Actions are by intentions
All agesإِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى
Actions are but by intentions, and every person will have only what they intended.
Bukhari 1
What it teaches
The value of what we do depends on why we do it. The same action — praying, studying, helping — can be for Allah or for showing off. This hadith, which Imam an-Nawawi placed first in his Forty, teaches us to check the heart before the hand.
Activity
Give the group one action, e.g. giving a classmate a pencil, and ask them to name three different intentions for it (to please Allah, to be thanked, to be seen as generous). Discuss how only the first earns reward.
Love for your brother what you love for yourself
Students / Youthلَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لِأَخِيهِ مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِهِ
None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.
Bukhari 13
What it teaches
Faith is not only in the heart between us and Allah; it shows in how we treat others. Wanting good for others as we want it for ourselves is a measure of real iman. This is the thirteenth hadith of an-Nawawi’s Forty.
Activity
Ask each student to write one thing they wish for themselves, then swap papers and promise to help a classmate get that same good thing. Revisit next week to see who acted on it.
The merciful are shown mercy
Childrenالرَّاحِمُونَ يَرْحَمُهُمُ الرَّحْمَنُ، ارْحَمُوا مَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ يَرْحَمْكُمْ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاءِ
The merciful are shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth, and the One above the heaven will be merciful to you.
Tirmidhi 1924
What it teaches
Mercy is not weakness — it is the way to earn Allah’s mercy. Kindness to people, animals and the weak brings down mercy from above. The lesson is a simple exchange: we give mercy, we receive it.
Activity
Brainstorm a “mercy list” on the board: three creatures the children can be kind to this week (a younger sibling, a stray cat, a tired parent). Each picks one to act on.
Speak good or stay silent
Childrenمَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ فَلْيَقُلْ خَيْرًا أَوْ لِيَصْمُتْ
Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent.
Bukhari 6018
What it teaches
Faith reaches the tongue. Before we speak, we weigh whether the words are good — kind, true, useful. If not, silence is the safer, more rewarding choice. This is part of an-Nawawi’s fifteenth hadith on good manners.
Activity
Play “traffic lights”: read out sample sentences; students hold up green (good — say it), red (harmful — stay silent). Discuss the borderline cases together.
A smile is charity
Childrenتَبَسُّمُكَ فِي وَجْهِ أَخِيكَ لَكَ صَدَقَةٌ
Your smiling in the face of your brother is charity.
Tirmidhi 1956
What it teaches
Charity is not only money. Even a small, warm smile counts as sadaqah when it lifts another person. This teaches children that everyone, however little they own, can give good every single day.
Activity
A one-minute “smile round”: each child turns to a neighbour and gives a genuine smile and salaam. Ask how it felt to give and to receive.
The strong one controls himself in anger
Students / Youthلَيْسَ الشَّدِيدُ بِالصُّرَعَةِ، إِنَّمَا الشَّدِيدُ الَّذِي يَمْلِكُ نَفْسَهُ عِنْدَ الْغَضَبِ
The strong one is not the good wrestler; the strong one is only he who controls himself when angry.
Bukhari 6114
What it teaches
Real strength is inner, not outer. Anyone can be strong-armed; the truly powerful person is the one who masters their own anger. This reframes “strength” away from force and toward self-control.
Activity
Role-play a situation that would normally make someone angry (being pushed in line). Practise the Prophetic remedies together: say “aʿūdhu billāh”, sit down, take wudu, stay quiet. Discuss which helped.
Purity is half of faith
All agesالطُّهُورُ شَطْرُ الْإِيمَانِ
Purity is half of faith.
Muslim 223
What it teaches
Islam links cleanliness of body and place with the health of faith. Keeping ourselves and our surroundings pure is itself an act of worship, not just good hygiene. This is the opening of an-Nawawi’s twenty-third hadith.
Activity
Do a two-minute “clean-up sprint” of the classroom or prayer space as a group, then link it back to the hadith: we cleaned it as worship, not just as a chore.
Honour your neighbour and guest
All agesمَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ فَلْيُكْرِمْ جَارَهُ ... فَلْيُكْرِمْ ضَيْفَهُ
Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him honour his neighbour … and let him honour his guest.
Bukhari 6019
What it teaches
Belief shows in how we treat the people nearest to us. Caring for neighbours and welcoming guests is tied directly to faith in Allah and the Last Day. This is part of an-Nawawi’s fifteenth hadith.
Activity
Make a class plan for one act of neighbourliness this week — a gift of food, a helping hand, a kind visit. Report back on the results together.
Seeking knowledge is an obligation
Students / Youthطَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ
Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.
Ibn Majah 224
What it teaches
Every Muslim, young or old, is asked to learn what they need of their religion. Knowledge is not a luxury for a few but a duty for all — and that begins with the very lesson we are in.
Activity
Each student names one thing about Islam they want to learn next, and one small step to learn it (ask the teacher, read a page, watch a lesson). Collect the list as class goals.
Truthfulness leads to Paradise
Students / Youthإِنَّ الصِّدْقَ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْبِرِّ، وَإِنَّ الْبِرَّ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ
Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise.
