In the seventh century after the Hijrah, the great scholar Imām Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf an-Nawawī (631–676 AH) gathered a small collection of hadith — forty-two in all — which he judged to be the great axes (qawāʿid) around which Islam turns. Memorised by students across the centuries, "an-Nawawī's Forty" is one of the most beloved gateways into the Sunnah.
What the collection is
An-Nawawī built on an older idea — the report that "whoever preserves for my Ummah forty hadith on their religion, Allah will raise him among the scholars." An-Nawawī himself noted that report is not established as ṣaḥīḥ, and said plainly that he relied not on it but on the far stronger command to convey knowledge:
The Prophet ﷺ said: "It is incumbent upon those who are present to inform those who are absent because those who are absent might comprehend (what I have said) better than the present audience."
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 67 · Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim — site reader no. 4254 (Kitāb al-Qasāmah)
He chose hadith that each carry a foundational principle, drawing overwhelmingly from the two Ṣaḥīḥs (al-Bukhārī and Muslim). The full forty-two — with Arabic, translation and reference — are carried in the site's hadith collection; this page is a study companion to their themes.
The foundations it opens with
The Imām placed at the very front the hadith on which the whole religion turns inward — that deeds are judged by intention:
إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَىٰ
"The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended."
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1 · Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim — site reader no. 4791 (Kitāb al-Imārah)
The second is the ḥadīth of Jibrīl, when the angel came in the form of a man and questioned the Prophet ﷺ before the Companions — defining Islām (the five pillars), Īmān (the six articles of faith) and Iḥsān (to worship Allah as though you see Him):
"…He (the inquirer) again said: Inform me about al-Ihsan (performance of good deeds). He (the Holy Prophet) said: That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, for though you don't see Him, He, verily, sees you."
Together these two set the two axes of the religion: the inward (intention, the states of the heart) and the outward (the pillars, the articles, the ranks of worship).
Key hadith from an-Nawawi's Forty and their principles: Hadith 1 — deeds by intention; Hadith 2 — Islam, Iman and Ihsan; Hadith 5 — every innovation in worship is rejected; Hadith 6 — the lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear; Hadith 7 — the religion is sincere counsel; Hadith 13 — love for your brother what you love for yourself.
Great axes of the religionA selection of the collection's most quoted hadith and the principle each carries.
Why they matter: an-Nawawī chose each hadith because a whole chapter of Islam can be built upon it — some scholars said several of these single hadith are "a third of Islam."
A thread through the themes
Read together, the collection maps the religion in miniature:
The inward life
- Intention purifies every deed (Hadith 1).
- The heart is the seat of soundness or ruin — a morsel that if sound, the whole body is sound (Hadith 6, on the ḥalāl & ḥarām).
- Love for others what you love for yourself (Hadith 13).
- Modesty (ḥayāʾ) is a branch of faith (Hadith 20).
The path kept straight
- Worship follows the Sunnah — every innovation is returned (Hadith 5).
- The religion is sincere counsel to Allah, His Book, His Messenger and the Muslims (Hadith 7).
- Leave what makes you doubt for what does not (Hadith 11).
- Confront evil by hand, tongue, then heart — the weakest of faith (Hadith 34).
The forty-two at a glance
Every hadith in the collection, numbered as an-Nawawī arranged them — with its narrator and source — so the whole map can be seen on one page. Most are from al-Bukhārī and Muslim; a handful are from the Sunan, transmitted with chains the scholars accepted as ḥasan (good).
Where a hadith sits outside the Two Ṣaḥīḥs, an-Nawawī transmitted it with a chain he judged sound; the gradings above follow his own notes and those of the hadith specialists. Numbers follow the common editions of each source — for Muslim that is the standard ʿAbd al-Bāqī numbering, which is not the order of this site's own Muslim reader, so search the reader by the hadith's words rather than its number. A reliable commentary will confirm the exact reference and wording for study.
Common questions
Is it forty hadith or forty-two?
An-Nawawī gathered forty-two, keeping the traditional name "the Forty." A later scholar, Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī, added eight more to complete fifty and wrote his celebrated commentary Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa'l-Ḥikam upon them.
Are all forty authentic?
The overwhelming majority are ṣaḥīḥ, most from al-Bukhārī and Muslim, and scholars regard the collection as sound overall. A small number have been discussed by hadith specialists regarding a particular chain or wording — which is why studying it with a commentary that notes the grading is valuable.
Where can I read all of them on this site?
The full text — Arabic, translation and reference for each — sits in the site's Hadith collection. This companion is meant to be read alongside it, to see how the forty fit together as foundations.
Take the full guide with you
A companion to Imām an-Nawawī's Forty Ḥadīth — what the collection is, its foundational hadith, and the thread of themes that runs through it, so the forty can be read as a map of the religion.
- What the collection is
- The two opening foundations
- Key hadith & their principles
- A thread through the themes
- How to study it well
Related: Hadith Collection · Aqeedah · Seeking Knowledge
