the Muslims, the mass-circulated chronicles of their scholars and kings record events that most other nations have never even heard of. Indeed, every subdivision of the Muslim community possesses multiply attested reports about its own elders, rulers, and lands—reports unheard-of outside that circle. This cannot be likened to a person who invents a story unknown to those who actually witnessed the matter, as would be the case if someone were to claim, for example, that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—performed more than one Ḥajj after the Hijrah; or that he fasted the month of Ramaḍān in Mecca; or that there was an adhān in Mecca at that time; or that his armies and the armies of his successors carried dabādib (large kettledrums) and būqāt (trumpets); or that the adhān was given for the two ʿEid prayers, or that he delivered the ʿEid sermon before the prayer; or that in Medina he led more than one ʿEid congregation; or that while travelling he performed the prayers in four full rakʿahs; or that he conducted the ʿEid al-Aḍḥā prayer in Minā; or that he explicitly and publicly appointed ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—may Allah be pleased with him—or anyone else as Caliph; or that he removed Abū Bakr from leading the people in the pilgrimage and installed ʿAlī in his place; or that, during his final illness, someone other than Abū Bakr led the communal prayer. Such reports and the like are known to be outright fabrications, null and void, because the mass-transmitted evidence stands against them.