Compilation of Arba ūn Hadithan collections in Islamic culture

The culture of compiling Arba‘ūn Hadithan (a genre of literary and religious works centered around forty Traditions of the Prophet or his Household) in Islam has an old background and has arisen from the Prophetic tradition which says: “The member of my community who learns forty hadiths connected with what is required by the community in the prescriptions of the faith, will be raised to life by Allah on the Day of Resurrection among the authorities on the law and the scholars”. This article presents a list of compilations of this genre in the Islamic culture and investigates the isnād (transmission chain) and the content of the hadith.The hadith from the aspect of its isnād may not reach the rank of a mutawātir or mustafīḍ hadith, however, it has been relied on and practiced accordingly by both Shi‘a and Sunni experts, scholars and traditionists in the course of history.From the aspect of the content learning a hadith has the three degrees below:First degree: keeping a hadith in mind (and memorizing it) or recording it in notebooks and editing the text together with asking for permission and giving permission to quote it Second degree: learning its meanings and reflecting upon its subtle aspects and inferring its rules and understanding its knowledgeThird degree: practicing it and taking its status into account.By the term ummah (community) in this hadith the Prophet’s community is absolutely meant. It is not peculiar to a certain group. In addition it is meant both individually and socially as we see in the hadith No. 12.The objective reference of the term Arba‘ūn Hadithan is a concept inclusive for principles of doctrines, acts of worship and noble traits, however, its objective reference in the viewpoint of Muhammad b. Idrīs al-Shāfi‘ī is the manāqib (praiseworthy actions) of the Ahl al-Bayt (A.S). The mystery of the number forty is that this quantity of knowledge usually occasions the habitude and presence of other cases of knowledge.