"Invite (people) to the way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful Preaching, and argue with them in the best ways."
[TMQ 16:125]
Yahya ibn Sharaf
al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277)
Imam Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi was
Born in the village of Nawa in Southern Syria, Nawawi
spent most of his life in Damascus where he lived in a simple manner, devoted to
Allah, engaging single-mindedly in worship, study, writing and teaching various
Islamic sciences. The life of this world seems scarcely to have impinged upon
him. He was a versatile and extremely dedicated scholar whose breadth of
learning was matched by its depth. .
Imam Nawawi died at the young age of 44 years, leaving behind him numerous works
of great importance, the most famous of these being:
-
al-Arba'un
Nabawi (An-Nawawis Forty Hadith)
-
Riyadhus
saleheen
-
al-Maqasid
(Al-Nawawi's Manual of Islam).
-
Kitab al-Adhkar,
-
Minhaj al-Talibin (a main reference
for Shafi'i fiqh)
Shar' Sahih Muslim (he was the first to
arrange the sahih of Muslim in the now familiar categories)
Although best known for his
works in hadith, Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (d. 676/1277) was also the
Imam of the later Shafi'i school of Jurisprudence, and widely acknowledged as
the intellectual heir to Imam Shafi'i. He was a
renowned scholar and jurist who dedicated his life to the pursuit of
Islamic learning.
Birth and Birth place:
The complete name of Imam Nawawi is Abu Zakaria Mohiuddin Yahya, son of Sharaf
AnÄNawawi, son of Murry, son of Hassan, son of Hussain, son of Muhammad, son of
Juma, son of Hazam. Nawawi refers to Nawa, a place near Damascus, in the suburb
of the city of Howran. One of his ancestors named Hazam had settled at this
place. Imam Nawawi was born at Nawa in the year 631 A.H. His father, a virtuous
and pious man, resolved to arrange for proper and befitting education as he had
discovered the symptoms of heavenly intelligence and wisdom in his promising
child at an early stage.
Shaikh Yasin bin Yousuf Marakashi, a saintly figure of Nawa 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 and most pious saint of
future. 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 he keeping
in view the learning quest of his son, decided to dedicate the life of his son
for the service and promotion of the cause of Islamic Faith. In a short period,
Nawawi learnt to read the Holy Qur'an and by that time he nearly had attained
puberty. Nawa 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 him to Damascus, which was considered the center of
learning and scholarship, and the students from far and wide gathered there 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.
Madrasah was named after him. Noted and eminent teachers of the period taught in
that Madrasah. Imam Nawawi says, "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.
His Teachers and Guides:
During his stay at Damascus, he studied from more than twenty celebrated
teachers. These teachers were regarded as masters and authority of their subject
field and disciplines they taught. Imam studied Hadith, Islamic Jurisprudence,
its principles, syntax and Etymology fromgreat scholars of his time. Abu Ibrahim
Ishaq bin Ahmad AI-Maghribi, Abu Muhammad Abdur-Rahman bin Ibrahim Al-Fazari,
Radiyuddin Abu Ishaq Ibrahim bin Abu Hafs Umar bin Mudar Al-Mudari, Abu Ishaq
Ibrahim bin Isa Al-Muradi, Abul-Baqa Khalid bin Yusuf An-Nablusi, Abul-Abbas
Ahmad bin Salim Al-Misri, Abu Abdullah Al-Jiyani, Abul-Fath Umar bin Bandar, Abu
Muhammad At-Tanukhi, Sharafuddin Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad Al-Ansari, Abul-Faraj
Abdur-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Ahmad Al-Maqdisi, Abul-Fada'il Sallar bin Al-Hasan
Al Arbali etc.
