Home > The 40 Hadith of Nawawi > Hadith 22 of Nawawi
Hadith number 22 of the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi, in faithful English translation.
Contents
Updated on 07 October 2026 at 4:51 AM
📖 21 min readThis hadith belongs to the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him), the most studied hadith compilation in the world: foundations of faith, worship and character, all authentic narrations.
they make lawful its lawful and forbid its forbidden, without distorting it from its places.
What is intended by prohibition and making lawful is the doing of the lawful and the avoidance of the illicit, as mentioned in this hadith. Allah, the Most High, said, concerning the disbelievers altering the prohibition of the sacred months:
"The postponed month is only an increase in disbelief: the disbelievers are led astray thereby: they make it lawful one year, and forbid it one year, to agree with the number of what Allah has forbidden."
At-Tawba, 37
The meaning is: they fought in a sacred month one year, making it lawful by that; they abstained from fighting one year, forbidding it by that. And Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said:
"O you who have believed! Do not forbid the good things Allah has made lawful to you, and do not transgress: Allah loves not the transgressors. And eat of what Allah has provided you, lawful and good."
Al-Ma'ida, 87-88
This verse came down because of a people abstaining from taking certain good things, out of detachment from this world and asceticism; some forbade them to themselves, whether by sworn oath or by prohibition upon themselves: none of that makes the thing illicit in itself; some abstained from them without oath or prohibition: all were named prohibition, meaning abstention: harming the soul and restraining it from its desires.
It is said by way of example: "such a one neither makes lawful nor forbids," when he does not abstain from doing an illicit thing, nor stops when it is permitted to him: even were he to believe the illicit forbidden. They thus make the one who did the illicit thing without guarding against it a maker-lawful, even were he not to believe its lawfulness. In every state, this hadith indicates that whoever performs the obligations and abstains from the prohibitions enters Paradise.
The hadiths of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in this sense, or near it, are numerous (tawatur): an-Nasa'i, Ibn Hibban and al-Hakim report from the hadith of Abu Hourayra and Abu Sa'id, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "No servant who performs the five prayers, fasts Ramadan, gives the zakat, and avoids the seven great sins, but that the gates of Paradise are opened for him: he enters by whichever he wills." Then he recited:
"If you avoid the great sins you are forbidden: We will expiate your evil deeds, and bring you in by an honourable entrance."
An-Nisa, 31
And Imam Ahmad and an-Nasa'i report from the hadith of Abu 'Ayyoub al-'Ansari, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "Whoever worships Allah without associating anything with Him, establishes the prayer, gives the zakat, fasts Ramadan, and avoids the great sins: Paradise is due to him, or he enters Paradise." And in the Mousnad, from Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them: Dammam ibn Tha'laba made a delegation to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): he mentioned to him the five prayers, the fast, the zakat, the pilgrimage, and all the laws of Islam; when he finished, he said: I testify that there is no god but Allah, and that Mouhammad is the messenger of Allah; I will perform these obligations, and avoid what you forbid me: neither adding nor diminishing. He (the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "If he speaks truly: he enters Paradise."
And at-Tabarani reports it by another channel; and in his hadith he says, "and the fifth holds no interest for me," meaning the turpitudes; then he says, "I will avoid them; and whoever obeys me": the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "if he speaks truly: he will enter Paradise." And in the Sahih of al-Boukhari, from Abu 'Ayyoub al-'Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him: a man said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): inform me of a deed that brings me into Paradise. He said, "Worship Allah without associating anything with Him, establish the prayer, give the zakat, and maintain kinship." Mouslim reports it, except that with him he says, "inform me of a deed that brings me near Paradise and distances me from the Fire." And with him, in a narration, when he turned away, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "If he holds to what he was commanded: he will enter Paradise."
And in the two authentic collections, from Abu Hourayra, may Allah be pleased with him: a Bedouin said: O Messenger of Allah! Direct me to a deed such that if I perform it, I enter Paradise. He said, "Worship Allah without associating anything with Him, establish the prescribed prayer, pay the obligatory zakat, and fast Ramadan." He said: by Him who sent you with the truth, I shall never add anything to it, nor diminish from it. When he left, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Whoever delights to look upon a man of the people of Paradise, let him look upon this one." And in the two authentic collections, from Talha ibn 'Obayd Allah, may Allah be pleased with him: a Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), his hair unbound, and said: O Messenger of Allah! Inform me of what Allah has prescribed me of prayer. He said, "The five prayers, unless you volunteer something."
