Muwatta Ibn Wahb al-Saghir
- Author died
- 197 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Jami' al-'Ulum wa-al-Hikam
Muwatta Ibn Wahb al-Saghir (Arabic: موطأ ابن وهب الصغير, "The Minor Muwatta of Ibn Wahb") is an early compilation of hadith and legal traditions authored by the Egyptian jurist Ibn Wahb (125–197 AH / 742–812 CE). It represents a concise counterpart to his expansive work, al-Muwatta al-Kabir.
Authorship and Identification
Classical biographical and bibliographical authorities—including Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi, Ibn Khallikan, Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Qaysi, Katib Celebi (Haji Khalifa), and Isma'il Pasha al-Baghdadi—record that Ibn Wahb authored two distinct Muwatta works: al-Muwatta al-Kabir ("The Major Muwatta") and al-Muwatta al-Saghir ("The Minor Muwatta").
The attribution of the surviving text as the smaller version is corroborated by several internal and historical indicators. Each thematic division in the surviving manuscript begins with the partitive Arabic particle min (e.g., min kitab al-ashriba, min kitab al-manasik), indicating that it consists of selected extracts or an abridgment of the larger collection. Furthermore, while Ibn Bashkuwal recorded 273 transmitters among Ibn Wahb's teachers across his Muwatta narrations—compiled at the behest of the Almohad prince Abu al-Rabi' Sulayman ibn Abd Allah—only 71 of these teachers appear within the text of this work, with the remainder belonging to the larger compilation. A transmission chain noted by modern scholarship traces the transmission of this minor text down to al-Sam'ani through Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Hakam from Ibn Wahb.
Structure and Content
The work is organized according to the standard thematic books of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), encompassing topics such as:
- Kitab al-Ashriba (Drinks)
- Kitab al-Manasik (Pilgrimage Rites)
- Kitab al-Zakah (Almsgiving)
- Kitab al-Salah (Prayer)
- Kitab al-Nikah (Marriage)
- Kitab al-Siyam (Fasting)
Within each section, Ibn Wahb provides legal traditions accompanied by their full chains of transmission (isnad). The collection shares narrations and teachers with his other compilations, such as al-Jami', al-Qadar, and his Musnad fragments.
Reception and Scholarly Transmission
Ibn Wahb's Muwatta held a significant standing among early jurists and traditionists. Ibn Hazm ranked it among the primary hadith compilations directly after the Muwatta works of Malik ibn Anas and Ibn Abi Dhi'b. Ibn Abd al-Barr related that he read Ibn Wahb's Muwatta under Abd al-Warith ibn Sufyan and frequently cited its chains and texts in al-Tamhid. Sahnun drew heavily upon Ibn Wahb's narrations when organizing legal proofs in the Mudawwanah, while traditionists such as Abu al-Ghusn al-Susi memorized Ibn Wahb's Muwatta by heart.
Numerous prominent hadith scholars incorporated narrations matching the text and isnads of this work into their canonical collections:
- Al-Bayhaqi cited 134 traditions through Ibn Wahb's isnads in al-Sunan al-Kubra across the books of drinks, pilgrimage, zakah, prayer, marriage, and fasting.
- Ahmad ibn Hanbal included 64 matching narrations in his Musnad.
- Al-Tahawi recorded approximately 40 traditions from it in Mushkil al-Athar.
Later authorities, including Wali al-Din Abu Zur'a in al-Mustafad min Mubhamat al-Matn wa-l-Isnad and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Fath al-Bari and al-Isabah, also cited specific reports directly from Ibn Wahb's Muwatta.
Modern Publication
The extant text of Muwatta Ibn Wahb al-Saghir was prepared and edited in two parts: the initial section from the beginning through the end of Kitab al-Sawm was edited by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti, while the remainder, starting from Kitab al-Salah to the end of the preserved text, was edited by Dr. Muhammad al-Amin ibn al-Husayn ibn Ahmad al-Shinqiti.
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