Al-Muwatta
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- For other commentaries, see Sharh al-Muwatta.
The Muwatta (الموطأ) is an early statement of Muslim law, compiled and edited by Imam Malik. It is considered the earliest extant source of hadith, the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad that form the basis of Islamic jurisprudence alongside the Qur'an.[1] Nonetheless is not properly speaking a collection of hadith; many of the legal precepts it contains are based not on hadith at all. The book covers rituals, rites, customs, traditions, norms and laws of the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Much of the book pertains to areas which are not properly "legal" in the western sense, such as Hajj, sacrifice, intercourse etc. This makes it valuable beyond law, for studying historical sociology of the Arabs, for example.
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[edit] Authenticity
Imam Malik composed the 'Muwatta' over a period of forty years to represent the "well-trodden path" of the people of Madinah. Its name also means that it is the book that is "many times agreed upon"- about whose contents the people of Madinah were unanimously agreed. Its high standing is such that people of every school of fiqh and all of the imams of hadith scholarship agree upon its authenticity. Imam 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."
[edit] Commentaries on the 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.
- Al-Jaza al-Masalik by Muḥammad Zakarīyā al-Kāndahlawī
- Sharh al-Muwatta al-Malik by Muhammad al-Zurqani.
- A Sheikh from Egypt he wrote a commentary in 4 volumes on the Al-Muwatta that is extremely popular due to its simplicity. It is considered to be based on three other commentaries of the Muwatta; the Tamhid and the Istidhkar of Yusuf ibn Abd al Barr, as well as the Al-Muntaqa of Abu Al-Walid Al-Baji (another famous Maliki scholar of Spain).
- Yusuf ibn Abd al Barr
- A famous scholar of Hadith and a Maliki jurist from Andalusisa. He wrote two commentaries upon the Muwatta each running into over 20 volumes. The first was named Al Tamhid, and was organized according to the narrators which Malik narrates from, and includes extensive biographical information about each narrator in the chain. The second was entitled the Istidhkar and was more of a legal exegis on the hadith contained in the book than a critical hadith study, as was the case with the former. It is said that the Istidhkar was written after the Tamhid, as Ibn Abd al Barr himself alludes to in the introduction. However, through close examination it is apparent that the author made revisions to both after their completion due to the cross referencing found in both.
Yusuf ibn Abd al Barr also wrote a number of other important works such as the Kitab al-Kafi in Maliki jurisprudence and the 'Jami bayan al-Ilm' on the classification of knowledge.
- A famous Sheikh from Egypt who although a follower of the Shafi school wrote a small commentary to the Al-Muwatta.
[edit] Composition of the Muwatta
The Muwatta consists of approximately 1720 hadiths divided as follows[2]:
- 600 marfu hadiths
- 613 mauquf hadiths
- 285 maqtu hadiths
- 222 mursal hadiths
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ "The Hadith for Beginners", Dr. Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi, 1961 (2006 reprint), Goodword Books
- ^ "The Hadith for Beginners"
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Islamic Awareness, Are There Any Early Hadiths?
- Islamic Awareness, On The "Versions" Of Malik's Muwatta'
- Islamic Awareness, PERF No. 731: The Earliest Manuscript Of Malik's Muwatta' Dated To His Own Time
- Al-Muwatta Online from the MSA hadith database
- English translation
- http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=81160&ln=eng
- Muwatta Imam Muhammad - Narrations of Imam Muhammad Shaybani from Imam Malik
