01. Imam Malik [Muwatta][94-179]

  Imam Malik bin Anas Al Madani (رحمه الله)

 

The lineage of Imam Malik, his family, birth and autobiography

 

His full name is Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn Abi ‘Amir al-Asbahi and he was related to Dhu Aşbah, a sub-tribe of Himyar, one of the Qahtani tribes who held sway over an immense kingdom during the period of the Jahiliyya. Their kingdom was known as the Tababi’a (pl. of Tubba). Tubba’ is mentioned in two places in the Noble Qur’an.

His father’s grandfather, Abu Amir, is considered by some to have been one of the Companions and it is mentioned that he went on all the raids with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ except Badr. However, Ibn Hajar mentioned in the Isaba from adh-Dhahabi that he did not find anyone who mentioned him as being one of the Companions, although he was certainly alive in the time of the Prophet ﷺ. As for Malik ibn Abi Amir, the grandfather of the Imam, he was one of the great scholars of the Tabi’un. He was one of those who assisted in the writing out of the noble Mushaf at the time of the Amir al- Mu’minin, ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan 1.

He had four children: Anas, the father of the Imam, Abū Suhayl whose name was Nafi’, ar-Rabi’, and Uways the grandfather of Ismail ibn Abi Uways and his brother, ‘Abd al-Hamid. These two (Isma’il and ‘Abd al-Hamid) were among the students of Malik and among the transmitters of the Sahih. The four brothers (i.e. Anas, Malik’s father, and his brothers) transmitted from their father, Malik ibn Abi ‘Amir, and others, in turn, transmitted from them. The most famous of them in knowledge and transmission was Abū Suhayl. Imam Malik related from him as did the compilers of the Sahih collections. Al-Bukhārī, Muslim, and others transmitted a lot from Malik ibn Abi Amir and from his son, Abu Suhayl.

From this it is evident that the Imam was a branch from a good tree whose men were famous for transmitting and serving knowledge. Part of the excellence of this family lies in the fact that it gave birth to Imam Malik. It is said that this took place in 90 A.H. although there are other opinions. He died when he was 87 according to the soundest report although it is also said that he was 90. Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, was tall and slightly corpulent. He was bald, with a large head and well-shaped eyes, a fine nose and a full beard. Musab az-Zubayrī said, “Malik was one of the most handsome people in his face and the sweetest of them in eye, the purest of them in whiteness and the most perfect of them in height and the most excellent in body.” Another said, “Mālik was of medium height.” The first is better known.

 

 His quest for knowledge

 

 At the time when Malik grew up, and during the time immediately preceding him, Madīna al-Munawarra was flourishing with the great scholars who were the direct inheritors of the knowledge of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them. They included “the seven fuqaha” of Madīna (or the ten) and their companions who took from them. Mālik himself was always eager for knowledge and devoted himself to the assemblies of eminent men of knowledge. He drank and drank again from the sweet, quenching springs of knowledge.

He was instructed in the learning and recitation of the Noble Qur’an by Imam Nafi ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Nu’aym, the Imam of the reciters of Madīna and one of the “seven reciters”. Abū ‘Amr ad-Dāni, who included the biography of Imam Malik in his book Tabaqat al-Qurra, considered him to be to be one of the reciters. He mentioned that Imam al-Awza’i related the Qur’an from Malik, he being concerned with the meaning of its commentary. In the Muwatta’, you will find some of his commentaries on certain ayats.

He occupied himself with those who knew hadiths, both in transmission and knowledge, and was a master in fiqh, knowing how to derive judgements and join statements together and how to weigh one proof against another. Part of his good fortune was that two of his shaykhs, Muḥammad ibn Shihab az-Zuhri and ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Amr ibn Hazm al-Anṣārī, were instrumental in the beginning of the process of recording the hadiths.

Imam Malik met an extraordinary number of men of knowledge who related from the Companions or from the great Tabi’ün. He did not attend the circle of everyone who sat teaching in the mosque of the Prophet ﷺ or leaned against one of its pillars relating hadith to the people from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ but used to take only from those men that he saw possessed taqwa, scrupulousness, good memory, knowledge and understanding, and who clearly knew that they would be accountable for what they said on the Day of Rising. Shu’ba ibn al-Hajjaj, who was one of the great scholars of hadith, said that Malik was most discriminating, saying about him that: “He did not write down from everyone.”

