The book is a compilation of Prophetic Hadith , featuring the Hadith methodology of Imam Malik. It also contains some jurisprudential rulings and is considered the primary reference in the Maliki scho The book is a compilation of Prophetic Hadith , featuring the Hadith methodology of Imam Malik. It also contains some jurisprudential rulings and is considered the primary reference in the Maliki school of jurisprude. There has been a misconception noted by Brockelmann and Sezkin, followed by several authors, that " al-Muwaṭṭaʾ" is a book of jurisprudence. However, it is correctly classified as a Hadith collection. Many scholars have taken great care in explaining and quoting from it. " al-Muwaṭṭaʾ" provides a valuable study of the codification of Hadith during the second Hijri/eighth century AD. It occupied the foremost position in authenticity until the emergence of the works of Bukhari and Muslim. Imam al-Šāfiʿī, may God have mercy on him, said, "The most sound book after the Quran is Malik's al-Muwaṭṭaʾ