276 THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEGAL REASONING

The following examples will serve to show that the technical legal thought of the ancient Iraqians was, on the whole, more highly developed than that of their Medinese contemporaries.¹

The Iraqians in Muw. Shaib. 230 are more consistent than the Medinese in Muw. iii. 10, Mud. v. 2 (cf. above, p. 193 f.).

In interpreting a declaration, the Medinese make a distinction based on a consideration which combines a material and a systematic element, and take the intention of the speaker into account in only one of two cases (Muwaṭṭaʾ iii. 36); the Iraqians, however, regard the intention as decisive in any case (Āthār Shaib. 74, 77; Muw. Shaib. 265); Shāfiʿī’s reasoning is strictly formal and systematic (Tr. III, 142).

Tr. III, 16: The Iraqians use good systematic reasoning against the Medinese.

Tr. III, 61: The easy‑going Medinese allow a relevant declaration to be made after the fact; the Iraqians are stricter and use systematic reasoning; Shāfiʿī, though he has a different opinion of his own, recognizes that the Iraqian doctrine is better.

Tr. VIII, 14: Shāfiʿī suggests that the basis of the Medinese doctrine is some material consideration of practical expediency. This is certainly the case in Tr. VIII, 19, and Shaibānī easily refutes their argument.

Finally, here are a few examples to illustrate the way in which the development of positive legal doctrine is connected with the development of technical legal thought.

As regards the effect of conversion to Islam on a previous marriage, the regulation of Koran lx. 10, which was enacted in a particular set of circumstances, was modified progressively, and a later stage of these modifications was expressed in traditions purporting to describe episodes from the history of the Prophet.² The ancient Iraqians follow the rule of the Koran, except for the one concession of offering Islam to the unconverted party before dissolving the marriage, and their doctrine is consistent as far as it goes.³ The Medinese endorse a more far-reaching modification and arrive at a compromise the inconsistencies of which Shāfi'ī denounces. If it is the wife who adopts