Home > The 40 Hadith of Nawawi > Hadith 29 of Nawawi
Hadith number 29 of the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi, in faithful English translation.
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Updated on 07 October 2026 at 4:51 AM
📖 26 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.
the narration of Ma'mar, from 'Asim ibn Abi an-Najoud, from Abu Wail, from Mou'adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him; and at-Tirmidhi said: good, authentic.
In what he says, may Allah have mercy on him, there is observation from two sides. The first: the hearing of Abu Wail of Mou'adh is not established: even were he to have met him in age, Mou'adh being in Syria and Abu Wail at Koufa: the imams such as Ahmad and others always argue the absence of hearing by such a thing. Abu Hatim ar-Razi said, of the hearing of Abu Wail from Abu ad-Darda: "he met him, he being at Koufa, and Abu ad-Darda in Syria": meaning that his hearing of him is not authenticated. Abu Zur'a ad-Dimashqi reports that people suspended the hearing of Abu Wail from 'Omar, or denied it: his hearing of Mou'adh is therefore more remote. The second: it is reported from Hammad ibn Salama, from 'Asim ibn Abi an-Najoud, from Chahr ibn Houchab, from Mou'adh. Imam Ahmad reports it in abridged form. Ad-Daraqoutni said, "this is the nearest to the correct," for the hadith is known, from the narration of Chahr, with divergence over it.
I say: the narration of Chahr of Mou'adh is certainly mursal, and Chahr diverged over its reliability and its multiplicity. Imam Ahmad reports it also from the narration of Chahr, from 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ghannam, from Mou'adh. And Imam Ahmad reports it also from the narration of 'Ourwa ibn an-Nazzal, or an-Nazzal ibn 'Ourwa, and of Maymoun ibn Abi Chou'ayb, both of them from Mou'adh: neither 'Ourwa nor Maymoun heard from Mou'adh. And it has other channels from Mou'adh, all weak.
A deed that brings into Paradise and keeps far from the Fire
His words, "inform me of a deed that brings me into Paradise and keeps me far from the Fire": what is established preceded, in the commentary of the twenty-second hadith, from the hadith of Abu Hourayra, of Abu 'Ayyoub and others: that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked a like question, answering as he answered in the hadith of Mou'adh. In a narration of Imam Ahmad: Mou'adh informed us that he said: O Messenger of Allah! I wish to ask you about a word that has made me ill, ill, and saddened; the prophet of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ask me what you will. He said: inform me of a deed that brings me into Paradise: I shall ask you of nothing else. That indicates the intensity of the attention of Mou'adh, may Allah be pleased with him, to righteous deeds. And therein is the proof that deeds are the cause of entry into Paradise, as the Most High says:
"And this is the Paradise you have inherited for what you used to do."
Az-Zoukhrouf, 72
"None enters Paradise by his deed"
As for his words, "none of you enters Paradise by his deed": the intent, and Allah knows best, is that the deed by itself earns no one Paradise, without Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, making it, by His grace and His mercy, the cause of that: the deed itself is of the mercy of Allah and His grace upon His servant: Paradise and its causes are all of the grace of Allah and His mercy.
"You have asked about an immense thing"
His words, "you have asked about an immense thing": it preceded, in the commentary of the indicated hadith, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to a man asking him of the like, "brief as you have been in the question, you have asked much and long." That because entry into Paradise and salvation from the Fire is a very great affair: it is for it that Allah sent down the books and sent the messengers. And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to a man, "What do you say when you pray?" He said: I ask Allah for Paradise, and seek refuge with Him from the Fire: and I know not your melody, nor the melody of Mou'adh, indicating the multiplicity of their supplications and their striving in the question. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Around those two we chant." And in a version, "What becomes of my melody and that of Mou'adh, but that we ask Allah for Paradise and seek refuge with Him from the Fire?"
