Indexed OCR Text

selected narrators." He also said, "We used to follow in Malik's footsteps.
When Malik used a shaykh as a source, we would also do so. He only
conveyed sound h a d i t h s and only related from reliable men. I think that
Madina will disintegrate after Malik goes."
Ash-Shafi'i said, "When a tradition comes to you from Malik, hold on to it
tightly. When a tradition comes to you from him know that Malik is the star.
When scholars are mentioned know that Malik is the star. No one reached the
level that Malik did in knowledge through his memory, his proficiency and
his scrupulousness. Whoever wants sound hadith must have Malik."
Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, "Malik is the master of the masters of knowledge,
and he is their Imam in hadith and fiqh."
Malik's character
He was utterly sincere in his quest for knowledge and sought it for the sake of
Allah alone, not desiring elevation, pride or reputation. Sincerity is a light
which shines in the soul and illuminates reflection. It is reported that he used
to say, "Knowledge is a light which can only reside in a godfearing heart."
Sincerity and abandoning the pleasures and appetites of this world illuminate
the path for the seeker of knowledge so he used to say, "No one makes do
with little in this world without Allah making him speak with wisdom." He
said to his student Ibn Wahb, "If you desire to gain what is with Allah by
your quest, then you have obtained what will benefit you. If you desire to
gain this world by your learning, your hands will remain empty."
His sincerity in the quest for knowledge made him cling to certain things and
remain aloof from others. He clung to the Sunna and clear matters. He used
to say, "The best of matters are those which are clear and evident. If you are
unsure about two things, take the more reliable." He continued to give fatwas
about questions without imposing them on people, out of the fear of
misleading them from the S u n n a of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, and making things difficult for people. He
always thought deeply about a judicial decision and did not rush to give it.
He remarked to his student Ibn al-Qasim, "I have been reflecting on one

question for some twenty years and even now I do not have an opinion on it."
Ibn 'Abdu'l-Hakam said: "When Malik was asked about a question, he told
the asker, "Go away so that I can look into it." The man would go away and
come back again several times about it. We spoke to him about that. He wept
and said, "I fear that I will be asked such questions on a Day - and what a
Day!" Malik was asked about something and the asker said, "It is a simple
matter." Malik got angry and said, "A light, simple question! There is nothing
light in knowledge! Have you not heard the words of Allah, 'We will cast a
weighty word on you"? (73: 5) All knowledge is weighty and especially what
we will be asked about on the Day of Rising."
Because of his sincerity towards the Book and the S un n a, Malik was very
careful about declaring anything lawful or unlawful without an explicit text to
that effect. If his opinion was not based on an explicit text in the Book or the
Sunna, he would make it clear that it was simply his opinion and would not
make the thing categorically unlawful. He would often say afterwards, "It is
only an opinion and we are not certain."
In doing this he was following the Salaf, as he himself made clear:
Nothing is harder for me than when I am asked a question about the halal and
the haram because this is absolute in the judgement of Allah. I met the people
of knowledge and fiqh in our land and if one of them was asked such a
question, it was as if death were dearer to him. But I see the people of this
time desiring to discuss it and give fatwa. If they had understood what it is
that they are heading for Tomorrow, they would have done little of this. As
for 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, 'Ali and 'Algama, the best of the Companions, and
the best generation to whom the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, was sent, when questions came to them, they would gather together
the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
and ask. Then and only then would they give a fatwa on it.
The people of our time now pride themselves in their fatwas and the
knowledge they have. It was not the way of the people nor of those who
passed away before us who are followed and on whom Islam is based to say,
'This is h a 1 a 1 and this is h a r a m': they would say, 'I dislike this' and 'I
think this.' But as for the halal and the haram, that is inventing things against
Allah. I have heard the words of Allah: "Say: 'Tell me, what do you think

about the things Allah has sent down to you as provision and which you have
then designated as lawful and unlawful?"" (10:59) because the h a 1 a 1 is
what Allah and His Messenger have made h a l a l and the h a r a m is what
they have made haram." (Tartib al-Madarik, p. 158)
Malik's sincerity often led him to say "I do not know" when he was asked for
a fatwa. He was famous for that. He would be asked about twenty matters
and would only answer two of them and announce that he did not know the
rest. This did not arise from any lack of ability on his part, as some people
suspect, but he would say "I do not know" when he did not want to make
something public or did not find anything about the matter from the
Companions. His reluctance was due to his intense fear of Allah.
This sincerity also led him to eschew argument and debate, because that is a
form of conflict and the D e e n of Allah is too exalted to be the subject of
conflict. Conflict also often leads people to fanaticism. He did not consider
that argumentation befitted the nobility of people of knowledge. When Abu
Yusuf asked arRashid to command Malik to debate with him Malik replied,
"Knowledge is not like baiting beasts and cocks."
He forbade arguing about the Deen. He said, "Quarrelling and argument in
matters of knowledge remove the light of belief from the heart," and
"Disputation hardens people's hearts and brings about rancour." Az-Zuhri
said, "I saw Malik when some people were arguing in his presence. He got up
and changed his cloak, saying, 'You are war."" Malik was asked, "Should a
man with knowledge of the Sunna argue about it?" He said, "No. He should
inform people about the S u n n a if they will accept it from him. Otherwise
he should remain silent." This does not preclude active discussion of matters
of figh for the sake of discovering the truth but it does exclude debate for the
sake of debate.
He also did not answer questions about judgements ( qada') that had been
made. Ibn Wahb said, "When he was asked about a question of judgement, he
said, 'This is part of the property of the Sultan.' I heard him criticise a scholar
for giving too many answers since it would expose the judgements to
criticism or scrutiny." In this he differed from the approach of Abu Hanifa
who insisted on scrutinising judgements. This was out of Malik's desire to
avoid anything that might lead to rebellion.

