Transmitters of Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imām Mālik: Names, Versions & Details
Compiled by: Qārī Usāmah ibn ʿAbd al-Salām
Based on the work of Shaykh Ghulām Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
Which students of Imām Mālik رحمه الله narrated the Muwaṭṭaʾ?
Please provide:
- Names of the students
- Their respective versions (books)
- Number of aḥādīth
- Mention of weak narrations (if any)
- Published editions and PDF links
Answer:
Narrator: Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī al-Andalusī (d. 234 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of Yaḥyā al-Laythī)
Number of Ḥadīths: 1720 (mostly authentic)
Publisher: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, Beirut
[PDF of Muwaṭṭaʾ – Yaḥyā al-Laythī]
Narrator: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī (d. 189 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of Muḥammad al-Shaybānī)
Number of Ḥadīths: Approx. 740 (with legal commentary)
Publisher: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah
[PDF of Muwaṭṭaʾ – al-Shaybānī]
Narrator: Abū Muṣʿab Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Zuhrī (d. 242 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of Abū Muṣʿab)
Number of Ḥadīths: 1661 (mostly authentic)
Publisher: Maktabat al-Saqqā
[PDF of Muwaṭṭaʾ – Abū Muṣʿab]
Narrator: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Maslamah ibn Qaʿnab (d. 221 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of al-Qaʿnabī)
Number of Ḥadīths: 695
Publisher: Maktabat al-Rushd – Edited by Bashshār ʿAwwād
[PDF of Muwaṭṭaʾ – al-Qaʿnabī]
Narrator: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim al-ʿUtaqī (d. 191 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of Ibn al-Qāsim)
Number of Ḥadīths: Approx. 600 (partial manuscripts)
Library: Manuscript – Tunisia
Narrator: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb al-Miṣrī (d. 197 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of Ibn Wahb)
Number of Ḥadīths: Unknown (partial manuscript)
Library: Wudood Manuscript Center
Narrator: Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr al-Miṣrī (d. 213 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr)
Number of Ḥadīths: Incomplete
Publisher: Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī
[PDF of Muwaṭṭaʾ – Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr]
Narrator: ʿAlī ibn Ziyād al-Tūnisī (d. 183 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of ʿAlī ibn Ziyād)
Number of Ḥadīths: Partially preserved
Publisher: Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī
Narrator: Suwayd ibn Saʿīd al-Ḥadathānī (d. 240 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of Suwayd)
Number of Ḥadīths: Unknown
Narrator: Muḥammad ibn al-Mubārak al-Ṣūrī (d. 215 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of Ibn al-Mubārak)
Number of Ḥadīths: Unknown
Narrator: Muṣʿab ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Zubayrī (d. 230 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of al-Zubayrī)
Number of Ḥadīths: Unknown
Narrator: Maʿn ibn ʿĪsā al-Qazzāz (d. 198 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of Maʿn ibn ʿĪsā)
Number of Ḥadīths: Partial
Narrator: Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Naysābūrī (d. 226 AH)
Title: Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (Narration of Yaḥyā al-Naysābūrī)
Number of Ḥadīths: Unknown
Researcher: Shaykh Zubayr ʿAlī Zai (d. 2013 CE)
Title of His Work: Itḥāf al-Bāsim fī Taḥqīq al-Muwaṭṭaʾ bi-Riwāyat Ibn al-Qāsim
Features:
- Most authentic modern edition
- Identification of weak narrations
- Full referencing of authentic ḥadīths
- Detailed notes and comparison of versions
[PDF of Muwaṭṭaʾ – Ibn al-Qāsim, Edited by Zubayr ʿAlī Zai]
Summary:
There are approximately 14 famous versions of Muwaṭṭaʾ Imām Mālik transmitted through his students.
Most Authentic and Widely Recognized Editions:
- Muwaṭṭaʾ of Yaḥyā al-Laythī – most widespread and authentic
- Muwaṭṭaʾ of Ibn al-Qāsim – highly regarded, especially the edition edited by Zubayr ʿAlī Zai
- Muwaṭṭaʾ of Abū Muṣʿab
- Muwaṭṭaʾ of al-Qaʿnabī
- Muwaṭṭaʾ of Muḥammad al-Shaybānī – not reliable in the eyes of hadith scholars, though valuable for Ḥanafī jurisprudence
