The Muwatta of Imam Muhammad

The Muwatta of Imam Muhammad - 

"The unqualified truth is that all of the Muwatta is sahih without any exception!"  Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani

This quote from one of the greatest authorities on hadith of all time is sufficient recommendation. The version of the Muwatta narrated by Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, one of the two leading pupils of Imam Abu Hanifah, directly from his three years of study with Imam Malik will be of particular interest not only to students of Hanafi fiqh, but also to students of hadith in general.

The Muwatta'
Imam Malik composed the Muwatta over a period of forty years to represent the "well-trodden path'' of the people of Madina. Its name also means that it is the book that is "many times agreed upon'' about whose contents the people of Madinah were unanimously agreed and that is made easy and facilitated. Its high standing is such that people of every school of fiqh and all of the imams of hadith scholarship agree upon its authenticity. Imam Shafii said, "There is not on the face of the earth & after the Book of Allah, a book & which is more sahih than the book of Malik. Shah Wali Allah Dihlawi (1114-1176 AH) said, "My breast expanded and I became certain that the Muwatta is the most sahih book to be found on the earth after the Book of Allah.''

Imam Muhammad al-Shaybani
He is Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Farqad al-Shaybani. Muhammad was born in Wasit in 132 AH, and grew up in Kufa. He was a pupil of Abu Hanifah. Imam Shafi'i said, "I have not seen anyone more eloquent than him. I used to think when I saw him reciting the Qur'an that it was as if the Qur'an had been revealed in his language.'' He also said, "I have not seen anyone more itelligent than Muhammad ibn al-Hasan.'' Adh-Dhahabi said, "He narrated from Malik ibn Anas and others, and he was one of the great oceans of knowledge and fiqh, and he was strong [when he narrated] from Malik.'' Muhammad said, "I stood at Malik's door for three years and I heard [the Muwatta] from him [with] more than seven hundred hadith.'' He died in Ray in 189 AH.

Translated by Mohammed Abdurahman, Abdassamad Clark and Dr Asadullah Yate  (The science of (Jarah) Invalidation and Authentication (Tadil).