Our shaykh the learned scholar and Hafidh of the age, Jalal ad-Din al-Asyuti ash-Shafi\u2019i, may Allah make spacious his allotted period, says:<\/p>\n
Praise belongs to Allah for His universal bounty, and blessings and peace upon our master Muhammad and his family and companions with the purest of blessings and most complete grantings of peace. This is a subtle composition of biographical notices of narrators mentioned in the Muwatta of Imam Malik which is revised and exactly defined more than other books composed about that for whoever can see. I have named it Is\u2019af al-Mubatta\u2019 bi rijal al-Muwatta<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018Ali ibn al-Madini said narrating from Sufyan ibn \u2018Uyaynah, \u201cHow strenuous Malik was in criticism of narrators and how knowledgeable he was about their affair!\u201d \u2018Ali narrated from Habib al-Warraq, Malik\u2019s scribe, \u201c Ad-Darawardi, Ibn Abi Hazim and Ibn Kinanah gave me a dinar to ask Malik about three men from whom he had not narrated, so I asked him. He bowed his head in silence and then he raised it and said, \u2018It is what Allah wills; there is no strength but by Allah,\u2019 which he used to say very often. Then he said, \u2018Habib, I came to this mosque at a time when there were seventy shaykhs in it of those who had reached the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and who narrated from the Followers, but we have not carried away knowledge from anyone but its people.\u201d<\/p>\n Bishr ibn \u2018Umar az-Zahwani said, \u201cI asked Malik about a man, and he asked, \u2018Have you seen him in my books?\u2019 I said, \u2018No.\u2019 He said, \u2018If he had been a trustworthy narrator you would have seen him in my books.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Ali ibn al-Madini said, \u201cI don\u2019t know of Malik leaving out a person except someone in whose hadith there was something [to cause concern].\u201d Ibn al-Madini also said, \u201cIf Malik brings you a hadith from a man [who is unnamed] from Sa\u2019id ibn al-Musayyab, that is preferrable to me than Sufyan [ath-Thawri] from a man from Ibrahim [an-Nakha\u2019i], because Malik only narrated from trustworthy narrators, and even if Sufyan\u2019s companion had something in him [to cause disquiet] he would have cried out about him clamorously.\u201d<\/p>\n Yahya ibn Ma\u2019in said, \u201cEveryone from whom Malik ibn Anas narrates is a trustworthy narrator except for \u2018Abd al-Karim al-Basri Abu Umayyah.\u201d<\/p>\n Ahmad ibn Salih sad, \u201cI do not know of anyone more giving to sifting narrators and people of knowledge than Malik, and I do not know of him narrating from anyone about whom there was something [cause for concern]. He narrated from a whole people none of whom are to be abandoned.\u201d<\/p>\n An-Nasa\u2019i said, \u201cThose who were entrusted by Allah with the knowledge of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were Shu\u2019bah ibn al-Hajjaj, Malik ibn Anas, and Yahya ibn Sa\u2019id al-Qattan.\u201d He said, \u201cAnd ath-Thawri is an imam except that he narrates from weak narrators.\u201d He said, \u201cSimilarly, Ibn al-Mubarak is one of the greatest of the people of his time except that he narrates from weak narrators.\u201d He said, \u201cNo one is more acceptable to me after the Followers than Malik ibn Anas, nor is anyone greater, nor more trustworthy in hadith than him. Then Shu\u2019bah comes after him in hadith, then Yahya ibn Sa\u2019id al-Qattan. There is no one after the Followers more trustworthy in hadith than these three, nor less given to narrating from weak narrators.\u201d<\/p>\n Mutarrif ibn \u2018Abdillah said [narrating] from Malik, \u201cI left a whole group of the people of Madinah without taking anything of knowledge from them, and yet they were of those from whom knowledge was being taken. They were different sorts. Some of them lied but not concerning their knowledge and I left them because of their lying. Some of them were ignorant of what they had, so that for me it was not appropriate to take from them becase of their ignorance. Some of them are found fault with because of a wrong theoretical understanding (ra\u2019y).\u201d<\/p>\n Ma\u2019n ibn \u2018Isa said, \u201cMalik used to say, \u2018Knowledge must not be taken from four, and it can be taken anyone other than them: it must not be taken from a fool; nor should it be taken from someone of erroneous opinions (hawa) who calls others to his erroneous opinions; nor from a liar who lies while talking about people even though he is not suspect when narrating the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; nor is it to be taken from a virtuous right-acting shaykh given to worship if he does not recognise what he is narrating.\u2019\u201d Ibrahim ibn al-Mundhir said, \u201cI mentioned this account to Mutarrif ibn \u2018Abdillah and he said, \u2018I bear witness that I heard Malik say, \u201cI reached shaykhs in this city who were people of virtue and of right action and who would narrate hadith but I heard nothing from any of them.\u201d Someone asked, \u201cWhy?\u201d He said, \u201cThey did not recognise what they were narrating.