Al-Nawawi Explained

Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī
Religion:Islam
Shaykh ul-Islam[1]
Qutb al-Awliya'
al-Shaykhayn
Al-Ḥāfiẓ
Birth Date:Muharram 631 AH/ October 1233
Birth Place:Nawa, Ayyubid Sultanate
Death Date:24 Rajab 676 AH [2] / 21 December 1277 (age 45)
Death Place:Nawa, Mamluk Sultanate
Resting Place:Nawa, present Syria
Occupation:Historiographer, bibliographer, scholar, jurist.
Denomination:Sunni
School:Shafi'i[3]
Creed:Ash'ari[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
Main Interests:Fiqh, Usul, Hadith, Mantiq
Influences:Al-Shafi'i
Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari
Al-Ghazali[10]
Ibn Asakir
Abu al-Qasim al-Rafi'i
Module:
Embed:yes
Ism:Yaḥyā
Nasab:Ibn Sharaf ibn Marri ibn Ḥasan ibn Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Jumah ibn Ḥazm
Kunya:Abū Zakariyyā
Nisba:al-Nawawī

Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (Arabic: يحيى بن شرف النووي|translit=Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī;‎ (631A.H-676A.H) (October 1230–21 December 1277) was a Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and hadith scholar.[11] Al-Nawawi died at the relatively early age of 45. Despite this, he authored numerous and lengthy works ranging from hadith, to theology, biography, and jurisprudence that are still read to this day.[12] Al-Nawawi, along with Abu al-Qasim al-Rafi'i, are leading jurists of the earlier classical age, known by the Shafi'i school as the Two Shaykhs (al-Shaykhayn).[13]

Early life

He was born at Nawa near Damascus, Syria.[11] As with Arabic and other Semitic languages, the last part of his name refers to his hometown.

Yasin bin Yusuf Marakashi, says: "I saw Imam Nawawi at Nawa when he was a youth of ten years of age. Other boys of his age used to force him to play with them, but Imam Nawawi would always avoid the play and would remain busy with the recitation of the Noble Qur'an. When they tried to domineer and insisted on his joining their games, he bewailed and expressed his no concern over their foolish action. On observing his sagacity and profundity, a special love and affection developed in my heart for young Nawawi. I approached his teacher and urged him to take exceptional care of this lad as he was to become a great religious scholar. His teacher asked whether I was a soothsayer or an astrologer. I told him I am neither soothsayer nor an astrologer but Allah caused me to utter these words." His teacher conveyed this incident to Imam's father and in keeping in view the learning quest of his son, decided to dedicate the life of his son for the service and promotion of the cause of Islam.[14]

Life as a scholar

He studied in Damascus from the age of 18 and after making the pilgrimage in 1253, he settled there as a private scholar.[15]

Notable teachers

During his stay at Damascus, he studied from more than twenty teachers[16] [17] who were regarded as masters and authority of their subject field and disciplines they taught. An-Nawawi studied Hadith, Islamic Jurisprudence, its principles, syntax and Etymology. His teachers included Abu Ibrahim Ishaq bin Ahmad AI-Maghribi, Abu Muhammad Abdur-Rahman bin Ibrahim Al-Fazari, Radiyuddin Abu Ishaq Ibrahim bin Abu Hafs Umar bin Mudar Al-Mudari, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim bin Isa Al-Muradi, Abul-Baqa Khalid bin Yusuf An-Nablusi, Abul-Abbas Ahmad bin Salim Al-Misri, Abu Abdullah Al-Jiyani, Abul-Fath Umar bin Bandar, Abu Muhammad At-Tanukhi, Sharafuddin Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad Al-Ansari, Abul-Faraj Abdur-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Ahmad Al-Maqdisi, and Abul-Fada'il Sallar bin Al-Hasan Al Arbali among others.[18]

Creed

He did ta'wil on some of the Qur'an verses and ahadith on the attributes of Allah. He states in his commentary of a hadith that:

Relationship with Baybars

Al-Nawawi drew the ire of Mamluk Sultan Rukn al-Din Baybars twice. Once, at a time when the people of Damascus sought relief from a heavy tax burden after a years-long drought,[19] Al-Nawawi wrote that if Baybars did not stop taxing its residents abusively then Allah will tax his misdeed in the afterlife. This prompted Baybars to threaten to expel him from Damascus.[20] To this, he responded:

"As for myself, threats do not harm me or mean anything to me. They will not keep me from advising the ruler, for I believe that this is obligatory upon me and others."[21]

Sheikh Navaid Aziz stated a popular tale of when Al-Nawawi addressed Sultan Baybars when the latter wanted the ulama to issue a fatwa that decreed that the waqf be collected solely for the ruler, despite originally being meant for the people. Al-Nawawi in response scolded him, urging him to fear Allah and rein in his greed, which the Sultan accepted. Some people asked Baybars why he did not imprison Al-Nawawi in retaliation, to which Baybars replied that whenever he thought of locking up Al-Nawawi, a fear flowed through his heart. In both encounters, Baybars abided by Al-Nawawi's counsel.

