Malek Ibn Anas Ibn Malek Ibn Abi ‘Amir Al Asbahi (715-795) relied on authentic narrations attributed to the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and various sayings of his companions and followers to compose al-Muwatta‘ (The Approved), the first legal book in Islam. Imam Al Shafi‘i considered al-Muwatta‘ to be the soundest book ever written after the Quran.

The Muwatta‘ was so named because Malek Ibn Anas, famously known as Imam Malek, asked about 70 Madinah scholars to review it first. When every single one of them approved it, the future father of the Maleki school of thought named it The Approved. Imam Bukhari declared that the soundest of all chains of transmission was “Malek, from Nafi, from Ibn ‘Umar”. Hadith scholars agreed with him, calling it the Golden Chain. Over the course of 40 years, Malek Ibn Anas weeded out thousands of narrations and reduced them to their present number of fewer than 2,000 authentic ones. These, the erudite scholar (‘alim) believed, clarified obscure points, strengthened the believer’s mantle, and allowed a Muslim to rely on Scriptures to practise his piety. He rejected the Madinah governor’s imposed oath of allegiance to the Caliph Al Mansur because of its coercive features, and relied on the hadith that stated: “The divorce of the coerced does not take effect.” (“Laysa ‘ala mustakrahin talak.”) Malek Ibn Anas was flogged for his opposition, but he held on to his integrity and probably saved the community.

Life and times

Malek Ibn Anas was born in Madinah in 715 to a second-generation Yemeni family that had settled in the holy city after it embraced Islam. They were a well-to-do family. Both his father and grandfather, along with other family members, were established business leaders. This allowed the young Malek Ibn Anas to engage in scholarly activities at a time when such an option was only available to the more fortunate. Moreover, his father, Abu Amir, was a companion of the Prophet (PBUH), and was an ‘alim in his own right, which was why he introduced the son to scholarship at an early age. A precocious pupil, Malek Ibn Anas studied with a number of scholars in Madinah, received traditions from Sahl Ibn Sa‘ad, one of the last surviving companions, and became a disciple of Ja‘far Al Sadiq, the great ‘alim of the time. Drawn to the study of Islam, the young man went on to devote his entire life to fiqh, which he helped develop and codify.

Madinah was then the most important seat of learning on the Arabian peninsula, where the immediate descendants and followers of the companions of the Prophet (PBUH) lived. The budding scholar sought out those who had seen and followed the companions of the Prophet (PBUH), gathering from them as much information as possible on what transpired immediately after the revelation. Remarkably, he spent his entire life in Madinah, and although he and his disciples developed the school of jurisprudence named after him, he did not live to see it spread throughout north Africa, Egypt, the Levant, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, and parts of Khorassan in contemporary Iran. Today, Malekis are mostly found in north and west Africa, Egypt, Sudan and the eastern part of the Arabian peninsula. Malek Ibn Anas died in Madinah in 795 and was buried in the famous Jannat Al Baqi‘ cemetery where the Prophet (PBUH) was also buried, right across from the mosque named after the messenger.

The Muwatta‘

Although several Muwatta‘s already existed, Malek Ibn Anas devoted 11 years to compile his, using a new method whereby he combined hadith with fiqh. This was a risky undertaking since there were so many hadiths at the time, most of which could not be verified and did not cut the mustard in Madinah’s intellectual environment. Upon completion of his draft, Ibn Anas devoted three decades to edit his own work, anxious to eliminate any perceived errors that did not comply with the scriptures.

The caliphs Abu Mansur and Al Mahdi encouraged Malek Ibn Anas. The imam took care to collect the traditions of the Hijazi scholars, mixing them up with the opinions of the companions and juridical rulings of the followers of the companions, though he never deviated from the Quran. He was careful not to import non-Hijazi material into his narrative, because he believed that Madinah was the most authentic source and that all other interpretations carried questionable influences.

Malek Ibn Anas’s opinions, which he seldom expressed in public, were taken as ijma‘ (consensus). Even Sunnah was based on consensus, for the ‘alim dismissed exaggerations as detrimental to the faith. As one of the first to compose a systematic work on fiqh, Malek Ibn Anas’s methodology was meticulous: on each legal topic, he first related the relevant hadith from the Prophet (PBUH), if available, then from a companion, before explaining the practice and opinions of the scholars of Madinah. It is only then that Malek Ibn Anas stated his views, but even then he made sure that he compared his notes with what his colleagues advanced; this is relevant because the established Madinah norms were authentic and shunned speculation. Jurists in Kufah or Basrah, for example, emphasised hadiths even if these were nearly impossible to verify or to apply in real life.

