he says, “What the scholars of our city have always followed,” referring back to the early consensus; at other times he does not mention it. Had Mālik believed that the later practice constituted authoritative evidence which the entire Muslim community was obliged to follow, even when it contradicted the scriptural texts, he would have been obliged to require people to follow it as far as possible, just as he was obliged to require them to follow hadith, the established Sunnah in which there is no contradiction, and consensus. Yet when al-Rashīd, or someone else, offered to compel people to follow his Muwatta’, he declined, saying, “The Companions of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah Most High bless him and grant him peace—dispersed throughout the lands, whereas I have only compiled the knowledge of the people of my city,” or words to that effect.

Once it is clear that the majority of the imams differed in their assessment of the consensus of the people of Medina, it becomes apparent that the views of the people of Medina are the soundest among those of the people of the various cities, both in transmitted reports and in reasoned opinion. Their position sometimes constitutes conclusive evidence, sometimes strong evidence, and sometimes a factor that gives one piece of evidence precedence over another. No other Muslim city possesses this distinction.

It is well known that the Companions who were in Medina were the finest of the Companions, for no one left it before the civil strife without someone superior to him remaining there. When Syria, Iraq, and other lands were conquered, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him—sent people to the various cities to teach their inhabitants the Book and the Sunnah. Thus, among those who went to Iraq was ‘Abd Allāh