali ibn ‘Abd

al-Kafi Abu al-H. asan Taqi al-Din al-Subki became headmaster of Dar al-H. adith

al-Ashrafiyya in 742 he used to come out to the mosque to pray late night

prayers (tahajjud) and he would weep and rub his face against the rugs on

which al-Nawawi had sat, reciting:

wa fi Dari al-h. adithi lat.ifu ma‘nan

‘ala busut.in laha as.bu wa awi

‘asa anni amassu bih. urri wajhi

makanan massahu qadamu al-Nawawi

And in Dar al-H. adith there is a subtle meaning:

To its carpets I incline and take refuge

Perhaps I might touch with my very face

A spot touched by al-Nawawi’s foot.

5In al-Sakhawi, Tarjimat al-Nawawi (p. 41-42).


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There is no strength nor power except with Allah (Three times) ,

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And Allah bless our liegelord Muh.ammad, and his folk and Companions and

give them peace.

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I concealed myself in the treasuries of “In the Name of Allah”. The lock of the

(opening) the treasuries is my reliance on Allah. The keys of the treasuries is

“There is no power besides Allah”. O Allah, I am holding back with Your (help)

what I am capable of and what I am incapable of. 92 There is no power for the

created with the strength of the Creator.

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Allah suffices me and the best to rely on. There is no strength power except

with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great. And Allah bless our leigelord

Muh. ammad, and his fold and Companions and give them peace. (Three times)

92In other words, “I am asking You, O Allah, from attributing to myself all that I can do

and what I can’t do.”


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The Creator suffices me from the created. The Provider suffices me from the

sufficed. The Veiler suffices me from the veiled. The Helper suffices me from the

helped. The Vanquisher suffices me from the vanquished. The One who suffice

me is sufficed. The One who does not cease to exist 91, suffices me. Allah suffice

me and is best to rely on. Allah suffices me from needing His creation.

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“Verily, Allah is my protector, who sent down the book, and He looks after

the righteous.”, “And when you recite the Qur’an, We place between you and

between those who do no believe in the Last Day, an invisible veil. And we place

covering, over their hearts, lest they should understand the Qur’an , and placed

deafness in their ears. And when you remember your Lord, and Him alone, in

the Qur’an, they turn away on their backs, fleeing.” And if they turn away, then

say: “Allah is my sufficiency, there is no god except Him, on Him is my trust

and He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne.” (Seven times)

91Allah is Al-Wujud.


Select Bibliography of Shaykh al-Islam

In his brief but blessed life, al-Nawawi authored about fifty books. These books

are – like their author – among the treasures of Islam and are comparable to

those of Imam al-Bayhaqi in two aspects: the immense blessing (baraka) with

which Allah has endowed them and the perfectionism that characterizes them,

both proved by the fact that they are among the most relied-upon works of fiqh

and h. adith in Islam.

The “Forty H. adiths”

•Al-Arba‘una H. adithan (“The Forty H. adiths”) is the most widely read collection

of its kind, in which the Imam chose forty of the most important h. adiths that

pertain to the spiritual and social life of the Muslim.6 It is a mark of Divine

approval of Imam al-Nawawi that Allah has made him famous through this small

booklet as the Arba‘un has been blessed for seven hundred years with unreserved

approval and acceptance in the Umma. A commentary of the “Forty H. adiths”

attributed to him has received many editions.7

Excerpts from the “Forty H. adiths”

[#7] It is narrated from Abu Ruqayya Tamim ibn Uways al-Dari that the

Prophet said: “Religion is absolute good faith” (al-dinu al-nas. ih. a.8 We asked,

“To whom, Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “To Allah, to His Book, and

to His Messenger, the leaders (a’imma) of the Muslims, and their multitude

(‘ammatihim).”9 Al-Khat.t.abi10 said: “Nas. ih. a is a comprehensive word meaning

6Matn al-Arba‘in al-Nawawiyya. Eds. ‘Abd al-Qadir and Mah.mud al-Arna’ut.. Kuwait:

Dar al-‘Uruba, 1989.7Sharh. Matn al-Arba‘in. Damascus: al-Mahayni, n.d.8Sometimes translated as “Religion is sincere advice.” One French translation by a North

African Shaykh reads La Vie traditionnelle c’est la sincerite (“Traditional Life is Sincerity”).9Narrated from Abu Hurayra by al-Tirmidhi (h. asan s.ah. ih. ) and Ah.mad, and from Tamim

al-Dari by Abu Dawud. Also narrated – without the repetition – from Tamim by Muslim and

al-Nasa’i, from Abu Hurayra by al-Nasa’i and Ah.mad, from Ibn ‘Umar by al-Bazzar, and from

Thawban by al-Bukhari in al-Tarikh al-Kabir. This h. adith is #7 of al-Nawawi’s “Forty.” In

Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim (2:27) he noted that this is the only h.adith of Tamim al-Dari in all of

S. ah. ih. Muslim. Tamim al-Dari was known to recite the entire Qur’an in a single rak‘a and also

to recite a single verse all night long until morning. He moved to al-Qudus after the murder of

‘Uthman and died in al-Khalil in the year 40. Eighteen Prophetic h. adiths are narrated from

him.10H. amd ibn Muh. ammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Khat.t.tab, Abu Sulayman al-Busti al-Khat.t.abi

al-Shafi‘i (319-388), described by Ibn al-Sam‘ani as “one of the Imams of the Sunna.” He was

an Imam of fiqh, a h. adith Master, a master of the Arabic language, and an erudite scholar.

Born in Bust (present-day South Afghanistan), he began early a series of extensive travels


the obtainment of a share of goodness by the person who receives nas. ih. a. It is

also said that the word is taken from the verb to mend (nas.ah. a) one’s cloth,

that is, to sew it (khat.ahu), a comparison of the act of the counselor (al-nas. ih. )

in seeing to the welfare of the advisee (al-mans. uh. lah), to the act of removing

flaws from a cloth. It is also said that the word is taken from the expression

“I purified the honey” (nas.ah. tu al-‘asal), that is, when filtering it from all the

wax,11 a comparison of the purging of discourse from any deception to that of

honey from admixture.

The scholars said that nas. ih. a to Allah means: turning to Allah in complete

belief in Him; negating any partner to Him; absolutely renouncing blaspheming

His Attributes; describing Him with all the attributes of perfection and majesty;

declaring Him transcendent – Most High and Exalted! – from any and all

imperfections; establishing His obedience in one’s life; avoiding to disobey Him;

loving for His sake; hating for His sake; keeping affection for those who obey

Him; opposing those who disobey Him; waging the greatest struggle against

those who declare disbelief in Him (jihad man kafara bihi); acknowledging His

immense favor; thanking Him for it; being sincere in all matters; calling others

to the above characteristics and emphasizing them; being kind with all people

in Iraq, H. ijaz, Khurasan, and Transoxiana and earning him the title of rah. h. ala or constant

traveller. A student of the S. ufi philologist Abu Sa‘id al-A‘rabi and the Ash‘ari jurisprudent

al-Qaffal al-Shashi, he took h. adith from Muh. ammad ibn Bakr ibn Dasa, Abu al-‘Abbas al-

As.amm, Abu Bakr al-Najjad, and others. He also took tas.awwuf from al-Daraqut.ni’s teacher

Abu Muh. ammad al-Khawas.s.. Among those who took h. adith from him are al-H. akim, Abu

H. amid al-Isfarayini, Ah.mad ibn Muh.ammad al-Harawi – one of those who authored a Gharib

al-H. adith – Abu Mas‘ud al-Karabisi, ‘Ali ibn al-H. asan al-Sijzi, al-Fasawi, and others. He

taught the lexicographer Abu al-‘Ala’ al-Rab‘i al- Maws.ili in Baghdad while he both taught

and studied – under al-As.amm – in Naysabur. He authored works in all the sciences and gave

a most luminous summation of the positions of Ahl al-Sunna when he said: “Iman is: speech

– which neither increases nor decreases; deeds – which increase and decrease; and conviction

– which increases and does not decrease; if it [conviction] decreases, it [iman] disappears.”

About the h. adith of nas. ih. a al-Khat.t.abi also said: “Being absolutely true (nas. ih. a) is a term

that expresses the complete application of one’s will to the good of the party to whom one

is being true. It is impossible to come up with a synonym for it. Its lexical meaning is

sincerity (ikhlas. ). . . . Thus one’s being true (nas. ih. a) to Allah is one’s correct belief in Him with

unicity (al-wah. daniyya) and one’s describing Him in terms appropriate to Him, declaring His

Transcendence from what is impermissible to apply to Him, desiring what makes one beloved

to Him, staying far away from what causes His wrath, and sincerity in worshipping Him.

Being true to His Book consists in believing in it, putting in practice its contents, beautifying

its recitation, being humble before it, magnifying its status, striving to understanding it and

acquire knowledge of it, and defending it from the interpretation of extremists and the attacks

of atheists. As for being true to His Messenger it consists in confirming his prophethood, and

doing one’s utmost to obey his commands and prohibitions.” As quoted in ‘Abd al-Khaliq,

H. ujjiyyat al-Sunna (p. 293).11This is the exact same etymology of sincerity < Lat. sine, “without” + cera, “wax.”


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And the same on my right and on theirs, and the same on my left and on theirs,

and the same in front of me and in front of them, and same behind me and

behind them and the same above me and above them, and the same below me

and below them, and the same with all that surrounds me and surrounds them.

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O Allah, I ask you for myself and for them, Your goodness 89 with Your Goodness

which no-one possesses except You. O Allah, place me and them from amongst

Your Honoured slaves, and Your family, and Your neighbours and Your trust-

worthy ones and from Your Party and Your devouted ones, in protection from

the evil of all shaytans and sultans and people and jinns and desports and enviers

and beasts and scorpions and snakes. And from the evil of all that walks. You

are my Lord, the Taker of them by thier forelocks. Verily, my Lord is on a

straight path. The Lord suffices me from guides. 90

89An increase in barakat and goodness already attained90Because Allah is the best of Guides and helps you and guides you through Salatul Istikhara

and other means.


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“In the Name of Allah”, the best of names in the earth and in the heavens. “In

the Name of Allah”, the beginner of everything and the terminator of everything.

Allah, Allah, Allah. Allah is my Lord, I do not associate anything with Him.

Allah, Allah, Allah. Allah is my Lord, “There is no god except Allah.” Allah

is the Most-Mighty and the Most-Exalted and the Most-Great, from what is

frightening and what causes anxiety.

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With You, O Allah, I seek refuge from the evil of myself and from the evil of

others and from the evil of what my Lord created and what He brought forth

and manifested and with You , O Allah, I guard against them; And with You,

O Allah, I seek refuge from their evilness; And with You, O Allah, stop them in

their approaching; And I place between my hands and their hands.

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In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Say: He is

Allah, the One. Allah is the Eternal. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten And

there is none like unto Him (Three times). 88

88Meaning: Through the barakat of the Basmala and Surahtul Ikhlas, may Allah protect

me from anything harming me on my right side, left side... etc.


as much as possible. The reality of these characteristics is according to each

person’s absolute good faith with himself (fi nus.h. ihi nafsihi) and Allah is not

in need of the good faith of those who show good faith.

As for nas. ih. a to the Book of Allah it consists in belief in the fact that it

is the Speech of Allah and His revelation which no human discourse resembles

nor can any creature utter the like of; extolling it; reciting it as it ought to be

recited; beautifying its recitation; humbling oneself upon it; making distinct each

letter of it;12 defending it from the misinterpretations of the distorters (ta’wil al-

muh. arrifin) and the objecting of the detractors (ta‘arrud. al-t.a‘inin); confirming

what is in it; taking sides with its rulings; understanding its sciences and

parables; pondering its admonishments; reflecting upon its wonders; putting its

unabrogated verses into practice; submitting to its ambiguous verses (al-taslim

li mutashabihih); searching out the universal and the specific, the abrogating

and the abrogated; making known its sciences;13 calling people to them and to

all we have mentioned in relation to being faithful to it.