Historians reported how Malek Ibn Anas’s fame spread, with one affirming that the great Caliph Harun Al Rashid asked the ‘alim: “O Malik I entreat as a favour that you will come every day to me and my two sons Ameen and Ma’mun, and instruct us in traditional knowledge,” to which Malek Ibn Anas replied: “O Khalifah, the science of hadith is of a dignified nature and instead of going to any person, requires that all should come to it.” Humbled, the caliph agreed to send both his sons to Malek Ibn Anas, who seated them, without distinction, among his other scholars.

Malek Ibn Anas understood that he was engaged in the compilation of a source of law and this necessitated the kind of attention that was reserved to the pure sciences and medicine. Codifying and systematising the customary law practised in Madinah was easier said than done. Yet, that is precisely what the Muwatta‘ accomplished.

Despite his remarkable erudition, Malek Ibn Anas exuded modesty. When he was asked a variety of questions, he usually answered just a few, saying he did not know much else or he did not know well enough about the subject — because he wasn’t absolutely sure about how to answer under the circumstances. Similarly, he did not approve of debates between scholars because he believed one inevitably spoke out hurriedly without allowing time for reflection. He believed real scholars avoided debates to maintain their poise and, more importantly, to value the knowledge they wished to impart. When Harun Al Rashid, for example, suggested that Malek Ibn Anas should debate with Abu Yousuf, then a brilliant pupil of Imam Abu Hanifah, he replied: “Knowledge [‘Ilm] is not something over which contests ensue, in the likeness of contests between animals or roosters.” According to one analyst, the ‘alim believed that “debates took away the light of knowledge in the hearts, hardened them and planted hatred”. When asked about debates in favour of the Sunnah, he said, “Debating, no. But rather, let the scholar state the Sunnah and leave the issue there for acceptance or rejection. If accepted, good, if not, let him stay silent.”

In time, Malek Ibn Anas was forced to debate with Abu Yousuf on the orders of the Caliph Ja‘far Al Mansour. He let Abu Yousuf score as many points as the young man wished, for he knew that he was a pawn in the ruler’s hands. His was an entirely different level of faith, one that displayed depth and understanding, staying away from the quest for ordinary power.

Unlike scholars who became involved in political affairs, Malek Ibn Anas kept a distance from the courts, aware that what preoccupied most was control. Many spoke of economic or social justice through politics, but few practised what they preached. Whenever he was asked to take sides — to back a ruler against rebellions, for example — he would refuse, infuriating the ruling classes.

On one occasion, he was pressed to issue a clear statement about siding with the Caliph, and he declared: “Be with them if they are of the same class of men as ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz.” When he was asked, “What if the rulers are not of the same class?”, he replied, “Leave the two alone. God chastises one tyrant with another, and then will Himself punish them both.” This did not go down well with the ‘Abbasid court, then ruled by ‘Umar Ibn ‘Abdul ‘Aziz.

Yet, by standing up to power, Malek Ibn Anas showed what an ideal Muslim ruler should be like. Because he had witnessed the fall of the ‘Umayyad Empire and the rise of the ‘Abbasids, Malek Ibn Anas warned of the anarchy that accompanied any transfer of power. That is why he favoured complete neutrality in politics and the struggle for power, and supported scholarship as a way to avert perpetual confrontations.

Malek Ibn Anas’s legacy, a school of jurisprudence no less, is universally acknowledged as being singularly important. Unlike many individuals in recent years who pretended to have the qualifications of an ‘alim and issued decrees (fatwas) without taking the time to think the issues through, Malek Ibn Anas believed that a fatwa was a sensitive, precise, and important action that could have far-reaching results. He cautioned that fatwas ought to be used with extreme care and that those who were entrusted with issuing them should be very sure of what they were doing. This was not false modesty, and Shafi‘i acknowledged that Malek Ibn Anas was unique, because he knew that speaking in the name of God was not an idle undertaking. Malek Ibn Anas was certainly one of the most renowned imams of Islam.

Dr Joseph A. Kéchichian is the author of the forthcoming ‘Iffat Al Thunayan: An Arabian Queen, London: Sussex Academic Press, 2015.

This article is the 30th and last of a series on Muslim thinkers who greatly influenced Arab societies across the centuries.

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His work

Malik ibn Anas, “al-Muwatta‘”, two volumes, Cairo: Dar al-Hadith 1993.

Available in English as “Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik Ibn Anas: The First Formulation of Islamic Law”, translated by Aisha Abdurrahman Bewley,

New York: Bookwork, 2001.

Selected readings

Gibril Fouad Haddad, “The Four Imams and Their Schools: Abu Hanifa, Malik, Al-Shafi’i, Ahmad”, Cambridge, UK: Muslim Academic Trust, 2007.

Muhammad Abu Zahra, “The Four Imams Their Lives, Works and Their Schools of Thought”, London: Dar Al Taqwa Ltd, 2000.

Mohammad Hashim Kamali, “Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence”, Cambridge, UK: Islamic Texts Society, 2005.