Al-Muwatta': Legacy of the Canonized City

Medina was not only the first Muslim city-state, but it was also the center of gravity for the revelation of Islam’s moral code and sacred law. During the seventh and eighth centuries, scholars of the city, as heirs to an intellectually rigorous and scrupulous religious culture, asserted the intellectual and moral supremacy of the Medinite legal school. The potency of the Medinite claim would later be affirmed by highly influential scholars who themselves were partisans of other schools. Medina’s most impressive intellectual legacy became the Muwatta’ of Imam Malik bin Anas, a work of fiqh and a compilation of prophetic traditions. This lecture will illustrate the centrality of the Muwatta’ and the city of Medina to the overall Islamic tradition.