This is a post in my series From My Bookshelf where I will share short reviews of books I have found beneficial.
Riyaad al Saliheen (gardens of the righteous) is the famous collection of Ahadeeth compiled by Imam Nawawi. It contains around 1900 ahadeeth divided across 372 chapters, many of which are introduced by verses of the Quran.
“Riyad as-Saliheen (Gardens of the Righteous) is a collection of ahadith by imam Nawawi (rahimahullah). It is a compilation of ahadith for the every day life of a Muslim. It covers the three spectrums of akhlaq (character) which is with yourself, with Allah and with others. It has ahadithon the actions of the heart, deeds of the limbs and statements of the tongue. It has ahadith and ayat that lead to a person’s success in this life and the next. Riyad as-Saliheen is the perfect book of hadith for laymen. Imam Nawawi (rahimahullah), who is known for his 40 hadeeth collection, set it up in a way that the one who reads it does not need extensive knowledge of hadith or its sciences to understand.” ~ Muslimmatters.org
It is a very comprehensive book for a non scholar or a beginner student of hadeeth. But with any book of hadeeth, I would recommend reading the ahdeeth with an explanation. There are many commentaries written on this book and you can choose the one you like. Originally written in Arabic, this book has been translated in many languages and is readily available in many countries.
Probably the best organized of all Hadith collections. I found it very really helpful and easy to understand. Commentaries are quite useful, but the reader has to beware that whatever views are not backed by Quran or Hadith may be the commentator’s own, and hence, could be subject to error.
I recommend reading books of ahadeeth with a commentary because sometimes when people don’t know the correct history behind an event or related fiqh rulings they get confused. A good commentary explains these things. For example one of my cousins was really confused when she came across the headeeth where Rasulullah SAW permitted certain people to drink camel urine as a cure for some disease. Se thought it was a fabricated hadeeth.