Malik bin Anas |Life of Malik bin Anas

 Malik ibn Anas (97 A.H.-179 A.H.)

Malik ibn Anas was born in the city of Madinah. At that time, the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid ibn Abdul Malik was the ruler. Being grown up with the followers had a great affect on the figh he developed. He grew up studying hadith and traditions of the Prophet (SAWW). Indeed, his grandfather, Malik ibn Abi Amir, was a great man of knowledge at the time of the tabi'un (the Followers). He was taught the fatawa of the companions and the tabi'un and the Followers of the tabi'un. This greatly affected his fiqh. Just like the other great Imams, ibn Anas memorised the Quran and many ahadith. Even though he lived in a city of peace, ibn Anas's life was about to be disturbed by the Abbasid Caliph, Jafar al-Mansur.

n 147 A.H., Malik ibn Anas was whipped by the order of the governor of Madinah. There were three theories to why this had happened. Firstly, it was said that ibn Malik openly opposed the Abbasids having temporary marriages. This cannot be the reason of his punishment because the source of this theory was unreliable. Secondly, Malik was said to have preferred Hazrat Usman (R.A.) than to Hazrat Ali (R.A.) and this made the Abbasid ruler upset. Again, this was said by a weak source. However, the third and the most reasonable reason for his punishment were during a time of the Alawite rebellion against al-Mansur. Malik had said a hadith "There is no divorce for anyone who is compelled." The rebels mistakenly took this into a meaning that al-Mansur's reign was invalid.

The governor of Madinah was alarmed by this and whipped ibn Malik. The people of When, ibn Malik was released by order of Jafar, he resumed his teachings and studies as before. Madinah grew furious over the torture of their imam that their fury grew against the Abbasids. Al-Mansur felt guilty for his part in ibn Anas's torture that he went to visit him in Madinah when he was in Hajj. He apologised to ibn Malik and ibn Malik being the great man that he was accepted the apology. Malik did not think that the rulers at the time were ruling with Allah's

laws but he did not fight them.

Instead, he tried to guide the caliphs by visiting and writing encouraging letters to them. Ibn Malik even accepted gifts from the caliphs and used them to fund for his students. He believed that people should not revolt against their leaders (in order to prevent bloodshed). In most cases,he remained neutral.

Before ibn Malik's time, the knowledge that was transmitted from the Prophet (SAWW) to the Followers of the Followers was not recorded. It was actually despised to write down the knowledge in texts. However, since the Islamic empire had grown and a lot of citizens needed knowledge, it was decided by consensus that knowledge had to be written in order to be preserved.

Therefore, ibn Malik wrote down his knowledge in his famous book of figh called Muwatta. Completed in 159 A.H., this book of fiqh of Madinah had knowledge deriving from the rules of hadith. It was said that al-Mansur himself wanted Malik to write such a book from Madinah but al- Mansur did not live to the day it was completed. In all, the life of Malik ibn Anas greatly evolved around figh yet was tested by the hardships delivered to him by the Abbasids.