It has become increasingly common for Christian missionaries to attack Islam by employing the polemics of the so-called the "Qur'an-only sect," a group that rejects hadith literature as one of the sources of Islamic law. Prominent among such writings is the work of one Dr. Kamal Omar. Taking a cue from Dr. Omar, these Christian missionaries have claimed that "many traditions" by "unreliable" narrators were inserted into the Sahih of al-Bukhari upon his death. This claim was systematically critiqued and found to be without merit. In this essay, we will examine another claim by Dr. Omar, which concerns the Muwatta', a treatise of Islamic law by the Medinan jurist, Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH / 795 CE). The new claim, much like the previous one, has been recycled by the missionaries. Dr. Omar says:

It is because of this tampering with the books of Hadith that we do not get any uniformity in the bulk of this literature. To give another example, the Muwatta which is said to be Hadith-collection of Imam Malik is not one uniform Muwatta. There are more than one Muwatta-books and they drastically differ from one another.^[1]

Commenting on Dr. Omar's writing, "Brother Mark" writes:

Indeed, one publication of Muwatta here in the U.K. - that of Islamic Academy U.K. - has notes relating how this one was chosen from among 50 `versions' of the Muwatta, and only 16 were considered "best transmitted".

Andrew Vargo, taking a clue from "Brother Mark's" writing, tauntingly asks:

... which of these 16 "best transmitted" editions of the Muwatta of Malik represents your authentic "early Hadith"? Personally, I do not trust the historical accuracy or authenticity of any of these versions. But, as you say, God knows best!

Not surprisingly, neither Dr. Omar nor the missionaries who resort to his writings have provided any evidence to show that the Muwatta' is "a collection hadiths" and that the "versions" of the Muwatta' are "drastically different" from one another. No books that deal with the Muwatta' and its "versions" are quoted and neither is any effort made to show the "drastic" differences between the "versions". This unfortunate laziness is representative of Dr. Omar's writings and no less representative of the work of polemical Christian missionaries who rely on his work, as we have noted earlier. In this essay, we will verify the claim that the "Muwatta' is said to be the hadith collection of Imam Malik," along with a claim concerning the multiple "versions" of the Muwatta', and verify if the "versions" are indeed "drastically" different from one another.

2. What Is The Muwatta'?

The Muwatta', a title given by Malik himself,^[2] is one of the earliest formulation of Islamic law as well as being one the earliest collection of hadiths. Even though Muwatta' contains both legal judgements and hadiths, it is neither a book of fiqh nor a book of hadith.^[3] Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqi says:

... the Muwatta' was not intended to serve as collection of hadiths. But it may be said with equal justice that it is not a book of fiqh in the same sense in which later books on fiqh are said to be works on the subject.^[4]

Similarly, Mustafa al-Azami says:

Muwatta' is not purely a hadith book. It contains the ahadith of the Prophet, legal opinions of the Companions and the Successors and of some later authorities.^[5]

In his introduction to the Muwatta', Goldziher says:

The Muwatta' cannot be regarded as the first great collection of traditions in Islam, nor does it appear to have been considered as such in Muslim literature.... The work of Malik is in fact not in the proper sense a collection of traditions, forming a counterpart to the sahihs of the next century, nor one which could, from the point of view of the literary historian, be mentioned as a member of the same literary group. It is a corpus juris, not a corpus traditionum.... Its intention is not to sift and collect the healthy elements of the traditions circulating in the Islamic world but to illustrate the law, ritual and religious practice, by the ijma` recognized in Medinan Islam, by the sunna current in Medina...^[6]

The Muwatta' is a compendium of accepted principles, precepts and precedents which has become established as the `amal of Madinah. The name Muwatta' means "the well-trodden [path]", i.e., the path followed and agreed upon by the scholars of Madinah up to and including the time of Malik.^[7]

