"أَوْجَزُ الْمَسَالِك إلى مُوطَّأ مالكٍ" للشَّيخ محمَّد زكريا الكانْدَهْلَوِيّ دراسةٌ حديثيةٌ نقديةٌ

Abstract

All books with the title of Muwaṭṭāʿ are considered significant books of the prophetic traditions. Similarly, Imām Mālik’s Muwaṭṭāʿ is conceived as one of the great hadith manuals because it embodies both the prophetic traditions and Islamic legal approach. It compiles the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), views of the companions, and legal verdicts (fatāwā) issued by tābi‘ūn. Throughout history since the beginning of Islam, many scholars have been writing commentaries, either detailed or short ones, on this magnum opus. One of the invaluable and detailed works was by Shayikh Muḥammad Zakariyyā Kandhalavi, known as Awjaz al-masālik ’ilā Muwaṭṭāʿ mālik. This book gathers useful and relevant excerpts from hadith and fiqh manuals and other rich information. The present work examined this important book from the hadith perspective and highlights its features that are useful for hadith scholars. The researcher adopted a three-pronged method: (1) the inductive method covering the life and works of Kandhelavi, either published or not published yet; (1) the descriptive method to elaborate the characteristics of his works in the hadith field; and (3) the critical method to examine Awjaz al-masālik. The study is intended to highlight the book’s features as compared to other commentaries of Muwaṭṭāʿ and to identify loopholes, if any, in the book.