IJMA
AS A
SECONDAR
Y SOURCE
Ijma-Consensus of Opinions
After the Holy Quran and Sunnah, it is
considered as a source of Islamic Law and was
started after the demise of the Holy Prophet.
However, the origin of Ijma can be traced out
in the Holy Quran and Sunnah. In fact, both
the Holy Quran and Sunnah give permission
to find out solution of some matter for which
the Holy Quran and Sunnah have never
provided any detailed solution or procedure.
Origin of term Ijma
The word Ijma is driven from an Arabic
word “AJMAA” which means agree upon a
matter.
)(consensus of opinion of scholars
فقہ اسلام کی ایک اصطلاح اور اسلامی شریعت کا تیسرا اہم م آخد
جس سے مراد علمائے امت کا یا ان کی بڑی اکثریت کا ،ہر زمانے میں
کسی مسئلہ پر متفق ہوجانا جس کے بارے میں قر آن و حدیث میں
واضح حکم موجود نہ ہو
Meaning
(i)Literal Meaning
Literally Meaning agreeing upon.
(ii) Legal Meaning
“The consensus of a jurist of a certain
period of the Muslim community over a
certain religious matters”. (MUSALLIM-AL-
THABAT V.2, P.211)
(iii) Technical Meaning
It’s means, “determination and
consensus” or the collection of several
things way of believers.
(iv) General Meaning
“It is a consensus of majority opinion of
the persons (Muslim Jurists) competent to
Ijma regarding religious issue of legal
nature”.
Definition
(i) Sheikh Muhammad Khazi
“The agreement of jurists from the
Ummah upon a matter of human shari”.
(ii) Sir Abdur Rahim
“Ijma is defined as agreement of the
jurists among the following of
Muhammad in a particular age on a
question of law”.
Recognition in the light of Primary
sources
In the light of Quran
(i) “If you have differed among any thing,
then refer it to Allah (The Book) and His
Messenger (The Sunnah)”. (SURAH AL-
NISA: 59)
(ii) “Whoever Obey Prophet (Peace be upon
him), he indirectly obeyed Allah”. (SURAH
AL-NISA: 80)
In the light of Sunnah
Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)
said:
“My people will never agree on erroneous
things”.
Recognition under the muslim
schools of thought
All major schools of fiqh recognized by
Ijma. Each school is a follows.
(i) Shafi School
They recognize the consensus or
agreement of opinion of the whole ummah
i.e., Ijma al Ummah.
(ii) Maliki School
They recognize the Ijma of companions
and their successors living in Medina,
without reference to the opinions of others.
Thus they recognize Ijma al Medina.
(iii) Shai School
They hold that the only binding
Ijma is that done by Ahal-i-Bayt
thus they recognize Ijma Ahal-i-
Bayt.
(iv) Hanbali School
They recognize the Ijma of
companions and their successors
but they also recognize Ijma by
jurists of the Modern age i.e Ijma al
Kinds of Ijma
(i) Explicit
where jurists clearly express their views
regarding an issue under discussion.
(ii) Tacit
Where a jurist is quiet regarding the Ijma
upon a rule, his consent is considered to
be with the majority.
(iii) Regular
Where the Muslim jurists express their
views regarding a question of law and all
agreed to it.
(iv) Irregular
Where jurists resolve an issue and all
remains silent is irregular Ijma.
(v) Al Rukhsah
There is no consensus or agreement
between the majitahids but the
community as a whole accepts the
decision given by some mujtahids.
(vi) Al Fa’el
Where jurist does some thing
Who Many Participate in Ijma
The Four Sunni schools agree that
only Mujtahideen can participate.
A mujtahid is the one who fulfills
the following qualifications:
Details
Qualifications of Mujtahids
Following are the qualifications of Mujtahids;
1. Knowledge of Quran
2. Knowledge of Sunnah
3. Knowledge of Ijma
4. Knowledge of Qiyas
5. Knowledge of Maqasid-al-Shariah
6. Knowledge of Islamic Jurisprudence
7. He must be trustworthy
8. He must be an adult
9. He should be a Muslim
10. He should be able to interpret Quran and Sunnah
11. He must have knowledge of Arabic language
12. He should be able to differentiate between false
and authentic Hadith
The validity of Ijma in Islam
1. The agreement must take place
among mujtahideen.
2. The agreement must be
unanimous
3. The Ijma must be formed in an
Islamic society.
4. The agreement must be held
according to Islamic rules.
Examples of Ijma
There are several modern examples of consensus, such
as the consensus of Muslim scholars that it is forbidden
to play the role of the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) or other Prophets and Messengers of
Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon them) in
movies and TV shows.
This consensus was mentioned by Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd
when he said: Those scholars who allowed acting within
certain guidelines have unanimously agreed that it –
playing certain roles – is prohibited in the case of the
Prophets and Messengers of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon them), and that it is prohibited in the
case of the Mothers of the Believers, the wives of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and
his descendants (peace be upon them), and in the case
of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with
them).
Ijma and western concept of
“opinion prudentium”
“opinion Prudentium” which means
the opinions and decisions of
lawyers is parallel concept of Ijma
in the western society. In Roman
Law the jurists were empowered to
give opinions by Emperor, with the
passage of time such opinions
became part of their legal system.
However, the concept of Ijma has
wider scope than the concept of
opinion prudentium.
Ijma in modern period
According to the accepted opinion of all the
four Sunni schools of thought, Ijma is not
confined to any particular age or country.
The underneath principle of Ijma is that if a
rule or principle is upheld collectively by
the highest legal forum in the land than
such a principle must be followed by those
subordinate to this forum. In the earliest
stages, this forum was confined to jurist
companions then the leading jurists of each
school. Today the forum would be the
highest court in each Muslim country.
Repeal of Ijma
IfIjma had done by companions
then it can only be repealed by
Jurists of that
age/era/phase/time/period.
Sanad of Ijma
Sanad is the evidence upon
which jurists rely while arriving at
a consensus or agreement. Each
Ijma must have a sannad. If Ijma
is without a sanad or evidence, it
would be termed as ra’ay
(opinion) and would be rejected
by Shariah
Conclusion
Hence for final analysis we can say
that, Ijma is important for solving
problems of changing society. It is
the valid secondary source of
Islamic law and it is an agreement
among Mujtahids who belongs to
the Ummah of Muhammad (Peace
Be Upon Him), after his death in a
determined period upon a question
of law.
