We will consider hadith 5 and hadith 6 together. Hadith 5 is very brief – an example of the eloquence of the Prophet peace be upon him and his ability to be brief but profound. In this hadith, the Prophet peace be upon him tells us that Islam describes a definable path, and that veering off this path, by introducing elements onto it is not acceptable.

Because of its brevity, the hadith does not outline specifically what that path is, or the different ways “innovations” can be made, and hence rejected. But in their collectivity, the 42 ahadith in this collection do.

That brings us to hadith 6: Islam prescribes what is permissible and impermissible in a clear fashion. But several issues will arise that will appear ambiguous to many people (though by implication clear to some). Constantly living on the edge is not good for your heart. As goes the heart, so does the person as a whole. This notion of checking where we are is the embodiment of taqwa or piety.

‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab once asked Ubayy ibn Ka’ab about taqwa or piety. Ubayy gave him an example: “what do you do when you walk in a path full of thorns?” ‘Umar’s response was that he was very careful where he tread and Ubayy said, “that is piety.”

In the last post, I wrote about hadiths #2 and #3 – that Islam is built on a statement of belief, a set of physical rituals, authentic beliefs and sincerity in orienting oneself to God. But those elements are not the totality of Islam, but rather the foundation of it. “Islam” is a set of actions and behaviours built on those foundations.

In this post, I will digress briefly from the topic of understanding Islam holistically to highlight an important detail. Of the companions of the Prophet peace be upon him, there are those who were prolific in their narrations of hadith such as Abu Hurayra, Ibn Abbas, Al-Sayyeda A’isha, Anas Ibn Malik and others and all of them are represented in the Nawawi collection.

The most prolific hadith narrators (in order of number of ahadith narrated, Abu Hurayra, Ibn Umar, Anas, Aisha, Ibn Abbas, Jabir and Abu Said may God be pleased with them), narrated 21 of the 42 ahadith in the Nawawi collection. The remaining 21  – half of the collection – was narrated by other companions, some of them far less known.

Of those ahadith, some names stand out: Mu’ath Ibn Jabal, Abu Dharr and ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with them stand out for having narrated 2 ahadith each, that are at the heart of Islam. But it is ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab who truly stands out even in this select company. If we accept that Al-Nawawi organized the ahadith in some order, ‘Umar narrates the two ahadith at the very beginning of the collection.

Why is this detail important? All learning is not created equal. Even in that select company of the people around the Prophet peace be upon him, some listened for the very important sayings of the Prophet peace be upon him and committed them to memory and committed to sharing them with others.

In our own lives, we should try to exemplify that principle: Look for the best of the pearls. Commit them to memory; share them with others.

Our next hadiths to consider are hadith #3 and #4 together. It’s probably important to note at this point that I’m not attempting any level of comprehensive treatment of these ahadith. Rather, my objective is to highlight how these texts help us understand Islam holistically. Hadith #3 is known as “hadith Jibril”, because the Archangel Jibril is the Prophet peace be upon him’s interlocutor. Because of the hadith’s broad sweep of essential concepts, books have been written on the meaning of the hadith. But from my perspective, in terms of the goal of understanding Islam holistically, it’s the shorter hadith #3 that is potentially more important.

Hadith #2 tells us that Islam, holistically considered is part ritual, part conviction and part sincerity and that each of those are inter-related. The highest form of Islam is one in which the sincerity is built on a deep and authentic belief that is, in turn, supported by ritual. Effort – ritual for example, is rewarded by God by greater strength of faith –

“…Just as for those who are [willing to be] guided, He increases their [ability to follow His] guidance and causes them to grow in God-consciousness.” (47:17)

Hadith #3 is read by many as simply as an iteration of the first part of Hadith #2. But, looking closely, that is not the case. Al-Nawawi seems to have selected these two texts in close juxtaposition to highlight the difference in the language describing Islam. Hadith #2 states that “Islam is that you bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His Prophet; that you establish the ritual prayers, pay the alms, make pilgrimage to the House of God [in Makka] and fast the month of Ramadan.”

Hadith #3 uses different language. Islam “is” not those aspects, rather Islam is “built” on these aspects.

In other words, Islam is ritual, belief and sincerity; but those are the foundation, not the edifice. The edifice of Islam is what comes later in the collection. No building is secure or robust without a solid foundation, and that is the importance of ritual, of authentic belief and of sincerity, but no building is worth the name if it never rises above its foundation.

More on this theme of where Islam “begins” and “ends”.

Al-Nawawi and other scholars have written that this Hadith enters into almost all actions and various scholars have elected to insert it at the beginning of their works.

And so, quite appropriately, this is the point of departure in Islam: the most essential aspect of our being is what we intend in our hearts, not necessarily what we exhibit outwardly (we will consider some of the other parameters that govern our actions later). In that sense, Islam is located, first and foremost, within us. We may be able to project an image of ourselves to the outside world, but we cannot and should not try to delude ourselves. Social scientists talk about how human beings “construct” themselves whenever we share our experiences or anything about ourselves to others. There are of course things we will always want to keep to ourselves. But being true and honest with ourselves about why we do what we do – and working to improve that conversation that takes place within us is where Islam begins.

