Introduction (cont.)

Siddiqi and Hasan, for example, have tried to add some commentary to their respective translations of Sahih Muslim and Sunan Abu Dawud. Unfortunately, such brief commentaries, although beneficial and important, cannot quench the thirst of those who want to completely understand the words of their Prophet (peace be upon him). Hence, more is definitely needed. In fact, it is high time that the literature in English move from basic, introductory works to more in-depth works. This is especially true with respect to Quranic commentaries, hadith commentaries and fiqh literature. There are now, by the grace of Allah, numerous Muslim communities in the West. Some of these communities do not have any individuals who are proficient in Arabic. They do their best to follow the Quran and sunnah but what they are given, in the form of English literature, from the guidance of the Quran and sunnah simply is not sufficient. It does not meet their communal and individual needs. One reason for this is that many people think that such in-depth work is not needed in English, so they do not write or publish such works. However, such works are definitely needed and, Allah willing, such works will start to be published on a regular basis to meet the needs of the growing community of Muslims who are not familiar with the Arabic language. The work that the reader is now holding in his hands is an initial attempt to present a detailed commentary of some of the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Al-Nawawi has done an excellent job of collecting together a small number of vital hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him). These hadith are considered some of the most comprehensive and important hadith for the individual Muslim. Allah willing, if a Muslim truly understands these hadith and implements them in his life, his path to Paradise will be made easy. That is why they need to be understood in detail, in the light of the explanations by scholars throughout history. The goal of this work, therefore, is Author's Introduction to present in English a detailed explanation, based upon well-known commentaries, of these very important hadith. The method that will be followed is the following: First, the text of the hadith with an English translation shall be presented. Then a selected vocabulary of the Arabic text will be given, in the hopes that this may aid those who are trying to learn and understand Arabic. The sources for the hadith and the "grade" of the hadith will then be given. After that will follow a brief discussion of the life of the Companion who narrated the hadith. Then each portion of the hadith will be discussed in some detail, with an emphasis on points that help one understand and apply the hadith properly in his or her life. After that will come some related points that can be derived from the hadith. Finally, there will be a short summary of the main points of the hadith. For further benefit, an introductory chapter on Imam al-Nawawi's life as well as a commentary on Imam al-Nawawi's own introduction have been included. A note must also be added here concerning the transliteration. It has been this author's lengthy experience that even the most precise transliteration is not truly helpful if the reader is not familiar with the Arabic sounds. Even for those who are familiar with Arabic sounds, transliterations can sometimes be more confusing than helpful. Therefore, the purpose of the transliteration in this work is to help the novice who is unfamiliar with Arabic sounds to pronounce the words in a fashion approximating their actual pronunciations. In general, the hamza and ain have been ignored, unless absolutely necessary to differentiate between the same or similar vowel sounds. The long vowel sounds have been presented as "aa", "oo" or "ee". However, if a word with a particular spelling has virtually become part of the Muslim-English vocabulary and it is pronounced properly, no change has been made to it in the spelling, in order to avoid any confusion. Therefore in the texts, for example, the following changes were not made: Allah to Allaah, Islam to lslaam, hadith to hadith, sahih to sahih, al-Bukhari to al-Bukhaari, Malik to Maalik and so on. This loose method of transliteration will not be a shortcoming for those familiar with the Arabic letters and sounds. This is because the actual Arabic has been presented for virtually ever transliterated word and the majority of the referred to personalities referred. The Arabic is presented immediately after the word is mentioned in the text, in the selected vocabulary section, in the glossary, in the biographical data section or in the bibliography. In the bibliography, one will find the Arabic spelling for every Arabic author and book used. The reader must also be introduced to one convention that has been adopted by this author. The word hadith has been used in both a singular and plural usage, like the words deer, sheep and elk in English.