The Maliki Madh’hab
The Founder: Malik ibn Anas ibn Aamir (717-801CE)
Imam Malik was born in Madinah. His grandfather, Aamir, was one of
the major Sahabah of Madinah. Imam Malik studied under one of the greatest Hadith
scholars of his time, Imam Az-Zuhri, who is famous for being one of the major
compilers of the Hadith during the time of Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz.
He also studied under Nafi’,
a hadith narrator, who was the freed of slave of Abdullah ibn Umar (who was
also one of the leading Fuqaha of the Sahabah). This shows us that what was
known as slavery in Islam is not what was known in other societies. Islam not banning slavery is an issue that people raise until today.
Slavery in the Islamic
context is more along the lines of indentured labour. You are required to provide for them, and if you harm them, the state will punish you. Islam set great limits.
Also, in other societies, if a person was a slave he could never hope to reach the peaks of society. Yet we find that many of the Abbasid rulers were sons of former slave women. It was unthinkable in other societies that the son of a slave could become the head of a state. This is something we only see in Muslim Empires.
Malik narrating from Nafi' narrating from Abdullah ibn Umar is called The Golden Chain, it is the strongest chain of Hadith. And in the middle of that chain is Nafi', the former slave.
Imam Malik spent his whole
life in Madinah and didn't travel except for Hajj. This was due to the fact that Madinah was a repository of knowledge. Sahabah had lived there and
knowledge was handed down.
Though he didn’t travel, he knew that there were Hadiths that had left Madinah which he didn’t have access to. That’s why when he was
invited to make his own compilation of rulings based on Hadith the constitution
of the Abbasid state, he refused. This is a blow in the face of Madh’hab fanaticism. He said that since there were narrations which he missed out on, which
other scholars gathered and made rulings according to, his
rulings could not considered to be the last word.
He was an outstanding
scholar in all of the various fields of learning. When he was offered opportunities to take up positions he refused them. He
made rulings against the policies of the rulers where they affected religious
issues. He ruled against the Abbasid practice of having a man be automatically divorced from his wife if they broke the oath of allegiance. When Imam Malik stated this invalid, he was subsequently arrested and beaten for it.
His major work Al-Muwatta
was begun at the request of the Abbasid Caliph Abu Ja’far Al-Mansour.
He died in Madinah at the
age of 83.
His Method of Teaching/Formation of the Math'hab:
The way of teaching
determines the way in which the Math’hab would evolve. Imam Malik would narrate Hadiths
and in the course of it discuss the meanings of the Hadith in the context
of contemporary issues. He also would encourage his students to ask questions,
for which he would also narrate Hadiths.
After he completed his
Muwatta he would add or subtract information. This is because every time he
narrated it, students would raise issues, new Hadiths would be brought to his
attention, and he would make changes.
E.g. He was asked whether about washing between the toes, and said it was not necessary. On one occasion, his student put forward a hadith with an authentic chain which stated that the Prophet used to wash between his toes. From that point onwards, Imam Malik corrected himself.
This shows us that Imam Malik
had no problem changing his position when the Hadith came.
If someone asked a “What if”
question, he would stop them. He didn’t like to deal with hypothetical Fiqh. He
would tell them to go to Iraq and sit with Abu Hanifa or whoever and get their
answers.
It’s not that he put it
down, it was just that his preference was to deal with practical, real Fiqh.
Sources of Law
used by the Maliki Madh’hab:
1)
Qur’an
2)
Sunnah
He, unlike Abu Hanifa, did not insist that the Hadith be
Mash’hoor (Well-Known). He used any Hadith narrated to him as long as it was
authentic. This is due to the fact that he was in a circumstance where issues of Hadith fabrication didn't exist.
3)
Ijmaa of the People of Madinah
From his perspective, Madinah was
where the Prophet lived the last 10 years of life. This is where most of
the Hadiths of legislative value were narrated. The people of Madinah were
descendants of the companions, as Imam Malik himself was. There was a living
Sunnah besides what was narrated as the words of the Prophet. Imam Malik considered this to be a
highly authentic element of the Sunnah, this is why he elevated it above the
status of the Ijmaa of the Sahabah.
4)
Ijmaa of the Sahabah
He considered Ijmaa to have existed even after the Companions of the Prophet.
5)
Individual opinions of the Sahabah
He gave weight to this and
included them in his text Al-Muwatta. He gave them preference over his own
opinion, even when they differed.