As for nas. ih. a to the Messenger of Allah, it means confirming him with

regard to the Message; believing in all he conveyed; obeying his commands

and prohibitions; aiding him alive and dead; opposing whoever opposes him;

supporting whoever supports him; magnifying his right and holding it in the

greatest respect;14 reviving his path and Sunna; spreading his call and making

known his Sunna; disproving any attacks upon it; making known its sciences;15

12The integral (rukn) of reciting the Fatiha is not fulfilled in the Shafi‘i school – and the S. alat

is thus nullified – unless each letter of the Fatiha, including its fourteen double consonants

(shaddas), is clearly and correctly pronounced cf. Reliance of the Traveller f8.18.13The sciences of the Qur’an in the lexical sense are all the Islamic sciences while “in the

technical sense they denote [1] the circumstances of revelation (asbab al-nuzul) for each verse;

[2] the sequential arrangement (tartib) and collation (jam‘) of the Qur’an; [3] its transcription

(jitaba); [4] its explanation (tafsir); [5] its lexical and stylistic inimitability (i‘jaz); [6] its

abrogating and abrogated verses (al-nasikh wa al-mansukh); and other than that.” ‘Itr, ‘Ulum

al-Qur’an al-Karim (p. 8).14This pillar of nas. ih. a to the Prophet is under attack in our time from a certain party of

the Muslims themselves, and it is the duty of every educated Sunni Muslim to invite them to

return to the correct path or else to silence them with the proofs of the People of Truth in order

to stem the spread of their misguidance. The best work detailing this particular obligation

of each male and female Muslim is al-Qad. i ‘Iyad. ’s classic work al-Shifa’ fi Ma‘rifat H. uquq

al-Mus.t.afa (“The Cure in Knowing the Rights of the Elect Prophet”) also known as al-Shifa’

fi Shama’il S. ah. ib al-Is. t.ifa’ (“The Cure in the Qualities of the Paragon of Election”) which has

been translated in English. Among the commentaries the Shifa’ received are al-Qari’s Sharh.al-Shifa’ and al-Khafaji’s Nasim al-Riyad. .

15The “sciences of the Sunna” (‘ulum al-Sunna) refer, among other disciplines, to knowledge

of the biography of the Prophet (al-sira), the chronicle of his battles (al-maghazi), his everyday

sayings and acts or “ways” (sunan), his personal and moral qualities (al-shama’il), and the host

of the h.adith sciences such as the circumstances of occurrence (asbab al-wurud), knowledge

of the abrogating and abrogated h.adith, difficult words (gharib al-h. adith), narrator-criticism


acquiring proficiency in them; supplicating Allah on its behalf; being kind, and

subtle in learning and teaching it; dignifying and revering it; correcting oneself

upon reading it; refraining from discussing it without knowledge; revering its

people for being related to it; acquiring the manners of the Prophet and his

inveterate practices (adab); loving his Family and Companions; and avoiding

whoever innovates in his Sunna, casts aspersions on any of his Companions, or

does anything of the kind.

As for nas. ih. a to the leaders of the Muslims, it consists in assisting them in

all that is right and just; obeying them in it; enjoining them to adhere to it,

warning them against leaving it, and reminding them gently about it; appraising

them of any remissness of which they are unaware concerning the rights of

Muslims; refraining from armed action against them (al-khuruj ‘alayhim);16 and

harmonizing the hearts of the Muslims toward obeying them. Al-Khat.t.abi said

– may Allah have mercy on him: “Part of nas. ih. a to them [i.e. the leaders]

consists in praying behind them; accomplishing jihad with them; remitting zakat

to them; refraining from taking up arms against them when they show inequity

and vicious behavior; not fawning upon them with false praise; finally, invoking

Allah for their betterment.”

Ibn Bat.t.al said – Allah have mercy on him: “In this h. adith there is an

indication that nas. ih. a is named ‘Religion’ (din) and ‘Islam,’ and that Religion

(al-jarh. wa al-ta‘dil), narrator-biographies (al-rijal), etc. as discussed in great detail in the

books of al-Khat.ib al-Baghdadi such as al-Kifaya and al-Jami‘ fi Adab al-Rawi.16‘Ubada ibn al-S. amit said: “We pledged to the Prophet that we would hear and obey in

difficulty and ease, adversity and prosperity, that we would prefer him to ourselves, and that

we would not challenge the leadership of those who are entrusted with it (la nunazi‘ al-amra

ahlahu) unless you see patent and explicit unbelief (kufran bawwah. an) of which you would

have decisive evidence in the presence of Allah, and that we should speak the truth wherever

we are without fearing – for the sake of Allah – anyone’s blame.” Narrated by al-Bukhari and

Muslim. Al-Qinnawji said in al-‘Ibra Mimma Ja’a fi al-Ghazwi wa al-Shahada wa al-Hijra as

cited in al-Kattani’s Naz.m al-Mutanathir (#176): “Obeying the leaders is obligatory except in

disobeying Allah by agreement of the pious Salaf due to the clear texts in the Glorious Book

and the mass-transmitted (mutawatir) narrations stipulating that it is obligatory to obey the

leaders, and these texts are extremely numerous. Nor is it permissible to stop obeying them

after agreement has taken place around them as long as they establish prayer and do not show

patent and explicit unbelief.” He also said: “It is not permissible for the Muslims to take

up arms against the Sultan and remove him by the sword. The mass-transmitted narrations

indicate this prohibition more clearly than sunshine in broad daylight and whoever has a

reading knowledge of the purified Sunna is satisfied that this is the case. For it is the common

denominator of the large number of narrations on the subject of civil obedience together with

what the Qur’anic verses have said to that effect.” He also said: “The h.adiths have reached the

level of mass transmission on the prohibition of taking up arms against the leaders provided

they do not show patent and explicit unbelief nor abandonment of prayer. . . no matter how

far the leader’s injustice goes. Rather, it is obligatory to command him the good and forbid

him from evil.”


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I utter over myself and my religion and my family and my children and my

riches and my companions and on their religions and on their riches, thousands

of thousands, “There is no strength nor power except with Allah, the Most High,

the Most Mighty.”

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“In the Name of Allah”, and by Allah, and from Allah, and to Allah, and on

Allah and in Allah. “There is no strength nor power except with Allah, the

Most High, the Most Mighty.”

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“By the Name of Allah” over my religion and myself and my children. “By the

Name of Allah” over my riches and my family. “By the Name of Allah” over

everything that He has given me. “In the Name of Allah, Lord of the seven

heavens and Lord of the seven earths and Lord of the Mighty Throne.”

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“In the Name of Allah”, with whose name nothing can cause harm in the earth

nor in the sky and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (Three times)

II

ARABIC & TRANSLATION

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riches and my companions and on their riches, a thousand “In the Name of

Allah.”

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riches and my companions and on their religions and on their riches, thousands

of thousands of “In the Name of Allah.”

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Allah is the Greatest. Allah is the Greatest. Allah is the Greatest.


denotes action just as it does speech.” He also said: “Nas. ih. a is an absolute

obligation (al-nas. ih. atu fard. ) fulfilled by whoever accomplishes it so that others

no longer have to fulfill it.” He also said: “Nas. ih. a is obligatory to whatever

extent one can give it when the one giving it knows that his advice or exhortation

will be accepted and his command obeyed together with safety for his own

person. But if he fears any harm then he is given a choice. And Allah Most

High knows best.”

If someone asks, in al-Bukhari’s S. ah. ih. it is stated that the Prophet said: “If

one’s brother asks for his absolute good faith then let him show him absolute

good faith,”17 which means that the obligation of sincere advice or exhortation is

conditional, not absolute; and the conditional sense forms evidence for narrowing

the general sense of this statement to a specific one? The answer is: It is possible

to take the latter case to refer to worldly matters such as marrying a certain

woman, or conducting business with a certain man and so forth, while the former

case can be taken generally to refer to matters of religion which are obligatory

upon every Muslim. And Allah Most High knows best.

[#38] It is narrated from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah said that

Allah said: “Whosoever shows enmity to a single one of My Friends, I have

declared war on him.18 My servant draws not near to Me with anything more

loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant

continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love

him. When I love him I become his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with

which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, his foot with which he walks.

Were he to ask something of Me, I would surely give it to him. Were he to seek

refuge in Me, I would surely grant him it. Nor do I hesitate19 to do anything as

I hesitate to take back the believer’s soul, for he hates death and I hate to hurt

17Cited by al-Bukhari without chain in his S. ah. ih. and narrated from Abu Hurayra by Muslim

as part of a longer h. adith with the wording: “If your brother asks for your sincere advice then

advise him sincerely.” Al-Bukhari’s wording is narrated from H. akim ibn Abi Yazid from his

father the Companion Jabir ibn Tariq ibn ‘Awf, from the latter’s father T. ariq ibn ‘Awf by

Ah.mad in the Musnad (al-Arna’ut. ed. 24:193-194, s.ah. ih. lighayrih) and also from many other

Companions as shown by Ibn H. ajar in his extensive documentation on the h. adith in Taghliq

al-Ta‘liq.18Examples of this took place in the life of Imam Ibn Daqiq al-‘Id. The latter was insulted

in a gathering, whereupon he said to his assailant: “I heard news of your obsequies in this very

meeting,” and the man died three days later. Another time he foretold the death of someone

who had harmed his brother. Ibn al-Subki, T. abaqat al-Shafi‘iyya al-Kubra (9:211).19Imam Ibn ‘Abd al-Salam said in al-Ishara ila al-Ijaz (p. 104-112) on the meaning of

Divine “hesitancy”: “It is a metaphor of the superlative rank of the believer in the Divine

presence and synechdoche for a lesser hurt to prevent a greater harm, as in the case of a

father’s severance of his son’s gangrened hand so as to save his life.”


him.” Al-Bukhari narrated it.20

The saying of the Prophet on behalf of his Most High Lord: “Whosoever

shows enmity to a single friend of Mine, I have declared war on him” refers

here to the believer. Allah says: “Allah is the Protecting Friend of those

who believe” (2:257). Consequently, whosoever shows enmity to a believer,

Allah has declared war upon him, that is, He has informed him that He shall

fight against him. And when Allah fights against a creature, He destroys him!

Therefore, let every human being beware of opposing even a single Muslim.

The saying of Allah, “My servant draws not near to Me with anything

more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him” contains

evidence that the accomplishment of mandatory religious duties (al-farid. a) is

superior to that of voluntary works (al-nawafil). Another narration mentions

that the reward of the obligation is superior seventy times times to the reward

of the voluntary works.21

Concerning the saying of Allah, “and My servant continues to draw near to

Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him”: The Ulema – Allah be

well-pleased with them! – have set forth a parable whereby he who performs

voluntary works along with mandatory ones is like a man who gave each of his

two servants a dirham to buy fruit. The first servant bought the fruit, put them

in a container, added to it basil and scent from his own, then brought them before

his patron, while the second servant bought the fruit and just put them on the

floor in front of his patron. Each one of them obeyed his patron’s command, but

one of them added basil and scent to them of his own initiative, so he became

20From Abu Hurayra.21This is not mentioned verbatim in any h.adith and Allah knows best. Ibn H. ajar said in

Talkhis. al-H. abir (3:117): “Al-Nawawi reported in Ziyadat al-Rawd. a [and Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim

(1972 ed. 7:92)] from Imam al-H. aramayn [Ibn al-Juwayni], from one of the scholars, that the

reward of an obligatory act of worship is seventy times more than that of the voluntary one.