Bukhari 6094
What it teaches
One honest choice pulls a chain of good behind it: truth leads to righteousness, and righteousness to Paradise. Lying does the opposite. The lesson makes honesty a road, not just a single act.
Activity
Discuss a scenario where telling the truth is hard (breaking something by accident). Ask what the honest path is and where each path leads. Set a “tell the truth once when it is hard” action.
The religion is sincere counsel
Students / Youthالدِّينُ النَّصِيحَةُ
The religion is sincere counsel (naṣīḥah).
Muslim 55
What it teaches
Islam is summed up as sincerity — to Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders and the general people. To wish and act for the good of others is the heart of the faith. This is an-Nawawi’s seventh hadith.
Activity
List the five to whom we owe naṣīḥah, and for each write one caring action a student their age can do. Encourage picking one to practise this week.
Leave what makes you doubt
All agesدَعْ مَا يَرِيبُكَ إِلَى مَا لَا يَرِيبُكَ
Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt.
Tirmidhi 2518
What it teaches
When the heart is uneasy about whether something is right, that unease is a gift — step back to what is clearly permissible. This trains a sensitive conscience. It is an-Nawawi’s eleventh hadith.
Activity
Share simple “doubt or clear?” cases (found money on the floor vs. money given by a parent). Students sort them and explain how the hadith guides the choice.
Modesty is part of faith
Students / Youthالْحَيَاءُ شُعْبَةٌ مِنَ الْإِيمَانِ
Modesty (ḥayāʾ) is a branch of faith.
Bukhari 9
What it teaches
Ḥayāʾ is a sense of dignity and shyness that keeps a person from what is wrong before Allah and people. Far from being weakness, it is one of the branches of iman and, as the Prophet ﷺ said elsewhere, it brings nothing but good. It guards how we dress, speak and behave.
Activity
Ask the group to list places where ḥayāʾ shows in daily life — how we dress, lower the gaze, speak politely, behave when alone. Each picks one area to improve this week.
The honest merchant and keeping trust
All agesالْمُسْلِمُ أَخُو الْمُسْلِمِ لَا يَظْلِمُهُ وَلَا يَخْذُلُهُ وَلَا يَكْذِبُهُ
The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim: he does not wrong him, nor fail him, nor lie to him.
Tirmidhi 1927
What it teaches
Honesty is not only speaking the truth but dealing fairly and never betraying a trust. A believer’s brother is safe from his wronging, his abandoning and his lying. This teaches children that being reliable — in words, dealings and secrets — is a core duty of faith.
Activity
Play a “trust game”: each student is handed a small item to look after for the lesson and must return it exactly. Discuss how it felt to be trusted, and link it to honesty in bigger things.
Kindness to animals
Childrenفِي كُلِّ كَبِدٍ رَطْبَةٍ أَجْرٌ
In every living being (with a moist liver) there is a reward.
Bukhari 2363
What it teaches
The Prophet ﷺ told of a man forgiven for giving water to a thirsty dog, and warned of a woman punished for locking up a cat. Mercy to animals is rewarded by Allah, and cruelty is punished. This teaches children that Islam’s compassion reaches every creature.
Activity
Plan one act of kindness to an animal this week — putting out water for birds, feeding a stray gently, not disturbing an ants’ nest. Children report back what they did.
Respect elders, be merciful to the young
All agesلَيْسَ مِنَّا مَنْ لَمْ يَرْحَمْ صَغِيرَنَا وَيُوَقِّرْ كَبِيرَنَا
He is not one of us who does not show mercy to our young and honour our elders.
Tirmidhi 1919
What it teaches
A healthy community runs on two-way respect: the old are honoured for their age and knowledge, and the young are treated with tenderness. This hadith makes both a mark of truly belonging to the Muslim family, not optional good manners.
Activity
Two-column list: “ways to honour an elder” (stand to greet, listen, help carry things) and “ways to be gentle with a younger child.” Each student commits to one from each column.
Charity does not decrease wealth
All agesمَا نَقَصَتْ صَدَقَةٌ مِنْ مَالٍ
Charity does not decrease wealth.
Muslim 2588
What it teaches
We fear that giving will leave us with less, but the Prophet ﷺ promised the opposite: charity is blessed and Allah replaces what is given, increasing the giver in honour. This teaches generosity as trust in Allah, not loss.
Activity
Start a small class “sadaqah jar.” Each student gives something tiny — a coin, or a good deed written on paper — and together decide one good use for it. Revisit how giving felt.
The believer’s affair is all good
All agesعَجَبًا لِأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ، إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ
How wonderful is the affair of the believer! All of his affair is good. If good befalls him he is grateful, and that is good for him; and if hardship befalls him he is patient, and that is good for him.
Muslim 2999
What it teaches
The believer wins either way: in ease he thanks Allah and gains reward, in hardship he is patient and gains reward. This single hadith gives children two great tools — gratitude and patience — and a hopeful way of seeing everything that happens.
Activity
Draw two paths from one event (say, a rained-out trip): the grateful/patient path and the complaining path, and where each leads. Each student writes one thing they will be grateful for and one they will be patient with.
