Imam al-Nawawi أبو زكريا يحيى بن شرف النووي

Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (631-676 AH / 1233-1277 CE) was born in the village of Nawa, south of Damascus, from which he takes his name. As a young man he moved to Damascus, then a great center of learning, where he immersed himself in the religious sciences with extraordinary discipline, reportedly attending many study circles each day. Shafiʿi in law, he became one of the school's foremost authorities, and is honored with the title Muhyi al-Din, "reviver of the religion." He was renowned for his piety, simplicity, and detachment from worldly comfort, declining wealth and position to remain devoted to learning and teaching. Though his life was short, his scholarship was vast and remarkably enduring. Among his landmark works are Riyad al-Salihin, a thematically arranged collection of nearly two thousand hadith on ethics, worship, and noble character that remains among the most widely read books in the Muslim world; al-Arbaʿun (the Forty Hadith), a concise gathering of foundational traditions studied by beginners and scholars alike; Kitab al-Adhkar, on supplication and remembrance of God; the influential Shafiʿi legal manual Minhaj al-Talibin; and al-Minhaj, his detailed commentary on Sahih Muslim. His writings continue to anchor traditional Islamic study to this day.