IJMA

Consensus of Juristic Opinion

Dr. M Waqar

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 ATOMOLOGY

Ijma’ (‫ )إجماع‬is an Arabic word derived from an Arabic

consonantal root “‫ ”ج م ع‬Which means:
(1) Assembly

(2) Gathering together

(3) To add together

(4) Unanimity
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 DEFINITION
▪ Ijma` is defined as the unanimous agreement of the Mujtahids,
of the Muslim community of any period following the demise of
the Prophet Muhammad on any matter

AUTHENTICITY
▪ Ijma’ and Qiyas are secondary sources of Islamic Shariah, yet
Ijma’ has superior status than Qiyas and inferior status than Quran
and Sunnah/ Hadith
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 An Important Point

▪ Ijma’ in its spirit is like democratic principle which says that all
decisions are to be made on the basis of “Majority”

▪ Therefore, a perfect Ijma’ is possible but difficult to achieve

because of the divergence in religious views

▪ Thus Ijma’ does not mean that there are no different views after
conducting Ijma’ but that agreement exists among a great
majority of Muslims
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 Time of Ijma

(1) After the demise of Holy Prophet (S.A.W.)

(2) When no explicit instructions concerning a new issue

can be found in Quran and Sunnah / Hadith

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 CONDITIONS

(1) It must not be against Quran

(2) It must not be against Sunnah / Hadith

(3) It must not be against any set principle of Islam

(4) It must not be against spirit of Islam

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Ijma must fulfill the following others three conditions:
1. Mujtahids must qualify as upright individuals with
minimum requirement of admissibility as witness in the
courts of justice
2. Constituents of ijma are clear of Bid’ah and heresy
3. Constituents of ijma have required specialized knowledge
on the issue

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 Who may Participate in Ijma?
▪ According to accepted Sunni opinion Muslim Mujtahids or jurists alone
have a voice in Ijma’.
▪ The non-Muslims are excluded from such juristic deliberations because
the power is held to be vested by the texts in the Muslims alone, since the
non-believers, being misguided as to the very authority of the lawgiver,
cannot be presumed to arrive at the truth in matters of law and religion.
▪ Minors and lunatics are excluded on account of their immature or
defective understanding.
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 THE QUALIFICATION OF MUJTAHID

1. Competent knowledge of the Arabic

2. Knowledge of the Holy Qur’an
3. Knowledge of the Sunnah & Hadith
4. Knowledge of Ijma
5. Knowledge of Qiyas
6. Knowledge of the Maqasid al-Shari‘ah
7. Knowledge of general maxims of fiqh
8. The Mujtahid must be an upright Adil person
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The Legal Position of Ijma

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 HOLY QURAN
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ِ ‫َش ٍء فَردُّو ُّه اِ َِل ا ه‬ ِ ِ ِ ِ ‫م‬ ِ ‫س‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ـع‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ط‬ِ ‫ـع‬ ‫ي‬ ِ
‫ط‬ ‫ن‬‫م‬ ‫ي‬ ِ َ
‫ّٰلل‬ َ
ۡ ُّ ۡ ۡ ۡ ُّ َ ۡ ۡ ‫ِف‬ ‫م‬ ‫ت‬ ‫ع‬
ۡ َ ‫از‬ ‫ن‬ َ ‫ت‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ا‬َ ‫ف‬ ۚ ۡ
‫م‬ ‫ك‬
ُّ ۡ ‫ن‬‫م‬ ‫ر‬ ۡ َ ‫اۡل‬
ۡ ‫وِل‬ ُّ ‫ا‬‫و‬ ‫ل‬ ‫و‬
َ َ ۡ ُّ ‫ر‬
َ ‫ا‬ ‫وا‬ ُّ ۡ َ َ ‫ي ٰـٰۤاَيُّهَا ال َ َ ۡ ۡ ُّ ه‬
َ ‫ا‬‫و‬ ‫اّٰلل‬ ‫وا‬ َ ‫ا‬ ‫ا‬ٰۤ ‫و‬ُّ ٰ ‫ا‬ ‫ن‬ۡ ‫ذ‬
ۡ ‫َ َخ ۡۡ ٌ َوا َ ۡۡ ََ ُّن تَا ۡ ِويۡ ا‬
ً َِ ‫اّٰلل والۡيـو ِم ۡاۡل ٰ ِخ ِۡر ؕ ٰ ٰل‬ِ ‫وال َرسو ِل اِ ۡن ُّكنۡـتُّم ُّت ۡؤ ِمنُّون بِ ه‬
َۡ َ َ ۡ ۡ ۡ ُّ َ
“O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger (Muhammad‫)ﷺ‬,
and those of you (Muslims) who are in authority. (And) if you differ in
anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if
you believe in Allah and in the Last Day. That is better and more suitable
for final determination” (An-Nisa Ayah 59) 11
 02

ِۡ ‫و َم ۡن ي ُّ َشاقِ ِق ال َرسو َل ِم ۡ ۢۡن ب َ ۡع ِد ما تَب َّي ل َ ُّـه ا ۡۡلدٰى و يَـتَبِ ۡع َغ ۡۡ س ِبي ِل اۡلۡ ۡؤ ِم‬
‫ّي ن ُّ َول ِ ٖه َما تَ َو هِل‬ ۡ
‫ن‬
َ ُّ ۡ َ َ َ ُّ َ َ َ ۡ ُّ َ
َۡ َ‫َون ُّ ۡصلِ ٖه َجهَـن‬
‫م ؕ َو َسءٓءَ ۡۡ َم ِص ۡۡاا‬
As for him who sets himself against the Messenger and follows a
path other than that of the believers even after true guidance had
become clear to him, We will let him go to the way he has turned
to,143 and We will cast him into Hell - an evil destination.
▪ Commentators of the Quran agree that Ijma’ is meant by the phrase
of “believers’ way” in above mentioned Ayah
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 03