Al-Nawawi said: ‘The scholars went along with it (ista’nasu fih) on the basis of a h. adith. ’ The

h.adith in question was mentioned by the Imam in his Nihaya and it is the Prophetic narration

from Salman concerning the month of Ramadan: ‘Whoever comes nearer to Allah in that

month with one good deed is similar to someone who accomplishes an obligatory act in any

other month, and whoever accomplishes an obligatory act in that month is similar to someone

who accomplishes seventy obligatory acts in any other month.’* This is a fair-to-weak h. adith

[because of ‘Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jud‘an] narrated by Ibn Khuzayma who suspended judgment on

its soundness. It was objected to the Imam’s adducing of this h. adith to prove his statement

and it appears that that [seventyfold merit] is one of the special attributes of Ramadan. This

is why al-Nawawi merely said: ‘They went along with it.’ And Allah knows best.”

* Narrated from Salman al-Farisi by Ibn Khuzayma in his S. ah. ih. (3:191-192 #1887),

al-Mahamili in his Amali (p. 286), al-Haythami, Zawa’id Musnad al-H. arith (1:412), Ibn

Bashkuwal in al-Dhayl ‘ala Juz’ Buqay (p. 138), Abu al-Shaykh in al-Thawab, al-Mundhiri in

al-Targhib (1997 ed. 2:57-58 #1483=1994 ed. 2:108 #1487), al-Bayhaqi in Fad. a’il al-Awqat

(p. 147-149), and al-Banna in al-Fath. al-Rabbani (9:233).


Imam in his T. abaqat : “Yah.ya was “lordly and chaste” (3:39). Shaykh Abu

Ghudda said: “By ‘chaste’ he meant that he never married.”

His Death

Returning to Nawa from a trip to al-Qudus (Jerusalem) and al-Khalil (Hebron),

the Imam and Friend of Allah died in his father’s house after a short illnes.s

Al-Dhahabi said: “His grave in Nawa is a place of visitation” and the late Mufti

of Lebanon Shaykh H. asan Khalid said: “Allah responds to supplications at the

grave of Imam al-Nawawi.”

It is a measure of the greatness of this Umma that it can claim in its midst

– through the grace of Allah and His infinite kindness – souls of such invincible

strength, true selfless piety, and thorough Divine consciousness as Imam al-

Nawawi. It is related that Imam Abu al-H. asan al-Shadhili saw a dream in

which the Prophet pointed out Imam al-Ghazzali to the Prophets Musa and

‘Isa asking them: “Is there such a wise learned man in your Communities?” to

which they replied no. The same can be said of Shaykh Muh. yi al-Din Yah.ya

ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi. More importantly, Allah Most High dressed those Ulema

with the attribute of Faruq so that it is a mark of one’s purity of Religion to

love and read Abu H. anifa, al-Bayhaqi, al-Ghazzali, al-Nawawi, al-Subki father

and son, and Ibn H. ajar, while it is a mark of innovation to detract from them.

May Allah be well-pleased with all of them and grant them – and every sincere

lover of these Saints – nearness to the Messenger of Allah in Paradise! Amin.

Main sources: al-Dhahabi, T. abaqat al-H. uffaz. (4:1470-1474); Ibn al-Subki,

T. abaqat al-Shafi‘iyya al-Kubra (8:395-400 #1288); Ibn Qad. i Shuhba, T. abaqat

al-Shafi‘iyya (3:9-13 #454).



His Intense Custody of the Tongue

Asked about Shaykh Muh. yi al-Din Ibn ‘Arabi, Imam al-Nawawi simply replied:

(Those are a people who have passed away. Theirs is that which they

earned, and yours is that which you earn. And you will not be asked of

what they used to do) (2:134).84 May Allah. have mercy on Imam al-Nawawi

for cutting short, with the guidance of the Divine Speech, the temptation to

wrangle without knowledge! Few or no Scholars displayed such examplary fear

of Allah in shunning the disparagement of past Ulema after Imam al-Bukhari.

Al-Maqas.id

The book attributed to al-Nawawi under the title al-Maqas. id85 was not

mentioned in the recension of the Imam’s works compiled by his student Ibn

al-‘At.t.ar nor in the bibliographies by al-Isnawi, Ibn al-Subki, al-Sakhawi, al-

Suyut.i, al-Suhaymi, Ibn Qad. i Shuhba, nor in Kashf al-Z. unun, Hadiyyat al-

‘Arifin, or Mu‘jam al-Mu’allifin. The earliest attribution was said to be that

of al-Zirikli (1310-1396),86 but the genealogist and specialist of doctrine Abul-

Fawz Muh.ammad Amin ibn ‘Ali al-Suwaydi al-Najdi (1200-1246) authored no

less than two commentaries on the Maqas. id, one large and one small.87 These

are very late sources, nevertheless there is nothing in the Maqas. id to which

al-Nawawi did not subscribe in his established works, such as the following

passage in the section on the “Fundamentals of Islam”: “The foundations of the

religion are four: the Qur’an, the Sunna, scholarly consensus (ijma‘) and analogy

(qiyas) when the latter two are recognized as binding by Islamic scholarship.

Whatever contravenes these four bases is blameworthy innovation (bid‘a) and

its perpetrator is an innovator whose company Muslims are obliged to avoid and

shun.”

His Celibacy

Imam al-Nawawi was one of those, like al-T. abari and others, who served the

cause of Knowledge in the path of Allah body and soul and gave its pursuit

entire priority over everything else, including marriage. Ibn al-Subki said of the

84In Ibn ‘Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab (5:192).85Al-Maqas. id fi alTawh. id wa al-‘Ibada wa Us. ul al-Tas.awwuf. Beirut: al-Mat.ba‘at al-

Ahliyya, 1324/1906. Cf. Shaykh Nuh Keller’s published Al-Maqas. id: Imam Nawawi’s Manual

of Islam.86In al-A‘lam (9:85).87Cf. al-Suwaydi, Sharh. Risalat al-Maqas. id fil-Tas.awwuf lil-Nawawi in the Awqaf library in

Baghdad Ms. 7/4741 Majami‘ in ‘Abd Allah al-Jabburi, Fahras al-Makht. ut.at al-‘Arabiyya fi

Maktabat al-Awqaf al-‘Amma fi Baghdad (2:435 #3910) and Mu‘jam al-Mu’allifin (#12271).


more loved by his patron. Likewise, whosoever prays the supererogatory prayers

with the mandatory ones becomes more loved by Allah.

Love on the part of Allah meaning that Allah wills goodness for His servant.

When Allah loves His servant, He makes him busy with His remembrance and

obedience, protects him from the devil, employs his limbs in acts of piety, makes

him love to listen to the Qur’an and His remembrance, and dislike hearing singing

and musical instruments. He thus becomes one of those about whom Allah said

“And when they hear vanity they withdraw from it and say: Unto us

our works and unto you your works. Peace be unto you! We desire

not the ignorant” (28:55) “and when the foolish ones address them they

answer: Peace” (25:63). Thus when they hear foul and obscene words from

the ignorant ones, they turn away from it with words of greeting.

Allah also guards his sight from all prohibited matters so that he does

not look at anything illicit. His sight becomes a gaze of reflection and self-

admonition. As a result, he sees nothing in creation except to infer from it

its Creator. ‘Ali said: “I never saw anything except I saw Allah first.” The

meaning of self-admonition (al-i‘tibar) is to mentally cross over (al-‘ubur bil-

fikr) from created things to the power and might of the Creator. Upon doing

so, one glorifies, sanctifies, and extols [Him]. The motions of his hands and feet

all belong to Allah. He no longer walks for the sake of what is of no concern to

him nor uses his hands in vain. Rather, all his moves and rests are for the sake

of Allah. He then gets rewarded for this in his moves and rests and in all he

does.

The saying of Allah, “I become his hearing” could mean: “I become the

guardian (al-h. afiz.) of his hearing, his sight, the grasp of his hand, and his feet

from the devil.” It could also mean: “I am in his heart upon his hearing, sight,

and grasp, so that remembering Me deters him from acting for the sake of any

other than Me.”

Al-Adhkar

•Al-Adhkar al-Muntakhaba min Kalam Sayyid al-Abrar (“Supplications and

Lauds Chosen from the Discourse of the Master of the Pious”)22 is a model in

the genre unequaled by any similar work that preceded or followed (no less than

thirty-six), in 349 chapters treating every situation Muslims face in their private

and public life and adducing the prayers appropriate to each as related from

the Prophet with sound, fair, or weak chains of transmission. Imam Ibn H. ajar

al-‘As.qalani held six hundred and sixty classes devoted to the documentation of

the Adhkar, two hundred and eighty-five of which were recovered and recently

22Al-Adhkar al-Muntakhaba Min Kalam Sayyid al-Abrar. Cairo: al-H. alabi 1348/1929.


published in three volumes.23 Imam Ibn ‘Allan al-S. iddiqi (author of a fatwa on

the omnipresence of the Prophet titled Ith. af Ahl al-Iman fi anna al-Nabiyya la

yakhlu ‘anhu zamanun aw makan)24 wrote a nine-volume commentary of the

Adhkar titled al-Futuh. at al-Rabbaniyya ‘ala al-Adhkar al-Nawawiyya, in print.

Excerpts from the Adhkar

– Ibn Mas‘ud related that the Prophet said: “If the mount of one of you runs

loose in a desert land, let him call out: ‘Servants of Allah, hold [it]! (ya ‘ibad

Allah ah. bisu).’ Allah has a warden (h. as. ir) on the earth that will restrain it.”25

This narration is very weak, however, there are two similar Prophetic h. adiths

narrated with better chains: [1] From Ibn ‘Abbas with the wording: “Allah has

angels on earth – other than the Record-Keepers – who keep a record of the

leaves that falls on the ground. Therefore, if one of you is crippled in a deserted

land where no one is in sight, let him cry out: ‘Help, O servants of Allah!’ (ya

‘ibad Allah aghithu).”’26 [2] From ‘Utba Ibn Ghazwan with the wording: “If one

of you loses anything (or loses his way) or wishes help when he is in a land in

which no one is in sight, let him say: ‘Servants of Allah, help! [three times] (ya

‘ibad Allah a‘inu).’ For Allah has servants [there] whom he does not see.”27

Al-Nawawi commented: “One of our very knowledgeable teachers related to

me that one day his animal ran loose – I think it was a mule – and he knew

that h. adith, so he said it, whereupon Allah restrained it for them on the spot. I

myself was with a group one time when one of the animals broke free and they

were unable to restrain it, so I said the supplication: it stopped on the spot for

no reason other than those words.”

23Ibn H. ajar, Nata’ij al-Afkar fi Takhrij Ah. adith al-Adhkar. 3 vols. Ed. H. amdi ‘Abd al-

Majid al-Salafi. Damascus and Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir, 2000.24Z. ahiriyya ms. 9276 f˚157b-164b cf. Riyad. Malih. , Fahras Makht. ut.at al-Tas.awwuf fi al-

Maktabat al-Z. ahiriyya (1:4 #4).25Narrated from Ibn Mas‘ud by Ibn al-Sunni, Abu Ya‘la in his Musnad (9:177), al-T. abarani

in al-Kabir (10:217), and al-Bayhaqi in H. ayat al-Anbiya’ ba‘da Wafatihim (p. 44), all with

a very weak broken (munqat.i‘) and single (gharib) chain through Ma‘ruf ibn H. assan al-

Samarqandi who is “rejected” as a narrator (munkar) as indicated by Ibn H. ajar in Amali

al-Adhkar, al-Munawi, and al-Dhahabi in his Mizan (4:143 #8654). Cf. Ibn al-Qayyim,

al-Wabil al-S. ayyib (1952 ed. 169-170=p. 185).26Narrated by al-T. abarani in al-Kabir with a fair chain (according to Ibn H. ajar in al-Amali)

of trustworthy narrators according to al-Haythami (10:132) and by al-Bazzar with a fair chain

according to Ibn H. ajar in Mukhtas.ar Zawa’id Musnad al-Bazzar (2:419-420 #2128) cf. al-

Shawkani in Tuh. fat al-Dhakirin (p. 219=p. 155-156); Ibn Abi Shayba (7:103); and al-Bayhaqi

in al-Adab (p. 436) and Shu‘ab al-Iman (1:183 #167; 6:128 #7697). This is the best of the

narrations in this chapter from the grading viewpoint.27Narrated by al-T. abarani in al-Kabir (17:117) with a weak chain because it is missing one

link as stated by al-Haythami (10:132) and cited by al-Shawkani in Tuh. fat al-Dhakirin (p.

