The classic collection of 42 foundational hadiths compiled by Imam Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (631-676 AH). Every hadith is given in Arabic with its translation, its narrator and its authenticated source (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi…).
“Each of these hadiths is a major pillar among the pillars of the religion. The scholars have said: whoever memorises them and acts upon them is on a great path of good.”
— Imam an-Nawawi, introduction to the collection
إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى
“Actions are but by intention, and every man shall have only that which he intended.”
الْإِسْلَامُ أَنْ تَشْهَدَ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ… وَالْإِيمَانُ أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ بِاللَّهِ… وَالْإِحْسَانُ أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ كَأَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ
“Islam is to testify that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger… Iman is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and in destiny, its good and its evil. Ihsan is to worship Allah as though you see Him; for though you do not see Him, He sees you.”
بُنِيَ الْإِسْلَامُ عَلَى خَمْسٍ: شَهَادَةِ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ، وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ، وَحَجِّ الْبَيْتِ، وَصَوْمِ رَمَضَانَ
“Islam is built upon five: to testify that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, to establish the prayer, to pay the zakat, to make the pilgrimage to the House, and to fast Ramadan.”
إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ يُجْمَعُ خَلْقُهُ فِي بَطْنِ أُمِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا نُطْفَةً…
“Each one of you is gathered in his mother's womb for forty days as a drop, then for the like of that as a clot, then for the like of that as a lump of flesh; then an angel is sent to breathe the spirit into him and to write four things: his provision, his term, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or happy.”
مَنْ أَحْدَثَ فِي أَمْرِنَا هَذَا مَا لَيْسَ مِنْهُ فَهُوَ رَدٌّ
“Whoever introduces into this affair of ours something that does not belong to it, it is rejected.”
إِنَّ الْحَلَالَ بَيِّنٌ وَإِنَّ الْحَرَامَ بَيِّنٌ، وَبَيْنَهُمَا مُشَبَّهَاتٌ…
“The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between them are doubtful matters that many people do not know. Whoever guards against the doubtful protects his religion and his honour.”
الدِّينُ النَّصِيحَةُ
“Religion is sincere counsel (nasiha)” — towards Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk.
أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أُقَاتِلَ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَشْهَدُوا أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ…
“I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establish the prayer and pay the zakat. If they do so, their blood and property are protected from me, except by the right of Islam, and their reckoning is with Allah.”
مَا نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنْهُ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ وَمَا أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِهِ فَأْتُوا مِنْهُ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ
“What I have forbidden you, avoid. What I have commanded you, do as much of it as you can.”
إِنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ لَا يَقْبَلُ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا
“Allah is Pure and accepts only what is pure. Allah has commanded the believers with what He commanded the messengers: ‘Eat of the good things and act righteously.’”
دَعْ مَا يَرِيبُكَ إِلَى مَا لَا يَرِيبُكَ
“Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt.”
مِنْ حُسْنِ إِسْلَامِ الْمَرْءِ تَرْكُهُ مَا لَا يَعْنِيهِ
“Part of the excellence of a person's Islam is his leaving what does not concern him.”
لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لِأَخِيهِ مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِهِ
“None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”
لَا يَحِلُّ دَمُ امْرِئٍ مُسْلِمٍ… إِلَّا بِإِحْدَى ثَلَاثٍ
“The blood of a Muslim is lawful only in three cases: a life for a life, a married person who commits adultery, and one who forsakes his religion and separates from the community.”
مَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ فَلْيَقُلْ خَيْرًا أَوْ لِيَصْمُتْ
“Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent. Let him honour his neighbour. Let him honour his guest.”
لَا تَغْضَبْ
A man said to the Prophet ﷺ: “Counsel me.” He said: “Do not become angry.” The man repeated his request several times, and each time he said: “Do not become angry.”
إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ الْإِحْسَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ…
“Allah has prescribed excellence (ihsan) in everything. So if you kill, kill well; and if you slaughter, slaughter well. Let each of you sharpen his blade and spare the animal he slaughters.”