It should be pointed out that some Muslim authorities such as Ibn al-Athir, Ibn `Abd al-Barr and `Abd al-Haqq al-Dihlawi included the Muwatta' in the six canonical collection in the place of the Sunan of Ibn Maja. The majority, however, do not include the Muwatta' among the six canonical collections, because almost all the important traditions contained in it are included in the Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim.^[8]

3. Reason For Different Transmissions Of The Muwatta'

The reason for different transmissions ("riwayah") of the Muwatta' can be known if one understands that Malik did not produce the Muwatta' in one sitting. He spent more than 30 years, making serious editorial changes in the Muwatta' as opposed the implicit assumption of a fixed text of the Muwatta' by Dr. Omar and his Christian missionary counterparts:

The Muwatta' in its final form is the result of lifetime spent by Malik in gathering and disseminating this knowledge of Madinan `amal, of which it is the distillation. The basic text was in place by the year 150 AH, but underwent serious editorial changes over the next thirty years which are reflecting in various transmissions that have survived today.^[9]

That Malik used to revise his Muwatta' regularly, year after year, as mentioned in many Islamic sources and especially those dealing with the Maliki school of jurisprudence. Qadi `Iyad in his Tartib al-Madarik says:

`Atiq al-Zubayri said: "Malik included some ten thousand hadiths in his Muwatta'. Each year he would revise it and drop some narrations from therein so much so that we are left with this amount of it. Had he lived longer he would have dropped the rest of it."^[10]

He also adds:

Sulayman Ibn Bilal said: "When Malik wrote the Muwatta', it included four thousand hadiths - or did he say more than four thousand hadiths. When he died, it contained one thousand and some hadiths, as he screened it year after year according to what he believes fulfills the interest of the Muslims and that of the religion."^[11]

Ibn `Abd al-Barr in his Al-Tamhid says:

... On authority of `Umar b. `Abd al-Wahid, the companion of Al-Awza`i, that he said: We displayed the Muwatta' before Malik in forty days. He [Malik] said: "A book whom I authored in forty years, you took in forty days. Little indeed is what you consider in it!"^[12]

The fact that the Muwatta' has a number of transmissions is hardly a revelation. As early as 350 AH, the great hadith scholar al-Daraqutni compiled a book giving the hadiths in different transmissions of the Muwatta'. His work was published and was entitled Ahadith al-Muwatta' wa-Ittifaq al-Ruwat `an Malik wa-Ikhtilafuhum fi ha Ziyadatan wa-Naqsan^[13] ("The Ahadith of al-Muwatta': The Agreement of Narrators from Malik and Their Differences in terms of Addition and Omission").

Given the fact that Malik revised the Muwatta' year after year, it is very likely that two students hearing the Muwatta' and then transmitting it, one during Malik's early life and the other towards the end of his life, will hear two very different versions of the same book simply because Malik was constantly in the process of adding and subtracting from the text. This is the principal reason for the differences between the transmissions of the Muwatta'. Keeping this in mind let us now move over to various transmissions of the Muwatta'.

4. Transmissions Of The Muwatta'

The number of people who transmitted the Muwatta' in its entirety directly from Malik exceed over ninety. Al-Zurqani mentions 81 names; Qadi `Iyad adds 8 more names; al-Nayfar (through Ibn Tulun) adds another four; making a possible 93 names.^[14] But the number of transmissions known to us through the existing texts and quotations of the authors is considerably less. The modern editors of the Muwatta' mention between fourteen and sixteen transmissions.^[15] The most important of them are listed below:^[16]

1. Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi (d. 234). Yahya studied the Muwatta' under Malik during the last year of Malik's life (i.e., 179 AH) and his transmission therefore represents the text as Malik was teaching it at the end of his life. It is by far the best known transmission and is the one that is generally meant when reference is made to 'the Muwatta'". It has been published many times.

