Imam an-Nawawi

Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi (631-676 AH / 1233-1277 CE) was one of the most beloved and widely studied scholars in Sunni Islam, a Shafii jurist and hadith master whose works remain at the core of Islamic education worldwide. Born in the village of Nawa south of Damascus, he traveled to Damascus at age eighteen and studied at the Rawahiyyah school, where he later became a teacher. Despite his short life of only forty-five years, his literary output was extraordinary.

An-Nawawi's most famous works include Riyad as-Salihin (Gardens of the Righteous), one of the most widely read hadith compilations organized by ethical and spiritual themes; al-Arba'in an-Nawawiyyah (the Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi), a collection of forty-two foundational hadith that is likely the most memorized hadith text in the world; al-Minhaj Sharh Sahih Muslim, the most authoritative commentary on Sahih Muslim; al-Majmu Sharh al-Muhadhdhab, a massive Shafii fiqh encyclopedia (left incomplete at his death); and al-Adhkar, a compilation of prophetic supplications and remembrances for various occasions.

An-Nawawi was known for his intense asceticism, wearing coarse clothing, eating simple food, and devoting virtually every waking hour to reading, writing, and teaching. He never married and refused to accept a salary for his teaching. He also displayed remarkable courage, writing to the Mamluk sultan al-Dhahir Baybars to protest unjust taxation of the people of Damascus. He returned to his hometown of Nawa, where he died in 676 AH (1277 CE). His works continue to be among the most printed, taught, and studied Islamic texts across all schools of thought.