Sheikh Nawawi was born in 1815 by the name Abu „Abd al-
Mu‟thi Muhammad Nawawi Ibn „Umar al-Tanari Al-Bantani al-Jawi. As
his name implies, Java Island was his birthplace. It was in the village of
Tanara in Banten district of West Java. When he was fifteen, the sheikh
engaged in a pilgrimage to Mecca and he found interests in the
scientific life there in the Holy City for the Muslims. Drawn to the
liking of intellectual life as religious scholar in Mecca, the sheikh
decided to deepen his religious study in the city for three years. When
the sheikh journeyed for his second pilgrimage to Mecca, he decided to
continue his study and to be the permanent resident of the Holy City.
During his scholarly life, Sheikh Nawawi had authored 99 to 115
religious books with various topics and themes. As the sheikh was the
disciple of Madhhab Shafi‟i, the religious books he authored were of
the madhhab. In his discussion on taklif and mukallaf, those bearing
the taklif, for instance, the sheikh said that the taklif from Allah never
burdens mankind; the taklif is always in concordance with the abilities
men possess (Al-Baqarah 286).