Another of Malik's gifts was that of insight into the heart of things and into
people's selves, so that he knew what they were like from the way they
moved and the timbre of their voices. This knowledge, called firasa in
Arabic, has to do with impressions, the penetration of insight, and careful
attention to outward movements and how they are connected to psychological
traits.
He also inspired respect and awe in people. Sa'id ibn Abi Hind said, "I was
never in awe of anyone in the way I was in awe of 'Abdu'r-Rahman ibn
Mu'awiya - meaning the Sultan of Andalusia
- until I went on hajj and met Malik. He filled me with an intense awe which
made my awe of Mu'awiya's son seem insignificant." Sometimes this feeling
was so intense that even his students could not put questions to him. Ibn
Wahb said, "I came to Madina and people asked me to question Malik about
hermaphrodites. They gathered around him and I was supposed to ask on
their behalf. I was too awed to ask him and all who were in the assembly
were too awed to ask the question." Ash-Shafi'i said, "I have never been in
awe of anyone as I was of Malik ibn Anas."
Madina
There are reliable reports that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, said, "The time is fast approaching when people will
urge on their animals in quest of knowledge. They will not find a man with
more knowledge than the scholar of Madina." This is clear evidence of the
excellence of the knowledge existing in Madina and the distinction and
extensive knowledge of its scholars. There were none who knew the Sunna of
the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, better than
the scholars of Madina.
The excellence of Madina in the time of the Companions and the Followers
and those after them is something which no one can deny. Madina was the
place to which the Messenger of Allah emigrated and where the Shari'a of
Islam was revealed, and in Madina the basis of rule was the Law of Allah
Almighty. All the laws except for those pertaining to faith and to the prayer
were revealed in Madina; and the Sunna of the Messenger of Allah was
actualised there in judging by the Qur'an, clarifying it and explaining it and

proclaiming its ordinances to people.
When the Prophet died, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, Madina
was the capital of Islamic governance and the site of the Khalifate and in it
the understanding of the Companions was made manifest. It is there that
judgements were arrived at on many social questions after the early
conquests. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab kept most of the fuqaha' of the Companions
near him in Madina to consult them and ask for their opinions. They
comprised his consultative assembly. When he was murdered and the
khalifate passed to 'Uthman, he allowed the Companions whom 'Umar had
kept in Madina to travel to the conquered areas and they were a light and a
source of knowledge there.
Malik grew up in this environment and he studied with about one hundred
shaykhs. He studied with people as long as they were trustworthy and
scrupulous and critical about those from whom they had taken knowledge.
Thus it is reported that he took from Ja'far as-Sadiq even though he knew
that he was approved of by the Shi'ites, with whose Path he disagreed. Malik
said, "I used to frequent him for a time. I only saw him doing three things:
praying, fasting or reciting Qur'an. I never saw him relate from the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, except in a
state of purity, or speak about what did not concern him. He was one of the
men of knowledge, worship and zuhd who feared Allah and I never came to
him without him removing the cushion he was sitting on and giving it to me
to sit on."
Malik was particularly eager to learn about the f a t w a s o f ' U m a r. The
period of his khalifate was the time in which Islam flourished and expanded
and many conquests took place. He was also keen on the f a t w a s of Zayd
ibn Thabit and 'Abdullah ibn ' U m a r. One of the scholars of tradition said,
"The Imam of the people with us after 'Umar ibn al-Khattab was Zayd ibn
Thabit, and the Imam of the people after Zayd ibn Thabit was 'Abdullah ibn
'Umar. Twenty-one men took from Zayd. Then the knowledge of all these
went to three men: Ibn Shihab, Bukayr ibn 'Abdullah ibn al-Ashajj, and
Abu'z-Zinad. Then the knowledge of all these went to Malik ibn Anas."
As we have already stated, Malik's main teachers were five: Ibn Hurmuz,
Abu'z-Zinad, Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari, Rabi'a, and Ibn Shihab. We can add

