We have indeed come across leading scholars who embraced certain rulings on no other ground than their being unaware of any opposing view, even though the plain sense of the proofs available to them actually pointed in the opposite direction. Yet a scholar cannot originate a position for which he knows of no predecessor while at the same time realizing that others have already voiced the contrary; some even suspend judgment and say, “If there is consensus on the matter, that is what must be followed; otherwise, my view is such-and-such.”

So you find someone saying, “I know of no one who has allowed the testimony of a slave,” whereas its acceptance is recorded from ʿAlī, Anas, Shurayḥ, and others. Another will claim, “There is consensus that a slave who is only partly emancipated does not inherit,” while rulings that grant him inheritance are transmitted from ʿAlī and Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with them), and there is even a fair (ḥasan) hadith traced back to the Prophet ﷺ. (1) Yet another says, “I know of no one who has made sending blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ obligatory within the prayer,” although declaring it obligatory is reported from Abū Jaʿfar al-Bāqir. (2)