A brief biographical sketch of the life of Malik ibn Anas
1. Malik ibn Anas, in full Abū ʿAbd Allāh Mālik Ibn Anas Ibn Al-Hārith Al-Aṣbaḥī (born c. 715—died 795) was a Muslim legist (=one skilled in the laws) who played an important role in formulating early Islāmic legal doctrines.
2. He is frequently called the Imam of Medina.
3. Few details are known about Mālik ibn Anas’ life, most of which was spent in the city of Medina. He became learned in Islāmic law and attracted a considerable number of students.
4. His prestige (=standing or estimation in the eyes of people) involved him in politics, and he declared during that loyalty to the caliph - who has staged a coup - was not a religious necessity, since homage (=respect; expression of high regard) to him had been given under compulsion.
5. The caliph, however, was victorious, and Mālik received a flogging. This only increased his prestige, and during later years he regained favour with the central government.
6. Later in life the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid tried to make the Muwatta (a "smoothed path" [this is practically what al-muwatta means]) the basis for a unified code of law.
7. Mālik ibn Anas produced one major book—the Muwaṭṭaʾ. This is the oldest surviving compendium (=a collection of facts on a particular subject, especially in a book) of Islāmic law.
8. Malik wished to codify and systematise the customary law of Medina.
9. The Muwatta has survived in several versions and includes hadith from the Prophet and his Companions as well as legal opinions of Malik and other famous scholars from Medina.
10. The Muwaṭṭaʾ is the earliest surviving Muslim law-book. Its object is to give a survey of law and justice; ritual and practice of religion according to the ijma of Islam in Medina, according to the sunna usual in Medina.
11. The Muwaṭṭaʾ is still part of the required curriculum of many Islamic universities today, especially in North and West Africa where the Maliki school (one of the four madhhabs of Sunni law) predominates (=have the most influence or importance).
12. In later times, the Muwatta was regarded by many as canonical.
13. Malik died, at the age of about 85 after a short illness, in the year 179/796 in Medina and was buried in al-Baki. Abd Allah b. Zaynab, the governor there, conducted his funeral service.
1. Malik ibn Anas, in full Abū ʿAbd Allāh Mālik Ibn Anas Ibn Al-Hārith Al-Aṣbaḥī (born c. 715—died 795) was a Muslim legist (=one skilled in the laws) who played an important role in formulating early Islāmic legal doctrines.
2. He is frequently called the Imam of Medina.
3. Few details are known about Mālik ibn Anas’ life, most of which was spent in the city of Medina. He became learned in Islāmic law and attracted a considerable number of students.
4. His prestige (=standing or estimation in the eyes of people) involved him in politics, and he declared during that loyalty to the caliph - who has staged a coup - was not a religious necessity, since homage (=respect; expression of high regard) to him had been given under compulsion.
5. The caliph, however, was victorious, and Mālik received a flogging. This only increased his prestige, and during later years he regained favour with the central government.
6. Later in life the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid tried to make the Muwatta (a "smoothed path" [this is practically what al-muwatta means]) the basis for a unified code of law.
7. Mālik ibn Anas produced one major book—the Muwaṭṭaʾ. This is the oldest surviving compendium (=a collection of facts on a particular subject, especially in a book) of Islāmic law.
8. Malik wished to codify and systematise the customary law of Medina.
9. The Muwatta has survived in several versions and includes hadith from the Prophet and his Companions as well as legal opinions of Malik and other famous scholars from Medina.
10. The Muwaṭṭaʾ is the earliest surviving Muslim law-book. Its object is to give a survey of law and justice; ritual and practice of religion according to the ijma of Islam in Medina, according to the sunna usual in Medina.
11. The Muwaṭṭaʾ is still part of the required curriculum of many Islamic universities today, especially in North and West Africa where the Maliki school (one of the four madhhabs of Sunni law) predominates (=have the most influence or importance).
12. In later times, the Muwatta was regarded by many as canonical.
13. Malik died, at the age of about 85 after a short illness, in the year 179/796 in Medina and was buried in al-Baki. Abd Allah b. Zaynab, the governor there, conducted his funeral service.
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