Customer Reviews

The Muwatta of Imam Muhammad al-Shaybani (Arabic Edition)

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This is a fascinating book; not only does it provide a deep insight into the early community of the Sahabas, particularly the caliphate of Sayyiduna Umar, but also an insight into the early interaction between the Hanafis and Malikis.

Imam Muhammad transmits the hadith and athar he took from Imam Malik, then, where Imam Malik's verdict differs from Imam Abu Hanifa's, he provides supplementary hadiths from which the Hanafi position is derived.

Each section is concluded with a comment from Imam Muhammad, summarising the verdicts of the Imams.

The book has additional sections on Jarh and Ta'dil, and biographies of Imam Muhammad, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, all the narrators of the hadith.

A must have for every serious Muslim.

This is a translation of the Muwatta of Imam Malik as transmitted to Imam Muhammad ibn Al Hasan Ash shaybani, who was one of the two major students of Imam Abu Hanifa. It is probably the most famous transmission of the Muwatta, other than Yahya ibn Yahya's transmission, which is simply called the Muwatta, which is why Imam Muhammad's transmission is coined "The Muwatta of Imam Muhammad." The difference in Imam Muhammad's transmission is that he always comments on the hadith, showing where he and his teacher Abu Hanifa agree or disagree with Imam Malik. Where he disagrees, he will often quote his own hadith to prove his point.

The translation is great. The Arabic is presented right on top of the Arabic. Everything is translated, including the chain of narrators, as well as Imam Muhammad's comments.

The best part of this work is that Allamah Abdul Hayy al Lucknawi's introduction of his commentary to this work is translated here as well. In it, Allamah Lucknawi shows that the Hanafi maddhab is steeped in hadith, contrary to the claims of a certain other group. In addition, Abu Hanifa's position in hadith is highlighted, along with the position that the Muwatta holds amongst the hadith transmitters. Lucknawi's jarh and ta'dil (narrator criticism and authentication) of the rijal (men in the transmission chains) of the Muwatta is also included in the end, so that a student of hadith can do basic authentication of the hadith himself.

A must buy!

Shaybani wasn't really out to transmit Malik's Muwatta'. He wrote this work, because already in Malik's lifetime, it was clear that the Muwatta' was going to revolutionise all the schools of Sunnism, and not just in Madina.

I have to say this for those students of hadith and Sunna who imagine that this book is just going to be another boring recension of "the Muwatta'", which you can already get for free on the 'web via the Bewley translation. This is a different animal. Bewley just translated Laythi's recension (also: Abu Mus'ab's recension, also out there somewhere, isn't all that different). What Shaybani did was to take an earlier version of Malik's work and to REACT to it, from the standpoint of the Iraqis.

So if you want a snapshot of Malik's developing thought (from a non-Maliki source) - you need this. And as has been mentioned by other commenters, if you're a Hanafi and you want the first Hanafi response to Malik's work - you need this.

I must warn that Shaybani did not always transmit the entirety of what Malik knew. I have found spots where what he transmitted omits what Laythi and Abu Mus'ab (and Shafi'i, etc) did not omit. The unfinished state of the Muwatta' then isn't always to blame for this. So be aware always that Shaybani is not of Malik's party! Shaybani has his own agenda. So Hanafis will not be able to do away with the full Maliki literature.

As for how the editors and translators did with Shaybani's work: I don't have the manuscripts, so I can't speak to the editing, but I have no complaints with the translation. I would fault the footnoting for not taking enough notice of Laythi etc, where Shaybani made deliberate changes (or wasn't aware of Malik's later work); but on a certain level if you aren't comparing it to the other widely-available versions yourself then to some degree it's your own fault if you mess up.

The layout of this book is highly readable and the appendices give you a good-enough overview of who transmitted what and when. Arabic readers can go to Mizzi where they need more.