such as al-Walīd ibn Muslim, Marwān ibn Muhammad, and others like them, have well-known transmissions from Mālik. As for the Iraqis, such as ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Mahdī, Hammād ibn Zayd, Judge Ismā‘īl ibn Ishāq, and others like them, they followed Mālik’s school and served as chief judges. Ismā‘īl and his peers were among the most eminent scholars of Islam.

The Kufans claimed equality with the people of Medina after the turmoil and division. Before that, however, they followed the people of Medina and deferred to them. Before ‘Uthmān’s killing, no one from Kufa or any other city is known to have claimed that the people of his city were more learned than the people of Medina. When ‘Uthmān was killed, the Muslim community divided into factions, and some Kufans began to place the scholars of Kufa on an equal footing with the scholars of Medina.

What gave rise to this misconception was that Medina’s standing weakened when the prophetic caliphate moved away from it, while the standing of the Iraqis grew stronger through ‘Alī’s presence among them. Yet the questions of fundamental principles and subsidiary matters under discussion had already been settled during ‘Umar’s caliphate. It is well known that the position of the Kufans, together with that of the other cities, before the division deserves greater weight than their opinions and reports after it. ‘Ubayda al-Salmānī, ‘Alī’s judge—may Allah be pleased with him—said:

“We prefer the view you held with ‘Umar when the community was united to the view you hold alone amid division.”