Knowing, as we do, that Imam Malik came from a family of learning and grew up in Madina al-Munawarra which was the capital of knowledge at that time, especially the knowledge of ḥadīths, and also knowing the strength of Malik’s predisposition for retention, understanding and taqwa and his perseverance and steadfastness in the face of all the obstacles he met in the path of knowledge, it is hardly surprising to discover that he graduated at a very young age. Reliable transmitters relate that he sat to give fatwä when he was seventeen years old. This was not from the impetuosity of youth or because of love of appearance but only after seventy Imams had testified that he was worthy to give fatwa and teach. Such people would only testify when it was absolutely correct to do so. Indeed, the testimony of any two of them would have been sufficient.

 

People’s praise of him and their testimony that he was the greatest of the Imams in knowledge

 

The notable scholars at the time of Malik and those who came after him all agree about his pre-eminent worth and consider him to be a pillar of knowledge and one of its firm bulwarks, celebrated for his taqwa, his retentive memory, his reliability in transmission, and his ability in giving fatwās. He was well known for his turning towards true knowledge and away from what did not concern him, and for cutting himself off from the caliphs and amirs who would liberally bestow money on those men of knowledge who attached themselves to them. He had overwhelming respect for the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ , and this was considered enough by the notable men of hadith and fuqaha’ who related from him and used his transmission as a proof, putting it ahead of the transmission of many of his peers. They followed him in declaring different transmitters reliable or unreliable.

There is no disagreement on the fact that al-Layth, al-Awza’I, the two Sufyans, Ibn al-Mubarak, Shu’ba ibn al-Hajjaj, ‘Abd ar-Razzaq and other great scholars like them transmitted from Mālik. Imam ash-Shafi’i was one of his most prominent pupils as was Imām Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, the companion of Abu Hanifa. Qādi Abū Yusuf, who met and spoke with him, also related from him via an intermediary. It is also true that Abu Hanifa related from him as did a group of his shaykhs, including Muhammad ibn Shihab az-Zuhri, Rabi’a ibn Abi ‘Abd ar-Rahman, Abu al-Aswad Muhammad ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman known as the orphan of ‘Urwa’, Yahya ibn Sa’id al- Anṣārī, Ayyub as-Sakhtiyānī and others. There were none in their time greater than these men. Some of them were fuqaha’ and others were hadith relaters. Most of them were both.

Those who came after them all related from Malik except for those who were prevented from doing so by circumstances. Why indeed should they not relate from him? Was not the Imam someone who combined justice, precision, examination, and criticism in his evaluation of men and avoided transmission from the weak? There is only one man he related from who is considered weak. He was ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Abi al-Makhariq al-Başri, and this only happened because he was not one of the people of Malik’s own land and Malik was deceived by his scrupulousness and the way he performed hajj.

If you have any doubts about what we have said, then look in any of the books of hadiths and you will find the name of Malik constantly repeated by the tongues and pens of the transmitters. Enough for us is the frequent repetition of his name in the Sahih volumes of al- Bukhari and Muslim. The Kitab al-Umm of Imam ash-Shafi’i and his Kitab ar-Risala both begin with the words, “Mälik reported to us.” When the Musnad of ash-Shafi’I was compiled, it also began with the same words.

We find that Hafiz Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi began his great Sunan with the hadith “Its water is pure” which is from the transmission of ash- Shafi’i from Malik and from the transmission of Abu Dawud from Malik. He mentioned that ash-Shafi’i said, “There is someone in the isnad whom I do not know.” Then al-Bayhaqi said at the end of it, “However, that which establishes the soundness of its isnad was the reliability Malik gave it in the Muwatta.” These words indicate the position of Malik and that the people of his time and those after them, who were not partisan, acknowledged his pre-eminence in the preservation of hadith, in his ability to distinguish the sound from the weak, and in his knowledge of the science of men and their states, whether they were reliable or unreliable.