"Easy for whom Allah makes it easy"
His words, "and it is easy for whom Allah makes it easy": an allusion that support is all in the hand of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: he whom Allah makes easy of guidance has been guided; and he whom He has not made easy, it has not been made easy for him. The Most High says:
"As for the one who gives and fears, and confirms the finest [reward]: We shall ease him towards ease. And as for the one who was miserly and self-sufficient, and called the finest a lie: We shall ease him towards hardship."
Al-Layl, 5-10
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Deed on: each is eased towards that for which he was created: as for the people of happiness, they are eased to the deed of the people of happiness; and as for the people of wretchedness, they are eased to the deed of the people of wretchedness." Then he recited this verse. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would say in his supplication, "Guide me, and make guidance easy for me." And Allah informed of His prophet Moussa, upon him peace, that he said in his supplication:
"He said: Lord! Expand for me my breast, and make my affair easy for me."
Ta-Ha, 25-26
And Ibn 'Omar
Ibn 'Omar, may Allah be pleased with both of them, would supplicate, "O Allah! Make ease easy for me, and preserve me from hardship." The command of entry into Paradise upon bringing the five pillars of Islam, the oneness, the prayer, the zakat, the fast and the pilgrimage, preceded in the commentary of the indicated hadith.
His words, "shall I not indicate to you the gates of good?": when he attached entry into Paradise to the obligations of Islam, he then indicated to him the gates of good of the supererogatories; for the best friends of Allah are the near ones drawing near to Him by the supererogatories after the performance of the obligations.
His words, "the fast is a shield": this saying is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) by numerous channels: the two report it in the authentic collections, from the hadith of Abu Hourayra, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Imam Ahmad reports it with the addition, "the fast is a shield, and a fortress preserved from the Fire." And he reports from the hadith of 'Outhman ibn Abi al-'As, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "The fast is a shield from the Fire, like the shield of one of you in combat." And from the hadith of Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: Our Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, said, "The fast is a shield with which the servant protects himself from the Fire."
And Imam Ahmad and an-Nasa'i report from the hadith of Abu 'Obayda, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "The fast is a shield so long as one does not pierce it." His words "so long as one does not pierce it" mean by foul speech and the like; that is why in the hadith of Abu Hourayra, reported in the two authentic collections, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "the fast is a shield: when it is a day of fasting of one of you, let him be not obscene, nor do harm, nor act ignorantly: if anyone insults him, let him say, I am fasting."
Certain Ancients used to say, "Backbiting pierces the fast, and seeking forgiveness sews it up: whichever of you can bring a fast unpierced, let him do so." And Ibn al-Mounkadir said, "The fasting man, when he backbites, pierces; and when he seeks forgiveness, he sews up." And at-Tabarani reports, by a disputed chain, from Abu Hourayra, may Allah be pleased with him, in raised form, "the fast is a shield so long as one does not pierce it." It was said: by what is it pierced? He said, "by a lie or backbiting." The shield is that with which the servant protects himself, like the armour protecting in combat from the blow: likewise the fast protects its holder from disobediences in the low world, as the Mighty and Majestic says:
"O you who have believed! The fast is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may be God-fearing."
Al-Baqara, 183
When therefore it is his shield from the disobedient, it is his shield in the Hereafter from the Fire; and if he has no shield in the low world from disobediences, he shall have no shield in the Hereafter from the Fire. Ibn Marduwayh reports from the hadith of 'Ali, in raised form, who said, "Allah sent Yahya ibn Zakariya to the sons of Israel with five words": he mentions the hadith entire, containing, "Allah commands you to fast: and its example is like a man walking towards his enemy, having taken for combat an armour: he fears not therefore whence it comes." And he reports it by another channel from 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, in a version stopped at the Companion, containing, "the example of the fast is like a man whom the people see clothing himself in armour until they think the weapon of the enemy shall not reach him: likewise the fast is a shield."
