Return to Answer

• إجماع في الرأي Here we discuss the matter when it comes to one opinion or different opinions in confrontation with a hadith ahad. In Brief: In the case of a conflict in which different opinions occur then Ijtihad is needed and opinions would be rejected or accepted according to the tools of Ijtihad! But the about this kind of Ijma' there are different opinions among the madhab itself and some scholars also call it إجماع استدلالي.

• Either the ahad and the customs and practices of people of al-Madina agree and are in line then it would be a support of the sanity of this hadith if this Ijma' came through transmission or if it was based on an opinion (Ijtihad) this would favor this hadith if there's no different opinion. If not Qiyas and Ijtihad would be necessary.
• If there's an other different ahad which is supported by the customs and practices of people of al-Madina they would favor the ahad which is in line with their customs in case of a conflict.
• If there's a consensus through transmission they reject a ahad which is in conflict to this custom because they would have tawatur vs. ahad, and tawatur is more likely to lead to certainty while ahad is more likely to lead to doubt.

• إجماع في الرأي Here we discuss the matter when it comes to one opinion or different opinions in confrontation with a hadith ahad. In Brief: In the case of a conflict in which different opinions occur then Ijtihad is needed and opinions would be rejected or accepted according to the tools of Ijtihad! But about this kind of Ijma' there are different opinions among the madhab itself and some scholars also call it إجماع استدلالي.

• Either the ahad and the customs and practices of people of al-Madina agree and are in line then it would be a support of the sanity of this hadith if this Ijma' came through transmission or if it was based on an opinion (Ijtihad) this would favor this hadith if there's no different opinion. If not Qiyas and Ijtihad would be necessary.
• If there's an other different ahad which is supported by the customs and practices of people of al-Madina they would favor the ahad which is in line with their customs in case of a conflict.
• If there's a consensus through transmission they reject an ahad which is in conflict to this custom because they would have tawatur vs. ahad, and tawatur is more likely to lead to certainty while ahad is more likely to lead to doubt.

Well the paragraph you mentioned is talking about one of the sources or let me say tools of the sources of the Maliki Madhab: customs and practices of the people of Medina! So i would recommend you to read more about it in wikipedia (there are more details in the Arabic part especially when it comes to the customs and practices of the people of Medina if you can read)!

• Either the ahad and the customs and practices of people of al-Madina agree and are in line then it would be a support of the sanity of this hadith if this Ijma' came through transmission or if it was based on an opinion (Ijtihad) this would favor this hadith if there's no different opinion. If not Qiyas and Ijtihad would be necessary.
• If there's an other different ahad which is supported by the customs and practices of people of al-Madina they would favor the ahad which is in line with their customs in case of a conflict.
• If there's a consensus through transmission they reject a ahad which is in conflict to this custom because they would have tawatur vs. ahad, and tawatur is more likely to lead to certainty while ahad is more liely to lead to doubt.

So you maybe see that somehow a Ijma' on opinion doesn't really seem to exist or to be accepted, as mostly they refer to the Ijma' by transmission, which explains that most of them don't accept it as a proof!

Well the paragraph you mentioned is talking about one of the sources or let me say tools of the sources of the Maliki Madhab: customs and practices of the people of Medina! So i would recommend you to read more about it in wikipedia (there are more details in the Arabic part especially when it comes to the customs and practices of the people of Medina if you can read Arabic)!

• Either the ahad and the customs and practices of people of al-Madina agree and are in line then it would be a support of the sanity of this hadith if this Ijma' came through transmission or if it was based on an opinion (Ijtihad) this would favor this hadith if there's no different opinion. If not Qiyas and Ijtihad would be necessary.
• If there's an other different ahad which is supported by the customs and practices of people of al-Madina they would favor the ahad which is in line with their customs in case of a conflict.
• If there's a consensus through transmission they reject a ahad which is in conflict to this custom because they would have tawatur vs. ahad, and tawatur is more likely to lead to certainty while ahad is more likely to lead to doubt.

So you maybe see that somehow an Ijma' on opinion doesn't really seem to exist or to be accepted, as mostly they refer to the Ijma' by transmission, which explains that most of them don't accept it as a proof!

Of course as any other sunni Madhab the Maliki have two primary sources: The Quran and Sunna, and they have many levels (which i won't and can't explain in this Answer) in each of these sources but both are part of the so called transfer sources (using your translation) الأصول النقلية these are sources based on a narrator chain!

However the customs and practices of the people of Medina are part of that what you might call transfer sources they are used in a rational manner like via Qiyas:

Of course as any other Madhab the Maliki have two primary sources: The Quran and Sunna, and they have many levels (which i won't and can't explain in this Answer) in each of these sources but both are part of the so called transfer sources (using your translation) الأصول النقلية these are sources based on a narrator chain!

However the customs and practices of the people of Medina (al-Madina, al-Medina) are part of that what you might call transfer sources they are used in a rational manner like via Qiyas: