Manuscript of a text taught to devout Muslims for over 750 years

Nawawi, Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf al-. Al-Arba 'in al-Nawawiyya [Nawawi's Forty].

€ 9.500,00

First written in Damascus in the 13th century CE and still widely read today, "Nawawi's Forty" comprises a collection of hadith which made its author rightly famous across the Muslim world, and particularly among his fellow Sunni Muslims.

Abu Zakariyya al-Nawawi (1230-77 CE), also known as Imam Nawawi, made his name as a jurist of the Shafi'i school and as a hadith scholar. His two most important works, of which the "Forty" is one, are both hadith collections which have remained both popular and respected by religious scholars for over 750 years. While he lived a fairly short life - he died at only 45 years of age - al-Nawawi produced scholarly works at a furious pace during his lifetime. He was well versed in fiqh (Muslim law) and was widely respected not only by his fellow Shafi'ites, but notably beyond his school as well. Twice al-Nawawi angered the Mamluk Sultan Rukn al-Din Baybars (1223/28-1277), the "Father of Conquests". In both instances al-Nawawi risked imprisonment or worse by protesting against the rate of taxes imposed on the citizens of Damascus, and both times the Sultan relented in favour of the scholar. Although his tomb was recently destroyed in the course of warfare in 2015, his manuscripts and works preserve his legacy. The "Forty" in this manuscript is still used to teach today, and of the three of his works to have been translated into English and published, it is naturally one. This manuscript, copied in 1594 CE by the scribe Abd al-Nafi' ibn 'Umar al-Hamawi, is an important part of this history.