\u201d\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Isma\u2019il ibn Abi Uways said, \u201cI heard my maternal uncle Malik saying, \u2018This knowledge is a deen, so look at who you take your deen from. I met seventy people who said, \u201cThe Messenger of Allah said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,\u2026\u201d around these pillars, and I took nothing from them, even though if any of them had been entrusted with the bait al-mal he would have acted in a trustworthy fashion, because they were not people of this business. Then Ibn Shihab came to us and we used to crowd around his door.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Yahya ibn Ma\u2019in narrated that Sufyan ibn \u2018Uyaynah said, \u201cWho are we compared to Malik? We would only follow in the footsteps of Malik and look towards the shaykh to see if Malik narrated from him or not, and if he did not we would abandon him.\u201d<\/p>\n Ashhab said, \u201cMalik was asked, \u2018Is knowledge taken from someone who has not memorised but who is yet trustworthy and a sound narrator? Can hadith be taken from him?\u2019 He said, \u2018No.\u2019 Someone said to him, \u2018[What if] he produces his writings and says, \u201cI heard them\u201d and he is trustworthy; can hadith be taken from him?\u2019 He said, \u2018I fear that he adds things into his writings at night\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ibn Wahb said, \u201cI heard Malik saying, \u2018I reached people in this city who had attained to live a hundred years or a hundred and five, and nothing was taken from them, and fault was found with someone who took from them.\u201d<\/p>\n Ibn Wahb and Ashhab said, \u201cMalik said, \u2018I went to see A\u2019ishah bint Sa\u2019d but I regarded her as a weak transmitter so I took nothing from her except her saying, \u201cMy father had a washtub from which he and all his family would do wudu.\u201d\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Mutarrif said, \u201cMalik asked me, \u2018Does al-\u2018Attan ibn Khalid narrate hadith?\u2019 I answered, \u2018Yes.\u2019 He said, \u2018We belong to Allah and to Him we are returning!\u2019 He said, \u2018I reached trustworthy people who would not narrate hadith.\u2019 I asked, \u2018Why?\u2019 He said, \u2018For fear of slips.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ibn Wahb said, \u201cMalik looked towards al-\u2019Attan ibn Khalid and said, \u2018It has reached me that you take knowledge from this one.\u2019 I said, \u2018Of course.\u2019 So he said, \u2018We would not take hadith except from people of fiqh.\u2019 He said, \u2018I saw Ayyub as-Sikhtiyani in Makkah on two Hajjs and I wrote nothing down from him, but on the third I saw him sitting in the courtyard of Zamzam, and when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was mentioned in his presence he would weep so much that I felt mercy for him. So when I saw that I wrote down [hadith] from him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Abu Mus\u2019ab said, \u201cSomeone said to Malik, \u2018Why do you not take from the people of Iraq?\u2019 He said, \u2018I saw them coming here and taking [hadith and fiqh] from untrustworthy people so I said, \u201cThey are like that in their own country, and they take from those who are untrustworthy.\u201d\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Al-Athram said, \u201cI asked Ahmad ibn Hanbal about \u2018Amr ibn Abi \u2018Amr the mawla of al-Muttalib and he said, \u2018It increases his standing with me that Malik narrated from him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Abu Sa\u2019id ibn al-A\u2019rabi said, \u201cYahya ibn Ma\u2019in used to regard a man as trustworthy because of Malik\u2019s narrating from him. He was asked about more than a few people about whom he said, \u2018A trustworthy narrator; Malik narrated from him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Yahya ibn Ma\u2019in said, \u201cIt has reached me that Malik said, \u2018How surprising of this Shu\u2019bah who is so critical of narrators and yet he narrates from \u2018Asim ibn \u2018Abdillah!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ja\u2019far al-Firyabi said, \u201cA part of Malik\u2019s approach [madhhab] is to enquire deeply and research from whom it is one takes knowledge and to whom one listens.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Abdullah ibn Idris sad, \u201cI was with Malik and a man said to him that Muhammad ibn Ishaq says, \u2018Show me the knowledge of Malik for I am skilful in it.\u2019 Malik said, \u2018Look at one of the dajjals [liars], saying, \u201cShow me the knowledge of Malik.\u201d\u2019\u201d Ibn Idris said, \u201cI never saw anyone else use the plural of dajjal before him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Atiq ibn Ya\u2019qub az-Zubayri said, \u201cI heard Malik saying, \u2018I went to \u2018Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn \u2018Aqil to ask him about the hadith of ar-Rabi\u2019 bint Mu\u2019awwadh ibn \u2018Afra concerning the wudu of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but when he reached to wiping his head and he wiped his ears I left him and didn\u2019t hear anything from him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ishaq ibn Muhammad al-Farawi said, \u201cMalik was asked, \u2018Is knowledge to be taken from someone who has not actively sought it nor sat [in the circles of the people of knowledge]?