يحيى بن شرف النووي
Imam al-Nawawi (RH)
Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi
Also known as: Nawawi, Imam Nawawi
631–676 AH · 1233–1277 CE
Fiqh Shafi'i Hadith
Author of Riyad al-Salihin and the Forty Hadith, and one of the 'two shaykhs' of the Shafi'i school.
Al-Nawawi came to Damascus from the village of Nawa as a teenager and studied with such intensity that he is said to have attended twelve lessons a day. He lived simply, never married, and spoke out against injustice by the Mamluk rulers.
In a life of only forty-five years he wrote works that remain among the most widely read in the Muslim world: Riyad al-Salihin, al-Arba'un al-Nawawiyyah (the Forty Hadith), al-Adhkar, and his commentary on Sahih Muslim. In Shafi'i law his Minhaj al-Talibin, Rawdat al-Talibin and al-Majmu' made him, with al-Rafi'i, an authority whose views define the school.
Life journey
Key works
- Riyad al-Salihin رياض الصالحينGardens of the RighteousHadith on character and worship, among the most widely read books in Islam.
- al-Arba'un al-Nawawiyyah الأربعون النوويةThe Forty HadithForty-two foundational hadith, memorised by students everywhere.
- Minhaj al-Talibin منهاج الطالبينThe Path of the SeekersThe base text of later Shafi'i law.
Places in their life
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sources
- Ibn al-'Attar, Tuhfat al-Talibin fi Tarjamat al-Imam al-Nawawi
- Taj al-Din al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra
- al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam