Al-Muwatta

The Muwaṭṭa (الموطأ) is an early collection of hadith comprising the subjects of Muslim law, compiled and edited by Imam Malik.^[1]

Description

It is considered to be from the earliest extant collections of hadith that form the basis of Islamic jurisprudence alongside the Qur'an.^[2] Nonetheless, is not merely 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.

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."

Composition of al-Muwatta

Al-Muwatta consists of approximately 1720 hadith divided as follows^[3]:

• 600 marfu hadith
• 613 mawquf hadith
• 285 maqtu hadith
• 222 mursal hadiths

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.

• Al Tamhid by Yusuf ibn Abd al-Barr is organized according to the narrators which Malik narrates from, and includes extensive biographical information about each narrator in the chain.
• al-Istidhkar, also by Ibn Abd al-Barr is more of a legal exegesis 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.
• The explanation of Suyuti, who although a follower of the Shafi school, wrote a small commentary to the Al-Muwatta.
• Al-Musaffa Sharh al-Muwatta, Shah Wali Allah Dahlawi (1114-1176AH) (al-Musaffa Sharh al-Muwatta in Persian).
• Al-Muntaq�� sharh al-Muwatta of Abu al-Walid al-Baji (d. 484/1081), the Andalusian M��lik�� Q��d��, (Ab�� al-Wal��d Sulaym��n ibn Khalaf al-B��j��, al-Muntaq�� sharh Muwatta' M��lik, edited by Muhammad 'Abd al-Q��dir Ahmad 'At��, Beirut: D��r al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah, 1420/1999) Sharh al-Muwatta' has two versions: al-Istifa' and its abridgment al-Muntaqa [1]
• Awjāz-ul-Masālik il� Muwattā' Imām Mālik is a Deobandi commentary written by Muḥammad Zakarīyā al-Kāndahlawī. He began the work in 1927 in Madina while only 29 years old.
• Sharh Muwatta al-Malik by Muhammad al-Zurqani. 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.
• Al-Imla' fi Sharh al-Muwatta in 1,000 folios, by Ibn Hazm. [2]
• Sharh Minhaaj by Subki [3]
• Sharh Muwatta by Mullah Ali al-Qari

Notes and references

1. ^ al-Kattani, Muhammad ibn Ja`far (2007). Muhammad al-Muntasir al-Kattani. ed (in Arabic). al-Risalah al-Mustatrafah (seventh ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Bashair al-Islamiyyah. pp. 9, 41. 
2. ^ "The Hadith for Beginners", Dr. Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi, 1961 (2006 reprint), Goodword Books
3. ^ "The Hadith for Beginners"

Arabic Wikisource has original text related to this article: Al-Muwatta'

External links

• 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
• Search Hadith in Al-Muwatta at Ekabakti.com