Sunan al-Nasa'i (Nasa'i's Hadith Collection)
One of the six canonical hadith collections, known for its strict authenticity criteria.
Sunan al-Nasa'i is one of the six canonical hadith collections in Sunni Islam. It was compiled by Imam Abu Abd al-Rahman Ahmad ibn Shu'ayb al-Nasa'i (829-915 CE) and is considered to have the strictest authenticity criteria after Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
Al-Nasa'i first wrote "al-Sunan al-Kubra" (The Large Sunan) and then distilled it into "al-Sunan al-Sughra" (The Small Sunan), also called "al-Mujtaba," which is the version included among the six canonical collections. The work contains approximately 5,761 hadith organized into 51 books.
Imam al-Nasa'i's chapter on prayer is particularly detailed and covers meticulous aspects of prayer practice. He includes narrations about the precise manner of raising the hands (raf' al-yadayn), the placement of fingers during tashahhud, and the specific supplications the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited in different parts of the prayer.
Related terms
Ihsan (Excellence)
The highest level of worship: to worship Allah as if one can see Him.
Du'a (Personal Supplication)
Personal address and supplication to Allah for help and guidance.
Minbar (Pulpit)
The elevated platform in the mosque from which the imam delivers the Friday khutbah.
Qabd (Folding the Arms in Prayer)
The practice of folding the arms over the chest or below the navel during the standing position in prayer.
Salat al-Wahsha (The Prayer of Loneliness)
A prayer performed on the first night after burial for the soul of the deceased.
Ijtihad (Independent Legal Reasoning)
The independent interpretive effort to derive legal rules from the Islamic sources.