2. Al-Shaybani (d. 189). This transmission is usually referred as "the Muwatta' of Muhammad" (i.e., Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani), rather than as his transmission of Malik's Muwatta'. This transmission, which differs markedly from the others, has also been published several times. We will discuss the reason for differences between al-Shaybani's transmission of the Muwatta' below.

3. Ibn Bukayr (d. 231). This transmission was published under the title Muwatta' al-imam al-mahdi by the Gouvernement General de l'Algerie (Algiers, 1323/1905). The copies of this transmission are extremely rare.

4. `Ali ibn Ziyad (d. 183). This is one of the earliest known transmissions, having been transmitted from Malik before 150 AH. An early parchment fragment of this transmission (dated 288 AH) containing chapters on game and slaughtered animals (al-sayd wa-l-dhaba'ih) has recently been edited and published.<sup>[17]</sup> This transmission is again remarkably similar to that of Yahya ibn Yahya but not quite as much as al-Qa`nabi, Abu Mus`ab and to a lesser extent Suwayd.

5. Al-Qa`nabi (d. 221). This is said to be the longest (akbar) transmission. A number of chapters of this transmission, corresponding to the initial portion of Yahya ibn Yahya's transmission up to and including the section on i'tikaf as well as a few chapters from the section on business transactions (buyu`) have recently been edited and published. This transmission is quite similar to that of Yahya ibn Yahya.

6. Abu Mus`ab al-Zuhri (d. 242). Abu Mus'ab is said to have been the last to have related the Muwatta' from Malik and, indeed, his transmission is very close to that of Yahya ibn Yahya. A manuscript of this transmission in Hyderabad, India, has recently been edited and published.

7. Suwayd al-Hadathani (d. 240). The incomplete, but substantial, fragment of this transmission in the Zahiriyya library in Damascus has recently been edited and published. This transmission is close to that of Yahya ibn Yahya, but not as close to it as those of al-Qa`nabi and Abu Mu`sab, there being greater divergence of wording and also a seeming omission of several reports contained in the other three.

8. Ibn al-Qasim (d. 191). Fragments of this transmission, including a large part of the section on business transactions (for which knowledge Ibn al-Qasim was famous), exist in manuscript form in Tunis and Qayrawan. Al-Qabisi's Mulakhkhas (or Mulakhkhis), which contains all the musnad hadiths from this transmission, has recently been published under the title Muwatta' al-Imam Malik ibn Anas riwayat Ibn al-Qasim wa talkhis al-Qabisi. According to Schacht, this transmission closely resembles that of Yahya bin Yahya.^[18]

9. Ibn Wahb (d. 197). According to Schacht, the published fragments of Tabari's Kitab Ikhtilaf al-fuqaha contain 'fairly comprehensive' extracts from the transmission of Ibn Wahb on the subjects of jihad and jizya. Schacht says that this transmission 'follows that of Yahya ibn Yahya quite closely'.^[19] Schacht also considered the manuscript fragment in Qayrawan entitled Kitab al-Muharaba min Muwatta' `Abdallah ibn Wahb to be part of Ibn Wahb's transmission of Malik's Muwatta'.<sup>[20]</sup> However, it now seems clear from the the recent edition of this fragment published by Muranyi that it is part of Ibn Wahb's own "Muwatta'" rather than his transmission of Malik's book, for this text, as well as containing distinctively 'Muwattan' material - such as reports containing expressions relating to Madinan `amal - also contains extensive materil now recorded specifically in either the Mudawwana or the `Utbiyya. Indeed much of the material is closer textually to the Mudawwana than to the Muwatta'. Given the basic similarity between the known transmissions of the Muwatta' - including according to Schacht, the other fragments of Ibn Wahb's transmission available - one has to conclude, with Muranyi, that this particular text is not the part of Ibn Wahb's transmission of the Muwatta' of Malik but rather of his own 'Muwatta''.