His words, "and alms extinguishes the offence, as water extinguishes fire." This saying is reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) by other channels: Imam Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi report it from the hadith of Ka'b ibn 'Oujra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "the fast is a preserved fortress; and alms extinguishes the offence, as water extinguishes fire." And at-Tabarani and others report it from the hadith of Anas, in the sense, in raised form. And at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih report it from the hadith of Anas, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "The alms of secret extinguishes the anger of the Lord, and repels the evil death." It is reported from 'Ali ibn al-Houssayn, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that he carried bread upon his back by night, distributing it to the poor in the darkness of the night, saying, "alms in the black of night extinguishes the anger of the Lord, the Mighty and Majestic." Allah, the Most High, said:
"If you expose the alms, how good they are! And if you hide them and give them to the poor, it is better for you, and He erases from you some of your evil deeds."
Al-Baqara, 271
It indicates therefore that the evil deeds are expiated by alms, either in the absolute, or the secret alms.
His words, "and the prayer of a man in the depth of night" mean that it extinguishes the offence too, like alms; it is indicated by what Imam Ahmad reports from the narration of 'Ourwa ibn an-Nazzal, from Mou'adh, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: we returned with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) from the campaign of Tabouk: he mentions the hadith, containing, "the fast is a shield, alms, and the standing of the servant in the depth of night expiates the offence." And in the Sahih of Mouslim, from Abu Hourayra, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "The best prayer after the prescribed ones: the standing of the night." It is reported from a group of the Companions, "the people burn by day with sins, and each time they rise to one of the prescribed prayers, they extinguish their sins." And it is reported in raised form by disputed channels.
Likewise the standing of night expiates offences, for it is the best of the supererogatory prayers. And in at-Tirmidhi, from the hadith of Bilal, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "Hold to the standing of the night: it is the custom of the righteous who preceded you; the standing of night is a nearness to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, a restraint of sin, an expiation of evil deeds, and a keeping away of illness from the body." And he reports it also from the hadith of Abu 'Oumama, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), likewise, and says: it is more correct than the hadith of Bilal. Al-Hakim and Ibn Khuzayma report it in their two Sahihs from the hadith of Abu 'Oumama also. Ibn Mas'oud said, "The merit of the night prayer over the day prayer is like the merit of secret alms over public alms." Abou Nou'aym reports it in raised form: the stopped version is more correct. It preceded that secret alms extinguishes the anger of the Lord; likewise the night prayer. Then he recited the words of the Most High:
"Their sides forsake their beds, calling upon their Lord, in fear and hope: and of what We have provided them, they spend. No soul knows what is hidden for them of coolness of eyes, a reward for what they did."
As-Sajda, 16-17
That is, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) recited these two verses at the mention of the merit of the night prayer, showing thereby the merit of the night prayer. It is reported from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, that this verse came down concerning the waiting of the evening prayer. At-Tirmidhi reports it and authenticates it. It is reported from him that he said of this verse, "they were in supererogation between the sunset and the evening." Abu Dawoud reports it. A similar hadith is reported from Bilal, al-Bazzar reporting it by a weak chain. The generality of the verse
All of that enters into the generality of the wording of the verse: Allah praised those whose sides forsake their beds by their invocation; that therefore includes whoever leaves the sleep of night for the remembrance of Allah and His invocation, entering therein the one who prays between the two evening prayers, and the one who waits for the evening prayer without sleeping until he performs it, especially with his need of sleep and his striving against his soul to leave it in order to perform the obligation. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to the one who waited for the evening prayer, "You are in prayer so long as you wait for the prayer." And it enters the one who sleeps, then rises from his sleep at night for vigil, and that is the best species of voluntary prayer in the absolute. And perhaps it enters the one who leaves sleep at the rising of dawn, rising to the dawn prayer, especially with the domination of sleep upon him: that is why it is legislated to the muezzin, at the call of dawn, to say in his call, "the prayer is better than sleep."
His words, "and the prayer of a man in the depth of night": he mentions the best moments of night vigil, which is the depth of night. And an-Nasa'i and at-Tirmidhi report from the hadith of Abu 'Oumama, who said: it was said, O Messenger of Allah! Which supplication is the most heard? He said, "the depth of the last night, and the end of the prescribed prayers." And Ibn Abi ad-Dunya reports it, its wording being: a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: which prayer is the best? He said, "the depth of the night in the middle"; and he said: which supplication is the most heard? He said, "the end of the prescribed ones." And an-Nasa'i reports from the hadith of Abu Dhar, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: I asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): which night is the best? He said, "the best of nights is its deep part."