This is the principle of what has come to be known as "Salafiyyah", When people hear this word they misunderstand it as another sect, comprising of harsh individuals who club people off. But what it really is is giving precedence to the opinions of the generations before us, and this can be seen in the approach of Imam Abu Hanifa, Malik, etc.
The Prophet said that the best of generations is his generation, then the generation after that, and the generation after that. They are the most blessed because they were the repositories of the knowledge the Prophet taught. Their understanding of the intent of the Qur'an and Sunnah has to be the best understanding. It was on that basis that scholars would give weight to their opinions over their own personal opinions, even when they different. And that, in essence, is Salafiyyah.
6)
Qiyas
Imam Malik used it to determine rulings on various issues where
there weren’t clear Hadiths available from the Prophet, or Qur’anic verses
which could be interpreted.
7)
Customs of the Madeenites.
The difference between the
customs of the Madeenites and their Ijmaa is that the customs refer to the fact
that some of the Madeenites did it, but not all. Assuming the custom was at the
time of the Prophet, and he didn’t speak out against it, Imam Malik gave weight to it.
8)
Istislah (Welfare)
Though Imam Malik rejected the methodology of the
Hanafis using Istihsan, because he felt it involved too much opinion, he
affirmed Istislah which ended up being virtually the same thing.
E.g. The ruling of Ali ibn Abi Talib that a group of people could be executed for murder committed by one among them, where they conspired together to do it. All involved may be executed, as equally sharing in that act.
All we find in the Qur’an and Sunnah is that the killer should be executed.
E.g. The ruling of Ali ibn Abi Talib that a group of people could be executed for murder committed by one among them, where they conspired together to do it. All involved may be executed, as equally sharing in that act.
All we find in the Qur’an and Sunnah is that the killer should be executed.
E.g. The right of the Muslim ruler to collect additional taxes from the rich over and above Zakat when the circumstance requires it. This would be considered among the principles of Istislah (taken from Zakah being a means of circulating wealth) If wealth isn’t circulated enough, and the society will be harmed, then it is the right of the ruler to do this. This principle is also used to allow the ruler to set a price of a product, although the persons product may be of his own making, if it is a necessity in society and the high price makes it unbuyable for the majority of people who need it. It is looking at the welfare of society as a whole.
9)
Custom (‘Urf)
E.g.
His Students:
Three of his well known, leading students are: Imam Shafi’i, Aboo Yusuf, Muhammed ibn Al- Hasan Ash-Shaybani.
His most prominent students, who didn’t become independent in their own rulings to the degree that they became founders of their own Madh’habs are:
1)
Abu Abdur-Rahman ibn AlQasim (745-813CE)
He compiled the most
extensive work on the rulings of Imam Malik called “Al-Mudawwanah”
In the Math’hab of Imam
Malik, it is considered even more important than Al-Muwatta. The scholars drew
their rulings from Al-Mudawwanah more than Al-Muwaatta.
E.g. The practice many
Malikis to pray with their hands on their sides can be found in Al-Mudawwanah,
not al-Muwatta. In Al-Muwatta, Imam Malik quotes the hands being placed in
prayer with your right over your left. In Al-Mudawwanah it is said that that
can be done in Sunnah, but it is better to keep your hands on your side in
obligatory prayers. There is no authentic Hadith to support this hand in the
side practice. The scholars of the Maliki Madh’hab will try to deduce using
linguistic implications to support this practice as the done by the Khawarij of
Yemen and the Shi’a of Iran/Iaq/Yemen.
2)
Abu Abdillah ibn Wahb (742-819CE)
He and Abu
Abdur-Rahman went to Egypt where they taught. He was appointed as a judge, but
he refused that appointment, following the same approach as Imam Abu Hanifa and
Malik, in order to maintain his integrity as an independent scholar.
Followers of the Maliki Madh’hab:
They can be mostly found in upper Egypt, Sudan, north Africa
(Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco), West Africa (Mali, Nigeria, Chad, Ghana), some of
the Arabian gulf states (Kuwait, Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi). Sharjah is Hanbali,
mainly because the followers of Muhammed ibn AbdulWahhab and the descendants of
Saud who linked up with him, took refuge in Sharjah when they were driven out. That is why the closer to Salafi approach can be found in both Sharjah and Ras
AlKhaimah. These are the two Emirates that directly supported the movement.
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