Scholars have compiled forty hadith concerning the fundamentals of the religion; others concerning the subsidiary branches, others concerning jihad, others concerning zuhd, others concerning manners, and others concerning admonishment. All of them are righteous intentions, and may Allah be pleased with those who had them.
This volume provides explanatory notes on Imam An-Nawawi's collection — the most memorized of them all.
Why These Forty Need a Commentary
Because An-Nawawi selected them for a specific reason: each carries a principle rather than a single ruling. Scholars have described them as poles around which the whole religion turns.
That is exactly what makes them dense. Actions are but by intentions. Part of a person's good Islam is his leaving what does not concern him. These are short enough to memorize in a minute and deep enough that entire volumes have been written on each.
A student who memorizes the forty without explanation has forty sentences. With explanation, he has a framework.
What the Notes Provide
The meaning of the narration, what the scholars derived from it, how it relates to the others, and how it applies. Enough to open the text without burying it.
Who It Is For
Anyone studying An-Nawawi's forty — which is most students at some stage — and teachers taking a class through them.
Other Forty-Hadith Collections
(2) 