Of all the published transmissions, the transmission that shows the most marked differences from others is undoubtedly that of al-Shaybani. Firstly, the order, chapter divisions and the titles used for his material are very different from those of the other transmission that we know. Secondly, and more importantly, al-Shaybani consistently excludes Malik's own comments and references to Madinan `amal (as well as excluding other reports, especially from the Successors, but also, on occasions, hadiths from the Prophet) and, instead, includes his own refereces to the views of Abu Hanifa and the fuqaha of Kufa, often adding his own hadiths. Thus in the transmissions of Yahya, al-Qa`nabi, Abu Mus`ab and Suwayd for instance, the various sections on tayammum and reciting when praying behind an imam (to take random examples) are almost identical in content (although that of Suwayd somewhat less so than others), whereas al-Shaybani, although retaining the Prophetic and Companion hadiths excludes all the comments by Malik, adds his own comments, and, in the case of second section mentioned, adds thirteen more hadiths from various authorities (including the Prophet). In his chapter on li`an, al-Shaybani only relates one Prophetic hadith from Malik, to which he adds a comment that this is in accord with the Kufan position, whereas Yahya's and Abu Mus`ab's transmission contains, in addition to the short hadith, another much longer one about the sabab al-nuzul of the li`an verses (which does not accord with the Kufan position), a quotation from Malik of the verses in question, and numerous reports from his concerning details arising from the same.

Al-Shaybani's editing is even more evident when we consider `Ali ibn Ziyad's transmission, which, although some thirty years earlier than Yahya's, is nevertheless remarkably similar to it (although perhaps not quite as much as those of al-Qa`nabi, Abu Mus`ab, and, to a lesser extent, Suwayd): the chapter on 'Game of the Sea' (sayd al-bahr) and 'The Aqiqa Sacrifice', for instance (to take random examples), are very similar to those in the other transmissions (although Ibn Ziyad) includes some extra comments from Malik). Al-Shaybani, on the other hand, excludes most of the later, i.e., post-Companion - material and again adds his own comments. It would seem clear that the difference is that whereas Yahya, al-Qa`nabi, Suwayd, Abu Mus`ab and `Ali ibn Ziyad agreed with Malik's madhhab and method - or at least with the presentation of his material - al-Shaybani did not, but chose rather to include in his version only that material which he considered useful for his own teaching purposes, i.e., which accorded with what was taught in Iraq. In other words, al-Shaybani was firmly commited to Kufan fiqh. Due to these reasons al-Shaybani's transmission of the Muwatta' is usually referred to as "the Muwatta' of Muhammad", rather than his transmission of Malik.

Al-Shaybani's transmission is thus very much, as Goldziher puts it, "a revision and critical development of Malik's work",^[21] and clearly his choice of what material to transmit was occasioned by the theoretical concerns of the Kufans, who preferred hadiths from the Prophet and the Companions to the opinions of the later authorities and/or the `amal of the people of Madina.

As far as the basic content is concerned, the transmission of al-Shaybani is remarkably similar to that of Yahya bin Yahya, `Ali bin Ziyad, al-Qa`nabi, Suwayd and Abu Mus`ab. The minor differences between them are not surprising given the fact we know now the Muwatta' for Malik was primarily a text for teaching which he used for that purpose for over thirty years or so, during which he made editorial changes. Making comparisons between various transmissions, Dutton says:

... the overall similarity between the different transmissions speak highly for the authenticity of the text and its attribution to Malik.^[22]

Examples of comparison between various transmissions can be seen in Dutton's study on "Juridical Practice and Madinan `Amal: Qada' in the Muwatta' of Malik".^[23]

A further comment needs to be added concerning the "unfavourable impression of the reliability of Islamic tradition in the second century" as gained by Goldziher from different transmission of the Muwatta'.^[24] He criticized Malik for his alleged looseness in his methods of transmission. However, Goldziher's comments were based on the two transmission available to him, i.e., of Yahya bin Yahya and al-Shaybani. We have already seen that these two hardly form an archetypal pair. If Goldziher would have had the access to the transmission of al-Qa`nabi, Abu Mus`ab, Suwayd and Ibn Ziyad, for instance, he would have doubtlessly arrived at a different conclusion.

