Are the hadiths mentioned in Imam An-Nawawi's book "An-Nawawi's Forty Hadith" authentic, and can a تخريج (source verification) for them be provided?
Imam Nawawi's book "Al-Arba'in an-Nawawiyyah" (The Forty Hadith) contains 42 hadith, which Nawawi pledged to be authentic. However, some hadith imams disagreed with him regarding the حسن (good) status of some of them. Among them is Al-Hafiz Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali, who demonstrated the weakness of six hadith in terms of their chain of narration (sanad), even though their meanings are sound. One can refer to Ibn Rajab's "Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam" to understand their deficiencies. Imam Nawawi's excuse for including weak hadith might have been his reliance on the authentication or حسن (good) grading by At-Tirmidhi and the silence of Abu Dawud. For the full referencing of the Forty Hadith, one can refer to verified editions, computer programs, or the Hadith Encyclopedia on the Al-Durar Al-Saniyyah website.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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