Death and legacy

He died at Nawa at the relatively young age of 45.An-Nawawi's lasting legacy is his contribution to hadith literature through his momentous works Forty Hadiths and Riyadh as-Saaliheen.[22] This made him respected in all madhabs, despite him being of Shafi'i jurisprudence.[23] According to Al-Dhahabi, Imam Nawawi's concentration and absorption in academic love gained proverbial fame. He had devoted all his time for learning and scholarship. Other than reading and writing, he spent his time contemplating on the interacted and complex issues and in finding their solutions. Ulama's praise him for 3 characteristics:

  1. His level of scholarship. Writing more than 40 pages daily from age 18-45. Studying continuously for 12 hours and then teaching for another 12 hours at age 18-20 in Damascus.
  2. His asceticism. Not marrying in fear of faltering his wife's right, lack of love for dunya, constant worshipping of Allah, constant zikr.
  3. His keenness in enjoining good and forbidding evil. As done with Sultan al-Baibars.

Destruction of tomb

In 2015, during the ongoing Syrian Civil War, his tomb was demolished by rebels linked to Al Nusra.[24]

Works

During his life of 45 years[25] he wrote "at least fifty books"[26] on Islamic studies and other topics. Some scholar counted pages he written and calculated that he wrote 40+ pages daily from age 18 till his death. Some his writings is still reached vastly as no author has superseded him in those writing. These include:

Recent English language editions

Minhaj al-Talibin

The Forty Hadith

Riyad al-Salihin

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Imam ash-Sharif Muhammad ibn Al-Hasan Al-Wasiti al-Husayni d. 776 A.H al-Matalib Al-‘Aliyyah fit-Tabaqat ash-Shafi’iyyah
  2. Web site: kitaabun-Classical and Contemporary Muslim and Islamic Books . Kitaabun.com . 2003-01-23 . 2014-05-20.
  3. Was Ibn Kathīr the 'Spokesperson' for Ibn Taymiyya? Jonah as a Prophet of Obedience. Journal of Qur'anic Studies. 2014-02-01. 1465-3591. 4. 16. 1. 10.3366/jqs.2014.0130. Mirza. Younus Y..
  4. Book: Namira Nahouza. Wahhabism and the Rise of the New Salafists: Theology, Power and Sunni Islam. 2018. I.B. Tauris. 9781838609832. 121–122.
  5. Web site: Imam al-Nawawi was an Ash'ari. www.darultahqiq.com. https://archive.today/20210404225704/https://www.darultahqiq.com/3029-2/. 4 April 2021. 15 April 2021. live.
  6. Web site: The Ash'ari School. Muhammad ibn 'Alawi al-Maliki. As-Sunnah Foundation of America. https://web.archive.org/web/20210112184122/http://sunnah.org/2008/07/18/the-ashari-school-sayyid-alawi-al-maliki. 12 Jan 2021. Shaykh al-Islam Ahmad ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 852/1449; Rahimahullah), the mentor of Hadith scholars and author of the book "Fath al-Bari bi-Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari", which not a single Islamic scholar can dispense with, was Ash'ari. The shaykh of the scholars of Sunni Islam, Imam al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277; Rahimahullah), author of "Sharh Sahih Muslim" and many other famous works, was Ash'ari. The master of Qur'anic exegetes, Imam al-Qurtubi (d. 671/1273; Rahimahullah), author of "al-Jami' li-Ahkam al-Qur'an", was Ash'ari. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974/1567; Rahimahullah), who wrote "al-Zawajir 'an Iqtiraf al-Kaba'ir", was Ash'ari. The Shaykh of Sacred Law and Hadith, the conclusive definitive Zakariyya al-Ansari (d. 926/1520; Rahimahullah), was Ash'ari. Imam Abu Bakr al-Baqillani (d. 403/1013; Rahimahullah), Imam al-'Asqalani; Imam al-Nasafi (d. 710/1310; Rahimahullah); Imam al-Shirbini (d. 977/1570; Rahimahullah); Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati, author of the Qur'anic commentary "al-Bahr al-Muhit"; Imam Ibn Juzayy (d. 741/1340; Rahimahullah); author of "al-Tashil fi 'Ulum al-Tanzil"; and others – all of these were Imams of the Ash'aris..
  7. Book: Clinton Bennett