219=p. 155-156).


nothing of what has been decided by the Law can be changed because of what

the sleeper saw. What we mentioned here does not contradict the saying of

the Prophet : “Whoever sees me in vision or dream sees me truly.”82 For the

meaning of this h. adith is that the dreamer’s vision is true and not from the

fantasies of dreams nor the delusions of the devil. However, it is not permissible

to establish a legal ruling on the basis of this dream, because the state of

sleep is a state of accuracy and verification for whatever the dreamer is seeing.

The scholars all agree that among the conditions necessary for accepting one’s

narration or legal testimony is that he be awake, not somnolent, nor poor in

his memorization, nor prone to making many mistakes, nor lacking accuracy. A

sleeper does not meet these criteria. Therefore his narration is not accepted,

because he lacks accuracy. This all pertains to a dream that contains a ruling

that contravenes what those in authority ruly by. As for seeing the Prophet

ordering him something which is recommended, or forbidding him something

which is forbidden, or directing him to do something beneficial, there is no

disagreement that it is desirable that he go ahead and act according to his

dream. For here the ruling does not depend on the dream but on what has been

decided from the principles at hand, and Allah knows best.83

82Narrated by al-Bukhari. The remainder of the h. adith states: “for Satan cannot take on

my form, and the believer’s dream is one forty-sixth of prophecy.” Yazid al-Farisi said – he

was a copyist of the Qur’an: “I saw the Prophet in my sleep in the time of Ibn ‘Abbas. I told

Ibn ‘Abbas and he said: ‘The Prophet used to say: Verily, the devil cannot take my likeness,

therefore whoever sees me in his sleep has seen me (truly). Can you therefore describe for us

that man whom you saw?’ I said: Yes, I saw a man of medium build, his complexion was

tawny to fair (lah.muhu asmarun ila al-bayad. ), his smile was beautiful, his eyes were jet-black,

he had a handsome, round face which his beard filled from here to here, and it almost filled his

upper chest. Ibn ‘Abbas said: ‘Had you seen him while awake you could not have described

him better.”’ Imam Ah.mad narrated it in his Musnad with a chain of trustworthy narrators

as stated by al-Haythami in Majma‘ al-Zawa’id. However, Yazid al-Farisi is only “passable”

(maqbul). Al-Lahji (d. 1410) said in his Muntaha al-Sul (4:339-340): “‘From here to here’

means ‘from this ear to this ear’... indicating by this that his noble beard is wide and very large

(‘arid. atun ‘az. ima), and it is an indication of its length.” Since Yazid al-Farisi was a Successor

from Bas.ra who had never seen the Prophet , his narration constitutes a refutation of those –

such as Bilal Philips – who have claimed without basis other than their own speculation that

the h. adith of the vision of the Prophet in dream applies only to those Muslims who knew his

appearance from having seen him while awake, namely, the Companions. Among the non-

Companion Salaf related to see the Prophet in their dream: Sulayman ibn Nu‘aym, Nafi‘

al-Qari’ – one of the Seven canonical readers – ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, ‘As.im ibn Kulayb’s

father, Imam Abu al-H. asan al-Ash‘ari, and others. See Shaykh ‘Isa ibn Mani‘ al-H. imyari’s

fatwa Ru’ya al-Nabi H. aqqun ila Qiyami al-Sa‘a (“The Vision of the Prophet is a Reality

Until the Rising of the Hour”).83Al-Nawawi, Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim (1:115), as quoted by Abu Ghudda in his notes on Ibn

‘Abd al-Barr’s al-Intiqa’ (77-78).


proficiency in one, and deficiency in another; and in this there are great examples

of wisdom, both hidden and manifest.”78

•“There is, before Jumu‘a, whatever [Sunna prayer] there is before Z. uhr.”79

•“The Ulema among the experts in h. adith and the experts in law and

others have said: it is permissible and recommended that deeds pertaining to

meritorious acts and good character (al-fad. a’il), encouragement to good and

discouragement from evil (al-targhib wa al-tarhib) be based [even] on weak h.adith

as long as it is not forged80. As for legal rulings (al-ah. kam) such as what is

permitted and what is forbidden, the modalities of trade, marriage, divorce and

other than that, then one’s practice concerning those is not based upon anything

other than sound (s.ah. ih. ) or fair (h. asan) h. adith, except as a precaution in some

matter related to one of the above, for example, if a weak h.adith is cited about

the reprehensibility (karaha) of certain kinds of sales or marriages. In such cases

what is desirable (mustah. abb) is to avoid such sales and marriages, but it is not

obligatory.”81

On the Relevance of Dreams in the Law

Commenting on Imam Muslim’s narration of ‘Ali ibn Mushar’s report that the

latter had asked the Prophet in a dream about one thousand h.adiths he had

heard from Aban ibn Abi ‘Iyash – one of the discarded narrators due to his poor

memory – whereupon the Prophet did not recognize more than five or six of

them, al-Nawawi said:

Al-Qad. i ‘Iyad. – Allah have mercy on him! – said: “Such reports are taken

into consideration to show what is already decided concerning the weakness

of Aban. Not that dreams are definitive, nor can an established sunna be

abrogated because of them, nor a previously unestablished sunna be established,

by consensus of the scholars.” These are al-Qad. i’s words. Others of our [Shafi‘i]

companions said something similar and reported agreement to the effect that

78Abu Ghudda, al-‘Ulama’ al-‘Uzzab (p. 147).79This is the position of the massive majority of the scholars. Cf. Ibn al-Mulaqqin, Sunniyya

al-Jumu‘a al-Qabliyya (“The Sunna Status of Supererogatory Prayers Before the Jumu‘a

Prayer”), ed. Firas Muh.ammad Walid Ways, Damascus, 1996.80“Or very weak.” Ibn ‘Allan, al-Futuh. at al-Rabbaniyya fi Sharh. al-Adhkar al-Nawawiyya

(1:84).81Al-Nawawi, al-Adhkar, Introduction. As for the saying that “Abu H. anifa preferred the

weak h. adith to juridical opinion” and Imam Ah.mad’s similar preference for the weak h. adith

over analogy, some claimed that the term “weak” (d. a‘if ) here denotes what later scholars call

“fair” (h. asan), as the early scholars only used the categories of “sound” (s.ah. ih. ) and “weak,”

the former englobing the not-so-weak, which they accepted as authentic, and the latter the

very weak or forged, which they rejected. Cf. Muh.ammad Taqi ‘Uthmani’s marginalia on

al-Tahanawi’s I‘la’ al-Sunan (1:162-164).


Al-Shawkani cited the above narrations then commented: “In this h. adith

there is evidence that it is permissible to ask help from those one does not see

among the servants of Allah such as the angels and the righteous of the jinns,

and there is no harm in doing it, just as it is permissible for someone to seek

the help of human beings if his mount becomes unruly or runs loose.”28

It is also related from ‘Abd Allah Ibn al-Imam Ah.mad Ibn H. anbal that he

said: “I heard my father say: ‘I performed pilgrimage five times and once I got

lost on the way. I walked and began to say: O servants of Allah, show us the

way! I continued to say this until I got on the right way.”’29

– Al-Haytham ibn H. anash [al-Nakha‘i] said: “We were in ‘Abd Allah ibn

‘Umar’s house when he felt a cramp in his leg, whereupon one man said to

him: ‘Remember (or mention) the dearest of people to you,’ so he said: ‘O

Muh. ammad!’ (ya Muh. ammad) and he seemed relieved of his cramp.”30

– Mujahid said: “A man had a cramp in his leg in the house of Ibn ‘Abbas,

whereupon the latter said to him: ‘Remember [or mention] the dearest of people

to you,’ so he said: ‘Muh.ammad!’ and was relieved of his cramp.”31 The chain

of this narration is weak but its content and that of the one that precedes it is

confirmed by the sound (s.ah. ih. ) report of this event narrated by al-Bukhari in

al-Adab al-Mufrad from ‘Abd al-Rah.man ibn Sa‘d who said: “Ibn ‘Umar had a

cramp in his leg, whereupon a man said to him: ‘Remember (or mention) the

dearest of people to you,’ so he said: ‘Muh. ammad!”’32

28Al-Shawkani, Tuh. fat al-Dhakirin (Cairo ed. p. 219=1970 Beirut ed. p. 155-156).29Narrated by Ibn Muflih. al-H. anbali in al-Adab al-Shar‘iyya.30Narrated by al-Nawawi in al-Adhkar (1970 Riyadh ed. p. 271, 1988 T. a’if edition p.

383, 1992 Makka edition p. 370), Ibn al-Qayyim – without the interjection ya – in al-Wabil

al-Sayyib (1952 ed. 180 =p. 195) and al-Shawkani’s Tuh. fat al-Dhakirin (Cairo ed. p. 291-

292=1970 Beirut ed. p. 206-207). This report is narrated by Ibn al-Sunni from Muh. ammad

ibn Khalid al-Bardha‘i who said: H. ajib ibn Sulayman [al-Manbiji] narrated to us: Muh. ammad

ibn Mus.‘ab [al-Quequsani] narrated to us: Isra’il narrated to us: From Abu Ish. aq: From

al-Haytham ibn H. anash. , as cited by al-Shawkani in the Tuh. fa. Several Imams graded al-

Qurqusani weak but Imam Ah.mad considered him trustworthy cf. al-Arna’ut., Tah. rir al-

Taqrib (3:318 #6302) and the narration is confirmed by al-Bukhari’s similar report in al-Adab

al-Mufrad.31Narrated through Ibn al-Sunni by al-Nawawi in al-Adhkar (cf. above), Ibn al-Qayyim in

al-Wabil al-Sayyib (cf. above) and al-Shawkani’s Tuh. fat al-Dhakirin (cf. above), all with a

very weak chain because of Ghayyath ibn Ibrahim who is considered a liar.32Narrated by al-Bukhari, al-Adab al-Mufrad (1990 ‘Abd al-Baqi Beirut ed. p. 286): “Abu

Nu‘aym [al-Fad. l ibn Dukayn] narrated to us and said: Sufyan [ibn ‘Uyayna] narrated to us:

From Abu Ish. aq [Sa‘d ibn Ibrahim]: From ‘Abd al-Rah.man ibn Sa‘d [al-Makhzumi al-Muq‘ad]

– al-Dhahabi said of him in Mizan al-I‘tidal (2:566 #4875), “This narrator is trustworthy (dha

thiqa).” This is a chain of sound narrators despite the contrary claim of al-Albani in the book

he titled D. a‘if al-Adab al-Mufrad (p. 87).


Bustan al-‘Arifin

•Bustan al-‘Arifin fi al-Zuhd wa al-Tas.awwuf (“The garden of the Knowers in

Asceticism and Self-Purification”)33 is a slim compendium of narrations which

al-Nawawi did not complete and in which he said:

Abu Yazid [al-Bist.ami] – may Allah be well pleased with him! – said: “I was

for twelve years the blacksmith of my ego (h. addadu nafsi), then for five years I

became the mirror of my heart (mir’atu qalbi), then for a year I looked at what

lay between the two of them and saw around me a visible belt [the vestimentary

sign of a non-Muslim subject of the Islamic state]. I strove to cut it for twelve

years then looked again and saw around me a hidden belt. I strove to cut it

for five years, leaving no stone unturned. Then I reached a state of spiritual

unveiling (kushifa li) and looked at creation and saw that they were all dead.