Those early Imams were not content to remain silent about him, but spoke out using their tongues and their pens, clearly stating his eminence and the extent of his fame. In Is’af al-mubaṭṭa bi-rijal al- Muwatta, Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti said that Bishr ibn ‘Umar az- Zahrani said that he asked Malik about a man and he said, “Do you see him in my books?” He replied, “No.” Malik said, “If he had been reliable, you would have seen him in my books.” Ibn al-Madīnī said, “I never knew Malik to reject a man unless there was something wrong about his ḥadīths.” Ibn al-Madini also said, “When Malik brings you a ḥadīth from someone from Sa’id ibn al-Musayyib, I prefer that to Sufyan from someone from Ibrāhīm. Malik only relates from people who are reliable.” Yahya ibn Ma’in said, “All of those from whom Malik ibn Anas relates are reliable except for ‘Abd al-Karim al-Başri Abu Umayya.”

Ahmad ibn Ṣāliḥ said, “I do not know of anyone who was more careful in his selection of men and scholars than Malik. I do not know of anyone who has related anything wrong about anyone among those he chose. He related from people none of whom are rejected.” An-Nasa’i said, “The trustees of Allah over the knowledge of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ  were Shu’ba ibn al-Hajjaj, Malik ibn Anas and Yahya ibn Sa’id al-Qaṭṭan.” He said, “Ath-Thawri was an Imam, but he related from weak men. It was the same with Ibn al- Mubarak.” Then he indicated the pre-eminence of Malik over Shu’ba and Yahya ibn Sa’id al-Qattan. He said, “There are none among the Tabi’un trusted in hadiths more than these three, and none who had fewer weak transmissions.”

Ismail ibn Abi Uways said, “I heard my uncle, Malik, say, “This knowledge is a din, so look to those from whom you take your din. I met seventy men who said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said by these pillars…” and I did not take anything from them. Yet if any one of them were to be trusted with the treasury, he would have been trustworthy. This is because they were not men of this business. But when Ibn Shihab came to us, we crowded around his door. Yahya ibn Ma’in said from Sufyan ibn ‘Uyayna, “Who are we in comparison to Malik? We merely follow in the tracks of Mälik. We looked to see if Malik took from a shaykh. If not we left him.”

Ashhab said that Malik was asked, “Should one take from someone who does not memorise, but is reliable and accurate in writing? Can ḥadīths be taken from such a man?” Malik replied, “I fear that he might add to his books at night.” Al-Athrim said, “I asked Ahmad ibn Hanbal about ‘Amr ibn Abi ‘Amr, the client of al-Muttalib, and he said, ‘His transmission is excellent in my opinion. Malik related from him.” Abu Sa’id ibn al-A’rābi said, “If Malik related from a man, Yahya ibn Ma’in declared him reliable. More than one person was asked and said, ‘He is reliable. Malik related from him.’”

Qarad Abū Nüḥ said, “Mälik mentioned something and was asked, ‘Who related it to you?’ He said. ‘We did not use to sit with fools.’” ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “I heard my father mentioning this and he said, “There is no statement in the world more noble than this regarding the virtues of scholars – Mälik ibn Anas mentioned that he did not sit with fools. This statement is not valid from anyone else except Malik.’

In Tadhkira al-Huffaz, adh-Dhahabi mentioned some of people’s praise of him, including the famous statement of ash-Shafi’i, “When the ‘ulama’ are mentioned, Malik is the star.” Aḥmad ibn al- Khalil said that he heard Ishaq ibn Ibrahim (i.e. Ibn Rahwayh) say, “When ath-Thawri, Malik and al-Awza’i agree on a matter, it is sunna, even if there is no text on it.”

After mentioning much of the praise of the people of knowledge for him, adh-Dhahabi said, “I put Malik’s biography on its own in a section in my Tarikh al-Kabir. It is agreed that Malik had virtues which are not known to have been combined in anyone else. The first of them was the length of his life and extent of his transmission. The second was his piercing mind. The third was the agreement of the Imams that he is a proof, sound in transmission. The fourth is that they agree on his din, justice and following of the sunna. The fifth is his pre-eminence in fiqh, fatwa and the soundness of his foundations.”

