The Origins of Islamic Law

The Qur'an, the Muwatta' and Madinan Amal

Yasin Dutton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780700710621
• eBook ISBN:
  9781136110740
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

If the Qur'an is the first written formulation of Islam in general, Malik's Muwatta' is arguably the first written formulation of the Islam-in-practice that becomes Islamic law. This book considers the methods used by Malik in the Muwatta' to derive the judgements of the law from the Qur'an and is thus concerned on one level with the finer details of Qur'anic interpretation. However, since any discussion of the Qur'an in this context must also include considerations of the other main source of Islamic law, namely the sunna, or normative practice, of the Prophet, this latter concept, especially its relationship to the terms of hadith and amal (traditions and living tradition), also receives considerable attention, and in many respects, this book is more about the history and development of Islamic law than it is about the science of Qur'anic interpretation.
This is the first book to question the hitherto accepted frameworks of both the classical Muslim view and the current revisionist western view on the development of Islamic law. It is also the first study in a European language to deal specifically with the early development of the Madinan, later Malik, school of jurisprudence, as it is also the first to demonstrate in detail the various methods used, both linguistic and otherwise, in interpreting the legal verses of the Qur'an. It will be of interest to all those interested in the underlying bases of Islamic law and culture, and of particular interest to those involved in studying and teaching Islamic studies, both at undergraduate and research level. It will also be of interest to those studying the relationship between orality and literacy in ancient societies and the writing down of ancient law.

PART ONE

The Madinan Background

CHAPTER ONE

Mālik and Madina

Mālik ibn Anas al-Aṣbaḥī, after whom the Mālikī school of jurisprudence takes its name, was born in or near Madina,¹ probably in the year 93/711.² He was known as the ‘

ālim of Madina’ and the appellation is fitting, for he grew up in Madina, studied there under predominantly Madinan teachers, and spent the greater part of his life there teaching and giving fatwās according to the Madinan tradition. Indeed, unlike many of his contemporaries who travelled widely in search of knowledge, Mālik is said to have only ever left Madina to go on ḥajj to Makka.³ He died in Madina in 179/795, and was buried there in the graveyard of al-Baqī

.

His family

Mālik’s family were not originally from Madina but had moved north to settle there from the Yemen during the time of either his great-grandfather, Abū

Āmir, or his grandfather, Mālik ibn Abī

Āmir.⁴ Abū

Āmir transmitted ḥadīths from

Uthmān, the third caliph, and is said by some to have been a Companion.⁵ His son, Mālik ibn Abī

Āmir, i.e. our Mālik’s grandfather, was one of the older Successors and a well-respected man of learning who related ḥadīths from various Companions including

Umar,

Uthmān and Abū Hurayra.⁶ He is also credited with having been one of those who copied out the Qur

an during the time of

Uthmān.⁷ His connection with

Uthmān is further emphasised by reports that he was involved in the conquest of North Africa under the direct orders of

Uthmān and that he was one of the four who, when

Uthmān died, attended to the funeral arrangements.⁸ One of Mālik’s uncles, Abū Suhayl Nāfī

ibn Mālik ibn Abī

Āmir, was also a well-respected man of learning and transmitter of ḥadīth and, like his father, figures as an authority in the Muwaṭṭa

.⁹ Another uncle, al-Rabī

ibn Mālik, is also known as a transmitter of ḥadīth,¹⁰ and it is said that his father, Anas ibn Mālik, was one also.¹¹ With such a family background it was not, therefore, surprising that Mālik should have taken an interest in learning.

Mālik’s early life

Very little is known about Mālik’s early life. One report says that he helped his brother sell cloth before taking to a life of learning,¹² while another speaks of him keeping company with singers and wanting to be one himself until persuaded by his mother to study fiqh instead.¹³ However, reports that speak of his mother dressing him up in ‘the clothes of learning’ (thiyāb al-

ilm) before he went out to study suggest that he was still only a young boy when he began studying.¹⁴ Indeed, one report specifies that he began studying when he was eleven.¹⁵ Whatever the case may be, he must have begun studying at an early age and been a particularly able student, since he was already a well-established and respected teacher by his late twenties, if not considerably earlier.¹⁶

His teachers

Mālik studied under many teachers, but the man said to have had the most influence on him was the younger Successor

Abdallāh ibn Yazīd ibn Hurmuz.¹⁷ Very little is known about Ibn Hurmuz, except that he was considered to be one of the great men of learning of his generation in Madina,¹⁸ and that Mālik’s association with him wa...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowlegements
• Conventions
• Introduction
• Part One The Madinan Background
• Part Two Malik’s Use of the Qur’an in the Muwatta’
• Part Three Implications
• Conclusions
• Notes
• Glossary
• Biographical Notes
• Bibliography and Bibliographical Abbreviations
• Indexes