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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‚ , 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‚ .
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-ZinÄ d from al-A‘raj from AbÅ« Hurayrah.â€Ã‚
Ash-ShÄ fi‘ī said, “After the Book of Allah, there is no book on the face of the earth sounder than the book of MÄ lik.â€Ã‚
‘AlÄ ’ ad-DÄ«n Maghlaá¹Ä y al-ḤanafÄ« said, “The first person to compile the á¹£aḥīḥwas MÄ lik.â€Ã‚
Ibn Ḥajar said, “The book of MÄ lik is sound by all the criteria that are demanded as proofs in the mursal, munqaá¹i‘ and other types of transmission.â€Ã‚
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‚
Al-BukhÄ rÄ« and Muslim transmitted most of its ḥadÄ«ths and included them in their á¹¢aḥīḥ collections. The authors of the rest of the six books, the ImÄ m 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 ImÄ m MÄ lik’s painstaking clarification of the Sunna, the ḥadÄ«ths, the practice and legal judgements.
ImÄÂ m MÄÂ lik ibn anas
(93 AH/711 CE – 179 AH/795 CE)
Imam MÄ lik’s full name is MÄ lik ibn Anas ibn MÄ lik 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’Ä n by ImÄ m NÄ fi‘ ibn ‘Abd ar-RaḥmÄ n ibn AbÄ« Nu‘aym, the ImÄ m 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 NÄ fi‘, themawlÄ of ‘AbdullÄ h ibn ‘Umar, and Ibn ShihÄ b az-ZuhrÄ«. He sat to give fatwÄ when he was seventeen years old after seventy ImÄ ms had testified that he was worthy to give fatwÄ and teach.
His own students included ImÄ m ash-ShÄ fi‘ī and ImÄ m Muhammad ibn al-Ḥasan ash-ShaybÄ nÄ« the ḤanafÄ« mujtahid, as well as a great number of ImÄ ms of ḥadÄ«th and fiqh, and thus he is known as ImÄ m al-A’immah ‘the ImÄ m of the ImÄ ms’.
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 ‘Ä lim with more knowledge than the ‘Ä lim of MadÄ«na.’â€Ã‚
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.
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‚ , 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‚ .
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-ZinÄ d from al-A‘raj from AbÅ« Hurayrah.â€Ã‚
Ash-ShÄ fi‘ī said, “After the Book of Allah, there is no book on the face of the earth sounder than the book of MÄ lik.â€Ã‚
‘AlÄ ’ ad-DÄ«n Maghlaá¹Ä y al-ḤanafÄ« said, “The first person to compile the á¹£aḥīḥwas MÄ lik.â€Ã‚
Ibn Ḥajar said, “The book of MÄ lik is sound by all the criteria that are demanded as proofs in the mursal, munqaá¹i‘ and other types of transmission.â€Ã‚
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‚
Al-BukhÄ rÄ« and Muslim transmitted most of its ḥadÄ«ths and included them in their á¹¢aḥīḥ collections. The authors of the rest of the six books, the ImÄ m 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 ImÄ m MÄ lik’s painstaking clarification of the Sunna, the ḥadÄ«ths, the practice and legal judgements.
ImÄÂ m MÄÂ lik ibn anas
(93 AH/711 CE – 179 AH/795 CE)
Imam MÄ lik’s full name is MÄ lik ibn Anas ibn MÄ lik 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’Ä n by ImÄ m NÄ fi‘ ibn ‘Abd ar-RaḥmÄ n ibn AbÄ« Nu‘aym, the ImÄ m 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 NÄ fi‘, themawlÄ of ‘AbdullÄ h ibn ‘Umar, and Ibn ShihÄ b az-ZuhrÄ«. He sat to give fatwÄ when he was seventeen years old after seventy ImÄ ms had testified that he was worthy to give fatwÄ and teach.
His own students included ImÄ m ash-ShÄ fi‘ī and ImÄ m Muhammad ibn al-Ḥasan ash-ShaybÄ nÄ« the ḤanafÄ« mujtahid, as well as a great number of ImÄ ms of ḥadÄ«th and fiqh, and thus he is known as ImÄ m al-A’immah ‘the ImÄ m of the ImÄ ms’.
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 ‘Ä lim with more knowledge than the ‘Ä lim of MadÄ«na.’â€Ã‚
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.
Al-Muwatta
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