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The Muwaṭṭaʾis the first extant treatise on Islamic law, written by the eighth-century Medinan jurist Mālik b. Anas (d. 179/795). It provides an unparalleled window into the life of the early Muslim community of Medina—where the Prophet Muḥammad lived and died after immigrating from Mecca—as well as the rituals, laws, and customs that its members upheld years after his death. Harvard’s Program in Islamic Law, in conjunction with Harvard University Press, published an English translation of the Muwaṭṭaʾin 2019, edited and translated by well-known Islamic law scholars Professors Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette. This translation is based on the recently published critical edition of the Muwaṭṭaʾ, The Royal Moroccan Edition (Rabat: Ministry of Endowments, 2013). With its extensive notes, the English edition is intended to make this important early legal text widely accessible to a broad spectrum of readers, including those interested in both legal history and Islamic Studies. This Online Companionto the Muwaṭṭaʾmakes the full texts of both the original Arabic edition and its English translation freely available online. We gratefully acknowledge the Moroccan Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs for permissions to make the full Arabic text available online.

This source is part of the Online Companion to the print edition al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Royal Moroccan Edition: The Recension of Yaḥyā Ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī (Harvard Series in Islamic Law), edited and translated by Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette (PIL/HUP, 2019).

The Muwaṭṭaʾ is the first extant treatise on Islamic law, written by the eighth-century Medinan jurist Mālik b. Anas (d. 179/795). It provides an unparalleled window into the life of the early Muslim community of Medina—where the Prophet Muḥammad lived and died after immigrating from Mecca—as well as the rituals, laws, and customs that its members upheld years after his death. Harvard’s Program in Islamic Law, in conjunction with Harvard University Press, published an English translation of the Muwaṭṭaʾ in 2019, edited and translated by Professors Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette. This translation is based on the recently published critical edition of the Muwaṭṭaʾ, The Royal Moroccan Edition (Rabat: Ministry of Endowments, 2013). With its extensive notes, the English edition is intended to make this important early legal text widely accessible to a broad spectrum of readers, including those interested in both legal history and Islamic Studies. This Online Companion to the Muwaṭṭaʾ makes the full texts of both the original Arabic edition and its English translation freely available online. We gratefully acknowledge the Moroccan Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs for permissions to make the full Arabic text available online.

Image 1: Kingdom of Morocco National Library, MS No. J787: Colophon of the Muwaṭṭaʾ manuscript, copied by Ibn al-Ṭallāʿ, dated 595 AH.

Image 2: Kingdom of Morocco National Library, MS No. J787, Folio 1: Excerpt of manuscript of the Muwaṭṭaʾ, copied by Ibn al-Ṭallāʿ, dated 595 AH.

Image 3: Kingdom of Morocco National Library, MS No. D2911, Folio 1: Excerpt of manuscript of the Muwaṭṭaʾ, copied by Ibn al-Labbād, dated 613 AH.

This source is part of the Online Companion to the print edition al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Royal Moroccan Edition: The Recension of Yaḥyā Ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī(Harvard Series in Islamic Law), edited and translated by Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette (PIL/HUP, 2019).

The Muwaṭṭaʾ is the first extant treatise on Islamic law, written by the eighth-century Medinan jurist Mālik b. Anas (d. 179/795). It provides an unparalleled window into the life of the early Muslim community of Medina—where the Prophet Muḥammad lived and died after immigrating from Mecca—as well as the rituals, laws, and customs that its members upheld years after his death. Harvard’s Program in Islamic Law, in conjunction with Harvard University Press, published an English translation of the Muwaṭṭaʾ in 2019, edited and translated by Professors Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette. This translation is based on the recently published critical edition of the Muwaṭṭaʾ, The Royal Moroccan Edition (Rabat: Ministry of Endowments, 2013). With its extensive notes, the English edition is intended to make this important early legal text widely accessible to a broad spectrum of readers, including those interested in both legal history and Islamic Studies. This Online Companion to the Muwaṭṭaʾ makes the full texts of both the original Arabic edition and its English translation freely available online. We gratefully acknowledge the Moroccan Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs for permissions to make the full Arabic text available online.

