to describe some reporters and other persons mentioned in the commentary. This word is one of the few Arabic words that denote opposite meanings. Linguistically, it means both ‘master’ and ‘slave’, and it is used in the Qur’an to refer to God as the mawla of the believers. When someone is referred to as the mawla of another or of a tribe, it most frequently refers to a slave who was set free. He then allied himself with his former master or with his tribe, as this was a recognized practice in Arabia both under Islam and prior to it.
It will be noted that the phrase ‘but God knows best’ is used very frequently in al-Nawawi’s commentary and by the scholars he quotes: this is a mark of humility. They express their views but shy away from presenting these as the true and correct view, to the exclusion of anything different. It is akin to saying that ‘this is what I know, but ultimate knowledge rests with God’.
The word hadith is used with a capital or small ‘h’ and this usage indicates a difference. When it is used with the lower case first letter it refers to a single statement by the Prophet. Hence, the reference to one or more statements by the Prophet is always with the lower case. When it is used with a capital first letter, it refers to the Hadith discipline, which is a specialized branch of study, concerned with the Prophet’s statements, actions and approvals.
4. Arrangement
Imam al-Nawawi discusses three areas in relation to every hadith included in Muslim’s anthology: 1) The general meaning of the hadith and its message. He also outlines the important points it includes and highlights any rulings that it stipulates or may be based on it. 2) The chain of transmission: he identifies the different reporters, giving some information about them and their full names if they are mentioned by first name or by appellation. He also highlights any useful point that the chain provides, and explains any subtle point that reflects Muslim’s careful and meticulous scholarship. 3) He explains the language of the hadith, stating the meanings of individual words, particularly those that may be unfamiliar to readers or became rarely used. Where a word, phrase or sentence may have more than one meaning, he discusses these and shows which, if any, is unacceptable. However, he does not follow a single pattern in the arrangement of his commentary. Sometimes, he begins by discussing the chain of transmission, but often he discusses the general meaning first. He may also start by explaining the language and the meaning of individual words.
In this English version, liberty has been taken to follow a consistent pattern. The meaning of the hadith is given first and then its explanation, under the subheading ‘text explanation’, is provided. This is followed with any discussion al-Nawawi gives concerning the chain of transmission, using the subheading ‘transmission’. The information al-Nawawi provides about the meaning of individual words and the pronunciation of unfamiliar words and names has been ignored, because these are already reflected in the translation. However, when he discusses alternative meanings, what is considered useful to English readers is included. If it is a matter of pronunciation or a grammatical aspect that does not affect the meaning or the message of the hadith, this has been disregarded.
5. Quotations and references
In his monumental work, al-Nawawi cites numerous quotations from various scholars. At times, he mentions the work from which the quotation is made, but in most cases this is not done. Although his work has been checked and verified several times, and published many times in different countries, none of these undertook the task of checking the original works in order to provide detailed references. There are several reasons for this omission. Many of the original works have not been published, but remain in manuscript form held in different libraries in various countries. Moreover, many of these works are voluminous. For example, al-Nawawi often quotes from Imam al-Haramayn, who wrote a large number of books. As mentioned in the biographical note on Imam al-Haramayn, one of his books is published in twenty-one volumes. Although a discerning scholar may have a good guess as to the book from which a particular quote is taken, finding it may require several hours, if not days of hard work. Imam al-Nawawi died 750 years ago and we cannot blame him for not citing his references according to modern methods of citation. It should be remembered that all the books he read were written in long hand and manuscripts of the same book differed in size, number of pages and style of writing. Readers and students must simply trust to his scholarship and piety with all that he quotes from other scholars. May God bless them all for their meticulous and faithful scholarship.
6. Notes and editorial liberty
In certain cases, it is felt that a note should be added within the text to explain certain points or add a particular perspective. This is not surprising considering that the book was written nearly eight centuries ago. In order to make the addition very clear, it is preceded by the word ‘Note’ and given an independent paragraph.
In a few cases, a sentence is started by mentioning the author’s name before mentioning what he says, such as ‘al-Nawawi considers these hadiths self-explanatory, adding only …’, and in a very few cases, a short comment by the author is not included in the translation, because time has made it irrelevant and including it would be either confusing or require a long explanatory footnote. Since it is unlikely to concern the reader, it is felt that omission is better. Such liberty is taken only in cases where it is felt that had the author lived in our time, he would have approved of such omission.
Adil Salahi
London
February 2019
i.Shaykh Muhammad Rashid Rida gave an English copy of A Manual of the Early Muhammadan Traditions by Arent Jan Wensinck, Professor of Arabic and Islam at the University of Leiden in Holland, to one of his regular students, Muhammad Fu’ad [Abd al-Baqi, and asked him to translate it into Arabic. [Abd al-Baqi, who was working as a translator at the Agricultural Bank in Cairo at the time, complied and translated the book, but first he wrote to Wensinck for his permission. Wensinck expressed delight at the idea and also sent [Abd al-Baqi a copy of the first part of a concordance of the Prophet’s hadiths that he and other researchers were working on.[Abd al-Baqi reviewed the work and found many mistakes. He made a list of these and sent it to Wensinck, who was delighted with the input and recruited [Abd al-Baqi as editor of the entire al-Mu[jam al-Mufahras concordance.
Al-Mu[jam al-Mufahras is published in Arabic in eight volumes and is indispensable for any researcher in Islamic Studies. Words are listed alphabetically, and a short sentence or phrase in which the word occurs is given. Then the hadith which includes the sentence or phrase is referenced to any of the nine anthologies. [Abd al-Baqi’s role is acknowledged by Wensinck in the Introduction, and working on this concordance enabled Muhammad Fu’ad [Abd al-Baqi to subsequently undertake his own highly acclaimed concordance of the Qur’an.
CHAPTER 21
FORBIDDING WHAT IS WRONG IS PART OF FAITH; FAITH MAY INCREASE OR DECREASE; TO ENJOIN WHAT IS RIGHT AND FORBID WHAT IS WRONG ARE DUTIES
[81–78]. (Dar al-Salam 0079) Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated:i Waki[ narrated; from Sufyan [H]. Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna narrated; Muhammad ibn Ja[far narrated; Shu[bah narrated: both from Qays ibn Muslim; from Tariq ibn Shihab. The following is the narration by Abu Bakr who said: ‘The first to start with the speech, i.e. the khutbah, before the prayer on an Eid Day was Marwan. A man stood up and said to him: “The prayer is offered before the speech”. He said: “This has been left out”. Abu Sa[id said: “This one (meaning the man) has discharged his duty. I heard God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) say: ‘Whoever of you sees a wrongful action should change it with his hand; and if he is unable to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is unable to do that, then with his heart. This [last one] is the
