CHAPTER VIII: Ijma or Consensus of Opinion

Unlike the Qur’an and Sunnah, ijma does not directly partake in divine revelation.

As a doctrine of proof of Shari’ah, ijma is basically a rational proof.

It is a binding proof.

What is ijma?

a. Ijma is the verbal noun of the Arabic word ajima’a which has two meanings, to determine and to agree upon something.

b. Ijma is defined as the unanimous agreement of the mujtahidun of the Muslim community of any period following the demise of the Prophet Muhammad on any matter.

- it would be no account if a mujtahid or a number of mujtahidun become available only after the occurrence of the incident.

- Ijma derives its validity from the nusus on the infallibility (ismah) of the ummah.

- Matters of practical type which do not partake in the nature of the tashri (legislation) do not constitute the proper subject of ijma.

Ex: The agreement of the Companions to send out troops to Syria or to Persia, or their agreement on setting up certain government department, etc., did not constitute ijma. - for these were practical decisions which were valid in connection with particular circumstancesand they did not bind the succeeding generations of Muslims.

c. Ijma can only occur after the demise of the Prophet.-For during his lifetime, the Prophet alone was the highest authority in Shariah hence, the agreement or disagreement of others did not affect the overriding authority of the prophet.-following the demise of the Prophet, the Companions used t consult each other over the problems the encountered and their collective agreement was accepted by the community.

d. Ijma plays a crucial role in the development of Shariah.

-since ijma reflects the natural evolution and acceptance of ideas in the life of the community, the basic notion of ijma can never be expected to discontinue.

e. Ijma ensures the correct interpretation of the Qur’an, the faithful understanding and transmission of the Sunnah and the legitimate use of ijtihad.-only the ijma can put an end to doubt and when it throws its weight behind a ruling, it becomes decisive and infallible.-ijma has primarily been regarded as the instrument of conservationism and of preserving the heritage of the past.

f. Ijma enhances the authority of rules which are f speculative origin.-speculative rules do not carry an binding force, but once an ijma is held in their favor, they become definitive and binding.

g. Ijma represents authority.-once and ijma is established it tends to become authority in its own right, and its roots in the primary sources are gradually weakened or even lost.

Essential Requirements (Arkan) of Ijma

Ruling so agreed upon is the correct and authoritative ruling of Shariah, provided that the following conditions are fulfilled:

1. That there are a number of mujtahidun available at the time when the issue is encountered.

2. According to the majority of the ulema, unanimity is a prerequisite to ijma.-all mujtahidun regardless of their locality, race, color, and school of the following, must reach a consensus on a juridical opinion at the time an issue arises.

3. The agreement of the mujtahidun must be demonstrated by their expressed opinion on a particular issue.

4. As a corollary of the second above, ijma consists of the agreement of all the mujtahidun and not a mere majority of them.

Proof (Hujjiyah) of Ijma

1. Ijma in the Qur’an:- The Qur’an is explicit on the

requirement of obedience to God,

to His Messenger and those who are in charged of affairs, the ulu al-amr.

- It is also suggested that this ayah lends support to the infallibility of ijma.

2. The Sunnah on ijma

- The Hadith which is most frequently quoted in support of ijma reads: “My community shall never agree on an error.”

- Leading figures among the Companions such as Umar b. al-Khattab, Abdullah b. Mas’u, etc. have reported ahadith which include the following:

1. My community shall never agree upon an error (al-Khata);

2. God will not let my community agree upon an error;

3. I beseeched God Almighty not to bring my community to the point of agreeing in dalala and He granted me this;

4. Those who seek the joy of residing in Paradise will follow the community. For the Satan can chase an individual but he stands farther away from two;

5. The hand of God is with the community and (its safety) is not endangered by isolated oppositions;

6. Whoever leaves the community or separates himself from it by the length of a span is breaking his bond with Islam;

7. A group of my ummah shall continue to remain on the right path. They will be the dominant force and will not be harmed by the opposition of the dissenters;

8. Whoever separates himself from the community and dies, dies the death of ignorance.

Ahmad Hasan elaborates that:a. There was no idea of ijma as a doctrine of

jurisprudence in the early period;b. The jurists could not determine a definite

meaning for ‘ummah’ or ‘jama’ah’; andc. Ahadith which convey a general meaning

should not be restricted to a particular point of view.

