The claim
The Muwatta is among the earliest surviving compiled hadith books.
The evidence
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The chain of transmitters — passage/muwatta-1-001
The text of the Muwatta's first hadith with Malik's isnad.
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chronicle — work/al-muntaqa-sharh-al-muwatta
A note from the Muntaqa comm'en'tary on the Muwatta helping to date Malik's work, faithfully rephrased.
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object — place/medina
Medina — the Muwatta's place of compilation.
The historians' note
Researchers date the Muwatta to the second Hijri century, comparing it with the later Sahihs.