There are people who succeed in deluding themselves so that their very intentions are confused and unclear. That is the end result of hypocrisy – “Satan has gained mastery over them, and has caused them to remain oblivious of the remembrance of God.
Such as these are Satan’s partisans: oh, verily, it is they, the partisans of Satan, who will truly be the losers!” (58:19)

No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true. (Nathaniel Hawthorne)

If intention and purifying it are where Islam begins, where does it “end”? In other words, what’s the other sine qua non of Islam? Al-Nawawi provides us with a very important answer in the last hadith in his compilation.

Having gone through 41 ahadith that summarize the meaning of Islam. We arrive here: a boundless belief in the mercy of Allah swt that should never erode, however one may have lived his or her life.

Now Islam appears very clear – Islam is a struggle to submit. Submission is a struggle to be honest and true with oneself – being clear on why we do what we do and seeking to direct that intention towards God but then also knowing that if we come up short on that front that we should continue to struggle to submit to God by knowing that whenever we direct ourselves to Him, whatever it is we have done, He will respond to us – so long as we have struggled.

Once we give up hope or give up the struggle, we lose and are lost.

In the last post, I introduced the Forty Nawawi Hadith Collection as a way to understand Islam in a holistic way.

The inspiration for Al-Nawawi to compile these ahadith (42 in total) was a Prophetic tradition that exhorted people to preserve 40 hadiths for the Ummah. Al-Nawawi’s collection was not the only such collection, but it became the most well-known among Muslims. Many memorize the 42 ahadith growing up.

In the introduction to the compilation, al-Nawawi gives us his rationale for choosing these specific texts: He wished to compile around 40 ahadith that summarize the central tenets of Islam. “الأحاديث التي عليها مدار الإسلام”

So in reading this compilation, we have an opportunity to understand how Al-Nawawi understood Islam in its entirety – that is a holistic understanding of Islam that focuses on the principles and fundamentals rather than the details and particulars.

Many of us are victim to a granular understanding of Islam that is gained through being exposed to individual texts or the lens of a particular issue. There are flashpoints that every Muslim today seems to be exposed to from the broad and significant like gender equity to the banal but recurring like halal meat. Even the most banal issues of practice are important, but they must be underpinned by a perspective on the faith or a framework. And Al-Nawawai provides that framework by focusing on the texts that encapsulate the meaning of Islam.

The order of the ahadith is important, and we see Al-Nawawi reference the order on occasion. But we have very little to go by in terms of Al-Nawawi’s own explanation for why he specifically chose these texts or the order. Nevertheless the rationale for some choices seems self-evident.

For example, the first hadith in the collection revolves around the central importance of intention. Deeds are only worth the intention behind them. The last hadith in the collection is about the Infinite Forgiveness of God and His generosity. The only requisite to God’s forgiveness is the sincere asking of It.

And so, right at this point, we understand that Islam begins and ends with a focus on God. It begins with focusing on God by sincerely intending to do what is right. And it ends with often returning to God and having hope in His Mercy, Forgiveness and Generosity.

In between sincere intention and the seeking of forgiveness there is much, but those two signposts are the “bookends” of Islam: Sincerity in the beginning and in the end.

One of my favourite books on Islam is the collection of forty hadiths (Prophetic sayings) by Imam al-Nawawi, the so-called Forty Nawawi Hadiths. I like the collection for two main reasons and a host of others. Those two main reasons are:

1. Al-Nawawi had a deep and profound understanding of Islam and of the human condition. He collected these forty (actually forty-two) sayings of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him as the sayings of the Prophet that “encapsulate” Islam. His understanding of Islam as reflected in those forty texts does not only stand the test of time – it continues to be entirely accessible and relevant today; it also reflects a profound understanding of the human condition. That deep and profound understanding of Islam is not of Al-Nawawi’s making; he did not construct or create Islam in this way; but he was able to survey the highly authenticated sayings of the Prophet and extract/collate those which provided a holistic understanding of Islam.
2. The collection is a reminder that no meaningful contribution is a singular human enterprise. Al-Nawawi developed this collection around a nucleus identified by a previous scholar, Abu ‘Amr Ibn Al-Salah as the central texts of Islam; and Abu ‘Amr himself built on the work of preceding scholars. Further, Al-Nawawi started off with a smaller collection – (as listed in another of his works, Bustan Al-‘Arifin) and only later added the remaining ahadith. That reminds me of the importance of starting with something, but then constantly refining.

I admire Al-Nawawi. He was a real scholar’s scholar. He authored works in a number of Islamic disciplines (hadith, fiqh, usul al-fiqh) and his works were written for scholars, like his encyclopedic work of comparative fiqh al-Majmu’, while others were written specifically for lay people, like the Forty Hadiths, al-Athkar and Riyad Al-Salehin. He understood that lay people have very different requirements from scholars and he used a distinctive style which he explained in the introductions to those works: eliminating the long chain of sanad; using commonly recognized texts; selecting texts that had relevance to daily life ..etc.

He was hardworking and on a mission. It’s hard to imagine that he died at the very young age of 44 and yet had achieved such universal recognition that he was given the title, “the reviver of the Faith” (Muhyi-eldin); which he, in characteristic modesty and erudition, disliked, saying that the faith is alive and well and does not need a reviver.