He said: inform me of what Allah has prescribed me of fasting. He said, "The month of Ramadan, unless you volunteer something." He said: inform me of what Allah has prescribed me of zakat. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) informed him of the laws of Islam: he said: by Him who honoured you with the truth, I shall volunteer nothing, nor diminish anything from what Allah has prescribed me. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "He has succeeded, if he speaks truly"; or: "he will enter Paradise, if he speaks truly." And its wording is that of al-Boukhari. And in the Sahih of Mouslim, from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him: a Bedouin asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): he mentions it in the sense, and adds, "the pilgrimage of the House, for whoever finds a way to it." He said: by Him who sent you with the truth, I shall not add to it, nor diminish from it. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "If he speaks truly: he will enter Paradise."
The purpose of the Bedouin was not to increase upon the prescribed prayer, the obligatory zakat, the fast of Ramadan and the pilgrimage of the House with anything voluntary: not that he refused to act by anything of the laws of Islam and their obligations beyond that.
In these hadiths, the avoidance of prohibitions is not mentioned: for the questioner asked him for the deeds by which their doer enters Paradise, and those are these deeds.
Those are the deeds
At-Tirmidhi reports from the hadith of Abu 'Oumama, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) preach at the farewell pilgrimage, saying, "O people! Fear Allah, perform your five prayers, fast your month, give the zakat of your wealth, and obey your leader: you will enter the Paradise of your Lord." And he graded it good, authentic. And Imam Ahmad reports it: with him, "worship your Lord," in place of his words, "fear Allah." And Buqi ibn Makhlad reports it in his Mousnad by another channel, the wording of whose hadith is: "perform your five prayers, fast your month, pilgrimage your House, give the zakat of your wealth, the soul content: you will enter the Paradise of your Lord." And Imam Ahmad reports by his chain from Ibn al-Mountafiq, who said: I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), while he was at 'Arafat, and I said: two things I ask You: what saves me from the Fire, and what brings me into Paradise?
He said, "Brief as you have been in the question, you have asked much: hold yourself to me: worship Allah without associating anything with Him, establish the prescribed prayer, pay the obligatory zakat, fast Ramadan, and what you love that people do to you, do it to them; and what you hate that they bring you, leave it from them." And in a narration of him also, he said, "Fear Allah without associating anything with Him, establish the prayer, give the zakat, pilgrimage the House, and fast Ramadan": adding no more. It is said this Companion is the delegate of the sons of al-Mountafiq, named Laqit. These deeds are therefore sufficient causes of entering Paradise.
Committing the prohibitions can be obstacles: it is indicated by what Imam Ahmad reports from the hadith of 'Amr ibn Mourra al-Juhani, who said: a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! I testify that there is no god but Allah, and that you are the messenger of Allah; I have performed the five prayers, paid the zakat of my wealth, and fasted the month of Ramadan? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Whoever dies upon that will be with the prophets, the truthful and the martyrs on the Day of Resurrection, thus"; and he raised his two fingers; "unless he disobeys his parents."
Entry into Paradise by the performance of certain of these deeds, such as the prayer, has come in the famous hadith: "Whoever performs the prayers at their hours has with Allah a pact that He bring him into Paradise." And in the authentic hadith: "Whoever performs the two cold prayers enters Paradise."
Deeds not sufficient without other deeds
All of this is the mention of the sufficient cause, whose deed is accomplished only by the gathering of its conditions and the absence of its obstacles: it is indicated by what Imam Ahmad reports from Bachir ibn al-Khasasiyya, who said: I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to swear allegiance to him: he conditioned upon me to testify that there is no god but Allah, that Mouhammad is His servant and His messenger, to establish the prayer, give the zakat, perform the pilgrimage of Islam, fast Ramadan, and fight in the path of Allah. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Two things, by Allah, I cannot bear: jihad and alms.
(For they claimed that whoever holds back the rear becomes bearer of the anger of Allah: so I feared, should that situation arise, that my soul would be covetous, hating death; and the alms: by Allah, I have nothing but booty and ten camels, being the charge of my family and their mounts.) The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) took his hand, then shook it, and said, "Neither jihad nor alms: by what then would you enter Paradise?" I said: then, O Messenger of Allah, I will swear allegiance to you. So I swore allegiance to him upon all of that.