Following a similar line as that of Goldziher, Schacht said that it was not Malik who fashioned the text; rather it was his students who modelled the text according to their own ways.^[25] Commenting on the differences between the transmission of the text, Schacht claimed that "in those days very little stress was laid on an accurate repetition of such texts and great liberty was taken by the transmitters".^[26] As with Goldziher, Schacht's observation about the differences between the transmissions are due to the transmitters is true for the case of al-Shaybani, but would not seem to apply to the transmissions of `Ali ibn Ziyad, whose chapter headings are less detailed than Yahya's but whose main text, even though considerably earlier, is remarkably similar, or al-Qa`nabi, Abu Mus`ab and Suwayd, whose chapter headings and the main text are all very close if not almost identical to Yahya's.^[27] Furthermore, Schacht admits that the transmissions of Ibn Wahb and Ibn al-Qasim closely resemble the Muwatta' of Yahya bin Yahya.^[28]

5. The Authenticity Of The Muwatta'

Now that the issue of alleged "drastic" differences between the "versions" of the Muwatta' is refuted, let us now turn our attention to the authenticity of the text. The erroneous claim of Dr. Omar and his minions concerning the "drastic" differences between the "versions" of the Muwatta' has also bearing upon the authenticity of the text of the Muwatta' itself. There is considerable amount of evidence that the Muwatta' is not only a product of Malik in Madina before his death in 179 AH, but was also substantially in place before the year 150 AH. The evidence for this is following:

A. Papyrus Fragment of the Muwatta' from Second Century AH: Nabia Abbott published a papyri of the Muwatta' that she dates by textual evidence, in particular the characteristics of the script and most significantly in her opinion, the consistent use of `an in the isnads together with the absence of initial transmission formula such as qala, akhbarani, haddathani, etc.

This fragment is present in the Austrian National Museum, Vienna and is classified as PERF no. 731 and is called "the Muwatta' of Malik ibn Anas".

The fragment has been dated to Malik's own day in the second half of the second century AH. She says:

Thus the paleography, the scribal practices, the text, the order of the traditions and the isnad terminology in the papyrus show a remarkable degree of conformity with the scholarly practices of Malik and his contemporaries. On the strength of this internal evidence the papyrus folio can be safely assigned to Malik's own day.... The codex represented by our folio therefore originated sometime during the quarter century or so that elapsed between the writing of the Shaibani and the Laithi recensions and hence must represent one of the many lost recensions of that interval. Inasmuch as the papyrus text shows only minor variations from the printed text of the Laithi vulgate it is even possible that it represents the vulgate text as it was before it received....^[29]

The fragment also shows slight difference in the "order of traditions" , which can easily be explained by assuming a different transmission of the text.

B. Similarity of Content & Diverse Geographical Location of Transmitters: As mentioned earlier, `Ali ibn Ziyad's is the earliest known transmission of the Muwatta' and a fragment dated 288 AH was published recently.<sup>[30]</sup> `Ali ibn Ziyad, who is also credited with being the first to introduce the Muwatta's into Ifriqiya, returned to Tunis in 150 AH, which year his transmission must therefore predate.^[31] A comparison of Ibn Ziyad's tranmission (the earliest one) with later transmissions currently available either wholly or partly in printed form as discussed above (those of Yahya ibn Yahya, al-Shaybani, al-Qa`nabi, Suwayd and Abu Mus`ab), shows, as mentioned above, remarkable similarities in their basic content and thus clearly represent one text. Furthermore, when they were transmitting this text, `Ali ibn Ziyad was in Tunis, Yahya bin Yahya in Cordoba, al-Shaybani in various parts of Iraq, Syria and Khurasan, al-Qa`nabi in Basra (or perhaps Makka), Suwayd in al-Haditha in northern Iraq, Abu Mus`ab in Madina, and Ibn Bukayr, Ibn al-Qasim and Ibn Wahb in Egypt, the common link from which these transmission could have derived is precisely that which is claimed in the sources to be the case, i.e., Malik in Madina.^[32]

