Use Imam Nawawi’s Forty Hadith To Sharpen Young Minds
M. Bakri Musa
Properly conducted, we all can learn from Imam Nawawi’s collection of forty (in actuality 42) hadith (sayings attributed to Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon Him). The operative phrase is “properly conducted.” As for restricting it only to Muslims, well, as a believer I have learned much from reading about Socrates, an avowed atheist.
The tragedy for Muslims is that the teaching of hadith at all (including graduate) levels is a one-way street, reminiscent of the Catholics’ catechism. Less education, more indoctrination; little learning, a whole lot of listening. Mufti Albakri’s recent 50-minute lecture on Nawawi’s first hadith (Actions be judged by intentions) was typical. He spent over 40 minutes reciting the hadith’s long chain of narrators as well as its various equally tedious iterations, all in their original Arabic. This was after his droning endless praise of the author. Albakri was less to educate, more to impress listeners with his prodigious memory, flawless Arabic, and (to him) mesmerizing oratory. There was not a word on the hadith’s relevance to everyday life or its connection with the Qur’an. It was all an endless recitation and regurgitation of factoids, no critical analysis. That would be blasphemy. Alas, this is the norm.
Likewise with the many translations of Imam Nawawi’s book. The latest (2023, by Faisal Ahmad Shah) is so formulaic, like the translation of a book of recipes, with the same long mini biographies of the various narrators. No prompts for readers to think. Must all actions have intentions? What about unintended consequences? How sure are we of our intentions?
The Ministry of Education’s proposed “study module” on Nawawi’s Forty Hadith would degenerate along similar mind-numbing patterns. What a shame as both hadith and Qur’an are great resources for exercises in critical thinking, quite apart from lessons and inspirations to lead a purposeful life.
In my book Qur’an, Hadith, And Hikayat: Exercises In Critical Thinking (2021) I chose a familiar hadith: Seek knowledge even if you have to go to China. Zimbabwe’s Imam Ismail Menk discussed this particular hadith for over three hours to a packed audience in Kuala Lumpur many years ago. He dismissed the second part of the hadith (going to China) as not sahih (authentic) as the Prophet (pbuh) could not possibly have heard of China any more than he could Kuala Lumpur.
Contrast Menk to one young Indonesian girl, Bina Izzatu Dini. She was intrigued by that hadith. After all, everything is made in China these days, from the sejadah (praying mat) to models of the Kaabah. So she decided to explore that hadith. Indeed the prophet, being a merchant, must have heard of China as the ancient Silk Route passed through the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula. The upshot of Bina’s curiosity was that her essay won her a scholarship to a Chinese university! I do not know what her intentions were in pursuing that hadith, but she was amply rewarded for that. And she did not have to wait till the Hereafter!
I once attended as a guest the Masters of Islamic Studies seminar at the University of Malaya. I was attracted by the credentials of the lecturer, a PhD from a leading American university. That program was also popular with ambitious young Malay civil servants out to burnish their Islamic credentials, thus greasing their career paths. Halfway through his presentation, the esteemed professor said something ridiculous that prompted me to ask a question. Instead of addressing my query, he brushed me aside.
My friend apologized on behalf of his professor. There was so much material to cover that he (the professor) did not have time to answer questions, was the excuse. Obviously the professor was not an educator; more a postman.
Contrast that to the experience of retired Duke Professor of Islamic Studies, Bruce Lawrence. Though not a Muslim his course was popular with students from the Third World needing to fulfil their humanities prerequisites. He was astounded when one of his students who despite being a hafiz (one who had memorized the Qur’an) could not understand a word of it. In the ensuing discussion Lawrence learned much about the Pakistani education system, demonstrating the truism that teaching is the best way to learn.
Malay teachers regard their students as bins to be filled with dogmas, akin to Paulo Freire’s bank account model. You get only what you put in, minus fees with the latter and what’s stuck at the bottom with the former. Why not heed the wisdom of Munshi Abdullah? He likened a child’s mind to a parang, to be sharpened. With a sharp parang you could hack your way out of a jungle. To a surgeon, a sharp knife is an instrument to cure cancer; to a thug, a killing kit. Differentiating the two is the Islam part of Islamic education.
By all means, teach Imam Nawawi’s Forty Hadith to sharpen students’ critical faculties, not numb their minds. As for perspective as well as priority, including hadith in the school curriculum should be far below that of English and Chemistry. Instead, do it as an extracurricular activity.
