and Sībawayh, al-Kisā’ī, al-Farrā’ and others that other people do not know. Physicians know through numerous independent channels meanings of the statements of Hippocrates, Galen and others that are not transmitted in this way by others. Likewise, each of the followers of Mālik, al-Shāfi‘ī, al-Thawrī, al-Awzā‘ī, Ahmad, Abū Dāwūd, Abū Thawr and others knows through numerous independent channels teachings of these imams that others do not know. The followers of the leading figures of speculative theology and philosophy know through numerous independent channels statements of theirs that others do not know. Those knowledgeable about hadith transmitters likewise know through numerous independent channels statements by Shu‘bah, Yahyā ibn Sa‘īd, ‘Alī ibn al-Madīnī, Yahyā ibn Ma‘īn, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abū Zur‘ah, Abū Hātim, al-Bukhārī and others like them concerning the criticism and accreditation of narrators that others do not know. Thus, they know with immediate certainty that these scholars agree on accrediting Mālik, al-Thawrī and Shu‘bah