IJMA

2017 – May June – 22

Q2 (a) ‘My community will never agree upon an error’. The Prophet’s Hadith encourages the use of consensus of
opinion (ijma’). Outline:
. what consensus of opinion (ijma’) is, and how many kinds of ijma’ there are;
. who is qualified to practise it;
. give examples of how the Prophet and the Rightly Guided Caliphs practised ijma’.(10)

Ijma comes from ‘Jamun’ or ‘Jama’ah,’ meaning ‘gathering.’ Ijma is a secondary source of law which
comes after the 2 primary sources, Quran and Sunnah. It is the unanimous agreement of all Muslim
jurists or scholars at a particular time of a particular generation on any legal issue, which
hasn’t been discussed in Quran or Hadith after the demise of the Prophet. After his demise, the
Islamic state expanded, new territories had come under Muslim rule, hence new problems and situations
arose, to which solutions were not present in the Quran or Sunnah. Muslims resorted to consensus to
reach an agreed solution but it is always in accordance and agreement with the primary sources of
Islamic Law. Ijma is based on the Quran, Allah says, “You are the best of people evolved for mankind,
enjoining good and forbidding evil.” (Al Imran). Prophet also supported Ijma, he said: “Truly my
Ummah will never agree on an error and the hand of Allah is upon the community.” (Tirmidhi).
This hadith clearly indicates that Ijma of jurists is likely to be free from errors. Ijma forms a law so it is
unlawful to disobey the established Ijma.

There are 2 kinds of Ijma: the first is general agreement among all Muslims, in matters of belief and
it is also backed up by Quran, Sunnah and Ijma of companions e.g, praying 5 times a day, give Zakah
and fast in Ramadhan. The second kind concerns legal matters and can be defined as the agreement
of the group of Muslims about an issue when the primary sources are silent. This is further divided
into 2 categories: Explicit or Silent. Explicit Ijma is which a question arises and all jurists discuss the
matters and unanimously agree on one opinion. This may be done in one setting or jurists may have
expressed similar verdict independently in different settings. E.g is compilation of Quran in Abu Bakr’s
time. Then there is tacit or silent Ijma when some scholars have discussed or acted according to one
opinion and the rest have kept silent through the matter although it has been communicated and enough
time has passed for consideration, they neither spoke against it nor in favor their silence is taken as
acceptance e.g. women driving in KSA.

There is a difference of opinion amongst legal experts about who should perform ijma. According to some
it is the agreement of the residents of Madinah other think it is the Prophet’s rightly guided caliphs or
the companions as they are the most knowledgeable after him. Other claim it is the agreement of Jurists
who are experts in legal matters. According to some it is the consensus of Shia Imams and according to
some it is the agreement on the Muslims Ummah as a whole but that is not possible now as the Ummah
has increased and spread across the world.

The Prophet practiced Ijma on many occasions, he consulted his companions on almost all matters that
were not concerned with the religion, and Allah had commanded him to do so, “Take council with them
in the conduct of the people.” (Aal-i-Imran 3:159). Like during the battle of Khandaq he dug a trench
on the suggestion of Salman al Farsi. The Quran was not compiled in book form in the life time of Prophet
(SAW), as there was no need for it at that time. Until, during the time of Abu Bakr many Huffaz were
being martyred in the battle of Yamama. During the time of the Prophet, there was only one adhan for
Jummah prayer, but during the reign of Uthman, Madinah expanded significantly and the people could
not hear the Adhan over the hustle and bustle of the marketplace, so a second Adhan was established
after doing Ijma. The Prophet prayed taraweeh in congregation 3 or 4 times in his lifetime. It was later
during the reign of Umar that the systems of congregation introduced tarawih after Isha prayer. These
examples show how companions adopted practice of Ijma after the demise of Prophet (SAW). Whenever
a case came to Abu Bakr, he would consult the Quran. If he could not find the answer in the Quran, the
companions would gather around him and state what they heard the Prophet say regarding the matter.

The abrogation of Ijma is possible by an Ijma of a similar class, thus an Ijma of the companions can be
repealed by another Ijma of the companions and likewise the Ijma of the second generation can be
abrogated by Ijma of the same generation.