In this course – the first part of the Bustan al-Muhhaddithin series – students will primarily study the biography of Mālik ibn Anas ibn Mālik al-Asbahī, and analyse and evaluate the methodological framework and the different forms of transmission used in his renowned text: Al-Muwatta. The biographies, hadith compilations, and methodologies attributed to Imams Abu Hanifa, Shafi’i, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal will also be looked at, in addition to their most prominent students and transmissions.