The Muwatta' of Imaam Malik is considered to be from the earliest collections of hadith that form the basis of Islamic jurisprudence alongside the Qur'an. Nonetheless, it is not merely a collection of hadith; many of the legal precepts it contains are not based on hadith at all. The book covers rituals, rites, customs, traditions, norms, and Islamic Laws that existed during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
It is reported that Imam Malik selected for inclusion into the Muwatta' over 1900 narrations, from the 100,000 narrations he collected. This version of the Muwatta' is one volume and printed by Dar at-Taseel (Egypt) on 528 pages of fine yellow paper. It was checked using two different manuscripts.