In Taqrib at-Tahdhib, Ibn Hajar says, “Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn Abi Amir al-As bahi, Abu Abdullah, al-Madani, the faqih, the Imam of the Abode of the Hijra, the chief of those who have taqwa and the greatest of those who are confirmed, of whom al-Bukhari said, ‘The soundest isnads of all are those of Malik from Nafi’ from Ibn ‘Umar.’”

This is just a brief collection of a few of the things that have been said about him by scholars who do not follow the school of Malik. Their words in no way disagree with anything that has been written by the Maliki scholars who follow him. The reader will be able to find a lot of what they have said in the books of Abu ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, the Tartib al-Madarik of Qādi Abu al-Fadl ‘Iyad, and ad-Dibaj al-Mudhahhab by Burhan ad-Din ibn Farḥun, and other books of earlier and later writers.

Among the Malikīs and others Imam Malik is known as the Imam of the Imams. It is easy to see why this is so. We know that those Imams whose schools, fatwas and transmissions are followed were his students, either directly or via an intermediary. Imam ash-Shafi’i was one of Imam Malik’s most famous students and Imam Ahmad was one of the most famous students of ash-Shafi’i. Muhammad ibn al-Hasan was one of the transmitters of the Muwatta Abu Yusuf also related it from Malik via an intermediary. One scholar confirmed that Imam Abu Hanifa also related from him, and no objection was made to him for stating that. Some shaykhs like Ibn Shihab and ar-Rabi’a related from Malik as we have already mentioned. We also mentioned that al-Layth, al-Awza’i, the two Sufyans and Ibn al-Mubarak related from him, and there is no disagreement about that. Scholars of hadiths who are famous for writing in that field, or from whom others have transmitted,transmitted from him. We say that today there is no scholar of the Islamic Shari’a who is not a student of Malik. That is because, first of all, it is not valid to count someone as a scholar of the Shari’a if he is ignorant of the Muwatta, the Six Books, the Musnad of Ahmad and the rest of the books which are consulted in ḥadīths. All of those who relate these books or some of them must relate from Malik. Therefore they must respect this Imam from whom they relate and acknowledge his position and ask for mercy on him.

One of the extraordinary things about the people who came to Malik for transmission is that there was not a single small region subject to the rule of Islam in his time but that a group of their noble sons set out to visit him. The number of those whose name was Muhammad who related from him is more than a hundred. The number of those called ‘Abdullah is about sixty, of those called Yahya about forty, and of those called Sa’id more than twenty. If you were to imagine his circle of study, you would find Andalusians, Khorasanis, Syrians, Moroccans, Egyptians, Iraqis, Yemenis, and others all sitting in a circle around him with their different languages, colours, and clothing. It must have been an amazing sight. We do not believe that such a group has ever been gathered together at the feet of a scholar before or after him, in Madīna or elsewhere.

 

The shaykhs from whom he transmitted

 

It is known that Imam Malik grew up in Madina al-Munawwara and that those who sought knowledge travelled there from all the regions of Islam because Madīna had an unrivalled number of scholars compared with the rest of the Muslim world. In Madina Malik met all the great men who had a major part in the transmission of hadiths and the sayings of the Companions and the great Tabi’ün. He found such a wealth of knowledge there that he did not need to travel anywhere else. He related from nine hundred shaykhs or more and with his own hand wrote down a hundred thousand ḥadīths. His book, the Muwatta’, which we are discussing, contains eighty-four men of the Tabi’un, all of whom were people of Madina except for six. These six were Abū az-Zubayr from Makka, Hamid at-Tawil and Ayyub as-Sakhtiyānī from Basra, ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Muslim from Khorasan, ‘Abd al-Karim al-Jazari from Jazira (Mesopotamia) in northern Iraq, and Ibrahim ibn Abi ‘Abla from Syria. Malik is famous for the fact that he did not transmit from a number of scholars whom he met, even though they were people of din and correct action, because he thought that they did not transmit properly.