a sixth to these: Nafi', the client of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar. These men are all
described as having knowledge of h a d i t h and the traditions of the
Followers. Of course, they varied in this. Some were more concerned with
hadith and traditions, like Nafi', Abu'z-Zinad and Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri. Some
were more interested in figh, like Rabi'a ar-Ra'y and Yahya ibn Sa'id. Thus
he had two categories of shaykhs, one being the source of his fiqh and
investigation and the other the source of his hadith.
As an illustration of Malik's great esteem for Madina and its learning, we
have his letter to al-Layth ibn Sa'd:
From Malik ibn Anas to al-Layth ibn Sa'd. Peace be upon you. I praise Allah
to you. There is no god but He. As for what follows: may Allah hold us and
you to His obedience both secretly and openly and preserve us and you from
every disliked thing! Know, may Allah have mercy on you, that I have been
informed that you give people fatwas which are contrary to what is done by
our community and in our city. You are Imam and have importance and
position with the people of your city and they need you and rely on what they
get from you. Therefore you ought to fear for yourself and follow that whose
pursuit you hope will bring you salvation.
Allah Almighty says in His Mighty Book, ' The out strippers, the first of the
Muhajirun and the Ansar. ' (9:100) Allah Almighty further says, "So give
good news to My slaves, those who listen well to what is said and then follow
the best of it.' (39:18) It is essential to follow the People of Madina. The H i j
r a was made to it, the Qur'an was sent down in it, and the halal was made
halal and the haram was made haram there. The Messenger of Allah was
among them and they were present when the Revelation was revealed. He
commanded them and they obeyed him. He made the S u n n a for them and
they followed it until Allah caused him to die and chose for him what is with
Him. May the blessings of Allah and His mercy and blessing be upon him.
Then after his death, the Muslims followed those from among his community
who were given authority after him. When something happened to them that
they knew how to deal with, they carried it out. If they had no knowledge on
the subject, they asked about it and then they followed the most best line that
they could deduce by i j ti h a d . In this they were helped by having been
until recently in personal contact (with the Prophet). If someone opposed

them or proposed an alternative view which was stronger and better than the
ruling they had made , they left the former and acted upon the latter.
Then the Ta b i ' u n after them travelled this Path and followed those sunan.
If there is a practice which is clearly acted upon in Madina, I do not think that
anyone may oppose it because of the inheritance they had received which no
one is allowed to plagiarise or lay claim to. If the people of other cities were
to say, 'This is the practice in our city,' and 'This is what those before us
used to do,' that would not be permissible for them.1
Investigate for yourself, may Allah have mercy on you, what I have written to
you. Know that I hope that what has impelled me to write this for you was
only good counsel for the sake of Allah alone. Investigation is up to you and
your opinion is up to you. Put my letter to you in that position. If you do that,
you will know that I have not neglected to give you good counsel. May Allah
give us and you success in obeying Him and obeying His Messenger in every
matter and in every state. Peace be upon you and the mercy and blessing of
Allah.
Al-Layth replied at length to this letter and some of his reply follows here:
"Peace be upon you. I praise Allah to you. There is no god but Him ...
It has reached you that I have given fat was different from those your
community agrees on and that I must fear for myself because those near me
rely on my fat was , whereas people should follow the people of Madina to
which the Hijra was made and where the Qur'an was revealed. You are
correct in what you wrote about that, Allah willing, and it came to me in a
way which I do not dislike. No one is more strongly inclined than I am to
prefer the knowledge of the people of Madina who have passed away and no
one acknowledges their fatwas more readily than I do. Praise be to Allah, the
Lord of the worlds, who has no partner.
1. Here Malik is pointing out the authoritative nature of the practice ('amal) of Madina as a
source of law. See page 101.
As for what you mentioned about the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, residing in Madina, the Qur'an being sent down to
him among the Companions and what Allah taught them from him and that
people became their followers, it is as you have stated.

As for what you mentioned from the words of the Almighty, 'The
Outstrippers, the first of the Muhajir u n and the Ansar, and those who have
followed them in doing good: Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased
with Him. He has prepared Gardens for them with rivers flowing under them,
remaining in them timelessly, forever without end. That is the great triumph,'
(9:100) many of those Outstrippers went out to do j i h a d in the Way of
Allah, seeking Allah's pleasure, and they formed military garrisons and
people flocked to them. They made known the Book of Allah and the Sunna
of His Prophet and they did not conceal anything that they knew.
There were some in every group who taught the Book of Allah and the Sunna
of the Prophet and exercised ijti had in respect of anything which the Book
and Sunna did not explain to them. They were headed by Abu Bakr, 'Umar
and 'Uthman, whom the Muslims chose for themselves. These three did not
neglect the armies, nor were they heedless of them. They wrote what was
necessary to establish the Deen and warned against disagreement about the
Book of Allah and the Sunna of His Prophet. They did not abandon any
command explained by the Qur'an or carried out by the Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace: they taught it and made it understood. When a
command came, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah acted on it in
Egypt, Syria and Iraq in the time of Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman, and
continued to do so until they died.
However, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, disagreed in their f a t w a s about many things, as you
well know. Then the Followers disagreed strongly about things after the
Companions of Messenger of Allah: Sa'id ibn alMusayyab and people like
him. Then those after them disagreed and they are present today in Madina.
Their leaders are Ibn Shihab and Rabi'a ibn Abi 'Abdu'r-Rahman.
You know and were present when Rabi'a disagreed with some of what
happened. I heard what you said about it and what was said by those of
people among the people of Madina - Yahya ibn Sa'id, 'Ubaydullah ibn
'Umar, Kathir ibn Farqad, and many others older than him - until it reached
the point where you were compelled to part from him because of what you
disliked in what he said. Nonetheless, there is much good in Rabi'a.

