but Allah Most High.” Thus, the Muslim community at large knows the apparent meanings of the Quran, conveyed through mass transmission, without needing any of those premises. They ask about the meanings of the Quran and hadith in order to understand and know them. Even if they have not memorized a hadith’s wording, they know its meaning and issue fatwas on that basis.

For this reason, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī and others said: “Knowing hadith and understanding it are dearer to us than memorizing it.” Their concern with understanding the meaning is therefore greater than their concern with the wording. That being so, their knowledge and transmission of the meaning are more thorough than their knowledge of the wording. And if the wording of