Al-Ghafiqi said that the number of his shaykhs whom he named (i.e. in the Muwatta) was ninety-five.

 

The transmitters who transmitted from him

 

In the introduction to Tanwir al-Hawalik, as-Suyuti says that so many people related from him that no other Imam is known to have had a transmission like his. He says that Abu Bakr al-Khatib al- Baghdadi devoted a book to those who transmitted from Malik and it included 993 men. Qādī ‘Iyad mentioned that he wrote a book on those who transmitted from Malik in which he enumerated over 1300 men. As-Suyuti said that he had enumerated the names of all of them in his Great Commentary. The transmitters of al-Muwatta’ alone are of a number which it is difficult to count.

Qādi Iyad mentioned that the number of transmissions which he read or came across in the transmissions of his shaykhs reached twenty, and some of them mention thirty. Another thing that indicates the great number of the transmitters of the Muwatta’ is that Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “I heard the Muwatta’ from about ten of the companions of Malik who had mentioned it but I revised it with ash-Shafi’i because I found him to be the most correct of them.” Shaykh Muḥammad Habib-Allah ibn Māyābā ash-Shinqîți said in Ida’a al-Halik that Ibn Naşir ad-Din ad-Dimashqi wrote a book about the transmitters of the Muwatta’ and he mentioned that there were seventy-nine. Among those who transmitted the Muwatta’from Malik were his son, Yahya, and his daughter, Fatima.

 

The position of the Muwatta’ and people’s concern for it

 

In the introduction to Tanwir al-Hawalik, as-Suyūtī said that ash- Shafi’i said, “After the Book of Allah, there is no book on the face of the earth sounder than the book of Malik.” In another statement he said, “No book has been placed on the earth closer to the Qur’an than the book of Malik.” In a third he said, “After the Book of Allah, there is no book more useful than the Muwatta.” “Ala’ ad- Din Maghlaṭay al-Hanafi said, “The first person to compile the sahih was Malik.”

Ibn Hajar said, “The book of Malik is sound by all the criteria that are demanded as proofs in the mursal, munqati’ and other types of transmission.” Then as-Suyuti followed what Ibn Hajar said here and said, “The mursal ḥadīths in it are a proof with him (ash-Shafi’i) as well because the mursal is a proof with us when it is properly supported. Every mursal report in the Muwatta’ has one or more supports as will be made clear in this commentary (i.e. Tanwir al- Ḥawalik). It is absolutely correct to say that the Muwatta’ is sound (sahih) without exception.”

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr collected together all the mursal, munqati’ and mudal ḥadīths in the Muwatta’ and said that the total number of hadiths in the Muwatta’ which do not have an isnad are sixty-one. He stated that he found the isnads of all of them in other sources with the exception of four hadiths. The erudite scholar of hadith, Shaykh Muhammad Habib-Allah ibn Māyābā ash-Shinqītī says in Ida’a al-Halik that he had found witnesses for these four hadiths and he then mentioned these witnesses. He said, “Some of the people of knowledge made these isnāds complete.” He mentioned from Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr that there are no munkar ḥadīths in the Muwatta’ nor anything fundamentally refuted. In Dalil as-Salik in the margin of Ida’a al-Halik he mentioned that Ibn Hajar retracted what he had previously said which was what had been followed by as-Suyuti. From this it is clear that everything in the Muwatta’ has an isnād. The people of knowledge rely on the hadiths in it and transmit and record them in their books, including al-Bukhārī and Muslim who transmitted most of its ḥadīths and included them in their Şahih collections. The rest of the authors of the six books did the same as did the Imam of the hadith scholars, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and others.

It should be pointed out that the hadiths of Malik are not confined to those he included in the Muwatta. This is clearly shown by the hadiths we find transmitted from Malik in the two Sahih volumes which are not found in the Muwatta. There is a hadith which al- Bukhārī relates in the chapter on the description of the Garden: “The people there look at the people of the chambers from above them.” There is a second ḥadīth related by Malik commenting on Surat al-Mutaffafin (83) where the Prophet ﷺ said, “The Day when people stand before the Lord of the Worlds’ until one of them disappears immersed in his sweat up to his ears.” There is a third ḥadīth related by Muslim in the chapter forbidding sadaqa to the family of the Prophet ﷺ which he related from ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Asma’ ad-Daba’i from his uncle, Juwayriya ibn Asma’, from Malik.