C. Transmission of the Muwatta' & its Commentaries: The evidence of numerous individuals transmitting the Muwatta' directly from Malik and several commentaries being written on it comes from the biographical literature. From the biographical sources, we have seen that the number of people who transmitted the Muwatta' in its entirety directly from Malik exceed over ninety. As for the commentaries, for example, an early parchment fragment of Ibn Wahb's (d. 190 AH) Tafsir Gharib al-Muwatta'^[33] dated 293 AH and a fragment of al-Akhfash's (d. before 250 AH) Tafsir Gharib al-Muwatta'^[34] exist in Qayrawan. Furthermore, extensive fragments of Ibn Muzayn's (d. 259 AH) Tafsir al-Muwatta' compiled from the commentaries of `Isa ibn Dinar (d. 212 AH), Yahya ibn Yahya (d. 234 AH), Muhammad ibn `Isa (d. 218 AH) and Asbagh ibn al-Faraj (d. 225 AH) exist, again in, Qayrawan.^[35] These transmissions and commentaries would not have been possible had the text not existed at the first place.

6. Conclusions

It was claimed by Dr. Omar and the Christian missionaries that the Muwatta' is "a collection hadiths" and that the "versions" of the Muwatta' are "drastically different" from one another. Regrettably, neither Dr. Omar nor the missionaries produced any evidence to support their claim.

On the contrary, we have seen that the Muwatta' of Malik is neither a collection of hadiths nor a book of fiqh in the traditional sense. The name Muwatta' means "the well-trodden [path]" and illustrates the record of accepted principles, precepts and precedents which has become established as the `amal of Madinah. It was also shown that the reason for different transmissions of the Muwatta' is due to Malik making serious editorial changes in it for more than 30 years. Hence it is very likely that two students hearing the Muwatta' and then transmitting it, one during Malik's early life and the other towards the end of his life, will hear two very different versions of the same book simply because Malik was constantly in the editing the text year after year.

As far as the basic content of the text is concerned, all the transmission are remarkably similar as opposed to the claim of "drastic" differences between the versions. The most marked difference visible in the transmission of Muwatta' is that of al-Shaybani's when compared with other transmissions. Al-Shaybani's choice of what material to transmit in his riwayah was guided by the theoretical concerns of the Kufans, who preferred hadiths from the Prophet and the Companions to the opinions of the later authorities and/or the `amal of the people of Madina. Therefore, his transmission of the Muwatta' shows extensive editing. Hence it is not surprising that al-Shaybani's transmission of the Muwatta' is usually referred to as "the Muwatta' of Muhammad".

The authenticity of the text was established by showing the existence of a papyrus fragment of the Muwatta dating from Malik's own time. The similarity of the content, the diverse location of numerous transmitters and the presence of early commentaries clearly establish the common link going back to the person from whom the text began, namely, Imam Malik of Madinah.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Abu Hudhayfa for giving them interesting information about Muwatta' and that enabled us to write a comprehensive refutation. We are also grateful to the Austrian National Library, Vienna, for providing us the manuscript.

And Allah knows best!