Ibn Shihab issued several varying statements which were sometimes
contradictory. This is what led me to abandon what you object to my
abandoning ...
These two letters illustrate the discussion on the question which Malik made
one of the fundamental principles of his method: that of the Practice of the
People of Madina. Malik holds to it in his letter and al-Layth disagrees
because of the dispersal of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, to other cities. Nonetheless, both
showed the utmost respect and courtesy towards one another.
'Umar ibn 'Abdu'l-'Aziz said, "Islam has limits and laws and s u n a n.
Whoever acts according to them has complete faith. Whoever does not act
according to them does not have complete faith. If I live, I will teach them to
you and make you implement them. If I die, I am not eager for your
company." In the course of that teaching that just leader followed two paths,
both of which began with the guidance he found in Madina.
Firstly he commanded the scholars of Madina to disperse throughout the
lands of Islam to instruct and guide people. They clarified for them the limits
and laws of Islam, and the fi q h o f Madina was disseminated in this way.
Right guidance became widespread through them. It is perhaps those
Followers who were sent from Madina who made the Muslims in North
Africa love the knowledge of Madina so that only Malik was followed when
his madhhab was founded, Madina being the source of its knowledge.
Secondly 'Umar ibn 'Abdu'l-'Aziz commanded that the wellknown sunan of
Madina be written down and he wrote to its qadi, Abu Bakr ibn Hazm, asking
him to record them. According to the Muwatta' 'Umar ibn 'Abdu'l-'Aziz
wrote to Abu Bakr ibn Hazm, "See what hadiths or sunan of the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, you have and record
them for me. I fear that knowledge may become extinct and men of
knowledge disappear."
It is not correct to say that fiqh and the Sunna were only to be found in
Madina. The Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, dispersed to the various cities. Wherever they settled,
they were a source of light and knowledge. But Madina had the lion's share.

There were the greatest number of Companions and Followers there as well
as clear guides to the Islamic Shari'a and its methods. Naming those among
the Companions and their students who gave fatwa, Ibn alQayyim said, "The
Deen and fiqh spread in the Community from the followers of Ibn Mas'ud,
the followers of Zayd ibn Thabit and Ibn 'Umar, and the followers of
'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas. People's knowledge, on the whole, came from those
four. The knowledge of people of Madina came from the followers of Zayd
ibn Thabit and 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar; the knowledge of the people of Makka
came from the followers of 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas; and the knowledge of the
people of Iraq came from the followers of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud."
Ibn al-Qayyim quoted at-Tabari as follows: "It is said that Ibn 'Umar and a
group of those after him in Madina among the Companions of the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace gave f a t w a according
to the school of Zayd ibn Thabit and what they had learned through him from
those who had learned it from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace." (I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in, vol. 1, p. 16)
In fact this is a vast underestimate and there were, of course, many
Companions besides those mentioned above who were responsible for
passing on the rulings of the Deen, most of whom remained in Madina.
'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, was one of the most learned of the
Companions of the Messenger of Allah, if not the most learned. Mujahid
said, "When people disagreed about something, they looked to see what
'Umar had done and they followed that." Ibn al-Musayyab said, "I do not
know of anyone with more knowledge, after the Messenger of Allah, than
'Umar ibn al-Khattab."
'Uthman ibn 'Affan gave fatwas and judgements. 'Ali gave fat w a s and
judgements. 'A'isha gave f at w a s and was prominent in knowledge. Al-
Qasim, the son of her brother, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, took from her as did
'Urwa ibn az-Zubayr, the son of her sister Asma'.
It is true that the followers of the four whom we mentioned related the f i q h
of those four and transmitted with it the fi q h o f many of the other
Companions, may Allah be pleased with them. 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar
transmitted the fiqh of his father. The followers of Ibn Mas'ud in Kufa
transmitted the fi qh of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib as well as Ibn Mas'ud's opinions.

