The first formulation of Islamic Law based on the behaviour of the people of Madinah during the time of the great Companions, Al-Muwatta is the blueprint for a just and radiant society.
Al-Muwaá¹á¹a’
The first formulation of Islamic Law based on the behaviour of the people of Madinah during the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the great Companions, Al-Muwatta is the blueprint for a just and radiant society: the earliest, clearest, cleanest record of salafi Islam.
Sahih
It is the first of the sahih works, long pre-dating al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Al-Bukhari regarded the transmission of Imam Malik narrating from Nafi‘ from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as being ‘the Golden Chain of Transmission’.
Abu Dawud, whose Sunan is another of the Six Books of hadith, added “then Malik, from az-Zuhri, from Salim, from his father [i.e. Ibn ‘Umar], then Malik, from Abu z-Zinad, from al-A‘raj, from Abu Hurayrahâ€Ã‚Â, without mentioning anything from anyone other than Malik.
Ibn Hajar said, “… some imams say that they are unqualifiedly the soundest of isnads, such as az-Zuhri i.e. the hadith which az-Zuhri – who is better known as Ibn Shihab – narrated from Salim i.e. transmitting to him from Salim ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar from his father. The school of Ahmad [ibn Hanbal] and Ibn Rahwayh is that this is unqualifiedly the soundest chain of transmissionâ€Ã‚Â.Â
Adh-Dhahabi held that, “The soundest of chains of transmission are those from az-Zuhri from Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab from Abu Hurayrahâ€Ã‚ which are abundant in the Muwatta. Then those which come from Abu’z-ZinÄÂÂd from al-A‘raj from AbÅ« Hurayrah.â€Ã‚Â
Ash-ShÄÂÂfi‘ī said, “After the Book of Allah, there is no book on the face of the earth sounder than the book of MÄÂÂlik.â€Ã‚Â
‘AlÄÂÂ’ ad-DÄ«n Maghlaá¹ÄÂÂy al-ḤanafÄ« said, “The first person to compile the ṣaḥīḥwas MÄÂÂlik.â€Ã‚Â
Ibn Ḥajar said, “The book of MÄÂÂlik is sound by all the criteria that are demanded as proofs in the mursal, munqaá¹i‘ and other types of transmission.â€Ã‚Â
As-SuyÅ«á¹Ä« followed Ibn Ḥajar’s judgement and said, “It is absolutely correct to say that the Muwaá¹á¹a’ is sound (á¹£aḥīḥ) without exception.â€Ã‚Â
Al-BukhÄÂÂrÄ« and Muslim transmitted most of its ḥadÄ«ths and included them in their Ṣaḥīḥ collections. The authors of the rest of the six books, the ImÄÂÂm of the ḥadÄ«th scholars, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and others did the same.
In addition, the Muwaá¹á¹a’  contains a record of the practice (‘amal) of the people of MadÄ«nah of the first generations, a transmission of the ethos that permeated the city, and ImÄÂÂm MÄÂÂlik’s painstaking clarification of the Sunna, the ḥadÄ«ths, the practice and legal judgements.
ImÄÂÂm MÄÂÂlik ibn anas
(93 AH/711 CE – 179 AH/795 CE)
Imam MÄÂÂlik’s full name is MÄÂÂlik ibn Anas ibn MÄÂÂlik ibn AbÄ« ‘Āmir al-Aá¹£baḥī and he was related to DhÅ« Aá¹£baḥ, a sub-tribe of Ḥimyar. He was instructed in the learning and recitation of the Noble Qur’ÄÂÂn by ImÄÂÂm NÄÂÂfi‘ ibn ‘Abd ar-RaḥmÄÂÂn ibn AbÄ« Nu‘aym, the ImÄÂÂm of the reciters of MadÄ«na and one of the ‘seven reciters’.
Among the huge number of his teachers in ḥadÄ«th and fiqh were NÄÂÂfi‘, themawlÄ of ‘AbdullÄÂÂh ibn ‘Umar, and Ibn ShihÄÂÂb az-ZuhrÄ«. He sat to give fatwÄÂÂwhen he was seventeen years old after seventy ImÄÂÂms had testified that he was worthy to give fatwÄ and teach.
His own students included ImÄÂÂm ash-ShÄÂÂfi‘ī and ImÄÂÂm Muhammad ibn al-Ḥasan ash-ShaybÄÂÂnÄ« the ḤanafÄ«Â mujtahid, as well as a great number of ImÄÂÂms of ḥadÄ«th and fiqh, and thus he is known as ImÄÂÂm al-A’immah ‘the ImÄÂÂm of the ImÄÂÂms’.
He is recognised to be the subject of the hadith from Abū Hurayra î:
“The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him said, ‘There will come a time when the people will beat the livers of their camels in search of knowledge and they will not find an ‘ÄÂÂlim with more knowledge than the ‘ÄÂÂlim of MadÄ«na.’â€Ã‚Â
Aisha Abdurrahman Bewley
Aisha Abdurrahman Bewley is one of today’s most prolific translators of classical Arabic works into English. For more than thirty-five years she has been concerned with making the contents of many classical Arabic works more accessible to English-speaking readers.
She is co-translator, with her husband Shaykh Abdalhaqq Bewley, of The Noble Qur’an, a New Rendering of its Meaning in English.
Other works include her translation of The Meaning of Man of Sidi Ali al-Jamal,Muhammad Messenger of Allah – ash-Shifa of Qadi ‘Iyad, Muhammad ibn Sa‘d’s Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabir, and of her own authorship: Mu‘awiya – Restorer of the Muslim Faith, A Glossary of Islamic Terms, Islam: The Empowering of Womenand Muslim Women, a Biographical Dictionary.