Al-Muwatta

Muwatta Imam Malik
Marinid manuscript of the Muwatta, dated 1326 CE
AuthorImam Malik ibn Anas
Original titleموطأ الإمام مالك
LanguageArabic
GenreHadith collection

Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Arabic: الموطأ, 'the well-trodden path') or Muwatta Imam Malik (Arabic: موطأ الإمام مالك) of Imam Malik (711–795), written in the 8th century, is one of the earliest collections of hadith texts comprising the subjects of Islamic law, compiled by Malik ibn Anas. It is also the earliest extant example of a musannaf, a genre of hadith compilation that arranges hadith topically.

Malik's best-known work, Al-Muwatta, was the first legal work to incorporate and combine hadith and fiqh.

Description

It is considered to be from the earliest extant collections of hadith that form the basis of Islamic jurisprudence alongside the Qur'an. It includes reliable hadith from the people of the Hijaz, as well as sayings of the companions, the followers and also those who came after them. The book covers rituals, rites, customs, traditions, norms and laws of the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

It is reported that Imam Malik selected for inclusion into the Muwatta just over 1900 narrations, from the 100,000 narrations he had available to him.

History

“O Abū ‘Abd Allāh, take up the reign of the discipline of fiqh in your hands. Compile your understanding of every issue in different chapters for a systematic book free from the harshness of ‘Abd Allāh b. ‘Umar, concessions and accommodations of ‘Abd Allāh b. ‘Abbās and unique views of ‘Abd Allāh b. Mas‘ūd. Your work should exemplify the following principle of the Prophet: “The best issues are those which are balanced.”[citation needed] It should be a compendium of the agreed upon views of the Companions and the elder imāms on the religious and legal issues. Once you have compiled such a work then we would be able to unite the Muslims in following the single fiqh worked by you. We would then promulgate it in the entire Muslim state. We would order that no body acts contrary to it.”

Historical reports attest that another ‘Abbāsī caliph Harun al-Rashid too expressed similar wishes before Imām Mālik who remained unmoved.[citation needed] He, however, compiled Muwaṭṭa’, keeping before himself the target of removing the juristic differences between the scholars.[citation needed]

Authenticity

PERF No. 731, the earliest manuscript of Mālik's Muwaṭṭaʾ, dated to his own time. Recto (left) has the contents of Bāb al-Targib fī-Sadaqah.

The work was composed over a forty-year period. According to Abu Hatim al-Razi[specify] it was called 'Muwatta' from the Arabic ("watta'a") meaning easy for the people. Malik said, "I showed this book of mine to seventy of the fuqaha of Madinah and all of them agreed with me ("wata'a") about it and so I called it the Muwatta.

The Muslim Jurist, Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i also called Imam Al Shafi`i famously said, "There is not on the face of the earth a book – after the Book of Allah – which is more authentic than the book of Malik."

Over one thousand disciples of Malik have transmitted this work from him throughout his life, which resulted in differences in the text. There are many editions of the work - with sixteen being known today - of which the most famous is the one transmitted by Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi, who studied and received the Muwatta in the last year of Malik's life. Al-Laythi's recension is considered the 'vulgate' or standard version in the Maliki school of law.

The recension of the Muwatta produced by Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr al-Zuhri is approximately five to ten percent larger than the recension of al-Laythi.

Composition of al-Muwatta

Al-Muwatta consists of approximately 1,720 hadith divided amongst the following hadith terminology as follows:

Distinguishing characteristics

Amin Ahsan Islahi has listed several distinguishing characteristics of the Muwatta:

  1. Its brevity in size yet comprehensiveness in coverage.
  2. Malik did not accept any marfū‘ hadīth (ascribed to the Prophet) unless it was a verbatim transmission of the words of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (he even gave consideration to letters, prepositions, and particles such as wāw, tā, and bā in them).
  3. No acceptance of hadith from any innovator — this is a stricter standard than that of many other muhaddithun.
  4. A highly literary form of classical Arabic, which helps readers develop the ability to understand the language of prophetic traditions.

Commentaries on Al-Muwatta

Due to the importance of the Al-Muwatta to Muslims it has often been accompanied by commentaries, mostly but not exclusively by followers of the Maliki school. It's said that on the version transmitted by Yahya al-Laithi alone there are around a hundred commentaries.