And Imam Ahmad reports from the hadith of Abu Mouslim, who said: I said to Abu Dhar: which standing of night is the best? He said: I asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as I asked you, and he said, "the deep night past, or the middle of the night: and few are its doers." And al-Bazzar and at-Tabarani report from the hadith of Ibn 'Omar, may Allah be pleased with both of them, who said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked: which night has the most heard supplication? He said, "the deep of night." Al-Bazzar adds in his narration, "the last." And at-Tirmidhi reports from the hadith of 'Amr ibn 'Abasa: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say, "The nearest the Lord is to the servant is in the depth of the last night: if you can be of those who remember Allah in that hour, be so." And he authenticated it.
And Imam Ahmad reports it, its wording being: he said: I said, O Messenger of Allah! Which hour is the best? He said, "the depth of the last night." And in a version of him also he said, "the depth of the last night, whose supplication is the most heard." And in a version of him: I say, O Messenger of Allah! Is there an hour nearer to Allah than another? He said, "the depth of the last night." And Ibn Majah reports it: with him, "the depth of night in the middle." And in a narration of Imam Ahmad, from 'Amr ibn 'Abasa, who said: I said, O Messenger of Allah! Is there an hour better than an hour? He said, "Allah descends indeed in the depth of night, and pardons, save what is of polytheism." The depth of night
It has been said: the deep of night, if it is absolute, the intent is its middle; and if one says the depth of the last night, the intent is the middle of the second half, which is the fifth sixth of the sixths of the night: it is the moment at which the divine descent came.
[The head of the matter, and others:] His words, "shall I not inform you of the head of the matter, of its pillar, and of the summit of its hump?" I say: yes, O Messenger of Allah! He said, "the head of the matter is Islam; its pillar is the prayer; and the summit of its hump is jihad." And in a narration of Imam Ahmad, from the narration of Chahr ibn Houchab, from Ibn Ghannam, from Mou'adh, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me, "If you wish, shall I inform you of the head of this affair, of its support, and of the summit of the hump?" I say: yes.
The prophet of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "The head of this affair is to testify that there is no god but Allah, alone, without associate, and that Mouhammad is His servant and His messenger; and the support of this affair is to establish the prayer and give the zakat; and the summit of its hump of all that is jihad in the path of Allah: and I was commanded to fight the people only until they establish the prayer, give the zakat, and testify that there is no god but Allah, and that Mouhammad is His servant and His messenger; when they do that, they have protected from me their blood and their wealth, save with their right, and their reckoning is upon Allah, the Mighty and Majestic."
And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "By Him who holds the soul of Mouhammad in His hand: no face whitens, no foot is covered with dust in a deed seeking thereby the degrees of Paradise, after the prescribed prayer, like jihad in the path of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; and the plate of no servant grows heavy like that of a beast spending for him in the path of Allah, or upon which he is carried in the path of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) therefore informed of three things: the head of the matter, its pillar, and the summit of its hump.
As for the head of the matter: the affair designates the religion with which he was sent, which is Islam; its explanation has come in another narration by the two testimonies: whoever admits them not inwardly and outwardly is not of Islam in anything.
The support of the religion
As for the support of the religion by which the religion stands, as the tent stands upon its pole: it is the prayer. And in the other narration, "establish the prayer and give the zakat." The discussion of the pillars of Islam and their sequence preceded.
The summit of its hump
As for the summit of its hump, which is its highest and most elevated part: it is jihad.
That indicates that it is the best of deeds after the obligations, as is the saying of Imam Ahmad and other scholars. His words, in the narration of Imam Ahmad, "by Him who holds the soul of Mouhammad in His hand: no face whitens, no foot is covered with dust in a deed seeking thereby the degrees of Paradise, after the prescribed prayer, like jihad in the path of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic," indicate it explicitly.
