The phenomena of unsteady magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) natural convection flow in an inclined square cavity filled with nanofluid and containing a heated circular obstacle at its center with heat generation/absorption impact are examined numerically. The cavity’s right and left walls are maintained at low temperatures, while the remaining walls are adiabatic. The volumetric external force, MHD, is applied across the inclined cavity. A penalty formulation-based finite element method is used to solve the nonlinear set of governing equations iteratively. The numerical scheme and results are validated through a comparison with the benchmark results, and it shows that our solutions are in good agreement with them. The results are shown in terms of contours of streamlines, isotherms, and average Nusselt number. It is observed that MHD alters the streamlines, isotherms, and average Nusselt number and dominates …