It is true that Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn 'Umar and Zayd ibn Thabit all took from
'Umar and they shared with him in many of his opinions and judgements.
'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, acted according to his opinion - or
his opinion coincided with that of many of the Companions in his time and
those who were especially part of his consultative council, such as 'Ali, Zayd,
Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn 'Abbas and other exalted Companions. Whoever related the
fi qh of 'Umar related the fiqh of the people with him. The transmitters of
the fiqh of 'Umar in Madina were his son and Zayd and others.
They transmitted that fi q h , made deductions based on it, and followed
'Umar in his methods of deduction. Scholars particularly mention seven
fugaha' of Madina and state that they were the Followers whose renown was
famous and who transmitted the knowledge of Zayd, 'Umar, Ibn 'Umar and
'A'isha. They were: Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, 'Urwa ibn az-Zubayr, al-Qasim
ibn Muhammad, Kharija ibn Zayd, Abu Bakr ibn 'Ubayd ibn 'Abdu'r- R a h
m a n , Sulayman ibn Yasar, and 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abdullah. Malik
considered the seven fuqaha' to include Salim and Abu Salama, and not Abu
Bakr ibn 'Ubayd or 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abdullah. Some did not include
Sulayman ibn Yasar.
The fact is that it is not possible to enumerate the seven Tabi'un who
transmitted the fiqh of the Companions and be correct from all aspects. The
transmitters were many and those distinguished among them were more than
seven. Each chose the seven who he thought had the greatest effect. They
agreed on a number of them like Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, 'Urwa and al-
Qasim. The fiqh of the seven was learned by Ibn Shihab, Nafi' the client of
'Umar, Abu'z-Zinad 'Abdullah ibn Dhakwan, Rabi'a ar-Ra'y, and Yahya ibn
Sa'id.
The Seven Fuqaha' of Madina
We should briefly mention the seven fuqaha' since they were l a rgely
responsible for the transmission of knowledge of Madina and were the source
of most of Malik's knowledge. Indeed we are indebted to them for much of
the knowledge of Islam and the S u n n a which we possess today. Malik
mentioned them as being the fuqaha' and the bearers of knowledge.

1. Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab
The first of them in position and importance in knowledge was Sa'id ibn al-
Musayyab, may Allah be pleased with him. He was from Makhzum, the sub-
tribe of Quraysh. He was born during the khalifate of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab
and died in 93 AH, so he lived through the rule of 'Uthman, 'Ali, Mu'awiya,
Yazid, Marwan, and 'Abdu'l-Malik.
He completely devoted himself to fiqh. He was not concerned with tafsir of
the Qur'an as was 'Ikrima, the client and student of Ibn 'Abbas and
transmitter of his fiqh and tafsir. According to the tafsir of at-Tabari, "Yazid
ibn Abi Yazid said: 'We used to ask Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab about the lawful
and unlawful; he was the most knowledgeable of people. We asked him about
the tafsir of an ayat of the Qur'an and he said, 'Do not ask me about any ayat
of the Qur'an. Ask the one who claims that none of it is hidden from him,'
meaning 'Ikrima."
Sa'id met a great number of the Companions, and took from them and
studied with them. What he especially sought were the judgements of the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the
judgements of Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman. He took half of his knowledge
from Zayd ibn Thabit, and most of his transmission was from Abu Hurayra,
his father-inlaw, since Sa'id was married to his daughter.
He learned the fiqh of 'Umar from his companions to such an extent that he
was considered the main transmitter of the fiqh of ' U m a r. Ibn al-Qayyim
called him "the transmitter of 'Umar and the bearer of his knowledge." Ja'far
ibn Rabi'a said, "I asked 'Irak ibn Malik, 'Who among Malik's sources has
the most fiqh?' He replied, 'The one among them with the most fiqh and
knowledge of the judgements of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, the judgements of 'Umar, and the judgements of
'Uthman, and the one with the knowledge of what people did is Sa'id ibn al-
Musayyab. The one with the most h a d i t h s is 'Urwa ibn az-Zubayr. You
could not wish for a greater ocean than 'Ubaydullah (ibn 'Abdullah ibn
'Utba),' 'Irak continued, 'I think that the one among them with the most fiqh
is Ibn Shihab because he joined their knowledge to his.'
Az-Zuhri said, 'I used to seek knowledge from three men: Sa'id ibn al-