So I recited the funeral prayer over them.”

I say: The fact that hypocrisy should be as elusive as this to the peerless

Master in this path [i.e. tas.awwuf ] is enough to show how greatly hidden it lies.

His phrase: “I saw them dead” is the apex of worth and beauty, and seldom do

other than the words of the Prophet gather up such a wealth of meanings.34

•Fatawa. See al-Manthurat fi al-Fiqh.•H. ilyat al-Abrar wa Shi‘ar al-Akhyar fi Talkhis. al-Da‘awat wa al-Adhkar, a

condensed version of his Adhkar.

Al-Id. ah. fi Manasik al-H. ajj

•Al-Id. ah. fi Manasik al-H. ajj is a detailed explanation of the rites of pilgrimage

according to the Shafi‘i School, one of four such manuals he wrote and which he

epitomized in al-Ijaz.35 In al-Id. ah. the Imam mentions the etiquette of visitation

in the following terms:

[After greeting Abu Bakr and ‘Umar] he returns to his original position,

directly in front of the Messenger of Allah, and he uses the Prophet as his means

for his own benefit (fa yatawassalu bihi fi h. aqqi nafsih), and joins himself to him

as his intercessor before his Most High Lord (wa yatashaffa‘u bihi ila rabbihi

subh. anah). One of the best things that he can say is what has been narrated

by our colleagues from al-‘Utbi36 – and they admired what he said: “As I was

sitting by the grave of the Prophet , a Bedouin Arab came and said: ‘Peace

be upon you, O Messenger of Allah! I have heard Allah saying: “If they had

33Bustan al-‘Arifin fil-Zuhdi wa al-Tas.awwuf. Ed. ‘Abd al-H. amid Darwish. Damascus:

Published by editor, 1999-2000. Also: Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi, 1985.34Al-Nawawi, Bustan al-‘Arifin (p. 53-54).35Al-Id. ah. fi Manasik al-H. ajj. 3 vols. Damascus: Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islamiyya, 1999. Also:

Damascus: Dar ibn Khaldun, n.d.36This is the poet Muh. ammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn Mu‘awiya al-Umawi.


Imam al-H. aramayn [Ibn al-Juwayni] relates it from his father Shaykh Abu

Muh. ammad, then rejects it saying: ‘I cannot find any basis nor any previous

mention for this.’ The statement of Imam al-H. aramayn is obvious, for nothing

has been established from the Prophet to that effect nor from those of the Salaf

who are our examples. The vast majority of our [Shafi‘i] scholars did not address

it and Allah knows best.”77

[7] Inveterate Practices of the People at Large with the Qur’an in 11 headings.

[8] On the Verses and Qur’an-Chapters that It Is Desirable to Recite in

Specific Times and Circumstances.

[9] Writing the Qur’an and Dignifying the Volume of Qur’an (Mushaf) in 13

headings.

[10] Accurate Spelling of Some Names and Terms Mentioned in the Book.

•Al-Tibyan wa al-Mawa‘iz. , a book of sermons and admonitions of which he

also authored an abridgment.

•Al-‘Umda fi Tas.h. ih. Lughat al-Tanbih, one of his earliest works.

•Al-Us. ul wa al-D. awabit., of which he completed only a few pages.

•Wird al-Imam al-Nawawi, the Imam’s daily devotion, beginning, Bismillah,

Allahu akbar! Aqulu ‘ala nafsi wa ‘ala dini wa ‘ala ahli. . . This light-filled daily

prayer of the Imam was came to us through his student Ibn al-‘At.t.ar and the

latter’s student the h. adith Master ‘Abd al-Rah. im al-‘Iraqi. Dr. Muh. ammad

Sa‘id Ramad. an al-But.i published it with its chain to Imam ‘Umar al-Shabrawi

from the latter’s introduction to his commentary on the Wird. It was also

published within a larger collection of devotions titled Mashariq al-Anwar by

the Shaykh al-Islam of Makka al-Mukarrama today, Dr. Muh. ammad ibn ‘Alawi

al-Maliki, through whom the author of these lines was priviledged to receive it.

Some Sayings of al-Nawawi

•“It occurred to me to study medicine, so I bought the Qanun of Ibn Sina,

whereupon darkness filled my heart and I remained unable to work for several

days. Then I came to my senses and sold the Qanun, after which light filled

my heart.” Shaykh ‘Abd al-Fattah. Abu Ghudda commented: “Thus does Allah

create in the souls attraction for one type of knowledge and aversion to another,

which al-Nawawi frequently quotes in his Rawd. a.77Al-Nawawi, al-Tibyan (p. 96-98). The preference for standing before prostrating seems

based – and Allah knows best – on the literal application of the verb “to fall” (kharra) used in

some of the verses of prostration such as “They fall down on their faces, weeping, and

it increases humility in them” (17:109), “When the revelations of the Beneficent

were recited unto them, they fell down, adoring and weeping” (19:58), and “Only

those believe in Our revelations who, when they are reminded of them, fall down

prostrate” (32:15).


Al-Tibyan

•Al-Tibyan fi Adab H. amalat al-Qur’an (“Exposition of the Inveterate Practices

of the Bearers of Qur’an”) is a true gem among books, sadly an underread work

today among Qur’an-memorizers.74 The book is divided in the following ten

chapters:

[1] The Merit of Qur’an-Recital and Its Bearers.

[2] The Precedence of Recitation and Reciters Over Others.

[3] Honoring the People of the Qur’an and the Prohibition of Harming them.

[4] Inveterate Practices (adab) of the Teacher and Student of Qur’an in 21

headings.

[5] Inveterate Practices of the Bearer of Qur’an in 5 headings.

[6] Inveterate Practices pertaining to the Qur’an in 55 headings in which

he states: “Reciting the Qur’an is prohibited upon those in a state of major

ritual impurity (al-junub) and women in their menses (al-ha’id. ), whether a singel

verse or less, but it is permitted for them to rehearse it in their heart without

pronouncing it, and also to look into the mushaf and recount it in the heart.

The Muslims have reached consensus that it is allowed for the junub and ha’id.to make tasbih. , tahlil, tah.mid, takbir, and invoking blessings on the Prophet

among other formulas of dhikr.”75 He also states, concerning the prostration

after recitation of certain verses (sujud al-tilawa):

– Bowing (al-ruku‘) does not take the place of prostration (al-sujud) for the

prostration of recitation except in the H. anafi School.

– One raises the hands and utters Allahu akbar intending to enter the state

of prayer (al-ih. ram), then a second time upon prostrating, however, only the

first takbir is obligatory while the second is desirable.

– Among the Shafi‘is who hold it obligatory for someone who is sitting when

hearing the verse of prostration to rise and stand before prostrating are “Abu

Muh. ammad al-Juwayni, al-Qad. i H. usayn, his two companions the authors of

al-Tatimma and al-Tahdhib,76 and the verifying Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Rafi‘i.

74Al-Tibyan fi Adab H. amalat al-Qur’an. Ed. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ‘Izz al-Din al-Sayrawan. Beirut:

Dar al-Nafa’is, 19923. Also: Al-Tibyan fi Adab H. amalat al-Qur’an. Ed. Bashir Muh.ammad

‘Uyun. 2nd ed. Al-T. a’if and Damascus: Maktabat al-Mu’ayyad and Maktabat Dar al-Bayan,

1993.75Al-Nawawi, al-Tibyan (p. 54).76Respectively the two Shaykhs of Shafi‘is, the faqih and us. uli Sharaf al-A’imma Abu Sa‘d

‘Abd al-Rah.man ibn Ma’mun ibn ‘Ali al-Abiwardi known as al-Mutawalli (d. 478) the author

of the Tatimmat al-Ibana fi Fiqh al-Shafi‘i – the completion of the unfinished Ibana of Imam

Abu al-Qasim ‘Abd al-Rah.man ibn al-Furani (d. 461) – and the Imam, faqih, commentator

of Qur’an, and h. adith h. adith Master Muh. yi al-Sunna Abu Muh.ammad al-H. usayn ibn Mas‘ud

ibn Muh. ammad al-Farra’ al-Baghawi al-Shafi‘i (d. 516) the author of al-Tahdhib fi Fiqh al-

Imam al-Shafi‘i in four large volumes, an emendation of al-Qad. i H. usayn’s al-Ta‘liqa, from


only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto you and asked

the forgiveness of Allah, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness

for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-Returning, Most

Merciful” (4:64), so I have come to you asking forgiveness for my sin, seeking

your intercession with my Lord.’ Then he began to recite poetry:

O best of those whose bones are buried in the deep earth,

From whose fragrance the depth and height have become sweet

May I be the ransom for a grave in which you dwell,

Where one finds purity, bounty and munificence!

Then he left and I dozed off and saw the Prophet in my sleep. He said to me:

“Utbi! Run after the Bedouin and give him glad tidings that Allah has forgiven

him.”’37

This report does not have a sound chain of transmission according to Shaykh

Mah.mud Sa‘id Mamduh. but it is confirmed by two other closely similar reports,

one narrated from ‘Ali, the other from Abu H. arb al-Hilali.38 The report is

adduced by many of the Scholars of tafsir and fiqh to point out the timeless

37Narrated by al-Nawawi, al-Adhkar (Makka: al-Maktabat al-Tijariyya, 1412/1992, p. 253-

254, al-Majmu‘ (8:217), and al-Idah fi Manasik al-H. ajj (p. 144), chapter on visiting the grave

of the Prophet ; Ibn ‘Asakir, Mukhtas.ar Tarikh Dimashq (2:408); Ibn Kathir, Tafsir (2:306)

and al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya (Ma‘arif ed. 1:180); Ibn Jama‘a, Hidayat al-Salik (3:1384); Ibn

‘Aqil, al-Tadhkira; Ibn Qudama, al-Mughni (3:556-557=3:298); al-Qurt.ubi, Tafsir of verse

4:64 in Ah. kam al-Qur’an (5:265); al-Samhudi, Khulasat al-Wafa (p. 121, from al-Nawawi);

Abu al-Faraj ibn Qudama, al-Sharh. al-Kabir (3:495); al-Buhuti al-H. anbali, Kashshaf al-Qina‘

(5:30); Taqi al-Din al-Subki, Shifa’ al-Siqam (p. 52); Ibn al-Jawzi, Muthir al-Gharam al-

Sakin ila Ashraf al-Amakin (p. 490); al-Haytami, al-Jawhar al-Munaz.z.am fi Ziyarat al-

Qabr al-Mukarram; Ibn al-Najjar, Akhbar al-Madina (p. 147); Dah. lan, Khulas.at al-Kalam

(2:247). A similar report is cited through Sufyan ibn ‘Uyayna (al-Shafi‘i’s shaykh), and

through Abu Sa‘id al-Sam‘ani on the authority of ‘Ali. The h. adith of al-‘Utbi is among

the passages suppressed from Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Arna’ut.’s Ryad edition at Dar al-Huda

(1409/1989). It took Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir three years to issue a disavowal of that edition

and a facsimile of his handwritten letter of retraction (dated 1413/1992) was published by

Shaykh Mah.mud Mamduh. in his Raf‘ al-Minara (p. 73-75 and 377-379). Many examples

of similar manipulation of Islamic texts have been exposed. This tampering was already a

hallmark of anthropomorphists in the time of Ibn al-Subki who exposes them, in his T. abaqat

al-Shafi‘iyya al-Kubra (2:16-19), as a group who give themselves a licence to lie if it helps

promote their doctrine: “The Khat.t.abiyya are the mujassima of our time and they consider it

licit to lie to those who contradict them in their doctrine. . . This is their belief, they consider

themselves the only Muslims, and they consider themselves the Ahl al-Sunna! . . . To the point

that some of the mujassima in our time have copied the text of Shaykh Muh. yi al-Din al-

Nawawi’s Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim and suppressed from his words all he said on the h. adiths of

the Divine Attributes. For al-Nawawi is Ash‘ari in doctrine, and the copyist could not bear

to copy the book in the state its writer put it. And I consider this one of the greatest sins for

it is a corruption (tah. rif ) of the Shari‘a.”38Respectively in al-Qurt.ubi’s Tafsir (5:265-266) and al-Bayhaqi’s Shu‘ab al-Iman (3:495-

496 #4178).


meaning of the verse and the fact that it applies to all those who come after

the time of the Prophet . In contradiction to this principle, Shaykh Muh.ammad

ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi made the false claim that “None of the Salaf and Khalaf

understood from the verse other than to come to him in his own lifetime”!39 A

more recent writer even said: “It is unfeasible (muta‘adhdhir) for the Prophet

to ask forgiveness after his death because when he died his deeds came to an

end. . . . It is not possible for a human being after his death to ask for anyone’s

forgiveness nor even his own because deeds have ended.”40 One of his friends

adds: “I have found no evidence for the Prophet’s hearing of the salaam of those

who greet him at his grave.”41 We seek refuge in Allah from uttering anything

unfounded about His Book and His Prophet or disparaging the status of the

Prophet!

