Fazaa’il Amaal

Hadith memorization is as old as Quran memorization, and has remained in the Ummah since its inception. In this light, many Madrasahs have included the subject of ‘Hifz Hadith’ in their curriculum. This collection of fifty concise Ḥadīths is based on authenticity coupled with variety in the topics that are discussed. The format was set to suit teenage learners, and to instill in them the noble practices that are advocated in the selected Hadiths. This book is highly recommended for every higher grade Maktab learner, as well as beginners in a Dărul ‘Ulum

It is the first of the sahih works, long pre-dating al-Bukhari and Muslim. Al-Bukhari regarded the transmission of Imam Malik narrating from Nafi‘ from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as being ‘the Golden Chain of Transmission’. Abu Dawud, whose Sunan is another of the Six Books of hadith, added “then Malik, from az-Zuhri, from Salim, from his father [i.e. Ibn ‘Umar], then Malik, from Abu z-Zinad, from al-A‘raj, from Abu Hurayrah”, without mentioning anything from anyone other than Malik. Ibn Hajar said, “… some imams say that they are unqualifiedly the soundest of isnads, such as az-Zuhri i.e. the hadith which az-Zuhri – who is better known as Ibn Shihab – narrated from Salim i.e. transmitting to him from Salim ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar from his father. The school of Ahmad [ibn Hanbal] and Ibn Rahwayh is that this is unqualifiedly the soundest chain of transmission”. Adh-Dhahabi held that, “The soundest of chains of transmission are those from az-Zuhri from Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab from Abu Hurayrah” which are abundant in the Muwatta. Then those which come from Abu’z-Zinād from al-A‘raj from Abū Hurayrah.” Ash-Shāfi‘ī said, “After the Book of Allah, there is no book on the face of the earth sounder than the book of Mālik.” ‘Alā’ ad-Dīn Maghlaṭāy al-Ḥanafī said, “The first person to compile the ṣaḥīḥ was Mālik.” Ibn Ḥajar said, “The book of Mālik is sound by all the criteria that are demanded as proofs in the mursal, munqaṭi‘ and other types of transmission.” As-Suyūṭī followed Ibn Ḥajar’s judgement and said, “It is absolutely correct to say that the Muwaṭṭa’ is sound (ṣaḥīḥ) without exception.” Al-Bukhārī and Muslim transmitted most of its ḥadīths and included them in their Ṣaḥīḥ collections. The authors of the rest of the six books, the Imām of the ḥadīth scholars, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and others did the same. In addition, the Muwaṭṭa’  contains a record of the practice (‘amal) of the people of Madīnah of the first generations, a transmission of the ethos that permeated the city, and Imām Mālik’s painstaking clarification of the Sunna, the ḥadīths, the practice and legal judgements.

"The unqualified truth is that all of the Muwatta is sahih without any exception!" Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani 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. The Muwatta' 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 Madinah 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. Imam Malik Imam Malik is the imam of the imams, the leader of the people of knowledge of Madinah, Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn Abi Amir al-Asbahi al-Madani, born in 94 AH, 95 AH or even 99 AH. He was called the Man of Knowledge of madinah. People of knowledge understood that it was him the Prophet saw indicated in the hadith from Abu Hurayra, People will soon beat the livers of their camels [in travelling in search of knowledge] but they will not find a man of knowledge more knowledgeable than the man of knowledge of Madinah. Among his pupils were the Imams Sufyan ath-Thawri, Sa id ibn Mansur, Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, Abd ar-Rahman al-Awza i who was older than him, Layth ibn Sa d who was one of his peers, Imam ash-Shafi i, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, the Malikis Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Qasim, Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi, Ibn Wahb, and Dhu n-Nun al-Misri. He died in 179 AH on the morning of the 14th of Rabi al-Awwal. Imam Muhammad al-Shaybani He is Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Farqad al-Shaybani. Muhammad was born in Wasit in 132 AH, and grew up in Kufa. He was a pupil of Abu Hanifah. Imam Shafi i said, I have not seen anyone more eloquent than him. I used to think when I saw him reciting the Qur an that it was as if the Qur an had been revealed in his language. He also said, I have not seen anyone more itelligent than Muhammad ibn al-Hasan. Adh-Dhahabi said, He narrated from Malik ibn Anas and others, and he was one of the great oceans of knowledge and fiqh, and he was strong [when he narrated] from Malik. Muhammad said, I stood at Malik s door for three years and I heard [the Muwatta ] from him [with] more than seven hundred hadith. He died in Ray in 189 AH. Translated by Mohammed Abdurahman, Abdassamad Clark and Dr Asadullah Yate (The science of (Jarah) Invalidation and Authentication (Tadil). Editors Mufti Zubair Ismail Bayat, Uthman Ibrahim Morrisson and Sister Safira Batha.