A01166 - Al-Nawawi

Nawawi

Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī (b. Muharram 631 AH [October 1233 CC], Nawa, Ayyubid Sultanate – d. 24 Rajab 676 AH [December 21, 1277 CC], Nawa, Mamluk Sultanate), popularly known as al-Nawawī or Imam Nawawī, was a Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and hadith scholar.  He authored numerous and lengthy works ranging from hadith, to theology, biography, and jurisprudence.  Al-Nawawi never married.

Al-Nawawi was born at Nawa near Damascus, Syria. As with Arabic and other Semitic languages, the las part of his full name -- "Al-Nawawi" -- refers to his hometown -- "Nawa".  

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 with the learning quest of his son, Nawawi's father decided to dedicate the life of his son for the service and promotion of the cause of Islam. 

Al-Nawawi had no academic or scholarly atmosphere and there were no religious academies or institutes where one could earn excellence in religious learning, so his father took al-Nawawi to Damascus, which was considered the center of learning and scholarship.  Students from far and wide gathered in Damascus for schooling. During that period, there were more than three hundred institutes, colleges and universities in Damascus. 

Imam Nawawi joined Madrasah Rawahiyah which was affiliated with the Ummvi University. The founder and patron of this Madrasah was a trader named Zakiuddin Abul-Qassim who was known as Ibn Rawahah. The Damascus Madrasah was named after him. 

Noted and eminent teachers of the period taught in that Madrasah Rawahiyah. Imam Nawawi remarked, "I studied in this institution for two years. During my stay in Madrasah Rawahiyah, I never had complete rest and lived on the limited food supplied by the institution." As a routine, he used to sleep very little at night. When it became irresistible as a human being, he would lean and slumber for a while against the support of books. After a short duration he would again be hard at his scholastic pursuits.

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

During his stay in Damascus, al-Nawawi studied from more than twenty teachers who were regarded as masters of their subject field and disciplines. Al-Nawawi studied Hadith and Islamic Jurisprudence, its principles, syntax and etymology.  

Al-Nawawi drew the ire of Mamluk Sultan Rukn al-Din Baybars, when he petitioned on behalf of residents of Damascus who sought relief from heavy tax burdens during a drought that lasted many years. This prompted Baybars to threaten to expel al-Nawawi from Damascus. 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."

Al-Nawawi died at Nawa at the relatively young age of 44.

An-Nawawi's lasting legacy is his contribution to hadith literature through his momentous works: Forty Hadiths and Riyadh as-Saaliheen.  This made him respected in all madhabs, despite his being a proponent of Shafi'i jurisprudence.  

In 2015, during the Syrian Civil War, al-Nawawi's tomb was demolished by rebels linked to Al Nusra.   

During his life, al-Nawawi wrote at least fifty books on Islamic studies and other topics. These include:

• Al Minhaj bi Sharh Sahih Muslim, one of the best commentaries on Sahih Muslim
• Riyadh as-Saaliheen, a collection of hadith on ethics, manners, conduct, popular in the Muslim world
• Al-Majmu' sharh al-Muhadhab, a comprehensive manual of Islamic law according to the Shafi'i school 
• Minhaj al-Talibin, a classical manual on Islamic Law according to Shafi'i fiqh 
• Tahdhib al-Asma wa'l-Luqhat (edited as the Biographical Dictionary of Illustrious Men chiefly at the Beginning of Islam by F. Wustenfeld (Göttingen, 1842–1847)
• Taqrib al-Taisir, an introduction to the study of hadith
• al-Arbaʿīn al-Nawawiyya (Forty Hadiths), a collection of forty-two fundamental traditions, frequently published along with numerous commentaries