This is what is conveyed by the statement of Abu Muhammad Abdullah bin Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (d. 386 AH), commenting on a description of a debate council mentioned by someone who came from the East: "The scholars have gone, and the sanctity of Islam and its rights have gone. How can Muslims permit debate between Muslims and infidels? This is not permissible even for people of innovation who are Muslims, who acknowledge Islam and Muhammad, peace be upon him. Rather, one who is upon an innovation from those who claim Islam should be invited to return to the Sunnah and the community. If he returns, he is accepted. If he refuses, his neck is struck." And if al-Andalus differed somewhat in this matter from Ifriqiya, the situation was different in the Maghreb, where the rulers, including the Almoravids, allowed debates between Muslims and Jews, which prompted scholars like Ibn Hazm to adopt the path of dialogue and debate in defense of Islamic creed.

The Maliki jurisprudence, as represented by those sayings and details taken from the students of Malik, especially Ibn al-Qasim, gained a great status in the hearts of the people of the Maghreb and al-Andalus. It acquired such respect and awe that it became in the popular consciousness a symbol of religion itself. It was as if whoever adhered to it had established the religion, and whoever neglected it had neglected the religion. This situation led to the legal thought in the fifth century to stagnate on the jurisprudential opinions inherited from the earlier students of Malik, and to shy away from studying the sources upon which those opinions were based from the principles of Sharia to extract new rulings that would address the emerging issues of life.

Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman bin Abi Zayd al-Nafzi al-Qayrawani, a Maliki jurist and a prominent figure of Qayrawan, was the Imam of the Malikis in his era. His works include "Al-Dībāj" and "Al-Nawādir wa al-Ziyādāt." See his biography in Ibn Farḥūn, "Al-Dībāj al-Mudhahhab" (1/145), and al-Ḥumaydī, "Jawdhat al-Mubtas" (1/146).