Feasibility of Ijma A number of ulema including the

Mu’tazili leader, Ibrahim al-

Nazzam and some Shi’i ulema have held that ijma in the way defined by the jumhur ulema is not feasible.

Abd al- Wahhab Khallaf is of the view that ijma in accordance with its classical definition is not feasible in modern times.

Types of Ijma

From the viewpoint of the manner of its occurrence, ijma is divided into two types as follows:

1. Explicit ijma (al-ijma al-sarih) in which every mujtahid express his opinion either verbally or by action;

- According to the jumhur ulema, explicit ijma is definitive and binding.

2. Tacit ijma (al-ijma al-sukuti) wherein

some of the mujtahidun of a particular age given an expressed opinion concerning an incident but the rest remain silent;

- Tacit ijma is a presumptive ijma which only creates a probability (zann) but does not preclude the possibility of fresh ijtihad on the same issue.

- Does not imply the definite agreenebr of all its participants, the ulema have differed over its authority as a proof.

- Hanafis have considered tacit ijma to be a proof provided it is established that the mujtahid who has remained silent had known of the opinion of other mujtahidun and then had ample time to investigate and to express an opinion but he chose to remain silent.

The Hanafis draw a disticntion between the concession (rukhsah) and strict rule (azimah) and consider tacit ijma to be valid only with regard to the former.- in order to establish a strict rule , ijma must be definitely stated or expressed by an act.

Basis (Sanad) of IjmaAccording to the majority of the ulema,

ijma must be founded in a textual authority or in ijtihad. The ulema are in agreement that ijma may be based on Qur’an or the Sunnah.

The is, however, disagreement as to whether ijma can be based on a ruling in the secondary proofs such as qiyas or maslahah.

Three views:

1. Ijma may not be founded on qiyas, for the simple reason that qiyas itself is subject to a variety of doubts.

2. Qiyas in all of its varieties may from the basis of consensus.

- Relying on qiyas is therefore equivalent to relying the nass , and when the ijma is based on a qiyas , it relies not on the personal views of the mujtahidun but on the nass of the Shariah.

3. When the effective cause (illah) of qiyas is clearly stated in the nass or when the illah is indisputably obvious, then qiyas is hidden and no clear indication could be found on it in the nusus, then it cannot form a sound foundation of ijma.

Example of ijma which is founded in analogy:

a. The father is entitled to guardianship over the person and property of his minor child. By ijma this right is also established for the grandfather regarding his minor grandchild.

b. The assignment of punishment for wine-drinking (shurb). This penalty is fixed at eighty lashes and an ijma has been claimed in its support. Ali b. Abu Talib drew an analogy between shurb and slanderous accusation (qadhf). Since shurb can lead to qadhf , the prescribed penalty for the latter was, by an analogy, assigned to the former.

Transmission of Ijma

-Nature of the evidence by which the fact that a particular question has been determined by ijma may be proved. From this perspective, ijma is divided into two types:

1. acquired (muhassal) - concluded with the direct participation of the mujtahid without the mediation of reporters or transmitters.

-the mujtahid thus gains direct knowledge of the opinions of other mujtahidun when they all reach a consensus on a ruling

2. transmitted (manqul)- established by means of reports which may be wither solitary (ahad) or conclusive (mutawatir).

- In case of transmission by tawatur , there is no problem of proof, and ijma which transmitted by tawatur is proven in the same way as acquired ijma.

Reform Proposals

The modern critics of ijma consider that ijma according to its classical definition fails to relate to the search for finding solutions to the problems of the community in modern times. The ijma is retrospective and too slow a process to accommodate the problems of social change.

Dihlawi overruled the notion of universal consensus in favor of relative ijma. He is also critical of he interpretation that is given to the ahadith concerning ijma. Ijma in other words does not mean a universal agreement but only the consensus of a limited number of mujtahidun.

Muhammad Iqbal retains the binding character of ijma only in so far as it relates to points of facts but now with regards to ijma that is based or juridical ijma. This distinction between that factual and juridical ijma will presumably not apply to the ijma that is Iqbal has proposed: the collective decisions of the legislative assembly will naturally be binding on points of law.