\u2019 and he said, \u2018No.\u2019 Someone asked, \u2018Can it be taken from someone who is sound and trustworthy but who does not memorise nor does he understand what he narrates?\u2019 and he said, \u2018Knowledge is not written down except from someone who memorises and who has actively sought it and sat with people, who recognises [what he narrates], and who acts, and who is scrupulous.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Yahya ibn Sa\u2019id al-Qattan said, \u201cI only accepted the narration of Malik because of his discrimination, his great research and investigation, and his abandoning those who are enigmatic with respect to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ma\u2019n ibn \u2018Isa said, \u201cI used to ask Malik about hadith and repeat the names of the narrators to him, and I would say, \u2018Why did you abandon so and so, but you recorded from so and so?\u2019 and he said, \u2018If I had written down from everyone I heard, this house would have been full of books. Ma\u2019n, choose carefully for your deen and only write down on your paper from those whom you can use in proof and who will not be used in proof against you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Shu\u2019bah ibn a-Hajjaj said, \u201cMalik was one of the most discriminating people. I heard him say, \u2018It is not everyone from whom one writes down, even if they have eminence in themselves; it is only the news of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and so it is only taken from its people.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ibn Kinanah said, \u201cMalik said, \u2018Whoever makes discrimination the capital of his wealth will never suffer loss and will always be in profit.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Qarad ibn Nuh said, \u201cMalik mentioned something and so somone asked him, \u2018Who narrated that to you?\u2019 and he answered, \u2018We did not use to sit with fools.\u2019\u201d \u2018Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, \u201cI heard my father when this statement was mentioned saying, \u2018There isn\u2019t a statement in the world greater than this among the eminent virtues of the people of knowledge, that Malik ibn Anas mentioned that he had never sat with a fool, and no one is safe from that apart from Malik.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ibn Wahb said, \u201cMalik said, \u2018I came upon people in Madinah whom if others had sought rain [from Allah] by means of them they would have been given water, and they had heard a great deal of knowledge and hadith, but I took nothing from any of them. That is because they had obligated themselves with fear of Allah and doing without, whereas this business \u2013 meaning hadith and fatwa \u2013 needs a man who has taqwa, scrupulousness, careful preservation [of knowledge], exacting mastery, knowledge, understanding, and knowing what comes out of his head and what will come to him tomorrow on the [Day of] Rising. As for doing without [the world] without exacting mastery and without ma\u2019rifah, then there is no benefit in it, it is no proof, and knowledge is not to be taken from them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ma\u2019n ibn \u2018Isa said, \u201cI heard Malik saying, \u2018How many a brother I have in Madinah whose supplication I hope for but whose testimony I do not regard as valid.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Sufyan ibn Harb said, \u201cI said to Malik, \u2018What is wrong with you [people] that you do not narrate from the people of Iraq?\u2019 He said, \u2018The first of us did not narrate from the first of them, and so similarly the last of us do not narrate from the last of them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Mansur ibn Salamah said, \u201cWe were with Malik and a man said to him, \u2018I have lived here for seventy days and have written down sixty hadith.\u2019 So Malik said, \u2018Sixty hadith; you think them not worth the trouble?\u2019 The man said, \u2018We would probably write them down in Kufa or in Iraq in a single session.\u2019 Malik said, \u2018What have we to do with Iraq? That is the abode of fighting; they fight at night and spend by day.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Hamzah said, \u201cI heard Malik saying, \u2018Iraq used to overflow against us with dirhams and clothing, and then they began to overflow against us with knowledge.\u2019”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our shaykh the learned scholar and Hafidh of the age, Jalal ad-Din al-Asyuti ash-Shafi\u2019i, may Allah make spacious his allotted period, says: Praise belongs to Allah for His universal bounty, and blessings and peace upon our master Muhammad and his family and companions with the purest of blessings and most complete grantings of peace. This … <\/p>\n