اتَّقِ اللَّهَ حَيْثُمَا كُنْتَ، وَأَتْبِعِ السَّيِّئَةَ الْحَسَنَةَ تَمْحُهَا، وَخَالِقِ النَّاسَ بِخُلُقٍ حَسَنٍ
“Fear Allah wherever you are, follow a bad deed with a good one and it will wipe it out, and treat people with good character.”
يَا غُلَامُ إِنِّي أُعَلِّمُكَ كَلِمَاتٍ: احْفَظِ اللَّهَ يَحْفَظْكَ…
“Young man, I shall teach you some words: be mindful of Allah and He will protect you; be mindful of Allah and you will find Him before you. When you ask, ask of Allah; when you seek help, seek it from Allah.”
إِنَّ مِمَّا أَدْرَكَ النَّاسُ مِنْ كَلَامِ النُّبُوَّةِ الْأُولَى: إِذَا لَمْ تَسْتَحِ فَاصْنَعْ مَا شِئْتَ
“Among what people have retained of the words of the earlier prophethood: if you feel no shame, do as you wish.”
قُلْ: آمَنْتُ بِاللَّهِ ثُمَّ اسْتَقِمْ
Say: “I believe in Allah”, and then be upright (istiqama).
أَرَأَيْتَ إِذَا صَلَّيْتُ الْمَكْتُوبَاتِ…
A man asked: “If I perform the obligatory prayers, fast Ramadan, treat as lawful what is lawful and as unlawful what is unlawful, and add nothing to that, shall I enter Paradise?” He said: “Yes.”
الطُّهُورُ شَطْرُ الْإِيمَانِ…
“Purity is half of faith. ‘Alhamdulillah’ fills the scales. ‘SubhanAllah wa alhamdulillah’ fill what is between the heavens and the earth. Prayer is light, charity is proof, patience is illumination, and the Quran is an argument for you or against you.”
يَا عِبَادِي، إِنِّي حَرَّمْتُ الظُّلْمَ عَلَى نَفْسِي وَجَعَلْتُهُ بَيْنَكُمْ مُحَرَّمًا، فَلَا تَظَالَمُوا…
Allah says: “My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself and have made it forbidden among you, so do not wrong one another.”
ذَهَبَ أَهْلُ الدُّثُورِ بِالْأُجُورِ…
“The wealthy have taken away the rewards.” The Prophet ﷺ then gave them the formulas: thirty-three SubhanAllah, thirty-three Alhamdulillah and thirty-four Allahu Akbar after each prayer.
كُلُّ سُلَامَى مِنَ النَّاسِ عَلَيْهِ صَدَقَةٌ…
“Every joint of a person owes a charity each day the sun rises: to act justly between two people is a charity, to help a man onto his mount is a charity, a good word is a charity, and removing harm from the road is a charity.”
الْبِرُّ حُسْنُ الْخُلُقِ، وَالْإِثْمُ مَا حَاكَ فِي صَدْرِكَ…
“Righteousness (al-birr) is good character. Sin is what wavers in your heart and which you would hate people to find out about.”
عَلَيْكُمْ بِسُنَّتِي وَسُنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ الْمَهْدِيِّينَ…
“Hold fast to my Sunna and the Sunna of the rightly guided caliphs. Bite onto it with your molars. And beware of newly invented matters.”
أَلَا أُخْبِرُكَ بِرَأْسِ الْأَمْرِ وَعَمُودِهِ وَذِرْوَةِ سَنَامِهِ؟
“Shall I not tell you of the head of the matter, its pillar and its summit? The head is Islam, its pillar is the prayer, and its summit is jihad.”
إِنَّ اللَّهَ فَرَضَ فَرَائِضَ فَلَا تُضَيِّعُوهَا…
“Allah has laid down obligations, so do not neglect them. He has set limits, so do not transgress them. He has forbidden certain things, so do not violate them. And He has remained silent about certain things out of mercy, not forgetfulness — so do not seek after them.”