There were hundreds of Imam's students, among them some notables are: Alauddin
bin Attar, Ibn Abbas Ahmad bin Ibrahim, Abul-Abbas Al-Ja'fari, Abul-Abbas Ahmad
bin Farah, Rashid Ismail bin Mu'allim Al-Hanafi, Abu Abdullah Al-Hanbali,
AbulAbbas Al-Wasti, Jamaluddin Sulaiman bin Omar Az-Zar'i, AbulFaraj
Abdur-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Abdul-Hamid AlMaqdisi, Badr Muhammad bin Ibrahim,
Shamsuddin Muhammad bin Abu Bakr, Ash-Shihab Muhammad bin Abdul-Khaliq,
Hibatullah Al-Barizi, Abul-Hajjaj Yusuf bin Az-Zaki etc.
His Desire and Crave for Learning:
Imam Nawawi had endless thirst for knowledge, and it can be guessed from his
daily practice of studies. He used to read daily twelve lessons and write
explanation and commentary of every lesson and also made important additions.
Whatever the book he read, he put down the marginal notes and explanations on
that book. His intelligence, hard work, love, devotion and absorption in
his-studies amazed his teachers and they become fond of him and began to praise
and admire him. According to Imam Dhahabi, Imam Nawawi's concentration and
absorption in academic love gained proverbial fame. He had devoted all his time
for learning and scholarship. Other than reading and writing, he spent his time
contemplating on the interacted and complex issues and in finding their
solutions. Allah had also conferred upon him the gift of fast memory and depth
of thought, and he who makes the right use of this boon, there remains no doubt
in his sagacity and discernment. Imam Nawawi made full benefit of his God given
qualities and potentialities and earned the highest degree of honor.
Imam's Simplicity and Niceness of Manners:
The learned persons, elite of the society and the public greatly respected the
Imam on account of his piety, learning and excellent character. He used simple
dress and ate simple food. Devout scholars do not care about worldly chattels,
they give preference to religious and academic pursuits, propagation of Faith
etc. They experience more heavenly delight and joy in such activities than those
who seek satisfaction in luxurious foods, precious clothes and other worldly
things. Imam Nawawi had a prominent place among the erudite notables of his age.
He was God-fearing person having illustrious and glorious aims regarding
propagation of Faith. Celebrated Sheikh Mohiuddin expresses his impression about
Imam Nawawi as thus:
"Imam Nawawi had three distinctive commendable qualities in his person. If
anybody have only one out of these three, people return to him in abundance for
guidance. First, having knowledge and its dissemination. Second, to evade
completely from the worldly inclinations, and the third, inviting to all that is
good (Islam) enjoining Al-Ma'ruf [i.e., Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam
orders one to do] and forbidding Al-Munkar [polytheism and disbelief and all
that Islam has forbidden]. Imam Nawawi had all three in him."
His works and his death:
The learned Imam had a very short life but even during this short period, he had
written a large number of books on different subjects. Every work of the Imam is
a masterwork and a treasure of knowledge. Hundreds and thousands of people
benefit from these works.
Some of the Prestigious Works of Imam Nawawi are:
Commentary on Sahih Al-Bukhari, Al-Minhaj fi Sharh Sahih Muslim,
Riyad-us-Saliheen, Kitab-ur-Raudah, Commentary on Mohadhdhab, Tahdhib-ul-Asma
was-Sifat, Kitab-ul-Adhkar, Arba'een, At-Taqreeb fi Ilmil-Hadith wal-Irshad fihi,
Kitab-ulMubhamat, At-Tibyan, Al-Idah fi Manasikil-Hajj, Sharh Sahih AlBukhari (Naqis),
Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud (Naqis), Tabaqat Ash Shafi'iyah, Muhimmatul-Ahkam,
Manaqib-ush-Shafi'i, Bustan-ulArifeen, Al-Khulasatu fil-Hadith, Mukhtasar At-Tirmidhi,
A1Masa'il Al-Manthurah, Al-'Umdah fi Tashihit-Tanbih and others.
After spending 28 years of age, Imam Nawawi returned to his hometown. Soon after
his arrival at Nawa, he felt ill and died. Imam Nawawi is still living in the
hearts of Muslims. His works are of everlasting value. May Allah bless him.
Article taken
(with Thanks) from Hadith Online
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