•Al-Ijaz fi Manasik al-H. ajj, the abridgment of al-Id. ah. . Ibn Qad. i Shuhba

said al-Nawawi authored four more manuals on H. ajj.

Al-Irshad

•Irshad T. ullab al-H. aqa’iq ila Ma‘rifat Sunan Khayr al-Khala’iq , known

simply as al-Irshad, is Imam al-Nawawi’s concise abridgment of Ibn al-S.alah. ’s

Muqaddima fi ‘Ulum al-H. adith,42 which he then epitomized in the shorter al-

39Ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi, al-Sarim al-Munki (p. 425). Shaykh Mamduh. in Raf‘ al-Minara (p.

78) said: “The story [of al-‘Utbi] does not have a sound chain of transmission but the evidence

provided by its mention lies in the fact that the scholars adduced it as a agreeable way

(isti’nasan) to show that this verse [4:64] denotes universality [of time]. The h. adith of the

presentation of our works [to the Prophet] supports this inference from the verse, namely, his

saying: “My life is a great good for you, you will relate about me and it will be related to you,

and my death is a great good for you, your actions will be presented to me, and if I see goodness

I will praise Allah, and if I see evil I will ask forgiveness of Him for you” [documented in our

translation of Shaykh Muh.ammad ibn ‘Alawi al-Maliki’s The Prophets in Barzakh (ASFA ed.

p. 35-38 #17)]. I am ceaselessly astonisheds. by Ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi’s – Allah have mercy on

him! – bearing a negative witness. to the Salaf and Khalaf – not sufficing himself with the

former but extending himself to the latter! One look at the books of tafsir, fiqh, and manasik

that are in front of us is enough to show that they mention this verse when broaching the

subject of ziyara. If Ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi – Allah have mercy on him – had only recalled the

books of his [H. anbali] madhhab [e.g. Ibn Qudama’s al-Mughni (3:297), Ibn Muflih. ’s al-Mubdi‘

fi Sharh. al-Muqni‘ (3:259), al-Buhuti’s Kashshaf al-Qina‘ (2:515; 5:36), Ibn Dawyan’s Manar

al-Sabil (1:256), etc.] and the fact that the H. anbali jurisprudent masters inferred from the

verse the desirability (istihbab) of visitation because of that explicit statement of the Prophet!

However, ‘your love for something blinds you and makes you deaf.”’40Muh.ammad ibn S. alih. al-‘Uthaymin, Fatawa (1:89). Shaykh Mamduh. qualified the

statement as “impudent” and “a blunder” and refuted it in Raf‘ al-Minara (p. 81-86).41Al-Albani, notes on Nu‘man al-Alusi’s al-Ayat al-Bayyinat (p. 80).42“The best book authored by the Ulema on the topic.” ‘Itr in al-Nawawi’s al-Irshad (p.

291).


meaning is His mercy, command, and angels descend just as one says ‘the Sultan

did such-and-such’ when his suite did it on his order; (b) The second is that it

is a metaphor (isti‘ara) that signifies turning to (iqbal)68 the supplicant with

response and kindness, and Allah knows best.”69

•Sharh. al-Was. it, part of a commentary on al-Ghazzali’s medium-sized

manual of Shafi‘i fiqh, which al-Nawawi did not complete.

•T. abaqat al-Fuqaha’, an abridgment of Ibn al-Salah. ’s eponymous work of

which the Imam finished a draft which was then completed by Imam al-Subki.

•Tahdhib al-Asma’ wa al-Lughat in four volumes, a reference manual

containing a Sira of the Prophet and brief biographies for some of the figures of

the first three Islamic centuries and the Four Imams.70

•Al-Tah. qiq, which focusses on the rulings mentioned in al-Majmu‘ and the

differences of the scholars. He completed it to the chapter on the traveller’s

prayer.

•Tah. rir al-Tanbih.71

•Al-Taqrib wa al-Taysir li Ma‘rifat Sunan al-Bashir al-Nadhir, an

abridgment of his Irshad.72 The Taqrib received an illustrious commentary by

Imam al-Suyut.i in two volumes, Tadrib al-Rawi.

•Al-Tarkhis. fil-Ikram bil-Qiyam li-Dhawi al-Fad. li wa al-Maziyyati min Ahli

al-Islam ‘ala Jihati al-Birri wal-Tawqiri wal-Ih. tiram la ‘ala Jihati al-Riya’i

wal-I‘z. am (“The Permissibility of Dignifying, By Standing Up, Those Who

Possess Excellence and Distinction Among the People of Islam: In the Spirit

of Piousness, Reverence, and Respect, Not in the Spirit of Display and

Aggrandizement”).73

stated by al-Mizzi in Tahdhib al-Kamal (28:71). The bracketed words are only in the wording

cited by al-Qad. i ‘Iyad. in his Tartib al-Madarik (2:44). Ibn Rushd in Sharh. al-‘Utbiyya – a

commentary on an early work of Maliki jurisprudence by Muh.ammad ibn Ah.mad ibn ‘Abd

al-‘Aziz al-‘Utbi al-Qurt.ubi (d. 254) – stated that Malik’s position is: “The Throne is not

a location of settledness for Allah (mawd. i‘ istiqrar Allah)” cf. Fath. al-Bari (1959 ed. 7:124

#3592).68Attributed to H. ammad ibn Zayd by al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma’ (K ed. p. 456; H ed. 2:380).69Al-Nawawi, Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim (6:36-37).70Tahdhib al-Asma’ wa al-Lughat. Cairo: Idarat al-T. iba‘at al-Muniriyya, [1927?].71Tah. rir al-Tanbih. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1990.72Al-Taqrib wa al-Taysir li-Ma‘rifat Sunan al-Bashir al-Nadhir. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-

‘Ilmiyya, 1987. Also edited in full within al-Suyut.i’s Tadrib al-Rawi.73Al-Tarkhis. . . . . Ed. Kilani Muh.ammad Khalifa. Beirut: Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islamiyya,

1988. See our extensive translations from al-Nawawi’s Tarkhis. and his Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim

together with Ibn H. ajar’s sections from Fath. al-Bari in refutation of Ibn al-H. ajj’s objections

to al-Tarkhis. , in the Encyclopedia of Islamic Doctrine (3:33-41) by Shaykh Hisham Kabbani.


perspicuous scholars and theologians and those who affirm the transcendence

of Allah (as.h. ab al-tanzih) who spoke to negate the concept of limit and the

inconceivability of direction with relation to Him interpreted them according to

content.”’65

– [On the “descent” of Allah in the h. adith, “Allah descends to the nearest

heaven in the last third of the night”66:] “This is one of the narrations on the

Divine Attributes, regarding which the Ulema hold two well-known positions

which were clarified in the book of Iman. Their summary is that the first position

– and this is the school of the vast majority of the Salaf and some of the scholars

of kalam – consists in believing in the reality (h. aqq) of these narrations according

to what befits Allah while their outward sense commonly applicable to us is not

meant, nor are they to be interpreted figuratively, at the same time as one

firmly believes in the transcendence of Allah beyond the attributes of creatures,

displacement, motions, and all the rest of the characteristics of created things.

The second position is the school of most of the scholars of kalam and groups

of the Salaf – and it is reported here [on this point] from Malik and al-Awza‘i –

and consists in interpreting them figuratively according to whatever befits them

in their contexts. On this basis they gave this narration two interpretations:

(a) The interpretation (ta’wil) of Malik ibn Anas67 and others stating that its

65Al-Nawawi, Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim (5:24-25). Cf. Shaykh Hisham Kabbani’s Encyclopedia

(1:133-135) and Islamic Beliefs (p. 149-151).66Narrated from Abu Hurayra by al-Bukhari, Muslim, Malik, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi,

Ah.mad, and al-Darimi. It is narrated from twenty-three Companions and therefore mutawatir

as indicated by al-Kattani in Naz.m al-Mutanathir. One of al-Baghawi’s wordings in Sharh.al-Sunna (4:66) has: “He stoops” (yatanazzalu).

67Mut.arrif ibn ‘Abd Allah – al-Bukhari’s shaykh – and Habib ibn Abi Habib both narrated

that Imam Malik said concerning the h. adith of descent: “It is our Blessed and Exalted Lord’s

command which descends <every pre-dawn (kullu sah. ar)>; as for Him, He is eternally the

same, He does not move or go to and fro.” Narrated from Mut.arrif by Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr in

al-Tamhid (7:143) with a weak chain because of Jami‘ ibn Sawada as per al-Daraqut.ni in

Ibn H. ajar’s Lisan (2:93). Also narrated from S. alih. ibn Ayyub from H. abib ibn Abi H. abib

– who is very weak – by al-Dhahabi in Syar A‘lam al-Nubala’ (8:418). The latter reported

in his Mizan (1:452) from Ibn ‘Adi’s Kamil (2”818) the opinion that all of Ibn Abi H. abib’s

narrations are forged but this is an extreme statement in light of three factors: (a) Ibn ‘Abd

al-Barr in al-Tamhid (24:177) mentioned H. abib as merely weak, adding: “His reports from

Malik are full of mistakes and condemned matters”; (b) S. alih. ibn Ayyub said: “I mentioned

this report to Yah.ya ibn Bukayr and he said: “Excellent, by Allah! and I did not hear

it from Malik.” Narrated by al-Dhahabi who describes Ibn Bukayr in Tadhkirat al-H. uffaz.(2:420) as “the muh. addith of Egypt, the Imam and trustworthy h. adith Master. . . one of the

vessels of knowledge together with truthfulness and complete reliability. . . Where is the like

of Ibn Bukayr in his leadership in the Religion, his insight in fatwa, and the abundance

of his learning?” (c) Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr in al-Tamhid (7:143) also narrates this report from

H. abib, then goes on to narrate it from Mut.arrif, adding: “It is possible that the matter be as

Malik said, and Allah knows best.” It is established that Jami‘ did narrate from Mut.arrif, as


Taqrib wa al-Taysir and in which, according to Dr. Nur al-Din ‘Itr, he was the

first to use the title “The Shaykh” (for Ibn al-Salah. ) in the sense of one who

has completely mastered his discipline.43 The Irshad begins with the words:

“Praise belongs to Allah the Bestower of Favors and Sciences, who has preferred

the Community of Muh. ammad to all other communities, and has singled it out

with the science of the chain of transmission (‘ilm al-isnad), which no [non-

Muslim] creature has shared with it.” It received two editions to date: that of

‘Abd al-Bari al-Salafi in two volumes – in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for his Magister degree in 1984 at the University of Madina – and that of our

teacher Nur al-Din ‘Itr, who castigated the former edition as “despite its bulk,

missing some of the basic prerequisites of editorship and first principles of this

art.”44

•Al-Isharat, an abridgment of Imam al-Khat.ib al-Baghdadi’s al-Asma’ al-

Mubhama (“Anonymous Mentions”) identifying those left unnamed in h.adiths

or h. adith chains.

