The Muwatta of Imam Muhammad

Translated by Mohammed Abdurrahman & Abdus Samad Clarke

This quote from one of the greatest authorities on hadith of all time is sufficient recommendation. The version of the Muwatta narrated by Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, one of the two leading pupils of Imam Abu Hanifah, directly from his three years of study with Imam Malik will be of particular interest not only to students of Hanafi fiqh, but also to students of hadith in general.

Imam Malik composed the Muwatta over a period of forty years to represent the "well-trodden path" of the people of Madina. Its name also means that it is the book that is "many times agreed upon" about whose contents the people of Madina were unanimously agreed and that is "made easy and facilitated". 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 said, "There is not on the face of the earth after the Book of Allah a book which is more sahih than the book of Malik." Shah Wali Allah Dihlawi (1114-1176 AH) said, "My breast expanded and I became certain that the Muwatta is the most sahih book to be found on the earth after the Book of Allah."