Preface

The following is the paraphrased transcription of the Explanation of the 40 Hadeeth of Nawawi by our Imaan, the Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen (rahimaullah), as narrated to us by his student, Shaykh Dr. Saalih As-Saalih (rahimaullah), in a series of audio lectures available on his website Understanding Islaam. Having found the audios extremely beneficial I set about the task to bring it transcribe and edit them to present them in printed form to maximize their benefit for the average English speaking Muslim. The main content will be edited as minimally as possible only to make the English text a little smoother and perhaps to further explain certain terms or issues that may be of benefit that were not covered or explained. So without further ado let us proceed to the main content.

Introduction
The Shaykh1, as is the manner of the Sunnah, began by Praising Allaah (Subhanahu Wa taAla), and indeed, all Praise is due to Allaah. We praise Him and seek His Forgiveness, and we seek Refuge in Allaah from our own evil selves and wrong deeds. Whoever Allaah guides none can misguide and whoever Allaah guides no one can misguide. We further testify that there is no god or diety worthy of worship but Allaah alone without partners, and that Allaah is one and unique having no partner nor associates and We testify that Muhammad is Allaahs slave and Messenger. May Allaah bestow Peace and Blessing upon him, his family and noble companions. The Shaykh then went on to give an introduction to the author of the treatise in discussion here, Arbaeen Nawawi, the great scholar of Islaam, Imaam An-Nawawi. Imaam An-Nawawi was from the reliable and trustworthy scholars from among the companions of Imaam Shafiee, and he was known for his wide authorship in the huge fields of Hadeeth and its Sciences as well as Arabic Linguistics. He was one of the most knowledgeable people from amongst the scholars as well as one of those who were most sincere in their authorship, and Allaah knows best, such that there is almost no masjid where Islaamic knowledge is given a priority, except that his book, Riyaadus Saliheen is read therein and benefitted from. This wide spread acceptance by people of his works is an indication of the purity of his intention. Imaam an-Nawawi was a mujtahid, i.e. a scholar capable of making ijtihaad, and a mujtahid may arrive at opinions that may be correct or incorrect and An-Nawawi was incorrect in regards to his position regarding the names and attributes of Allaah (subhanahu wa taAla) by resorting to the figurative interpretation of some of the attributes but not entirely denying them2. The Shaykh discusses this matter further. For example in the matter of Al-Istawa i.e. Allaahs Rising above or Ascending upon the Throne, the people of Taweel3 take this to mean that Allaah took control of the Throne, but they do not deny the matter of Al-Istawa itself, because an outright denial would be an act of Kufr that takes one out of Islaam. Denial of any of Allaahs attributes takes one out of Islaam, however, if someone interprets their meaning and this ascribed meaning can be accommodated within the linguistic meanings of the word then this is not considered a level of Kufr that takes one out of Islaam. For example, if one was to say that Allaah does not possess a real hand, but what is meant instead is His Power or His Favor, then this is erroneous and unsubstantiated by the understanding of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi wa Sallam) and the Salafus Saalih, but the word hand in Arabic may be used linguistically to denote these aspects. On the other hand, those who say that Allaah does not have a hand, even by meaning His Power or Favor, i.e. denying the attribute in the absolute sense, are commiting major kufr that takes one out of Islaam.
1 2 3

Unless otherwise specified, the term Shaykh used here will mean Shaykh Al-Uthaymeen [TN = Transcribers Note] He took the position of the Ashaaris in this regard [TN]. Figurative interpretation.

So in such matters Imaam An-Nawawi erred in his ijtihaad, and in relation to the myriads of benefitial works his errors are few and we hope that he is forgiven for them, and whatever he presented to the ummah that is beneficial, is accepted by Allaah and by that means, as Allaah says: Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds (Soorah Hud 11:114) We testify that as far as we know he is a person of righteousness and that he is a mujtahid and if he erred he is still rewarded once and if he is correct then the reward is doubled. Imaam An-Nawawi authored many books and this book , Arbaeen Nawawi4, is the best of his authorship and the Shaykh at the end of this introduction, encouraged the Seeker of Knowledge to memorize them because they are chosen from amongst many ahadeeth and cover various different topics, and we seek the Help of Allaah in explaining these hadeeth one by one.

Actually there are 42 Hadeeth in the compilation.