Forty hadith

Forty hadith (Arabic: الأربعينات, romanized: al'arbaeinat) is a genre of hadith literature. First attested in the 8th century CE, the genre emerged in response to a hadith promising great boons to anyone who preserved forty hadiths for the Muslim people. It remained in wide use as a means of communicating Islamic teachings in a readily accessible format, with hundreds of works attested through the sixteenth century CE. Although the genre has been less prevalent with the canonization of hadiths, works continue to be edited and published.

The name notwithstanding, forty hadith compilations may contain as few as 29 hadiths or as many as 48. Compilations differ in their focus, with some having no central topic, others revolving around specific aspects of Islamic teachings, and still others focusing on particular individuals. The most widely read work of the genre is Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadith, produced by Al-Nawawi in the 13th century CE.

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