If you've ever come across a list called "the 40 hadith" or a compilation called Riyad as-Salihin, you've already encountered Imam Nawawi's work, even if the name wasn't attached to it in your mind.

Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi was born in 1233 in Nawa, near Damascus, and died in 1277, meaning his entire scholarly output was produced in well under two decades of adult life. By most accounts he lived simply, avoided wealth, and devoted nearly all his time to studying and writing. What he produced in that short window is still in wide circulation nearly 750 years later.

Two books, two very different purposes

Al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyya, known simply as the 40 Hadith, is exactly what it sounds like: a tightly curated selection of forty foundational hadith, chosen because between them they cover the core principles of Islamic practice and belief. It was designed to be memorized, not just read, a starting point rather than an exhaustive reference.

Riyad as-Salihin, the Gardens of the Righteous, is a much larger undertaking: a thematically organized collection of hadith on character, worship, and daily conduct, drawn primarily from Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Where the 40 Hadith is a foundation, Riyad as-Salihin is closer to a lifelong companion, something scholars and everyday readers alike return to for guidance on specific situations.

Why both are still central today

Part of what makes Nawawi's work endure is restraint. He wasn't trying to say everything. He was trying to say the essential things clearly enough that they'd actually get memorized and lived out, not just read once and shelved.

Both of Nawawi's major compilations, the 40 Hadith and Riyad as-Salihin, are available to read directly in IslamIQ, organized the same way he intended them: as something to actually study, not just browse.