Compiled during the reign of Mansur, the second Abbasid Caliph, Muwatta’ of Imam Malik is regarded as the most authentic book on Hadith. Imam Malik passed his entire life in Medina and, therefore, had direct access to the most reliable authorities on Hadith, because most of the leading Companions and their Successors lived and died there and narrated traditions. The Muwatta’ is based on the traditions narrated by them and the juristic verdicts given by them, and thus it deals only with such ahadith as have a bearing on juristic verdicts. The translator is a well-known scholar. He has done full justice to the work undertaken by him. He has provided exhaustive explanatory footnotes wherever necessary.