Muwatta Malik

Al-Muwatta’isoneofthegreatbooksofIslamwhichincludesanumberofmarfoo’ahaadeethandmawqoofreportsfromtheSahaabah,Taabi’eenandthosewhocameafterthem.Italsoincludesmanyrulingsandfatwasoftheauthor.

TheMuwatta’issocalledbecauseitsauthormadeiteasy(watta’a)forthepeopleinthesensethathemadeiteasilyaccessibletothem.

ItwasnarratedthatMaaliksaid:Ishowedthisbookofminetoseventyofthefuqaha’ofMadeenah,andallofthemagreedwithme(waata’ani)onit,soIcalledital-Muwatta’.

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Thereasonwhyitwascompiled:Ibn‘Abdal-Barr(mayAllaahhavemercyonhim)statedinal-Istidhkaar(1/168)thatAbuJa’faral-MansoorsaidtoImamMaalik:“OMaalik,makeabookforthepeoplethatIcanmakethemfollow,forthereisnoonetodaywhoismoreknowledgeablethanyou.”ImamMaalikrespondedtohisrequest,butherefusedtoforceallthepeopletoadheretoit.

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ImamMaalikreadtheMuwatta’topeopleforfortyyears,addingtoit,takingawayfromitandimprovingit.Sohisstudentshearditfromhimorreadittohimduringthattime.Sothereportsinal-Muwatta’aremanyandvariedbecauseofwhattheImamdidofeditinghisbook.Someofhisstudentsnarratedfromhimbeforeitwasedited,someduringtheprocess,andsomeattheendofhislife.Someofthemtransmitteditinfullwhilstothersnarratedpartofit.SoanumberoftransmissionsoftheMuwatta’becamewellknown,themostimportantofwhichare:

ThetransmissionofYahyaibnYahyaal-Masmoodial-Laythi(234AH).ThisisthemostfamoustransmissionfromImamMaalik,andmostofthescholarsbasedtheircommentariesonit.

ThetransmissionofAbuMus’abal-Zuhri,whichisdistinguishedbytheadditionscontainedtherein.ItisthelastversiontransmittedfromMaalikanditisstillincirculationamongthescholars.

Thetransmissionof‘Abd-AllaahibnMaslamahal-Qa’nabi(221AH).ThisisthelargestversionoftheMuwatta’,and‘Abd-AllaahisoneofthesoundestofpeoplewithregardtotheMuwatta’,accordingtoIbnMa’een,al-Nasaa’iandIbnal-Madeeni.

ThetransmissionofMuhammadibnal-Hasanal-Shaybaani.

Thetransmissionof‘Abd-AllaahibnSalamahal-Fahrial-Masri.

Andtherearemanyothers.ShaykhMuhammadFu’aad‘Abdal-Baaqi(mayAllaahhavemercyonhim)spokeaboutthenarratorsoftheMuwatta’anddiscussedfourteenversionsofit,inhisintroductiontotheeditionoftheMuwatta’thatheedited(pp.6-16).

Theseversionsdifferintheorderofthebooksandchapters,andinthenumberofmarfoo’,mursal,andmawqoofahaadeeth.Thewordingoftheahaadeethalsodiffersgreatly.

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ThenumberofahaadeethintheMuwatta’differsfromoneversiontoanother,andaccordingtothesystemofnumbering[?].ThatisbecausesomescholarscountedeveryreportfromtheSahaabahorTaabi’eenasaseparatehadeeth,whilstothersdidnotcountthemintheirnumbering.HenceitissufficientforustomentionthenumbersthatarementionedinsomeoftheeditedversionsoftheMuwatta’,whichare:

TheversiontransmittedbyYahyaal-Laythi(whichisthemostfamousversion,andthisiswhatisusuallymeantbyal-Muwatta’):ItwasnumberedbyShaykhKhaleelSheeha,andthenumberofahaadeeththathecountedwas1942,includingbothmarfoo’andmawqoofreports.

TheversiontransmittedbyAbuMus’abal-ZuhriwasnumberedintheeditionpublishedbytheMu’sasatal-Risaalah.Thenumberofhadeethinthiseditionis3069,whichincludeseverything,eventhewordsofImamMaalik,hencethenumberisgreater.