المعنى الاصطلاحي :

What all or most of the scholars of Madinah agreed upon during the time of the Companions, the "Tābi‘is" (generation following the Companions), or their successors, whether their agreement was based on transmitted narrations or personal reasoning.

الشرح المختصر :

"‘Amal ahl al-Madinah" (practice of the people of Madinah) is an expression that jurists use to refer to what the scholars of Madinah in the first three centuries after Hijra - known from the Sunnah to be the best generations - agreed upon and handed down generation after generation. It is not a binding consensus according to majority of the scholars, except for their textual reports, which will be considered as reports. It is one of the fundamentals of Imam Malik ibn Anas to which he used to give precedence over the solitary Hadith, because Madinah was the place where the Messenger of Allah, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, and the Companions lived, and the revelation used to descend upon him there. "‘Amalu ahl al-Madinah" is of two types: 1. Textual: These are issues that were transmitted and continuously practiced in Madinah in a way that could not be mistaken, like the "sā‘" (a standard measure that equals 3 kg), the "mudd" (quarter of a "sā‘"), the adhan, refraining from taking Zakah on vegetables, etc. 2. Inferential: agreement that they reached through "ijtihād" (personal reasoning), and these are disputable issues among the followers of the Māliki school of jurisprudence themselves and among them and followers of other schools.