[1] Dr. K. Omar, Deep Into The Quran With A Non-Committal, Non-Sectarian, Scholastic Mind Discovers The Pristine And Is, Therefore, Much Ahead Of Our Times, 1987, Karachi, p. 286.
[2] M. M. Azami, Studies In Early Hadith Literature, 1992, American Trust Publications (Indianapolis), pp. 298-299.
[3] Y. Dutton, The Origin Of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, The Muwatta' And Madinan `Amal, 1999, Curzon Press: Richmond (UK), p. 22.
[4] M. Z. Siddiqi, Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development & Special Features, 1993, The Islamic Texts Society, p. 8.
[5] M. M. Azami, Studies In Hadith Methodology And Literature, 1992, American Trust Publications (Indianapolis), p. 82.
[6] I. Goldziher (ed. S. M. Stern), Muslim Studies (Muhammedanische Studien), 1971, Volume II, George Allen & Unwin Ltds.: London (UK), p. 198.
[7] Y. Dutton, The Origin Of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, The Muwatta' And Madinan `Amal, 1999, op. cit., p. 22; J. Schacht, "Malik b. Anas", Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1991, E. J. Brill: Leiden, p. 264.
[8] M. Z. Siddiqi, Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development & Special Features, 1993, op. cit., p. 8.
[9] Y. Dutton, The Origin Of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, The Muwatta' And Madinan `Amal, 1999, op. cit., p. 22.
[10] `Iyad Ibn Musa Ibn `Iyad al-Sabti, Tartib al-Madarik wa-Taqrib al-Masalik li-Ma`rifat a`lam Madhhab Malik, 1966(?), Volume II, Silsilah al-Tarikhiyah: Rabat (Morocco), p. 73.
[11] `Iyad Ibn Musa Ibn `Iyad al-Sabti, Tartib al-Madarik wa-Taqrib al-Masalik li-Ma`rifat a`lam Madhhab Malik, 1966(?), Volume II, op. cit., p. 73; also see Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Baqi al-Zurqani, Sharh `ala Sahih al-Muwatta' li-Malik ibn Anas, 1893, Volume I, Al-Qahirah, p. 8.
[12] Abi `Umar Yusuf Ibn `Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Ibn `Abd al-Barr al-Namari al-Andalusi, Al-Tamhid li-ma fi al-Muwatta' min al-Ma`ani wa-al-Asanid, 1967, Volume I, Al-Shu'un al-Islamiyyah: Rabat (Morocco). p. 78; also see `Iyad Ibn Musa Ibn `Iyad al-Sabti, Tartib al-Madarik wa-Taqrib al-Masalik li-Ma`rifat a`lam Madhhab Malik, 1966(?), Volume II, op. cit., p. 75 and Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Baqi al-Zurqani, Sharh `ala Sahih al-Muwatta' li-Malik ibn Anas, Volume I, op. cit., p. 8.
[13] Abi al-Hasan `Ali ibn `Umar al-Daraqutni, Ahadith al-Muwatta' wa-Ittifaq al-Ruwat `an Malik wa-Ikhtilafuhum fiha Ziyadatan wa-Naqsan, 1946, Maktabat al-Khanji: Al-Qahirah.
[14] Y. Dutton, The Origin Of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, The Muwatta' And Madinan `Amal, 1999, op. cit., note 6, p. 188. Fore more details see Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Baqi al-Zurqani, Sharh `ala Sahih al-Muwatta' li-Malik ibn Anas, Volume I, op. cit., p. 6; Malik bin Anas (ed. Muhammad Fu'ad `Abd al-Baqi), Al-Muwatta' (riwayah of Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi), 1951, Dar al-Ihya al-Kutub al-Arabiyyah: Al-Qahirah (Egypt), p. 4-7 for different transmissions; Muhammad al-Shadhili al-Nayfar, Muwatta' al-Imam Malik: Qit`a minhu bi-Riwayat Ibn Ziyad, 1980, Dar al-Gharb al-Islami: Beirut (Lebanon), pp. 80-83.