See also

References

  1. ↑ al-Kattani, Muhammad ibn Ja`far (2007). Muhammad al-Muntasir al-Kattani (ed.). al-Risalah al-Mustatrafah (in Arabic) (seventh ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Bashair al-Islamiyyah. pp. 9, 41.
  2. ↑ Swartz, Merlin (1991). "Review of Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik translated by Aisha Bewley". Review of Middle East Studies. 25: 102–103. doi:10.1017/S0026318400024056. ISSN 0026-3184. S2CID 164621961.
  3. 1 2 "The Hadith for Beginners", Dr. Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi, 1961 (2006 reprint), Goodword Books
  4. ↑ Ibn Hajr Asqalani in Hady as-Sari as quoted in Ash-Shaybani, M. (2004). The Muwatta of Imam Muhammad (p. 1). Turath Publishing.
  5. ↑ Bewley, A. A. (trans.). (1997). Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik ibn Anas: The First Formulation of Islamic Law (pp. v-xxvi, xxxvi-xxxvii). Madinah Press.
  6. ↑ Digital Islamic Library. (n.d.). Imam Malik. Retrieved on January 20, 2022, from https://islamichistory.org/imam-malik/
  7. 1 2 As-Suyuti in Tanwir al-Hawalik as quoted in Ash-Shaybani, M. (2004). The Muwatta of Imam Muhammad (p. 11). Turath Publishing.
  8. ↑ Ibrāhīm b. ‘Alī b. Muhammad b. Farhūn al-Ya‘murī al-Mālikī, al-Dībāj al-Madhhab fī Ma‘rifah A‘yān ‘Ulamā’ al-Madhhab, 1st ed., vol. 1 (Beirut: Dār al-Nashr, Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1996), 25.
  9. ↑ N. Abbott, Studies In Arabic Literary Papyri: Qur'anic Commentary And Tradition, 1967, Volume II, University of Chicago Press: Chicago (USA), p. 114.
  10. ↑ ibid.
  11. ↑ Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, al-Tamhīd limā fī al-muwattā min al-ma‘ānī wa al-asānīd, vol. 1 (Morocco: Dār al-Nashr, 1387 AH), 76.
  12. ↑ Ash-Shaybani, M. (2004). The Muwatta of Imam Muhammad (p. 19). Turath Publishing.
  13. ↑ Islamic Awareness. (2004). On The “Versions” Of Mālik's Muwaṭṭa, retrieved January 18, 2021, https://www.islamic-awareness.org/hadith/muwatta.html
  14. ↑ Brockopp 2000, p. 70.
  15. ↑ Brockopp 2000, p. 75. Ahmad ibn Abi Bakr al-Zuhri's recension has been edited by ʿAwwād Maʿrūf & Muḥammad Khalīl 1991.
  16. ↑ Mabadi Tadabbur-i-Hadith, Amin Ahsan Islahi
  17. ↑ Shaykh Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz Al Mubarak, "Introduction" in Malik ibn Anas, Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik Ibn Anas: The First Formulation of Islamic Law, Routledge (2016), p. xxxv
  18. ↑ "Kitab al-Qabas fi Sharh Muwatta Malik ibn Anas - Ibnul-'Arabi al-Maliki". sifatusafwa.com.
  19. ↑ "Abu al-Walid al-Baji". Sunnah.org. Archived from the original on 2011-01-06. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  20. ↑ "Ibn Hazm". Sunnah.org. Archived from the original on 2005-04-08. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  21. ↑ "Al-Albani Unveiled". Masud.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-05-11.

Source

  • ʿAwwād Maʿrūf, Bashshār [in German]; Muḥammad Khalīl, Maḥmūd (1991). al-Muwaṭṭaʾ li-imām dār al-hijra Mālik ibn Anas. Riwāyat Abī Muṣʿab al-Zuhrī al-Madanī. Vol. 1–2. Beirut: Mu’assasat al-Risāla.
  • Brockopp, Jonathan E. (2000). Early Mālikī Law: Ibn 'Abd al-ḥakam and his Major Compendium of Jurisprudence. Studies in Islamic Law and Society. Vol. 14. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11628-3.