Musayyab, who had the most f i q h of all, 'Urwa ibn azZ u b a y r, who was
a bottomless ocean, and if you wish to find a kind of knowledge not found
with anyone else you would find it with 'Ubaydullah." (I'lam, vol. 1, p. 18)
Ibn al-Musayyab concentrated on fiqh. His concern with hadith was to learn
the judgements of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and
he also learned the traditions containing the judgements of the khalifs since
he was concerned to know the judgements and fatwas of the khalifs. The
most prominent in his transmission of the knowledge of the fiqh of the
Companions was 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, for his time was the pre-eminent
time of figh, judgements and fatwas because the state was expanding and
events occurred which made them necessary.
Since Ibn al-Musayyab followed the traditions of 'Umar in judgement and f i
q h, ra'y (opinion) had great importance in his view because 'Umar
frequently formed an opinion on matters about which there was no explicit
text in the Book of Allah or the S u n n a of the Messenger. So Ibn al-
Musayyab also used i j t i h a d (independent reasoning) to answer problems
presented to him about matters on which there was no explicit text from the
Book or S u n n a or judgement or f a t w a of a Companion: he would give a
fatwa based on his opinion which did not exceed what was proper. That is
why it is transmitted that he used to give fatwa when others feared to do so.
He was the Imam of the fuqaha' of Madina in the time of the Tabi'un. He did
not refuse to give a fatwa when there was need for one. His opinion was
based on the firm pillars of fiqh: the Qur'an and hadith, and the judgements
of the Prophet and Rightly-Guided Khalifs.
2. 'Urwa ibn az-Zubayr
The second of the seven fu q a h a ' who formulated the fi q h o f Madina in
the time of the Tabi'un was 'Urwa ibn az-Zubayr ibn al' Awwam. He was the
brother of 'Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr and the nephew of 'A'isha, may Allah be
pleased with her. He was born in the khalifate of 'Uthman ibn 'Affan and
died in 94 AH. He lived through the seditions which occurred after the
murder of 'Uthman until authority was settled with the Marwanids. Although
his brother, 'Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr, wrested the rule from 'Abdu'1Malik ibn
Marwan, and the conflict became intense between them, it is not known that

he became involved in the business or helped his brother in any way. It is
clear that he completely devoted himself to study, studying fiqh and hadith.
In hadith he was, as his student Ibn Shihab said, "a sea undiminished by
buckets." Ibn al-Musayyab had the most fiqh of the Tabi'un in Madina.
'Urwa had the most hadiths. He learned the fiqh of the deen from a group of
the Companions, particularly 'A'isha, the Mother of the Faithful. She was
foremost in general knowledge, rules for the apportionment of shares of
inheritance and rulings. Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, the son of her brother,
took knowledge from her as did 'Urwa, the son of her sister Asma'.
'Urwa was the person with the greatest knowledge of the hadiths of 'A'isha.
He said, "Before 'A'isha died, I saw that I had become one of four
authorities. I said, 'If she dies, there will be no hadith which will be lost from
those she knows. I have memorised all of them."
It is clear that 'Urwa was concerned with recording the figh and hadith he
learned and it is related that he wrote books; but he was afraid that they might
become books alongside the Book of Allah and so he destroyed them. His
son Hisham related that he had books which he burned on the day of the
Battle of Harra. He later he regretted that, however, and used to say, "I would
rather have them in my possession than my family and property twice over."
He was a hadith transmitter and a faqih who followed the path of tradition
and he did not give f a t w a s in the way that Ibn alMusayyab did.
3. Abu Bakr ibn 'Abdu'r-Rahman
The third of the those f u q a h a ' was Abu Bakr ibn 'Abdu'rRahman ibn al-
Harith. He died in 94 AH. He was devout and devoted to worship and
asceticism to the extent that he was called 'the Monk of Quraysh'. He related
from 'A'isha and Umm Salama. He was a faqihand hadithtransmit
t e r. He also did not give fatwa as Ibn al-Musayyab did. Tradition dominated
his fiqh.
4. Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
The fourth of the seven was al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, the
nephew of 'A'isha, may Allah be pleased with her. He died in 108 AH. He

learned hadith and fiqh from his aunt and from Ibn 'Abbas. He was a hadith
transmitter. He criticised the use of a hadith if its text was put before the
Book of Allah and the wellknown Sunna. He was a faqih and so he had both
figh and hadith. His famous student, Abu'z-Zinad 'Abdullah ibn Dhakwan
said about him, "I never saw a fa q i h with more knowledge than alQasim. I
never saw anyone who had more knowledge of the Sunna than him." It is
clear that as well as piety he had aspiration (himma) and cleverness, and
resolve in things. That is why Malik related that 'Umar ibn 'Abdu'l-'Aziz
said, "If I had authority in the matter, I would appoint the blind one of Banu
Taym," meaning al-Qasim ibn Muhammad.
5. 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abdullah ibn 'Utba ibn Mas'ud
The fifth of those fuqaha' was 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Abdullah ibn 'Utba. He
transmitted from Ibn 'Abbas, 'A'isha, and Abu Hurayra. He was a teacher of
'Umar ibn 'Abdu'l-'Aziz and had a profound effect on his intellect and
person. In addition to his knowledge of f i q h and h a d i t h and his good
character, he composed poetry. He died in 98 or 99 AH. It is also said that it
was earlier than that, in 94 AH.
6. Sulayman ibn Yasar
The sixth was Sulayman ibn Ya s a r. He was a client of Maymuna bint al-
Harith, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It
is said that she gave him a kitaba contract and stipulated an amount of money
he must pay for his freedom. It is reported that he asked permission to visit
'A'isha. He said, "She recognised my voice. She said, 'Is it Sulayman?' Then
she asked, 'Have you paid what she stipulated for you?' I said, 'Yes, nearly.
There is only a small amount outstanding.' She said, 'Come in. You are still
owned as long as you still owe anything.""" He transmitted from Zayd ibn
Thabit, 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, Abu
1. Slaves are allowed to visit women because they are not subject to the rules regarding
unrelated men.
Hurayra, and the wives of the Prophet, Maymuna, A'isha, and Umm Salama.
Sulayman had fine understanding. His knowledge and understanding of fiqh
were increased by his study of people's affairs and knowledge of their states.
He was the overseer of the Market of Madina when 'Umar ibn 'Abdu'l-'Aziz

