4. Practice of the Madinites

The term ‘Madinites" is used to describe the residents of al-Madinah an-Nabawiyyah, and their practice was highly respected by Imam Malik for they remained in the city of the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) and assumingly preserved the custom of the Sahabah who lived there – and the custom and traditions of the Sahabah were in accordance with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). This is one of the controversial practices of Imam Malik. Since Madinah was the hometown of Prophet, and most of the Sahabah afterwards resided in Madinah and lived and grew up and established homes in Madinah, he believed the people who lived in Madinah, they interacted with each other until his time and therefore the Madinan practice was coming from the Prophet and the sahaba. This is because their custom can be traced back to the Prophet (peace be upon him). He was the only imam to consider this as part of his usool. Most scholars refuted this position because after the death of Umar, many of Madinah’s residents left and people migrated to Madinah as well. Hence, practices and traditions of Madinah got mixed up with outside culture.