There are two areas which particularly interest people regarding the Muwatta. One of them is its transmission and the other is its commentary and the discussion about its transmitters and the different expressions they use and so forth. As for interest in its transmitters, we have already shown how the seekers of knowledge in Malik’s time came from East, West, South and North out of the desire to sit in his circle and take from him. Many of this group related the Muwatta’ from him and preserved it in their hearts or in writing. The men of the generation after their generation were also concerned with it.

We have enough evidence for what we say in the fact that Imām Ahmad ibn Hanbal related it first from ten men and then finally from Imam ash-Shafi’i. Similarly ash-Shafi’i first learned it in Makka and then went to Madina to Malik and took it directly from him. That is also what Yahya ibn Yahya al-Andalusi did – he first learned it in his own country from Ziyad ibn ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān Shabṭun and then travelled from Andalusia to Madīna and read it directly with Malik in the year in which Imam Malik died, may Allah have mercy on him.

As for interest in its commentary, discussion about its transmitters and whether the different versions are shorter or longer, and commentary on what is gharib in it and that sort of thing, people evince more interest in writing about these matters in the case of the Muwatta’ than they do for any other book of hadith. A great number of people have written about these things and some of them have composed several books. For instance, Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr wrote three books: at-Tamhid, al-Istidhkar and at-Tajrīd which is also called “at-Taqassi”. Qādi Abu al-Walid al-Baji wrote three commentaries called al-Istifa’, al-Muntaqã, and al-Ima’. He wrote a fourth book on the different versions of the Muwatta. Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti wrote two commentaries on it. One of them, called Kashf al-Mughaṭṭā, is voluminous, and the other is a summary called Tanwir al-Ḥawalik. He wrote a third book called Is’af al-Mubatta’ bi-rijal al-Muwatta.

The most famous transmission of the Muwatta’ Is that of Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi al-Andalusi so that when the name the Muwatta’ is used, it is this transmission that is referred to. There are about a hundred commentaries on it. This is what Shaykh Muhammad Habib-Allah ibn Māyābā ash-Shinqiți was indicating in the Dalil as-Sälik when he said:

 

The most famous Muwatta’

 

If the truth be known

Is that of Imam Yahya al-Laythi.

Who else’s can be compared with his?

 

He also said:

 

It is the one on which the critics comment and in

whose lustre the slaves find benefit.

There are about a hundred commentaries on it,

all of them about what it contains.

Another version of the Muwatta’worthy of mention is that of Imam Muḥammad ibn al-Hasan ash-Shaybānī which has great distinction. It includes the transmission of many traditions intended to support his madhhab and the madhhab of his Imam, Abu Hanifa. Sometimes he mentions that Abu Hanifa agrees with Malik regarding the matter under discussion.

It appears that the Andalusians had a great deal of interest in the Muwatta’ as anyone will know who has studied the names of the scholars who made commentaries on it or spoke about the people in it and its different versions or wrote on its gharib ḥadīths.

It should also be noted that those who were interested in the Muwatta’ were not only Malikis or people from one particular region. They were from different groups and schools and from all parts of the Muslim world.

 

Clarification of the meaning of “Muwatta”, its excellent layout and fine style

 

“Muwatta” is a passive participle from the verb “tawția”. One says that the thing is smoothed (watṭa’a) and “I prepared the thing for you” and “The bed is laid out” and “The seat is made comfortable for you”. Ibn Manzur said in al-Lisan, “In the hadith: ‘Shall I tell you of the one among you I love the most and who will sit closest to me on the Day of Rising? – Those who are easy-going (muwatta’ al-aknaf) who are friendly and bring people together.” Ibn al-Athir said, “This comes from tawti’a which means to smooth and make lower. Thus Muwatta’means the clear book which smooths the way and is not difficult for the seeker of knowledge to grasp. It is also related that Malik gave his book this title because he read it to a group of the people of knowledge and they agreed with him about it (wata’a). In this case the name would be derived from muwata’a which means agreement. However, the first meaning is more likely because it is supported by the rules of derivation although both of them apply since the way is prepared and smoothed by it and people agree about it and admire it.