    . Bennett. Clinton. Clinton Bennett. The Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies. Bloomsbury Academic. 15 January 2015. 9781472586902. 128. There are many followers of the Ash'ariyyah among the great Muslim scholars, such as al-Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, al-Sauiti, al-Mazari, Ibn Hajer al Askalani, and al Nawawi.

  8. Book: Rebecca Skreslet Hernandez. The Legal Thought of Jalāl Al-Din Al-Suyūṭī: Authority and Legacy. Oxford University Press. 2017. 9780198805939. 205. people who support burning established and respected works like Ibn Hajar's al-Fath al-Bari and al-Nawawi's Sharh Sahih Muslim because the authors are Ash'ari..
  9. Book: Mansfield. Laura. His Own Words: Translation and Analysis of the Writings of Dr. Ayman Al Zawahiri. TLG Publications. 2006. 9781847288806. 265. Many of the most learned ulema of Islam such as Izz Bin Abdul Salam, al-Nawawi, and Ibn Hajar - may God have mercy on them - were Ashari..
  10. Atlas, Jonas. Re-visioning Sufism. Yunus Publishing, 2019. pp.13-15
  11. [Ludwig W. Adamec]
  12. Fachrizal A. Halim (2014), Legal Authority in Premodern Islam: Yahya B Sharaf Al-Nawawi in the Shafi'i School of Law, p. 1. Routledge. .
  13. Book: Chibli Mallat. The Normalization of Saudi Law. 2022. Oxford University Press. 9780190092757. 79.
  14. Book: Mubarakpuri, Safi Ur Rahman. Collection from Riyad us Saliheen. Darussalam. 5.
  15. Nawāwī . 19 . 318 . Griffithes Wheeler . Thatcher.
  16. Web site: Imam An-Nawawi. Dar-Us-Salam Publications. May 8, 2023.
  17. Web site: The Imam. 40 Hadithnawaw. May 8, 2023.
  18. Web site: 40hadithnawawi.com. 40hadithnawawi.com. 2014-05-20.
  19. Web site: Amon our perennial faculty . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150322025727/http://www.zaytunacollege.org/about/perennial_faculty . 22 March 2015 . 20 March 2015 . Zaytuna College.
  20. Book: Dekmejian. R. Hrair. Islam in Revolution: Fundamentalism in the Arab World Contemporary issues in the Middle East. 1995. Syracuse University Press. 0815626355. illustrated, reprint, revised. registration. 38.
  21. Book: Zarabozo, Jamaal al-Din M.. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi (2-Volume Set). Al-Basheer Company. 2008. Denver. 37.
  22. Web site: 40 Hadiths of Imam Nawawi. 40HadithNawawi. Muslim American Society. 20 March 2015.
  23. Web site: Who Was Imam Al Nawawi (R). https://web.archive.org/web/20150108162001/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEM_wSyMg6c. 8 January 2015. 17 June 2014. 20 March 2015. Youtube. bot: unknown.
  24. Web site: Syrian fighters destroy historic Muslim tomb. Al Jazeera English. 8 January 2015. 10 January 2015.
  25. Web site: A Short Biography of Imaam an-Nawawi . Islaam.net . 2014-05-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120325201859/http://www.islaam.net/40hadeeth/nawawi.html . 2012-03-25 .
  26. Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo, Commentary on the Forty Hadith of Al-Nawawi, Volume 1, Al-Basheer Publication & Translation (1999), p. 33
  27. Web site: الرئيسة - الحديث - موقع الإسلام . Hadith.al-islam.com . 2014-05-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060303111138/http://hadith.al-islam.com/Display/Hier.asp?Doc=1&n=0 . 2006-03-03 . dead .
  28. Ali, Mufti. "METODE AL-SUYUTI MERINGKAS AL-RADD ‘ALA'L-MANTIQIYYIN KARYA IBN TAYMIYYA." Al Qalam 22.3 (2005): 397.
  29. Book: Manual Islam. Nawawis Al Maqasid. .

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