was its governor. He died in 100 AH.
7. Kharija ibn Zayd ibn Thabit
The seventh was Kharija ibn Zayd ibn Thabit who died in 100 AH. He was a
fa q ih in legal opinion (r a ' y), like his father Zayd well-known for that and
the science of shares of inheritance. That is why Kharija had few hadiths, and
many fatwas based on opinion. Because of his great knowledge of the shares
of inheritance, he used to distribute people's inheritances according to the
Book of Allah Almighty. Mus'ab ibn 'Abdullah said, "Kharija and Talha ibn
'Abdu'r-Rahman gave f a t w a in their time. People accepted their statements
and they distributed people's inheritance - houses, palm-trees and property -
and they wrote out documents for people."
In addition to his knowledge, fiqh and fatwa and his connection to people at
the beginning of his life, Kharija was one of the devout worshippers of
Madina. Worship moved him at the end of his life to withdraw and be alone,
which is why not much of his fiqh and knowledge spread.
Those are the seven fuqaha' who, together with those of their generation who
also knew the fi qh of the Companions and the Prophet, formed the school
which formulated the fiqh of Madina and gave it a distinctive character. Its
basis was giving f a t w a according to the f a t w a s of the Companions of
the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and
proceeding in their own way in respect of deriving judgements when they did
not find a directly relevant f a t w a which had been passed down. Sometimes
they would exercise i j ti h a d according to their own opinions but only in
the way in which the Companions had done; and they did not complicate the
ramifications of problems in the way that the people of Iraq did.
It should be pointed out that those fuqaha' were not traditionists in all
respects. They were traditionists and legists who studied the fiqh of the First
Generation, and they deduced from it and gave fatwas when they did not find
a tradition from the Prophet or his Companions, using their intellects to arrive
at a deduction based well-known judgements of the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace. Some of them had mainly knowledge of hadith and
little fi qh and fat w a, like 'Urwa ibn az-Zubayr, but most of them
concentrated on fatwa and fiqh.

This would seem to suggest that the fi q h of opinion had a prominent
position among them, which would in turn tend to make them seem similar to
the people of Iraq. However, the difference between their opinion and that of
the scholars of Iraq lies in the fact that the scholars of Iraq used to give
fatwas on whatever questions came up as well as in respect of things which
had not even occurred, in the form of hypothetical questions which they
devised. Furthermore, their opinion was not confined to deduction based
firmly on transmitted judgements of the Companions.
The Madinans only gave fatwas about matters which had actually arisen. The
fiqh of opinion was used by them only to derive principles from the fatwas of
the Companions and the judgements of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, which had been transmitted to them and were being acted
upon on a daily basis around them in the city of Madina where they had been
made.
The fi q h of those seven scholars was learned by Ibn Shihab, Rabi'a and all
of their generation. Then Malik learned from that generation. His shaykhs
included some for whom fiqh and opinion was predominant and others for
whom h a d i t h was predominant. Hadith dominated the fiqh of Ibn Shihab,
and opinion rather than hadith came first for Rabi'a ar-Ra'y and Yahya ibn
Sa'id. Thus it is not strange that we find that opinion played a large role in
Malik's figh.
Opinion (Ra'y) and Hadith
Ash-Shahrastani states in al-Milal wa'n-Nihal, "Events and cases regarding
acts of worship and general conduct are innumerable. We know absolutely
that there is no explicit text dealing with every event that occurs; nor is such a
thing even conceivable. Explicit texts are limited while events are endless ....
Thus it is apparent absolutely that ijtihad and analogy must be considered so
that there can be a ruling in the case of every new event."
After the death of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the
Companions were faced with innumerable new events. They had the Book of
Allah Almighty and the Sunna and decisions of the Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace. They had recourse to the Book in the

