but not by someone else with similar qualities. At other times, certainty arises from a report because it was related in the presence of a large group who shared the reporter’s knowledge, and none of them contradicted him. A large group may be unable to collude in concealing the truth, just as they may be unable to collude in lying. Once it is understood that certainty arising from reports has causes other than sheer numbers, it becomes clear that anyone who makes certainty depend on a fixed number and treats all reports alike in this respect has made a grave error.

For this reason, mass transmission is divided into two kinds: general and particular. Scholars of hadith and jurisprudence may possess mass-transmitted knowledge of matters of the Sunnah that have not reached the general public through mass transmission. Examples include the prostrations for forgetfulness, the binding right of pre-emption, the payment of blood money by the group collectively liable for it, and the stoning of an adulterer who has consummated a valid marriage; also the hadiths concerning seeing Allah, punishment in the grave, the Cistern, intercession, and similar matters.

Since a report may reach some people through mass transmission but not others, and some may attain certainty of its truth while others do not, whoever attains such certainty must believe it and act upon its implications, just as in comparable cases. Whoever does not attain such certainty must defer to the scholars who have unanimously agreed on its authenticity, just as people must defer, concerning rulings established by consensus, to the scholars who have agreed upon them. Allah has protected this community from agreeing upon error. Its consensus is realized only when the non-scholar defers to the scholar, for the non-scholar has no authoritative say; that belongs only to the scholar. Just as the opinion of someone unfamiliar with the evidence for rulings is not taken into account, neither is the opinion of someone unfamiliar with the means of establishing a hadith’s authenticity. Rather, everyone who is not a scholar must follow the consensus of the scholars.