[15] Malik bin Anas (ed. Muhammad Fu'ad `Abd al-Baqi), Al-Muwatta' (riwayah of Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi), 1951, op. cit., pp. 9-15 (14 transmissions); I. Goldziher (ed. S. M. Stern), Muslim Studies (Muhammedanische Studien), 1971, Volume II, op. cit., p. 206 (15 transmissions); J. Schacht, "Malik b. Anas", Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1991, op. cit., p. 264 (15 transmissions); Muhammad al-Shadhili al-Nayfar, Muwatta' al-Imam Malik: Qit`a minhu bi-Riwayat Ibn Ziyad, 1980, op. cit., pp. 67-71 (16 transmissions).
[16] Much of the material in this section is from Dutton's work with some of our additions. See Y. Dutton, The Origin Of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, The Muwatta' And Madinan `Amal, 1999, op. cit., pp. 22-26 for complete discussion.
[17] Muhammad al-Shadhili al-Nayfar, Muwatta' al-Imam Malik: Qit`a minhu bi-Riwayat Ibn Ziyad, 1980, Dar al-Gharb al-Islami: Beirut (Lebanon); J. Schacht, "On Some Manuscripts In The Libraries Of Kairouan And Tunis", Arabica, 1967, Volume XIV, p. 227.
[18] J. Schacht, "On Some Manuscripts In The Libraries Of Kairouan And Tunis", Arabica, 1967, op. cit., p. 230.
[19] J. Schacht, "Malik b. Anas", Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1991, op. cit., p. 264.
[20] J. Schacht, "On Some Manuscripts In The Libraries Of Kairouan And Tunis", Arabica, 1967, op. cit., pp. 230-231.
[21] I. Goldziher (ed. S. M. Stern), Muslim Studies (Muhammedanische Studien), 1971, Volume II, op. cit., p. 206.
[22] Y. Dutton, The Origin Of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, The Muwatta' And Madinan `Amal, 1999, op. cit., p. 24.
[23] Y. Dutton, "Juridical Practice and Madinan `Amal: Qada' in the Muwatta' of Malik", Journal Of Islamic Studies, 1999, Volume 10, No. 1, pp. 1-21.
[24] I. Goldziher (ed. S. M. Stern), Muslim Studies (Muhammedanische Studien), 1971, Volume II, op. cit., p. 204.
[25] J. Schacht, "Deux Editions Inconnues Du Muwatta'", in G. Levi Della Vida (ed.), Studi Orientalistici In Onore Di Giorgio Levi Della Vida, 1956, Volume II, Istituto Per L'Oriente: Roma (Italy), p. 477.
Another variant of such skepticism in the transmission of the Muwatta' is seen in the work of J. E. Brockopp, Early Maliki Law: Ibn `Abd al-Hakam And His Major Compendium Of Jurisprudence, 2000, E. J. Brill: Leiden, pp. 74-77. For a critique of Brockopp's position see Y. Dutton's review of Brockopp's book in Journal Of Islamic Studies, 2002, Volume 13, No. 1, pp.42-45.
[26] J. Schacht, "Malik b. Anas", Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1991, op. cit., p. 264.
[27] Y. Dutton, The Origin Of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, The Muwatta' And Madinan `Amal, 1999, op. cit., note 44, p. 190.
[28] For Ibn Wahb see, J. Schacht, "Malik b. Anas", Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1991, op. cit., p. 264; for Ibn al-Qasim see, J. Schacht, "On Some Manuscripts In The Libraries Of Kairouan And Tunis", Arabica, 1967, op. cit., p. 230.
[29] N. Abbott, Studies In Arabic Literary Papyri: Qur'anic Commentary And Tradition, 1967, Volume II, University of Chicago Press: Chicago (USA), p. 127.
[30] See ref. 17.
[31] Y. Dutton, The Origin Of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, The Muwatta' And Madinan `Amal, 1999, op. cit., note 5, p. 188.
[32] ibid., p. 27.
[33] Assuming that this commentary refers to a commentary on Malik's Muwatta' rather than on his own. See Y. Dutton, The Origin Of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, The Muwatta' And Madinan `Amal, 1999, op. cit., note 68, p. 191.
[34] J. Schacht, "On Some Manuscripts In The Libraries Of Kairouan And Tunis", Arabica, 1967, op. cit., pp. 244-245.
[35] ibid., pp. 235-237.

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