ازْهَدْ فِي الدُّنْيَا يُحِبَّكَ اللَّهُ، وَازْهَدْ فِيمَا عِنْدَ النَّاسِ يُحِبَّكَ النَّاسُ
“Renounce this world and Allah will love you; renounce what people possess and people will love you.”
لَا ضَرَرَ وَلَا ضِرَارَ
“There should be neither harm nor reciprocating harm (la darara wa la dirar).”
الْبَيِّنَةُ عَلَى الْمُدَّعِي وَالْيَمِينُ عَلَى مَنْ أَنْكَرَ
“The burden of proof is upon the claimant, and the oath is upon the one who denies.”
مَنْ رَأَى مِنْكُمْ مُنْكَرًا فَلْيُغَيِّرْهُ بِيَدِهِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِلِسَانِهِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِقَلْبِهِ، وَذَلِكَ أَضْعَفُ الْإِيمَانِ
“Whoever among you sees a wrong, let him change it with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; if he cannot, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.”
لَا تَحَاسَدُوا، وَلَا تَنَاجَشُوا، وَلَا تَبَاغَضُوا، وَلَا تَدَابَرُوا…
“Do not envy one another, do not inflate prices against one another, do not hate one another, do not turn away from one another. Be servants of Allah, brothers.”
مَنْ نَفَّسَ عَنْ مُؤْمِنٍ كُرْبَةً مِنْ كُرَبِ الدُّنْيَا…
“Whoever relieves a believer of a hardship, Allah will relieve him of a hardship on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever makes things easy for one in difficulty, Allah will make things easy for him in this world and the next. Allah helps His servant so long as the servant helps his brother.”
إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ الْحَسَنَاتِ وَالسَّيِّئَاتِ…
Allah has written down good and bad deeds: whoever intends a good deed and does not do it, Allah writes it as a full good deed; and if he does it, Allah writes it as ten to seven hundred times over.
مَنْ عَادَى لِي وَلِيًّا فَقَدْ آذَنْتُهُ بِالْحَرْبِ…
“Whoever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, I declare war upon him. My servant draws near to Me with nothing more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him, and he continues to draw near to Me with voluntary acts until I love him.”
إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَجَاوَزَ لِي عَنْ أُمَّتِي الْخَطَأَ وَالنِّسْيَانَ وَمَا اسْتُكْرِهُوا عَلَيْهِ
“Allah has pardoned my community for mistakes, forgetfulness and what they are coerced into.”
كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ أَوْ عَابِرُ سَبِيلٍ
“Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a traveller on a road.” Ibn Umar used to say: “If you reach the evening, do not expect the morning; and if you reach the morning, do not expect the evening.”
لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يَكُونَ هَوَاهُ تَبَعًا لِمَا جِئْتُ بِهِ
“None of you truly believes until his desires are subject to what I have brought.”
يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ إِنَّكَ مَا دَعَوْتَنِي وَرَجَوْتَنِي غَفَرْتُ لَكَ عَلَى مَا كَانَ فِيكَ وَلَا أُبَالِي…
Allah says: “Son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and place your hope in Me, I will forgive you whatever is in you, and I will not mind. Son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and then you asked My forgiveness, I would forgive you.”
A hadith (حديث) is a report of the words, deeds, approvals or qualities of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The hadiths make up the Sunna, the second source of Islamic law after the Quran. They are essential to understanding and applying the Quranic precepts.
The first two (Bukhari and Muslim) are called the Sahihayn (the two authentic ones) and are held to be the most rigorously authenticated books after the Quran.
An unbroken chain of transmission through reliable narrators.
A sound chain, a degree below sahih.
A defective chain. Not usable as a basis for legal rulings.
Imam An-Nawawi chose them because they cover the main fields of the religion: creed (aqida), worship (ibadat), character (akhlaq), transactions (muʿamalat), law (fiqh). Memorising them amounts to a solid foundation for the whole religion. Many scholars recommend this collection as the first book of hadith after prayer and purification.
Every hadith with audio (recited by Mishary al-Afasy), a flashcard memorisation system, progress tracking, quizzes and spaced repetition. The Bilal/Fatima voice assistant can recite any hadith on request.
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