In this hadith therefore: these attributes do not suffice for entry into Paradise without the zakat and jihad. And it is established in the authentic hadiths that committing certain grave sins bars entry into Paradise: as his words, "the wrongdoer will not enter Paradise"; and his words, "whoever has in his heart the weight of an ant of pride will not enter Paradise"; and his words, "you will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another." And by debt: the hadiths that came on the barring of entry into Paradise until payment. And by injustices: in the authentic collection: when the believers cross the Bridge, they are held upon a bridge: the injustices that occurred between them in this world are demanded of them. And by sin: certain righteous Ancients say, "a man may be held at the gate of Paradise a hundred years by a sin he committed in this world." All of that is of the obstacles.
From there appears the meaning of the hadiths that came on entering Paradise by the oneness alone: in the two authentic collections, from Abu Dhar, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "No servant who says: there is no god but Allah, then dies upon that, but that he enters Paradise." I say: even were he to fornicate and steal? He said, "even were he to fornicate and steal"; he said it three times; then said at the fourth, "despite the nose of Abu Dhar!" Abu Dhar went out saying: even were the nose of Abu Dhar humbled! And in the two, from 'Obada ibn as-Samit, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "Whoever testifies that there is no god but Allah, alone, without associate, and that Mouhammad is His servant and His messenger, and that 'Issa is the servant of Allah and His messenger, His word He cast into Maryam, and a spirit from Him, and that Paradise is true, and the Fire true: Allah brings him into Paradise, upon whatever was of his deed."
And in the Sahih of Mouslim, from Abu Hourayra or Abu Sa'id (with the doubt), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he said, "Whoever testifies that there is no god but Allah, and that I am the messenger of Allah: Allah meets him with these two no servant doubting them, without being veiled from Paradise." And in the same collection, from Abu Hourayra, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him one day, "Whoever you meet testifying that there is no god but Allah, his heart convinced of it: give him the good tidings of Paradise." In the sense, very numerous hadiths. And in the two authentic collections, from Anas: that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said one day to Mu'adh, "No servant testifying that there is no god but Allah, and that Mouhammad is His servant and His messenger, but that Allah forbids him to the Fire." And in the two, from Itban ibn Malik, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "Allah has forbidden to the Fire whoever says: there is no god but Allah, seeking thereby the face of Allah."
Part of the scholars said: the word of oneness is a sufficient cause of entering Paradise and of salvation from the Fire: but it has conditions: the bringing of the obligations; and obstacles: the avoidance of the grave sins.
The condition of salvation by the word of oneness
Al-Hasan said to al-Farazdaq: "there are conditions to there is no god but Allah: guard yourself from casting upon the protected women." It is reported from him: "here is the pole: where is the rope?": the word of oneness is the pole of the tent; but the tent does not stand without its ropes, which are the deeds of the obligations and the leaving of the prohibitions. It was said to al-Hasan: people say, whoever says, there is no god but Allah, enters Paradise? He said, "Whoever says, there is no god but Allah, performing its right and its obligations, enters Paradise." It was said to Wahb ibn Mouannabih: is not, there is no god but Allah, the key of Paradise? He said, "Yes: but no key without teeth: if you come with a key having teeth, it opens for you; otherwise it opens not for you." That resembles what is reported from Ibn 'Omar: asked about the word of oneness, whether a deed harms with it, as a deed does not serve with its abandonment, Ibn 'Omar said, "Count ten, and let not yourself be deceived by it."
Part of them, among them ad-Dahhak and az-Zouhri, said: that was before the obligations and the penalties. Some of them indicated that it was abrogated: others said: rather conditions were added to it; and is the addition of conditions an abrogation or not? A well-known disagreement among the theologians. All of that is disputable: for many of these hadiths are posterior to the obligations and the penalties. And ath-Thawri said, "the obligations and the penalties abrogated it": so it is possible that his intent be that of these people; and it is possible that his intent be that the obligation of the obligations and the penalties shows by it that the penalties of this world do not fall by the two testimonies alone; likewise the punishments of the Hereafter. And such an explanation and lifting of ambiguity the righteous Ancients called abrogation: without being abrogation in the well-known technical sense.
Part said: these absolute texts came restricted: that they say it with truth and sincerity; and their truth and sincerity prevent with them persistence in disobedience. And in the mursal reports of al-Hasan, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Whoever says, there is no god but Allah, with sincerity, enters Paradise." It was said: and what is its sincerity? He said, "That it hold you back from what Allah has forbidden." And this is reported connected by other weak channels.