•Al-Isharat ila ma Waqa‘a fi al-Rawd. a min al-Asma’ wa al-Ma‘ani wa al-

Lughat, completed until the book of s.alat.

•Al-Istisqa’.

•Al-Khulas.a fi Ah. adith al-Ah. kam, listing the h.adiths mentioned in al-Majmu‘

up to the book of zakat.45

•Ma Tamassu Ilayhi H. ajatu al-Qari li-S. ah. ih. al-Imam al-Bukhari, a brief

introduction to the study of the most authentic book in Islam after the Holy

Qur’an.46

Al-Majmu‘

•Al-Majmu‘ Sharh. al-Muhadhdhab is al-Nawawi’s unfinished magnum opus of

Shafi‘i fiqh.47 The Imam died – Allah have mercy on him and grant him Paradise!

– when he reached the chapters on usury (riba), then Shaykh al-Islam al-Subki

completed it in about eighteen volumes. Al-Nawawi states in the introduction:

We believe that “the Merciful established Himself over the Throne”

(20:5), and we do not know the reality of the meaning of this nor what is meant

43Irshad T. ullab al-H. aqa’iq ila Ma‘rifati Sunan Khayri al-Khala’iq . 3rd ed. Ed. Nur al-Din

‘Itr. Beirut: Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islamiyya, 1992.44‘Itr in al-Nawawi’s al-Irshad (p. 283-290). Shaykh Nur al-Din details his objections in

eleven points.45Khulas.at al-Ah. kam fi Muhimmat al-Sunan wa Qawa‘id al-Islam. 2 vols. Ed. H. usayn

Isma‘il al-Jamal. Beirut: Mu’assasat al-Risala, 1997.46Ed. ‘Ali H. asan ‘Abd al-H. amid. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, n.d.47Al-Majmu‘ Sharh. al-Muhadhdhab. 18 vols. Ed. Zakariyya ‘Ali Yusuf. Cairo: Mat.ba‘at

al-‘As.ima, 1963-1970.


by it48 (la na‘lamu h. aqiqata ma‘na dhalika wa al-murada bihi), while we do

believe that “There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him” (42:11) and

that He is exalted far beyond the most elevated of created things. That [i.e.

committal of the meaning (tafwid. al-ma‘na)] is the way of the Salaf or at least

their vast majority, and it is the safest because one is not required to probe into

such matters.49

He also stated: “Among those who commit apostasy (fa mimman yakfur)

are those who frankly and explicitly attribute a body [to Allah ] (man yujassimu

tajsiman s.arih. an).”50

•Al-Manthurat fi al-Fiqh, better known as his Fatawa, is a single volume

collected and published by his student Ibn al-‘At.t.ar.51 Among the notable fatwas

Imam al-Nawawi gave:

– In the book of divorce: If a man swears on pains of divorce that al-Shafi‘i

is the greatest Imam and his Madhhab the greatest Madhhab, divorce does not

take place. (Meaning, he is not perjuring himself.)

– The verse “None in the heavens and the earth knows the Unseen

save Allah” (27:65) means: “[knows] independently (ay: istiqlalan).”

•Minhaj al-T. alibin wa ‘Umdat al-Muftin in fiqh, the abridgment of the

Rawd. a.

•Mubhamat al-Ah. kam, similar to the Tah. qiq but omitting the differences of

the scholars, incomplete.

•Al-Muntakhab, an abridgment of al-Rafi‘i’s al-Tadhnib.

•Nukat al-Wasit., anecdotes on al-Ghazzali’s fiqh manual.

•Rawd. at al-T. alibin, a medium-sized reference manual of Shafi‘i fiqh abridged

in his Minhaj al-T. alibin.52 The Rawd. a is itself an abridgment of Imam al-Rafi‘i’s

Sharh. al-Wajiz, also known as al-Sharh. al-Kabir.

•Riyad. al-S. alih. in, one of the most widely read anthologies of the Prophetic

h. adiths focussing on personal ethics and formed of 372 chapters spread over

nineteen books, each chapter citing the verses of Qur’an and authentic h. adiths

that pertain to the subject at hand.53 The Imam finished compiling it in mid-

48This is the exact and precise “committal of the meaning” (tafwid. al-ma‘na) the Salaf

practiced, as Imam al-Baghawi said in Sharh. al-Sunna (1:171): “Thus did the Salaf of this

Community and the learned scholars of the Sunna use to do: they received all the reports

[on the Divine Attributes] with complete faith and acceptance, avoiding exemplification

(al-tamthil) and figurative interpretation (al-ta’wil) with regard to them, entrusting their

knowledge (wa wakalu al-‘ilma fiha) to Allah.”49Al-Nawawi, al-Majmu‘ Sharh. al-Muhadhdhab (1:25).50Ibid. (4:254).51Fatawa. Ed. Muh.ammad al-H. ajjar. H. alab: al-Mat.ba‘at al-‘Arabiyya, 1971.52Rawd. at al-T. alibin wa ‘Umdat al-Muftin. 12 vols. Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1985.53Riyad. al-S. alih. in min Kalam Sayyid al-Mursalin with a commentary, Nuzhat al-Muttaqin.

2nd ed. 2 vols. Ed. Mus.t.afa Sa‘id al-Khinn et al. Baghdad: Mu’assasat al-Risala, 1978.


she was a believer in Oneness and not an idol-worshipper.64 Al-Qad. i ‘Iyad. said:

‘There is no disagreement among the Muslims – all without exception: jurists,

scholars of h. adith, theologians, debaters, and followers, that the external terms

(al-z.awahir) cited pertaining to Allah being ‘in the heaven’ – as in His saying:

“Have you taken security from Him Who is in the Heaven that He

will not cause the earth to swallow you?” (67:16) and the like – are not

taken outwardly (laysat ‘ala z. ahiriha) but rather are interpreted by all of them

(muta’awwila ‘inda jami‘ihim). So whoever among the h. adith scholars, jurists,

and mutakallimun asserted the upward direction (jihati fawq) without specifying

limit or modality did so only by interpreting “in the heaven” (fi al-sama’)

to mean “above the heaven” (‘ala al-sama’). And the great multitude of the

64Cf. ‘Ali al-Qari in his commentary on the h.adith in al-Mirqat Sharh. al-Mishkat (orig. ed.

3:492): “Al-Qad. i ‘Iyad. said: ‘By asking this, the intent of the Prophet was not to ask about

the place (makan) of Allah, for verily He is above and beyond space, as He is above and beyond

time. Rather, the intent of his question to her was to find out whether she was a believer in

oneness (muwah. h. ida) or someone who associated partners to Allah (mushrika), because the

unbelievers (kuffar) of the Arabs used to worship idols, and each tribe used to have a specific

idol in its midst which it worshipped and aggrandized, and it may be that the simple-minded

and ignorant ones among them did not know any other object of worship than that idol. The

Prophet therefore meant to determine what she worshipped. When she said: “in the heaven”

– and another narration says that she made a sign towards the heaven – it was understood

that she was a believer in oneness. He meant by this line of questioning the disavowal of

the gods of the earth (nafi al-aliha al-ardiyya) which are the idols, not the establishment

of the heaven as a location for Allah, and Allah is greatly Exalted from the sayings of the

wrong-doers!”’ While Ibn Rushd the grandson [Averroes] said in his Fas. l al-Maqal (p. 52-53):

“The application of figurative interpretation (ta’wil) to the fundamentals (mabadi’) is apostasy

while its application to secondary matters is innovation. But there is here an outward meaning

which the Scholars of Proof (ahl al-burhan) must interpret figuratively because understanding

it literally would be disbelief. Yet its interpretation by other than them and the rendering of

its meaning as other than the literal expression is either apostasy or innovation. To such a

category belong the verse of istiwa’ and the h. adith of nuzul. Because of this the Prophet said,

with respect to the slave-girl when she told him that Allah is “in the sky” (fi al-sama’): “free

her, for she is a believer.” For she was not among the Scholars of Proof. The reason behind it

[the Prophet’s command] pertains to that category of people to whom belief is inconceivable

without by visualization. They do not believe in the existence of a thing except if they can

imagine it and it is difficult for them to believe in the existence of a thing that cannot be

compared to something one can visualize. This [reasoning] also applies to those who cannot

understand from such ascription [i.e. istiwa’ and nuzul ] other than a place (makan). They

assault the first category incompetently for their denial of corporeality. This is why the proper

answer for them is to tell them that such [verses and h. adiths] are among the ambiguities (al-

mutashabihat).” Ibn H. ajar said: “Al-Kirmani (d. 668) said: ‘The literal meaning of “the

one who is in the heaven” is not meant, for Allah is transcendent beyond indwelling a place.

However, since the direction of elevation is nobler than any other direction, Allah predicated

it to Himself to indicate the loftiness of His Essence and Attributes.’ Others than al-Kirmani

addressed in similar terms the expressions that came down concerning aboveness (fawqiyya).”

Fath. al-Bari (1959 ed. 13:412).


And the scholars have differed as to its interpretation, saying that the pronoun

in the words ‘his form’ refers to the brother being struck. This is the outward

sense of Muslim’s narration. A group said that it refers to Adam, and this is

somewhat weak. A group said that it refers to Allah as a possessive of honor

and specificity, as in His saying “the she-camel of Allah” (90:13) and as one

says of the Ka‘ba ‘the House of Allah’ and so forth, and Allah knows best.”60

– [On “aboveness” (fawqiyya) in the Divine Attribute “The All-Victorious”

(al-Zahir) in the h.adith, “O Allah! You are the First – there is nothing before

You – and You are the Last – there is nothing after You – and You are the All-

Victorious – there is nothing above You (fawqaka) – and You are the Hidden

– there is nothing without You (dunaka)”61]: “Concerning the meaning of the

Divine Name al-Z. ahir it was said that it refers to supremacy (al-z.uhur) in the

sense of dominion (al-qahr), overpowering (al-ghalaba), and total power (kamal

al-qudra), hence we say: so-and-so dominates (z.ahara ‘ala) so-and-so.”62

– [On the highmost exaltation (‘uluw) of Allah in the h. adith, “Where is

Allah?”63]: “This is one of the narrations that deal with the Divine Attributes

and there are two schools of reading for it which we have already discussed

several times in the book of Iman. The first consists in believing in it without

probing its meaning while holding that there is nothing like unto Allah and

declaring His transcendence beyond the characteristics of things created. The

second consists in interpreting it in whatever way befits it. Whoever holds the

latter position says that the intention [of the Prophet] was to test her: was she

a believer in oneness (muwah. h. ida) who confirms that the Creator, Disposer,

and Doer is Allah alone? and that it is He Who, when the petitioner invokes

Him, he turns towards the heaven, just as when the worshipper prays, he turns

towards the Ka‘ba? And this is not because He is circumscribed in the heaven

nor is it because He is circumscribed in the direction of the Ka‘ba. Rather,

this is because the heaven is the orientation (qibla) of those who supplicate,

just as the Ka‘ba is the orientation of those who worship. Or, on the other

hand, was she of the idol-worshippers who worship the idols that are displayed

in front of them? When she replied: ‘In the heaven,’ it became known that

60Al-Nawawi, Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim (16:166).61Part of a longer h. adith of the Prophet narrated from Abu Hurayra by Muslim, al-Tirmidhi

(h. asan s.ah. ih. ), Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and Ah.mad.62Al-Nawawi, Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim (17:36). This is similar to al-Baghawi’s explanation in

Ma‘alim al-Tanzil (4:293): “Al-Zahir is the Victorious (al-ghalib) who is predominant over

everything (al-‘ali ‘ala kulli shay’). This is the meaning of the statement of Ibn ‘Abbas.”63Narrated from Mu‘awiya ibn al-H. akam al-Sulami by Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Nasa’i, and

Ah.mad while Malik erroneously reports it from ‘Umar ibn al-H. akam. On this h. adith the

watchful Muslim ought to keep strictly to the commentaries of the Sunni Imams al-Bayhaqi,

al-Qushayri, al-Nawawi, Ibn H. ajar, and al-Qari, and ignore the rest, especially the slurs of the

people of innovation and anthropomorphism.