ِۡ ‫ب اۡلۡ تَو ِكل‬

ۡ‫ّي‬ ُّ ِ ‫ُي‬
ُّ ‫اّٰلل‬
‫ه‬ ‫ن‬
َ ِ ‫ا‬ ۡ ِ
‫اّٰلل‬
ۚ ؕ ‫ه‬ ‫َل‬
َ َ ‫ع‬ ‫ل‬
ۡ َ ‫ك‬‫و‬ َ ‫ت‬َ ‫ف‬ ‫ت‬
َ ‫م‬ ‫ز‬
َ َ ‫ع‬ ‫ا‬َ ِٰ ‫ا‬َ ‫ف‬ ۚ ِ
ۡ
‫ر‬ ‫م‬
ۡ َ ‫اۡل‬
ۡ ِ
‫ِف‬ ‫م‬ ‫ه‬
ُّ ‫ر‬‫و‬ِ ‫ا‬ ‫ش‬
َ ‫و‬
َ َ ُّ َ َ ۡ ۡ ۡ َ
and take counsel from them in matters of importance.
And when you are resolved on a course of action place
your trust in Allah; surely Allah loves those who put
their trust (in Him). (3/159)
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 HADITH
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‫إن هللا ال جيمع أميت ىلع ضاللة ويد هللا مع إجلماعة ونم شذ شذ يف إلاا‬
‫جامع إلرتمذی‬

Translation
“Allah will never make my whole Ummah unanimous on
deviation, Allah’s favour is with majority and whosoever will
get separate from (Muslim) majority, gets separate in the hell

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 02

‫ فاذإ أيتم إختالفا فعليمك ابلسوإد إلعظم‬، ‫إن أميت ال جتتمع ىلع ضاللة‬
3950:‫سنن إنب ماجہ ۔ حديث منرب‬

Translation
“My whole Ummah will never be unanimous on deviation, so
when you see difference in opinions, so it is binding upon you to
be the part of (Muslim) majority”

▪ “Follow the majority of the Ummah. Whosoever will get

separation from [Muslim majority] will be sent to hell”
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Types of Ijma

Silent/
Explicit
Tacit
Ijma
Ijma

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 Explicit Ijma (Ijma Sarih)
▪ “one in which the legal opinions of all the mujtahids of one period
converge in relation to legal issue, and each one of them states his
opinion explicitly.”
▪ This is realized sometimes by their meeting in one place and
examining an issue in question and finally they express a
unanimous opinion.
▪ It may also takes place when an issue occurred and every mujtahids
give the same legal opinion
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 Tacit Consent of Juristic (Ijma Sukuti)

▪ It takes place when some mujtahid, one or more,

give a legal opinion with regard to specific rule
about a particular legal issue, then the rest of them
are informed of this opinion and they keep silent
and they neither acknowledge it nor object to it
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 KINDS OF IJMA

(1) Ijma’-e-Sahaba: (Unanimity of the Companions of Holy

Prophet (S.A.W.)
(2) Ijma’-e-Tabieen: (Unanimity of the Companions of the
Companions of Holy Prophet (S.A.W.)
(3) Ijma’-e-Foqaha: (Unanimity of the Muslim Jurists)
(4) Ijma’-e-Ummah: (Unanimity of the Muslim nation)
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 The Scope of Ijma
1. Enforcement of the rules of the Qur’an & Sunnah
2. New Interpretation of Shariah rules according to the current
issues
3. Enforcement of the rules of the Qur’an & Sunnah on new
shariah complaints in the light of Shariah Objectives
4. One of the opinions of the Companions prefers over the
other 20
 The Basis (Sanad) of Ijma

1. The Sanad of Ijma is the Shari evidence used by Mujtahids as a

basis of Consensus. According to the Majority of Ulama, Ijma
needs to have a Sanad
2. Ijma must be in accordance with Quran & Sunnah
3. There is disagreement among the Ulama on whether Ijma can
be based on Qiyas or Ijtehad;

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First View:
▪ Qiyas is Subject to variety of doubts
▪ The Ulama do not agree on the authority of Qiyas as a proof
▪ Companions did not have a consensus on anything unless there was a
proof from Quran & Sunnah

Second View:
▪ Ijma can be based on Qiyas of all varieties as Qiyas is an analogy to Nass

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 Examples of Ijma
▪ Compilation of Holy Quran
▪ Caliphate of Hazrat Abu Bakar (R.A.) after demise of
Holy Prophet (S.A.W.)
▪ Jihad against defaulters of Zakat in the caliphate of
Hazrat Abu Bakar (R.A.)
▪ The land of Iraq and Sham, Hazrat Umer (R.A) Imposed
tithe on Non-Muslims 23
 Examples of Ijma
▪ Hazrat Abu Bakar (R.A.) imposed penalty of 40 lashes on
Drinking Alkohl. Hazrat Umer (R.A) increased them to 80
lashes and Hazrat Usman (R.A) imposed this penalty on
different situation
▪ Hazrat Usman (R.A) added Second Azan in Jumma Prayer
▪ Hazrat Umer (R.A) imposed Zakat on Horses
▪ Hazrat Umer (R.A) imposed Zakat on Marine Production
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 Examples of Ijma
▪ Traveeh prayer was started in congregation during the period of
Hazrat Umar (R.A)
▪ Aarab (Phonetic Symbols) on the Quran during the time of
Umayyad
▪ Buffalo meat was allowed
▪ Dead body’s face should be towards Qibla
▪ Loud Speaker can be used in prayer if needed 25