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Malik Bin Anas Name –

Top 10 Sensational Facts about Malik ibn Anas

Malik ibn Anas was an Arab Muslim jurist, theologian, and hadith traditionist. He was born in the city of Medina, Malik rose to become the premier scholar of prophetic traditions in his day, which he sought to apply to “the whole legal life” in order to create a systematic method of Muslim jurisprudence that would only further expand with the passage of time.

Malik ibn Anas became learned in Islamic law and attracted a considerable number of students, his followers coming to be known as the M膩lik墨 school of law (madhhab). His prestige involved him in politics, and he was rash enough to declare during a rebellion that loyalty to the caliph was not a religious necessity, since homage to him had been given under compulsion. The caliph, however, was victorious, and M膩lik received a flogging for his complicity. This only increased his prestige, and during later years he regained favor with the central government.

Here are 10 sensational facts about Malik ibn Anas.

1. Malik ibn Anas was known as the Imam of Medina

Malik was referred to as the “Imam of Medina” by his contemporaries, Malik’s views on matters of jurisprudence were highly cherished both in his own life and afterward, and he became the founder of one of the four schools of Sunni law, the Maliki, which became the normative rite for the Sunni practice of much of North Africa, Al-Andalus until the expulsion of Muslims, a vast portion of Egypt, and some parts of Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, and Khorasan, and the prominent Sufi orders, including the Shadiliyya and the Tijaniyyah.

2. One of Malik’s most famous accomplishments is his compilation of the Muwatta

Page from a manuscript of Al-Muwatta’ by Malik ibn Anas –

Muwatta, one of the oldest and most revered Sunni hadith collections and one of the earliest surviving Muslim law books, in which Malik attempted to give a survey of law and justice; ritual and practice of religion according to the consensus of Islam in Medina, according to the sunna usual in Medina; and to create a theoretical standard for matters which were not settled from the point of view of consensus and sunna.

Composed in the early days of the Abbasid caliphate, during which time there was a burgeoning recognition and appreciation of the canon law of the ruling party, Malik’s work aimed to trace out a smoothed path which is what al-muwa峁�峁璦 literally means through the far-reaching differences of opinion even on the most elementary questions. Hailed as the soundest book on earth after the Quran by al-Shafi’i, the compilation of the Muwatta led to Malik being bestowed with such reverential epithets as Shaykh of Islam, Proof of the Community, Imam of the Abode of Emigration, and Knowledgeable Scholar of Medina in later Sunni tradition.

3. According to classical Sunni tradition, Muhammad foretold the birth of Malik

The Islamic prophet Muhammad said: “Very soon will people beat the flanks of camels in search of knowledge and they shall find no one more expert than the knowledgeable scholar of Medina, and, in another tradition, “The people shall set forth from East and West without finding a sage other than the sage of the people in Medina.

While some later scholars, such as Ibn Hazm and Tahawi, did cast doubt on identifying the mysterious wise man of both these traditions with Malik, the most widespread interpretation nevertheless continued to be that which held the personage to be Malik.

4. Malik is an exemplary figure in all the traditional schools of Sunni 

A sketch representing Imam Imam M膩lik ibn Anas –

Throughout Islamic history, Malik has been venerated as an exemplary figure in all the traditional schools of Sunni thought, both by the exoteric ulema and by the mystics, with the latter often designation him as a saint in their hagiographies.

Malik’s most notable student, Al-Shafi’i, who would himself become the founder of another of the four orthodox legal schools of Sunni law later said of his teacher: “No one constitutes as great a favor to me in the Religion of God as Malik when the scholars of knowledge are mentioned, Malik is the guiding star.

5. Malik was a strict opponent of anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.

Malik deemed it absurd to compare the attributes of God, which were given in human imagery such as that of God’s hands or eyes with those of man. For example, when a man asked Malik about the meaning of Quran 20:5, The Merciful established Himself over the Throne, it is related that nothing affected Malik so much as that man’s question and the jurist fervently responded: The ‘how of it is inconceivable; the ‘establishment’ part of it is known; belief in it is obligatory; asking about it is an innovation.

6. Malik was a proponent of intercession in personal supplication

For example, it is related that when the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur asked Malik whether it was preferable to face the Prophet’s tomb or the qibla whilst doing the personal prayer or dua, Malik responded: “Why should you not face him when he is your means (飞补蝉墨濒补) to God and that of your father Adam on the Day of Resurrection?”

Historically, it is known that Malik’s statements on the validity of intercession remained a core doctrine of the Maliki school, and practically all Maliki thinkers of the classical era accepted the idea of the Prophet’s intercession. It is also known, moreover, that the classical books of the M膩lik墨s are replete with the stipulation that 诲耻’腻 [personal supplication] be made while facing the grave.”

7. Malik was a supporter of Tabarruk 

Tabarruk is known as the seeking of blessing through the veneration of relics. This is evident, for example, in the fact that Malik approvingly related the tradition of a certain At膩’ ibn Ab墨 Rab膩h, whom he saw “enter the Prophet’s Mosque, then take hold of the pommel of the Pulpit, after which he faced the qibla to pray,” thereby supporting the holding of the pommel for its blessings (baraka) by virtue of its having touched Muhammad.

Furthermore, it is also recorded that “when one of the caliphs manifested his intention to replace the wooden pulpit of the Prophet with a pulpit of silver and jewels,” Malik exclaimed: “I do not consider it good that people be deprived of the relics of the Messenger of God!” 

8. Malik is said to have detested disputing in matters of religion

Malik states that disputation in the religion fosters self-display, does away with the light of the heart and hardens it, and produces aimless wandering.

The needless argument, therefore, was disapproved of by Malik, and he also chose to keep silent about religious matters in general unless he felt obliged to speak in fear of the spread of misguidance or some similar danger.

9. Malik wrote that shaving the mustache is an innovation

Elsewhere, it is written that he detested and condemned shaving of the mustache and, furthermore, disliked the inordinate length of the beard. While several other scholars held both the clipping and the removal of the mustache to be sunnah, Malik only considered the former to be truly prophetically prescribed, deeming the latter an unpalatable innovation.

10. Malik’s last words were the testification of faith

Imam Malik died at the age of 83 or 84 in Medina in 795 CE and is buried in the cemetery of Al-Baqi’, across from the Mosque of the Prophet. He recited the testification of faith as his last words.

The Shahadah, is an Islamic oath, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, and part of the Adhan. It reads: “I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God.” The Shahada declares belief in the oneness of God and the acceptance of Muhammad as God’s messenger.