case of new events. If they found a clear judgement in it, they acted by it. If
they did not find a clear judgement in the Book, they turned to what was
transmitted from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, and consulted the memories of his Companions so that they could state
what the judgement of the Prophet was in similar cases.
If there was nothing relevant then they practised ijtihad w i t h their own
opinions to come to an appropriate judgement on the basis of everything they
knew. That is like the case of a qadi limited to explicit texts: if he cannot find
anything in the texts on which to make a judgement, he applies what is like it
or what he considers just and fair. That is how they behaved.
We read in a letter of 'Umar to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari about coming to
judgement: "Understanding: understanding is what speaks in your heart about
subjects which are not in the Book or the Sunna. Recognise resemblances and
similarities and compare matters in that case." So the Companions made use
of opinion but they varied in the extent to which they used it. Some used it a
lot and some a little. This was only done when there was no explicit text on
the matter. All that continued with the next generation, the Followers. Those
who used ra'y little thought that protection against temptations and seditions
lay in taking the explicit Sunna. The others felt that many false hadiths had
been attributed to the Messenger and that the reason for it was the imperative
of giving judgement on cases. Hence there are two types of fi qh: fi qh of
opinion and fi q h of tradition. There were renowned f u q a h a ' in both
groups.
The basis of this difference between the two groups was not in using the
Sunna as a proof nor in accepting it when it was sound. The basis was in
giving fatwa based on opinion and in the divergence as to what questions
should be subject to it. The people of tradition used ra'y only when
absolutely necessary, as when a Muslim is compelled by necessity to eat
pork. They sought to give judgements only for things which had actually
occurred. The people of opinion, on the other hand, pronounced many fatwas
on all kinds of matters about which there was no definitive text.
Some of them were not content merely to give judgements about actual
incidents but also devised theoretical questions and issued judgements on
them based on their opinions. It was said by scholars that most of the people

of hadith were in the Hijaz and most of the people of ra'y were in Iraq. The
basis for that is that the fuqaha' of Madina criticised the fuqaha' of Iraq for
being far from the S u n n a and giving judgements based on their opinions
alone, while the Iraqis denied that.
The differences between the two groups can be seen in three main areas. The
Madinans had the judgements and fatwas of Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman,
the fatwas of Ibn 'Abbas and 'A'isha, and the h a d i t h s of Abu Hurayra.
The Iraqis had the h a d i th s a n d fatwas of Ibn Mas'ud, the hadiths,
judgements and fatwas of 'Ali, the judgements of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, and
the judgements of Shurayh. In cases where the actual judgements of these
great Companions were applied the differences were of shaykh, not of
method.
The legacy of traditions was greater with the Madinans and so they relied
more on traditions. The subject of fiqh based on tradition is formed from the
judgements and fatwas of the Companions, and opinions are based on those
traditions or derived from them. The people of Madina had a living tradition
of this handed down from the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace.
For this reason the fatwas of the Followers were of great importance to the
People of Madina. They were respected by them and followed in many cases,
whereas they were not considered binding by the people of Iraq. That is why
it is reported that Abu Hanifa limited himself to the opinion of the
Companions, ignoring that of the Followers. He considered them men who
strove to reach an opinion in the same way that he did, not taking into
account the weight of tradition in Madina.
What we can see from this is that opinion existed among the people of
Madina and was not lacking, since fi qh necessarily involves deriving
rulings from texts which may not specifically refer to the case in hand, and
opinion is bound to be used in that. Madinan opinions, however, were derived
from transmitted reports and traditional practices. Opinion was more widely
used by the scholars of Iraq than by those of Madina, since the Madinans had
access to many traditions while the Iraqis had access only to a few and
because they allowed themselves to make freer use of their opinions.
It may be that Iraqi opinion relied on analogy and i s t i h s a n (equitable

preference to find a just solution) and the usage of the people of Iraq while
Madinan opinion did not rely much on logical analogy; rather it was based on
public interest and the customary practice of the people of Madina. The
difference between the custom of Madina and the custom of Iraq was like the
difference between Madina and Iraq. Iraq was a place of sects and
erroneous ideas and people of innovation, being a place where various
religions were practised, whereas Madina was the place of Islam where it first
developed and had been protected. There is no doubt that its custom was
derived from Islam alone.
Malik inherited all the knowledge of the Madinans. Ad-Dihlawi said about
him, "Malik was the strongest of them in the hadiths of the Madinans from
the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and had
the most reliable isnads and the most knowledge of the judgements of 'Umar
and the statements of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, 'A'isha and their companions
among the seven fuqaha'."
A Word About Sects
In Malik's time there were a many political upheavals but he refused to have
anything to do with them and enjoyed the calm of a thoughtful scholar. In his
time there were also many arguments about the f a t w a s of the Companions
and the Followers and their various merits. Malik preferred the position of the
People of Madina. He made holding to it one of the basic principles of his
method which he taught in his lessons and wrote about in his letters, as we
saw in his letter to al-Layth. It was in his time, too, that various sects and
erroneous ideas arose which we should note briefly along with Malik's view
of them.
The Createdness of the Qur'an
During this time the nature of the Qur'an became the subject of great dispute
among the Muslims - is it created or not? One group maintained that the
Qur'an is the timeless, uncreated Word of Allah, another hesitated, and a
third said that it is created because it consists of words articulated by the
reader. The position of the createdness of the Qur'an was adopted as the