IJMA

IJMA

1: INTRODUCTION

‘Ijma’ is the primary sources of the law.

It means determination or consensus. The society which was established by the Holy Quran and Sunnah is a living society so the ALLAH ALMIGHTY gave sanction to the consensus of the Mujtahids to meet the arising needs of the time.

2: MEANING AND DEFINITION OF IJMA

(i) Meaning of ijma:

Ijma is the verbal noun of the Arabic word Ajmaa, it is used in two senses;

1, Determination and resolution

2, Agreement upon a matter

(ii) Definition of ijma:

“ijma is defined as the agreement of the jurists among the followers of Muhammadan in a particular age on a question of law”

3: BASIS OF IJMA

Ijma may be based on:

(i) Quran

(ii) Hadith

(iii) Analogy

4: REASONS IN SUPPORT OF IJMA

ALLAH SUBHANA has completed the Islamic religion and HAZRAT MUHAMMAD (S.A.W) is the last prophet, so it necessarily follows that any rule of law, which is not found to be explicitly laid down in the Quran or by the precepts of the Holy Prophet, must be capable of being deduced from them, so ijma is permitted.

(i) QURANIC VERSES IN SUPPORT OF IJMA

1; “you are the best of men, and it is your duty to order men to do what is right and to forbid them from practicing what is wrong”

2; “obey God and obey the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) and those amongst you who have authority”

3; “if you yourself do not know, then question those who do”

(ii) HADITH IN SUPPORT OF IJMA

1; “my followers will never go wrong”

2; “it is incumbent upon you to follow the most numerous body”

3; “whoever separates himself from the main body will go to hell”

5: KINDS OF IJMA

There are basically two kinds of ijma;

(i) Explicit ijma:

Explicit ijma is one in which the legal opinions of all the jurists of one period coverage in relation to a legal issue, and each of them states his opinion explicitly.

(a) It may take place when all the jurists collectively expressed a unanimous opinion.

(b) It may also take place, when all the jurist in turn of an issue gives similar fatwas independently and at separate time.

(ii) Tacit ijma:

It takes place when some mujtahids issue a verdict on a legal question and rest of the mujtahids come to know of it during the same period, but they keep silent, neither acknowledges it nor refuses it expressly.

6: WHO CAN PERFORM IJMA

Only Muslim Mujtahids or jurists can perform ijma. He must possess the following qualifications.

         i.            Scholar of Quran and Sunnah

       ii.            Knows ‘Qiyas’

      iii.            Expert of Arabic language

     iv.            Impartial thinking

       v.            Well versed with up to date knowledge

     vi.            Knows the principal of ‘Naskh’

    vii.            Conversant with the science of ‘Usual’ and ‘Faru’

  viii.            Competent to expound law

7: CONDITIONS FOR THE VALIDITY OF IJMA

Following are the conditions for the validity of ijma:-

A: Ijma must be performed by Mujtahids.

B: Mujtahids must have unanimous opinion.

C: All the jurists participating in ijma must be Muslims.

D: It should be in a determinate period.

E: It must be upon a rule of law.

F: For the deriving their opinion, mujtahids should relied upon some Sanad (evidence)

8: IJMA NOT CONFINED TO ANY PARTICULAR AGE

According to the accepted four Sunni Schools of thoughts, ijma is not confined to any particular age or country.

9: WHEN IJMA IS COMPLETED

Different Schools of thoughts have different opinions,

1; According to Hanafis and Malikis and most Shafis:-

Ijma is completed as soon as the jurist of the age has come to agreement on the question, and after they have had sufficient time to mature their deliberations.

2; According to Hanbals and Shafis :

It is necessary to wait until the jurists who have participated in ijma have come to an end, in other words, until all of them have died without changed their opinion.

3; According to another report of Hanbals opinion:

Such suspension of ijma is only necessary when analogical deduction, but not when it is founded on texts of the Quran or Hadith.

 10: THE NUMBER OF JURISTS PARTICIPATING IN IJMA

According to Hanafis and Malikis:

The number of jurists need not be large, but there numbers must not be less than three, and according to others not less than two.

11: IJMA AS ASOURCE OF LAW

Ijma is the third source of law, and under the circle of Quran and Sunnah’s delegations many issue can be resolved by ijma:-

1; ijma helps in discovering the law and enforces the principles laid down in the Quran and Sunnah.

2; ijma helps in the interpretation of ‘Sharia’.

3; new legislation can be made by ijma according to Quran Sunnah.

4; first ijma was performed by Muslims in the election of caliphate of ‘Hazrat Abu Bakr’

12: LEGAL EFFETC OF IJMA

According to Hanafis view, the laws laid down by consensus of opinion are authoritative and binding. But in its theological sense, decision of ijma would be absolute authority if it conforms to the following conditions:-

1: no opinion of contrary should have been expressed by companions or mujtahids before the formation of ijma.

2: none of mujtahids taking part in the ijma should have afterwards changed his opinion.

3: the decision must be proved either universally or well-known

4: it should be based on an express text of Quran or a Hadith of continuous or well-known character.

5: it must be regularly constituted.

CONCLUSION

TO conclude, I can say, that Ijma is an essential and characteristic principle of Sunni Jurisprudence, one upon which the Muhammadan Community acted as soon as they were left to their own resources.