Benefits from 40 Hadith of Imam an-Nawawi - Shaykh Abdur-Razaq al-Badr

Our shaikh Adur-Razāq Ibn Abdul-Muhsin al-Badr -may Allāh preserve him- said:

"I do not mind relating to you an experience I had with The Forty Hadīths. In one of the African countries where I stayed around 20 days, I started a lecture on The Forty Hadīths. A translator was available there, and the masjid was crowded with large attendance. There were many violations in terms of aqīdah, worship, manners, and interactions in this country where I was giving those lectures. I used to request some students of knowledge to inform me about the violations which existed in that country, be them domestic issues, crimes, aqīdah-related corruption, innovations or other similar things. So through Imām an-Nawawi's The Forty Hadīths -may Allah's mercy be upon him- I used address every issue I heard of in that country.

I would address it without saying: There exists in your country such and such problem. I would rather say while explaining The Forty Hadīths: This tremendous hadīth indicates that such and such thing is impermissible because of such and such proof, and I would clarify the proofs. Many of them used to come to me and declare their repentance; others would come to me and mention other violations which they said they wanted me to cover in the forthcoming hadīths.

Exaplanation of an-Nawawi's The Forty Hadīth, Tape 1.

Translated by Abdulali al-Maghribi