The Evolution of Fiqh(9.2 Imaam Maalik ibn Anas)

Imaam Maalik Ibn Anas (717-801 CE)

Imaam Maalik never hesitated to change his rulings, even if

he had already uttered them in public, if proof to the contrary came

to him from a reliable source.
 One of his main students, Ibn Wahb confirmed this attitude of 
the Imaam saying, “I once heard some one ask Maalik about
 washing between the toes during Wudoo, to which he replied,
 People do not have to do it.’ I waited until most of the

people left the study circle and informed him that there is a Hadeeth

concerning it. He asked what it was, so I said, that al-Layth ibn Sa’d,

Ibn Luhay’ah and “Amr ibn Al-Haarith all related from al-Mustawrid

Ibn Shidaad al-Qurashee that he saw Allaah’s Messenger (s.w.) rub

between his toes with his little finger, Maalik said, ‘Surely that is a

good Hadeeth which I have never heard before.’ Later when I heard

people ask Maalik about washing between the toes, the toes, he used

to insist that it must be washed.”

Ibn Abee Haatim, al-Jarh wat-Ta’deel, (Hyderabad, India: Majlis

Daa’irah al-Ma’aarif al-‘Uthmaaneeyah, 1952), foreword pp. 31-33

 This narration is clear proof that

Maalik’s Madh-hab, like Abu Haneefah’s was that of the sound

Hadeeth, even though we do not have a specific statement by him to

that effect, as in the case of Abu Haneefah.

Maalik also emphasized the fact that he was subject to error

and that the only rulings of his which should be used were those

which did not come in conflict with the Qur’aan and Hadeeth. Ibn

‘Abdul-Barr reported that Maalik once said, “Verily I am only a

man, I err and am at times correct; so thoroughly investigate my

opinions, them take whatever agrees with the Book and the Sunnah,

and reject whatever contradicts them.”

Ibn ‘Abdul-Barr, Jaami’ Bayaan al-Ilm, (Cairo: al-Muneereeyah, 1927),

vol. 2, p. 32.

 This statement clearly proves that the Qur’aan and
 the Hadeeth were given preference over

all else by this great scholar who never intended that his opinions be

rigidly followed. In fact, when the ‘Abbaasid Caliph Abu Ja’far al-

Mansoor (reign 759-755 CE) and Haroon ar-Rasheed (reign 786-809

CE) requested that Maalik allow them to make this collection of

Hadeeths, called al-Muwatta’, the official authority in the state on

the Sunnah, he refused on both occasions, pointing out that the

Sahaabah had scattered throughout the land and had left behind

many Hadeeths not found in his collection. Thus, Maalik turned

down the opportunity to have his Madh-hab made the official Madhhab

of the Islamic state and in so doing, he set an example that others

might have been wise to follow.