The book names four qualifications of a solitary narrator: intellect, reliable retention, uprightness and Islam. Reliable retention concerns accurate preservation and reporting; uprightness concerns trustworthy character. The narrator's scholarly competence adds another issue when reports are compared with analogy.
Ijma is qualified juristic agreement within a period. The book distinguishes four forms with different evidentiary strength. Explicit consensus of the Companions and tacit consensus should not be collapsed into one undifferentiated category.