Al-Nawawi

Abu Zakaria Muhiy ad-Din Yahya Ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī (1233–1277) (Arabic: أبو زكريا يحيى بن شرف النووي‎), popularly known as al-Nawawī or Imam Nawawī (631–676 A.H./1234–1277), was an influential Sunni Shafi'ite jurist and hadith scholar. He authored numerous and lengthy works ranging from hadith, to theology, biography, and jurisprudence. Throughout his lifetime, Al-Nawawi never got married.

Name

His complete name is Abu Zakaria Mohiuddin Yahya ibn Sharaf ibn Marri ibn Hassan ibn Hussain ibn Muhammad ibn Juma ibn Hazm An-Nawawi.

Early years

Background

He was born at Nawa near Damascus, Syria. As with many Arabic and Semitic names, the last part of his name refers to his hometown.

Shaikh Yasin bin Yusuf Marakashi, says: "I saw Imam Nawawi at Nawa when he was a youth of ten years of age. Other boys of his age used to force him to play with them, but Imam Nawawi would always avoid the play and would remain busy with the recitation of the Noble Qur'an. When they tried to domineer and insisted on his joining their games, he bewailed and expressed his no concern over their foolish action. On observing his sagacity and profundity, a special love and affection developed in my heart for young Nawawi. I approached his teacher and urged him to take exceptional care of this lad as he was to become a great religious scholar. His teacher asked whether I was a soothsayer or an astrologer. I told him I am neither soothsayer nor an astrologer but Allah caused me to utter these words." His teacher conveyed this incident to Imam's father and he keeping in view the learning quest of his son, decided to dedicate the life of his son for the service and promotion of the cause of Islam.

Nawawi

The Arabic attributive title Nawawi (Arabic: النووي‎), denoting an origin from Nawa, Syria, may refer to: