Imam Shafi’i said, “I have not seen anyone more eloquent than him. Muhammad was born in Wasit in 132 AH, and grew up in Kufa. He is Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Farqad al-Shaybani. He died in 179 AH on the morning of the 14th of Rabi’ al-Awwal. 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. 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 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 He was called the Man of Knowledge of madinah.

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. 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.” Its high standing is such that people of every school of fiqh and all of the imams of hadith scholarship agree upon its authenticity. 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”. Imam Malik composed the Muwatta’ over a period of forty years to represent the “well-trodden path” of the people of Madina. 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. This quote from one of the greatest authorities on hadith of all time is sufficient recommendation. “The unqualified truth is that all of the Muwatta is sahih without any exception!” -Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani 14, 2010 - PRLog - The Muwatta of Imam Muhammad – New 2010 card cover edition.

Darul ishaat muwatta