Al-Hasan perhaps indicated by his words that we reported from him previously this: for the heart that realises the meaning of the word of oneness, its truth and its sincerity require that the divinisation of Allah alone take root in it: by veneration, reverence, fear, love, hope, exaltation and trust, filling itself with that; and the divinisation of any other of the creatures is excluded from it: when it is thus, there remains in it neither love nor will nor seeking of what Allah does not will and does not love: all the passions of the souls, their wills and the obsessions of the devil are excluded from the heart. Whoever therefore loves something or obeys it, loving by it and hating by it: that one is his god. Whoever loves and hates only for Allah, allies and opposes only for Him: Allah is truly his god.
Whoever loves for his passion, hates for it, allies by it and opposes by it: his passion is his god, as the Most High says:
"Have you seen the one who takes his passion for his god?"
Al-Fourqane, 43
Al-Hasan said, "it is the one who desires nothing without plunging into it." And Qatada said, "it is the one who, whenever he desires a thing, plunges into it; and whenever he envies a thing, goes to it: neither scruple nor piety hold him back from it." And it is reported from the hadith of Abu 'Oumama, in raised form: "No god worshipped apart from Allah under the shadow of the sky is greater with Allah than a passion followed." And likewise whoever obeys the devil in the disobedience of Allah has worshipped him, as Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says:
"Did I not bind you, O son of Adam, not to worship the devil? He is for you a manifest enemy."
Ya-Sin, 60
It appears therefore by that that the meaning of the word "there is no god but Allah" is truly realised only for the one whose heart holds no persistence in the love of what Allah detests, nor will for what Allah does not will: when there is in the heart something of that, it is a deficiency in oneness: it is a species of hidden polytheism. That is why Moujahid, at His words,
"And associate nothing with Him."
An-Nisa, 48
said, "love nothing other than Me." And in the Sahih of al-Hakim, from 'Aicha, may Allah be pleased with her, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "Polytheism is more hidden than the crawling of the ant upon the rock, in the black night: and the nearest of that: loving upon some injustice, and hating upon some justice: and what is the religion but love and hatred? Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says,"
"Say: if you love Allah, follow me: Allah will love you."
Al 'Imran, 31
[Loving what Allah detests: polytheism:] Here is a text that the love of what Allah detests, and the hatred of what Allah loves, following the passion, allegiance upon it and opposition, are of hidden polytheism. And Ibn Abi ad-Dunya reports from the hadith of Anas, in raised form: "there is no god but Allah" "ceases not to withhold the servants from the anger of Allah, so long as they prefer not their low world to the market of their religion: when they prefer the market of their low world to their religion, then say, there is no god but Allah, Allah renders it to them, and says: you have lied."
The meaning of his words appears therefore by that: "whoever testifies that there is no god but Allah, truthful of his heart: Allah forbids him to the Fire": and that whoever of the people of this word enters the Fire, it is by the rareness of his truthfulness in saying it; for this word, when it is truthful, purifies from the heart everything other than Allah: whoever therefore is truthful in saying "there is no god but Allah" loves none other than Allah, hopes in none but Him, fears only Allah, trusts only Allah: nothing remains to him of the trace of his soul and his passion. When there remains in the heart a trace of other than Allah, it is by the rareness of truthfulness in his word.
Effects of the oneness
The fire of Gehenna is extinguished by the light of the faith of the unitarians, as in the famous hadith: "the Fire says to the believer: draw near, O believer: your light has quenched my flame." And in the Mousnad of Imam Ahmad, from Jabir, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "there will remain neither righteous nor wicked without entering it: it will be upon the believers coolness and salvation, as it was upon Ibrahim, to the point that the Fire has a clamour at their coolness." Here is an inheritance the believers inherited from the state of Ibrahim, upon him peace and salvation: the fire of love in the hearts of the believers, the fire of Gehenna fears it. Al-Jounayd, may Allah have mercy on him, said: the Fire said: O Lord! If I did not obey You, would You punish me with anything harder than me? He said: yes: I would reign over you My great fire. It said: and is there a fire greater and harder than me?
He said: yes: the fire of My love, which I have made to dwell in the hearts of My believing friends. Of this some say, "in the heart of the lover is a fire of passion... hotter than the fire of Gehenna: the colder of the two." It is witnessed by the hadith of Mu'adh, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "Whoever's last word is: there is no god but Allah, enters Paradise." The dying man scarcely says it except with sincerity, repentance, regret for what has passed, and resolution not to return to the like. Al-Khattabi preferred this view in a singular book on oneness: and it is well.