, both of which are indicated by the Book of Allah. For when the Book of Allah is followed—including its commands to follow His Messenger and to hold firmly, all together, to His rope—guidance and success are attained, and misguidance and misery disappear.

As for the first principle, “the community,” we have begun with it because it is more readily recognized by people generally. They must therefore give consensus precedence over their presumed interpretations of the Book and the Sunnah.

We say: Most of these disputes concern matters that are recommended or disliked, not matters that are obligatory or forbidden. If a man performs Hajj separately after 'umrah, performs Hajj alone, or combines Hajj and 'umrah under a single consecration, his Hajj fulfils the obligation according to the great majority of Muslim scholars, although they disagree over which form is best. Some who depart from the community, however, insist that a particular form is obligatory or forbidden. Thus, some Shia require the first form and prohibit the others, while some Nāsibīs prohibit the first form and do not permit it under any circumstances.

Likewise, the adhān is valid according to all the early scholars of the Muslim community and the great majority of its later scholars, whether or not the two testimonies are repeated aloud after being recited quietly, and whether the opening declaration of Allah’s greatness is said four times or twice. Only a few outliers among students of jurisprudence disagree about this, just as some Shia have disagreed by requiring the inclusion of the call, “Come to the best of deeds.”

Likewise, the iqāmah—the call announcing the commencement of prayer—is valid with its phrases said singly or doubled. Whichever form a person uses, his iqāmah is valid according to the great majority of Muslim scholars, except