Fath al-Qawi al-Matin fi Sharh al-Arbain wa Tatimmat al-Khamsin li al-Nawawi wa Ibn Rajab rahimahuma Allah
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- Dar Ibn al-Qayyim
Fath al-Qawi al-Matin fi Sharh al-Arba'in wa-Tatimmat al-Khamsin li-l-Nawawi wa-Ibn Rajab (The Victory of the All-Strong and Steadfast: A Commentary on the Forty Hadiths and the Completion to Fifty of al-Nawawi and Ibn Rajab) is a contemporary hadith commentary by the Saudi scholar Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad (b. 1353 AH / 1934 CE) on the canonical collection of concise and foundational prophetic traditions .
Background and Purpose
The foundational text of the work is the al-Arba'un (The Forty Hadith) compiled by al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH / 1277 CE), which originally comprised forty-two hadiths—termed "forty" by linguistic approximation (taghlib)—focusing on broad legal, moral, and creedal principles . Later, Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali added eight comprehensive traditions to complete the set to fifty hadiths, composing his detailed commentary Jami' al-Ulum wa-l-Hikam (The Compendium of Knowledge and Wisdom) upon them .
Observing that existing commentaries on the collection ranged from concise summaries to extensive treatises, al-Abbad authored Fath al-Qawi al-Matin to provide a moderate explanation leaning toward brevity . He selected the title referencing one of the divine names of God, al-Matin, citing the Quranic verse: إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينُ ("Indeed, it is Allah who is the Continual Provider, the Firm Possessor of Strength", Surah al-Dhariyat: 58), which exegeses explain as "the One of immense strength" (shadid al-quwwah) . Al-Abbad also explicitly advised students of Islamic knowledge to memorize the fifty traditions on account of their comprehensive phrasing (jawami' al-kalim) .
Structure and Content
The book covers all fifty hadiths in sequence, starting with al-Nawawi's opening selection: the hadith of Umar ibn al-Khattab, إنَّما الأعمال بالنيَّات، وإنَّما لكلِّ امرئ ما نوى ("Actions are judged only by intentions, and every person shall have only what they intended"), narrated in the Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim . It proceeds through the forty-two hadiths chosen by al-Nawawi and continues through the eight additional hadiths appended by Ibn Rajab .
For each tradition, al-Abbad presents the matn (text) and divides the explanation into organized thematic paragraphs detailing the meanings of the terms, the context of the statements, and the broader theological and legal applications . Every hadith entry concludes with an itemized enumeration of the benefits and rulings derived directly from the text (mimma yustafad min al-hadith) .
Methodology and Sources
Al-Abbad based his analysis and commentary on several recognized classical and contemporary authorities, drawing directly from:
- The commentary of al-Nawawi on his own collection .
- The commentary of Ibn Daqiq al-Id .
- Jami' al-Ulum wa-l-Hikam by Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali .
- Sharh al-Arba'in by Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymin .
- Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani .
The work was published in Saudi Arabia by Dar Ibn al-Qayyim in Dammam .
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