Muwatta is the first formal collection of hadith. It was compiled by Imam Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik after a strenuous effort of 40 years. It was compiled in around 140 AH on the behest of Caliph Mansur Abbasi. Apart from the narratives of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), it also includes sayings of the Companions and the Followers (Tabi’īn). Imam Malik spent his entire life in Madinah and composed his book in the environment of the city.
He collected narrations from those who had continuously been in the company of the esteemed Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). This book became popular throughout the Islamic world during the lifetime of Imam Malik himself. After its compilation, Imam Malik lived for about forty more years, during which he kept reviewing and amending the book.
The narrative on the descent of Jesus is not included in this collection of hadith.
One aspect of the objection is that the time of this collection's compilation is very close to the era of the Companions. The rest of the hadith collections were compiled nearly a hundred years later. It is the esteemed Companions who transmitted all the hadith narratives. What could be the reason that such an important narrative, which ought to be commonly known, was not transmitted to Imam Malik?
Second aspect is that this collection was compiled over a long period of forty years. Throughout this time, Imam Malik taught from it, refined it, and made revisions and additions. It is inconceivable that such a narration did not reach him over such an extended period of compilation. If it did not reach him, that too is a matter of objection, and if it did reach him but he did not accept it, that too is cause for objection.
The third aspect is that Imam Malik compiled this book at the very center of Islam, that is, the city of the Prophet (Madinah). This implies that this is the place where the esteemed Companions spent their lives, the majority of the Followers were also based around this area compared to the rest of the Islamic world, and even those Followers who lived in other regions used to come to this region to perform pilgrimage and visit the Prophet’s Mosque. It is apparently inconceivable that the narrative of Jesus’s descent, if there were any, did not reach Imam Malik.
The fourth aspect is that the region of Hejaz remained the center for the call, teaching, and training by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Several narrators of the traditions of Jesus’s Second Coming were from the land of Hejaz. Many of them were contemporaries of Imam Malik. It seems highly probable that Imam Malik would have met these individuals frequently. How is it possible that neither did these people discuss the narrations of Jesus’s Second Coming with Imam Malik nor did Imam Malik inquire about them from these people despite his research and compilation of hadiths?
The fifth aspect is that the earliest narrator of these narratives of Jesus’s Second Coming is Ma’amar ibn Rashid (a Follower), who was a contemporary of Imam Malik. Ma’amar was born in Basra in 95 AH and later settled in Yemen. The educational and teaching chain of Hammam ibn Munabbih, a disciple of Abu Huraira (RA), was ongoing in Yemen. Ma‘amar ibn Rashid became a student of Hammam. Apart from him, Ma‘amar also benefited from Qatadah and Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri. He died in 153 AH at the age of 58. The question is, given the contemporaneity of Ma‘amar ibn Rashid and Imam Malik, why did Imam Malik not take the narration of Jesus’s Second Coming from him?
The sixth aspect is that Imam Malik has accepted and [included in his compilations] narratives from some of the narrators of hadiths on Jesus’s Second Coming, while rejecting their narrations about the Second Coming itself. What could be the reason that he took other narrations from those narrators but left out the extraordinary narration of Jesus’s Second Coming? Some of the narrators of the reports on descent of Jesus were contemporaries of Imam Malik, and some lived in Madinah during his time, yet Imam Malik did not take a single narration from them. The biographical details of a few such narrators are as follows:
1. Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (died 124 AH) is one such narrator who transmitted the narratives about the descent of Jesus. He lived in Madinah and was a contemporary of Imam Malik. Imam Malik narrated approximately 115 narrations on Zuhri’s authority but did not include his narrations about Jesus’s Second Coming.
2. Abd al-Rahman bin Hurmuz al-A‘raj (died 117 AH) is also a transmitter of the hadith about Second Coming of Jesus. He lived in Madinah. Imam Malik recorded about 61 narrations on his authority but did not accept the narrative about Jesus’s Second Coming.
3. Saleh bin Kaisan (died 140 AH) also narrated the hadith regarding the Second Coming of Jesus. He lived in Madinah and was a contemporary of Imam Malik. Imam Malik received three traditions from him, but did not include in his compilation the tradition about the Second Coming of Jesus.
4. Ziyad bin Saad al-Khurasani (died 150 AH) is a narrator of the hadith regarding the Second Coming of Jesus. He was a resident of Mecca and a contemporary of Imam Malik. Imam Malik reported three traditions from him, but not the one concerning the Second Coming of Jesus.
5. Muhammad bin Muslim bin Tadrus Abu Zubair (died 128 AH) is a narrator of the hadith regarding the Second Coming of Jesus. He resided in Mecca and was a contemporary of Imam Malik. Imam Malik did not accept any traditions from him.
6. Aswad bin Qais al-‘Abdi al-Kufi (died 140 AH) is a narrator of the hadith concerning the Second Coming of Jesus. He was from Kufa and lived during the time of Imam Malik. Imam Malik did not include any traditions transmitted by him.
7. Saeed bin Jamhan Abu Hafs (died 136 AH) is a narrator of the hadith regarding the Second Coming of Jesus. He lived in Basra and was a contemporary of Imam Malik. Imam Malik did not mention any narratives on his authority.
8. Abu Malik al-Ashja‘i (died 150 AH) is a narrator of the hadith regarding the Second Coming of Jesus. He resided in Kufa and was a contemporary of Imam Malik. Imam Malik did not narrate any narratives on his authority.
9. Ma‘amar bin Rashid (died 153 AH) is a narrator of the hadith regarding the Second Coming of Jesus. He lived in Basra and was a contemporary of Imam Malik. Imam Malik did not receive any narratives from him.
The seventh aspect is that Muwatta contains a chapter regarding Jesus and the Dajjal titled ‘Chapter on the Descriptions of Jesus, son of Mary, and the Dajjal.’ Under this chapter, the following single tradition is narrated:
عن عبد اللّٰه بن عمر، أن رسول اللّٰه صلى اللّٰه عليه وسلم قال: أراني الليلة عند الكعبة، فرأيت رجلاً آدم كأحسنِ ما أنت راء من أدم الرجال، له لمة كأحسن ما أنت راء من اللمم قد رجلها، فهي تقطر ماءً متكئًا على رجلين أو على عواتق رجلين يطوف بالكعبة، فسألت من هذا ؟ قيل: هذا المسيح ابن مريم، ثم إذا أنا برجل جعد قطط أعور العين اليمنى، كأنها عنبة طافية، فسألت: من هذا؟ فقيل لي هذا المسيح الدجال.
From Abdullah bin Umar, he said the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: ‘In the dream I had last night, I saw that I was near the Kaaba. There, I saw a handsome person with a wheatish complexion as beautiful as you ever see among the wheatish complexions, with lovely hair, as good as you ever see among the hair. He had his hair combed and it dampened with water. He was doing tawaf around the Kaaba while leaning on two men or on the shoulders of two men. I asked: Who is this? It was said: This is the Messiah son of Mary. Then suddenly I saw another man with very curly hair, blind in the right eye. His eye looked as if it was a bloated grape. I asked: Who is this? It was said to me: This is the Dajjal, the false Messiah.’ (Muwatta, No. 3405)
It is perplexing that while there is a separate chapter and therein is the hadith of Jesus and the Dajjal, the more prominent tradition of the Second Coming of Jesus is not mentioned. Even indirectly, there is no mention of it throughout the entire book.