Forty Hadith of An-Nawawi (Pocketsize)

The most memorized collection in Islamic history, and the one most students of knowledge are set first.

Why These Forty

An-Nawawi did not select them for length or for fame. He selected narrations that each carry a principle rather than a single ruling — hadith that scholars have described as poles around which the whole religion turns.

That is why forty short texts have generated whole libraries of commentary, and why a student who has them secure has a framework for everything he learns afterward.

Why Pocket Size

Because this is a book for memorizing, and memorizing happens in gaps — a commute, a wait, ten minutes before a class. At 144 pages in a compact format it goes in a pocket and comes out repeatedly, which is what fixes forty texts in the memory.

Arabic and English

Both, which matters here more than in most books. These are texts to be memorized in Arabic, and having the translation alongside means a student understands what he is committing to memory rather than learning sounds.

Related Reading

• Jami' Al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab's classic commentary on these hadith
• 200 Golden Hadiths — 200 shorter hadith for memorizing
• Riyad-us-Saliheen — the same author's Riyad-us-Saliheen