In the two authentic collections, from Abu Dhar, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: I said, O Messenger of Allah! Which is the best of deeds? He said, "Faith in Allah and jihad in His path." And in the two, from Abu Hourayra, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "The best of deeds: faith in Allah, then jihad in the path of Allah." The hadiths in this sense are very numerous.
His words, "shall I not inform you of the pivot of all of that?" He took hold of his tongue and said, "restrain this," to the end of the hadith. That indicates that the restraining of the tongue, its control and its possession, is the origin of all good: whoever possesses his tongue possesses his affair, governs it and controls it. The discussion of this sense preceded in the commentary of the hadith, "whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or keep silent," and in the commentary of the hadith, "say: I believed in Allah, then be upright." And al-Bazzar reports in his Mousnad from the hadith of Abu al-Yasar that a man said, O Messenger of Allah! Direct me to a deed that brings me into Paradise. He said, "restrain this," and he pointed to his tongue; he replied to him; he said, "May your mother lose you: what topples the people upon their faces into the Fire, but the harvests of their tongues?" And he says: its isnad is good.
The harvests of the tongues
The harvests of the tongues: the reward of forbidden speech and its punishments; for a man sows by his speech and his deed the good deeds and the evil ones, then reaps on the Day of Resurrection what he sowed: whoever sowed good in word or deed has reaped nobility; and whoever sowed evil in word or deed reaps tomorrow the regret.
The apparent of the hadith of Mou'adh indicates that the most of that by which people enter the Fire is the speech of their tongues; for the disobedience of speech therein includes polytheism, the greatest of sins with Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; and therein enters speech upon Allah without knowledge, the companion of polytheism; and therein enters false testimony equalling association with Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; and therein enter sorcery, slander and others, grave and light sins, such as lying, backbiting, tale-carrying and the rest of the disobediences of deed, most of the time not without speech joined to them, aiding them.
The most of what brings people into the Fire
In the hadith of Abu Hourayra, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "The most of what brings people into the Fire is the two hollow places: the mouth and the private parts." Imam Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi report it. And in the two authentic collections, from Abu Hourayra, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said, "A man utters a word whose reach he does not measure, and by it he slides into the Fire further than the distance between the East and the West." And at-Tirmidhi reports it, its wording being, "a man utters a word without seeing its harm, and by it he slides seventy autumns into the Fire." Malik reports from Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, that 'Omar entered upon Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with both of them, while he was pulling his tongue; 'Omar said: stop! May Allah forgive you! Abu Bakr said, "This is what has brought me into troubles!!"
And Ibn Bourayda said: I saw Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, seize his tongue, saying, "Woe to you! Speak good, and you will gain; or keep silent of evil, and you will be safe; otherwise know that you will regret?!" It was said to him: O Abu 'Abbas! Why do you say that? He said, "It has reached me that the man will see his body, and nothing of his limbs shall have more anger on the Day of Resurrection against him than his tongue, save whoever spoke good with it or made good be dictated by it." And Ibn Mas'oud, may Allah be pleased with him, swore by Allah apart from whom there is no god, "nothing on earth requires the long prison more than the tongue." And al-Hasan said, "The tongue is the emir of the body: when it sins, the limbs sin; and when it is chaste, they are so." And Younous ibn 'Oubayd said, "I never saw the tongue of anyone surpassing him in sin without seeing therein the uprightness of the rest of his deed."
And Yahya ibn Abi Kathir said, "The speech of a man never stood upright but that I knew him by the rest of his deed; and it never became corrupt but that I knew him by the rest of his deed." And al-Moubarak ibn Fadala reports from Younous ibn 'Oubayd, may Allah have mercy on them, "You shall not find one single deed of kindness followed by all kindness, except the tongue: for you find the man fasting by day, breaking on the illicit; and keeping vigil by night, bearing false witness by day," and he mentions things like that, "but you shall not find him speaking only by truth, without his deed ever contradicting him."