Ramadan of 670.

•Ru’us al-Masa’il.

•Sharh. S. ah. ih. al-Bukhari, which is more correctly known as the slim Ma

Tamassu Ilayhi H. ajatu al-Qari, a brief introduction to the commentary of the

S. ah. ih. but by no means an actual commentary.

Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim

•Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim ranks, with the Adkhar, Riyad. al-S. alih. in, and other works

of al-Nawawi, among the great masterpieces of Sunni literature.54 The Imam

titled it “The Method” – al-Minhaj fi Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim ibn al-H. ajjaj –

and built on previous works by the Malikis al-Qad. i ‘Iyad. and al-Mazari. A

commentary on Muslim’s S. ah. ih. – the third most authentic book in Islam after

the Qur’an and al-Bukhari’s S. ah. ih. – it numbers about twenty volumes in print.

Al-Nawawi’s Ash‘ari Doctrine

More than any other work of Imam al-Nawawi, Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim contains

his most explicit statements of doctrine on the Divine Attributes showing, as al-

Yafi‘i, Ibn al-Subki and al-Sakhawi said, that “al-Nawawi is Ash‘ari in doctrine”

and that “he applied figurative interpretation (ta’wil)” of the Divine Attributes

connoting corporeality.55 Excerpts:

– [On the ‘Coming’ and ‘Arrival’ of Allah in the h. adith narrated by Abu

Hurayra: “Then Allah will come to them in a form (s. ura) other than the one

which they know”56]: “Know that there are two positions among the people of

54Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim. 18 vols. Ed. Khalil al-Mays. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, n.d.

Also: Dar Ih.ya’ al-Turath al-‘Arabi, 1972 Includes Muslim’s S. ah. ih. .55Cf. Ibn al-Subki, T. abaqat al-Shafi‘iyya al-Kubra (2:19) and al-Sakhawi, Tarjimat al-

Nawawi (p. 36) respectively.56Narrated in a long h. adith from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri and Abu Hurayra by al-Bukhari

in his S. ah. ih. (book of Tawhid, chapter entitled “The saying of Allah (That day will faces

be resplendent, Looking toward their Lord) (75:22-23) #7002 of al-Bugha’s edition)

and Muslim in his S. ah. ih. (book of Iman, chapter entitled “Knowledge of the Way Allah is

Seen” #183 of ‘Abd al-Baqi’s edition). The Khan translation of al-Bukhari (9.532.2) gives

a rendering of the h. adith of Abu Sa‘id suggesting anthropomorphism in which is used the

phrase: “and so Allah will then uncover His Shin (fa yakshifu ‘an saqihi) [in Muslim: “and so

the shin will be uncovered”] whereupon every believer will prostrate before Him. . . ” whereas

it is authentically narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that “to uncover the shin” in Arabic denotes

intense affliction and hardship as narrated by al-T. abari in his Tafsir (28:38-42), al-H. akim

(2:499-500 isnad s.ah. ih. =1990 ed. 2:542), al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma’ wa al-S. ifat (Kawthari ed. p.

345-346=H. ashidi ed. 2:183-185 #746-748) with two fair chains and one sound chain according

to Ibn H. ajar in Fath. al-Bari (1959 ed. 13:428 in his commentary on the h. adith cited in

n. with a fair chain according to al-Arna’ut., al-Qurt.ubi (18:248-249), al-S. an‘ani (3:310) and

al-Shawkani (5:275-278), Ibn Qutayba in Mukhtalif al-H. adith, Ibn al-Jawzi in Daf‘ Shubah


learning on the narrations and verses of the Divine Attributes. The first one

– and this is the school of the majority of the Salaf or rather all of them –

states that one does not address their meaning but says: We are obliged to

believe in them and we hold, concerning them, whatever befits the majesty

of Allah and His magnificence, at the same time categorically believing that

Allah – (Nothing whatsoever is like unto Him) (42:11) and that He is

declared transcendent (munazzah) beyond corporeality (al-tajsim), displacement

(al-intiqal), dimensionality (al-tah. ayyuz) in any given direction (jiha), and all

the rest of the attributes of creatures. And this position is that of a group

of the scholars of kalam and a group of their verifying scholars have preferred

it. And it is the safest position (wa huwa al-aslam). The second position –

and it is that of most of the mutakallimun – is that such texts be interpreted

(tata’awwal) according to what befits them in their respective contexts, and

that this is permissible only to those who are qualified to interpret them.

Namely, one thoroughly versed in the language of the Arabs, the principles of

jurisprudence, and the branches of the Law, with mastery in learning. According

to this position one says, about the words ‘Then Allah shall come to them’: the

‘coming’ (al-ityan) is an expression for their seeing Him. For custom dictates

that whoever is absent from someone else cannot be seen by the latter except by

coming to him. So the ‘coming’ and ‘arrival’ (al-maji’) here express the vision

metaphorically (majazan). It was also said that the ‘coming’ is an act among

the acts of Allah which He named ‘coming.’ It was also said that by the coming

of Allah is meant that one of the angels of Allah comes to them. Al-Qad. i ‘Iyad.said: ‘This latter meaning is the most correct for the h. adith in my view.”57

– [On the “form” and vision of Allah in the same h. adith of Abu Hurayra:]

“So what is meant by ‘the form’ (al-s. ura) here is the attribute, in the sense that

Allah manifests Himself (yatajalla) to them in the attribute that they know and

by which they recognize Him. For they only know Him through His Attribute

even if they never saw Him before – Exalted is He! – as they shall see that

al-Tashbih (p. 15) and Zad al-Masir (8:341) – citing Ibn Qutayba and relating the same

meaning from Ibn ‘Abbas, Mujahid, Ibrahim al-Nakha‘i, Qatada, “and the vast majority of

the scholars,” al-Qushayri in Lat.a’if al-Isharat (6:189), Ibn Furak in Mushkal al-H. adith (p.

442), al-Khat.t.abi, Ibn Bat.t.al, al-Razi, Ibn H. azm in al-Fis.al (2:129), Ibn ‘Abd al-Salam in

al-Ishara ila al-Ijaz, Abu al-Su‘ud in his Tafsir (9:18), al-Bayd. awi in his, Ibn Kathir in his

(4:408-409), al-Wah. idi in his (2:1124), Jalalayn (p. 760), al-Suyut.i in al-Durr al-Manthur

(8:254-256), al-Karmi al-H. anbali in Aqawil al-Thiqat (p. 174), al-Zarkashi in al-Burhan (2:84)

who cites it (2:179) as an example of a metaphor which it is extremely disliked to interpret

literally, and others. When Sa‘id ibn Jubayr (d. 94) was asked about it he became very

angry and said: “Some people claim that ‘Allah uncovers His Shin’ !! Rather, He but uncovers

affliction and hardship.” Narrated by ‘Abd ibn H. umayd in his Musnad and Ibn al-Mundhir

as cited by al-Suyut.i in al-Durr al-Manthur (8:255).57Al-Nawawi, Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim (Turath ed. 3:19).


He does not resemble any of His creatures – and they know that He does not

resemble any of His creatures – so they will realize that this is their Lord and

say: ‘You are our Lord!’ So the word ‘attribute’ (s. ifa) was expressed by means

of the word ‘form’ (s. ura) because of resemblance (mushabaha) and reiteration

(mujanasat al-kalam) since there had already been mention of the form.”58

– [On the “form” of Allah in the h. adith, “If you fight your brother, avoid

striking the face, for Allah created Adam in his form/image”59]: “This is one

of the narrations of the Divine Attributes and we have already mentioned their

status clearly and at length in the book of Iman and said that their outward sense

is not meant but that they have a meaning that befits them. This is the position

of the vast majority (jumhur) of the Salaf an it is more cautious and safer. The

second position is that they be interpreted as befits Divine transcendence. . . .

58Ibid. (3:20).59Narrated from Abu Hurayra by Muslim and al-Bukhari, the latter without the words “your

brother.” Concerning the h.adith of Adam’s creation, Ahl al-Sunna concede that different

meanings are possible as stated in al-Qurt.ubi’s Tafsir and his al-Asna fi Sharh. Asma’ Allah

al-H. usna, al-Nawawi’s Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim, al-Munawi’s Fayd. al-Qadir, and elsewhere: (a)

The meaning whereby “Allah created Adam in his image [directly]” – i.e. in his finished

form without making him pass through the stages of embryonic formation; further, Adam

was created in Paradise in the same form in which he died on earth, without change cf. al-

Qurt.ubi, al-Asna (2:93-95). This meaning is confirmed by the narration of Imam Ah.mad in

his Musnad with a fair chain from Abu Hurayra: “The Prophet said: ‘The people of Paradise

shall enter Paradise naked, beardless, fair, long-haired, kohl-eyed, aged thirty-three, in the

form of Adam, sixty cubits by seven cubits.”’ (b) The meaning whereby “Allah created Adam

in the image of the Merciful” – although the narration in this wording is weak by agreement

of the Imams of h. adith as stated by al-Mazari in al-Mu‘lim bi Fawa’id Muslim (3:171) – i.e.

by sharing with him some of His Attributes, in their relative and not their full sense, such

as life, hearing, sight, knowledge, and so forth. The predication of image to the Merciful

therefore signifies possession, dignity, and bestowal as in the attribute of possession in the

verse “the she-camel of Allah” (90:13), not body part or appearance. This was clarified

by al-As.fahani in Mufradat Alfaz. al-Qur’an, al-Nawawi in Sharh. S. ah. ih. Muslim (16:166) and

al-Haytami in his Fatawa H. adithiyya (p. 290-293). (c) A third possible meaning is derived

from a variant version of this h. adith: “When one of you fights, let him avoid [striking] the

face [of the enemy], for Allah created Adam in his [that man’s] likeness.” Narrated from

Abu Hurayra by al-Bukhari and Muslim. Ibn Qutayba in Mukhtalif al-H. adith investigates

the different meanings then, after purpotedly adopting a non-interpretive position (bila kayf),

speaks of the Merciful “possessing a form unlike all other forms” (s. ura la ka al-s.uwar), to

which al-Mazari responds: “This is like the anthropomorphists’ words, ‘a body unlike all

other bodies’ (jismun la ka al-ajsam)!” Al-Mazari, al-Mu‘lim (3:172) as cited in Sharh. S. ah. ih.Muslim (16:166). Al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma’ wa al-S. ifat (al-H. ashidi ed. 2:60-65; al-Kawthari

ed. p. 289-291), following Imam Abu Thawr, gave precedence to the first meaning according

to the demands of sound doctrine and the greater soundness of the narrations which do not

mention the Merciful. This is also the interpretation followed by Ibn Khuzayma in Kitab

al-Tawh. id. Imam Malik actually forbade his students from narrating this h. adith so as not to

spread confusion among people cf. al-‘Uqayli, al-D. u‘afa’ (2:251 #806).

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