Consensus (ijma')

In the lexicon ijma' means resolve, and sometimes agreement. For the usulis it is the agreement of all the mujtahids of the community after the Prophet's time on a matter of law. ¹ It is a definitive proof when the recognised scholars agree that it is a consensus; it is not used to prove what its own validity depends on, such as God's existence or the Prophet's mission. ²

The majority of Sunnis hold that consensus is formed by the agreement of mujtahids; the opinion of others does not count. The disagreement of innovators counts unless their innovation is one that takes them out of the community; the extreme Rafidah, for example, are excluded. ^{1 2}

Consensus is definitive when the recognised scholars agree that it is consensus, and not when they differ, as in a silent consensus or where a dissent is rare. Some doubted that it can be transmitted. ²

Consensus may be used for religious matters, of belief or practice; rational matters are settled by definitive proofs. Every consensus must rest on a text or an analogy, even a hidden one. ²

Consensus cannot abrogate or be abrogated by consensus, since consensus happens only after the Prophet's death. When it contradicts a text, it shows that the text is abrogated. Al-Ghazali ranks consensus above the Qur'an and Sunna in the search for proof; Abu Hashim al-Jubba'i takes it as a proof but not a consensus; al-Shafi'i and others deny that it is a proof. ³

He cites the consensus of the Companions in the matter of fighting those who withheld zakat, and says rulings are taken from the Qur'an, the Sunna and the consensus of the Companions. ⁴ He asks whether Abu Bakr was wrong to fight those who withheld zakat, and says Umar, Ali and others agreed with him. ⁴ (needs_source: the full list of names is not clear in the automatic transcript.)