This source is part of the Online Companion to the print edition al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Royal Moroccan Edition: The Recension of Yaḥyā Ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī (Harvard Series in Islamic Law), edited and translated by Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette (PIL/HUP, 2019).

The Arabic text has been provided in 15 parts, of which this is the sixth.

Ṣubḥ al-`a’shā fī sinā’at al-inshā is a late medieval chancery educational book, intending to educate aspiring Mamlūk officials. The text contains several examples of correspondences and contracts that Qalqashandī finds exemplary.  This particular text renders a Sultanic decree of appointment to a Ḥanbalī judge, and outlines various points that the Sultan expects the judge to adjudicate according to his school’s rulings.

Al-Mughnī is a commentary on al-Khiraqī's (d.945) Mukhtaṣar, a treatise on Ḥanbalī law. The excerpt in question deals with the question of sharecropping, where ibn Qudāma explain's his madhhab's position and defends it against potential detractors. 

An excerpt from the book al-Muqni' fī 'ilm al-Shurūt, this section details the legality on issues of marriage, paternity, and children. 

An excerpt from the book al-Maqsad al-Mahmūd fī Talhīs al-'Uqūd, this section details the legality on issues pertaining to marriage, paternity, and children. 

A translation of the Arabic Majallat al-Ahkam al-A'dlīyyah. This is a book on the principles of rules and regulations according to Muslim jurists under the Ottoman Empire. 

A book on the principles of rules and regulations, according to Muslim jurists under the Ottoman Empire. 

In this excerpt, Jalāl al-Dīn al-Dawānī (d. 908/1502–3), philosopher and chief judge of the southern Iranian province of Fars in the late fifteenth century CE, reports that the maẓālim courts were able to resolve many cases because of their ability to consider diverse forms of evidence. In contrast, he says that the traditional Islamic courts’ admission of only oral testimony could hamper Muslim judges’ ability to administer justice. In his chapter on circumstantial evidence in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Hossein Modarressi draws on Dawānī’s treatise and its illustration of how justice was obstructed in the traditional courts of his day through bureaucratic maneuvers orchestrated by the ʿudūl, or court clerks. The ʿudūl nitpicked at the specific wording of the petitions and various types of testimony, and they oversaw a lengthy process of determining the credibility of witnesses by bringing in further witnesses to testify for or against the main witnesses. Modarressi quotes Dawānī’s lament that as a consequence, “a small petition [lingered] around in the court for such a long time that the parties [got] fed up with the process. When the case is a criminal case, the purpose is completely lost” (115). Modarressi argues that these difficulties in traditional courts were exacerbated by the fact that Islamic legal procedure restricted judges to using testimony or oaths, and that these procedural rules were not open to modification.

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of Canada, based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Canada’s Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status.

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Republic of Cyprus (Kypriaki Dimokratia/Kibris Cumhuriyeti), based on research produced by the Library of Congress. Under Cyprus' Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Republic of Yemen (Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah), based on research produced by the Library of Congress. Under Yemen's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) is the primary source of legislation.  

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of Malaysia, based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Malaysia's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has some legal status. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Republic of Mauritius, based on research produced by the Library of Congress. Under Mauritius' Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has some legal status. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Central African Republic/CAR (Republique Centrafricaine), based on research produced by the Library of Congress. Under the CAR's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau (Republica da Guine-Bissau), based on research produced by the Library of Congress. Under Guinea-Bissau's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has no legal status. 

This Country Profile provides a basic overview of the legal history and institutional structures of Libya, based on research produced by GlobaLex at NYU Law School and the Library of Congress. Under Libya's Constitution, Islamic law (sharīʿa or fiqh) has legal status.