If you look at the Muwatta’in an unbiased way, you will find that it prepares and smooths the way and is easy to grasp, even though it is one of the oldest books now in our possession. No earlier book from the people of knowledge is known. Its author made it an example to be imitated, particularly in the way in which it is arranged.

We find that Malik begins with the chapters on the acts of worship, which are the pillars of Islam. He put the prayer first, it being the greatest of the pillars. Since the prayer only becomes obligatory when its time comes, he began by talking about the times of prayer. Then he spoke about purity in all its forms because purification is obligatory after the time for prayer has come. Then he spoke about what it is obligatory to do in the prayer and what is not obligatory and things that can happen to people in the prayer. Then he spoke about zakat and so on until he had covered all the acts of worship. Then he spoke about the rest of the matters of fiqh and divided each chapter into small sections so as to make it easier to grasp. He finished the book with a chapter called “General Matters” which contains various things which did not fit under the other headings, and since it was not possible to devote a whole chapter to each of them and he did not want to go on at length, he combined them and called it “General Matters”. As Ibn al-‘Arabi says, other authors found in this arrangement a new way of organising their material.

What he did in the book as a whole he also did in certain chapters. For instance at the end of the chapter on prayer, he has a section entitled “Prayer in General”. He also has a section on “Funerals in General,” “Fasting in General,” “General chapter on what is not permitted of marriage,” and “General chapter on sales,” etc. This shows the excellence of the way he arranged the book and the precision of the system he used. This is so much the case that if one of us today, in this age of systems, wanted to organise it, it would be very difficult to come up with a better arrangement than the one it already has.

If the reader looks at the Muwatta’ with respect to its language, he will find that its language shows that the author was a pure Arab. His language has both force and simplicity. Its terms are neither odd nor hackneyed. His style is free of oversimplification, unnecessary complexity or triteness. Despite its length, the book does not contain any linguistic or grammatical errors nor any of the faults which the scholars of rhetoric warn against.

Consequently we do not find that any of those who have made commentaries on it or spoken about it, despite their great number and their different times, places and backgrounds, directed any criticism at it on these grounds, neither in respect of what the Imam himself wrote nor in respect of the transmissions of Prophetic hadiths and other traditions ascribed to the Companions and the Tabi’un. By that we mean that there is no criticism at all that cannot easily be answered. It is always possible for criticism to be made by people whose understanding is inadequate and who lack sufficient knowledge. “How many there are who find fault with a sound statement while their trouble is faulty understanding.”

The noble reader should also be aware of the fact that Imam Malik has other works than the Muwatta’ even though they are not as famous.

 

These works are:

 

1. A letter on Qadar and refutation of the Qadariyya. He wrote it to ‘Abdullah ibn Wahb, one of his eminent students.
2. A book on the stars and reckoning the passage of time and the stages of the moon.
3. A letter on judgements which he wrote to some judges.
4. A letter on fatwa which was addressed to Abu Ghassan Muḥammad ibn Muṭarrif al-Laythi, one of his great students.
5. A letter on the ijma’ of the people of Madīna which he sent to Imam al-Layth ibn Sa’d.
6. A book on the tafsir of rare words in the Qur’an.
7. A letter on manners and admonitions which he sent to Harun ar- Rashid which is not acknowledged by a group of notable Mālikis.
8. A book called Kitab as-Sirr.

This introduction is only a drop in the ocean. It has not covered everything by any means but I hope it has mentioned a few salient points.

Allah is the One we ask for help and on Whom we rely. May Allah bless our master Muḥammad and his family and Companions and grant them peace abundantly.

The late Shaykh Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Al Mubarak

Head of the Shari’a Court

United Arab Emirates

REFERENCE:

BOOK: Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik

Translated by Aisha Abdur Rahman Bewley