Ijma or Consensus of Opinion
Table of Contents
Ijma or Consensus of Opinion
Introduction
It
must be noted at the outset that unlike the Qur'an and Sunnah, ijma does not
directly partake in divine revelation. As a doctrine and proof of Shari'ah,
ijma' is basically a rational proof. The theory of ijma' is also clear on the
point that it is a binding proof. But it seems that the very nature of this
high status that is accorded to ijma` has demanded that only an absolute and
universal consensus would qualify although absolute consensus on the rational
content of ijma' has often been difficult to obtain.
a) Meaning
Ijma
is the verbal noun of the Arabic word ajma'a, which has two meanings:
a.
To determine,
This usage of ajma`a can be found in the Qur'an in the
phrase fajma'u amrakum which occurs in sura Yunus (10:71) means “determine your
plan”. Similarly fajma'u kaydakum in sura Taha (20:64), where the Prophet Noah
addresses his estranged followers, means “determine your trick”.
b.
To agree upon
something,
The
second meaning of ijma often subsumes the first, in that whenever there is a unanimous
agreement on something, there is also a decision on that matter.
b) Definition
It
can be 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. Or,
·
The consensus
of mujtahids from Ummah of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w after his demise in a
determined period upon a rule of Islamic Law.
c) Growth
In
all probability, ijma` occurred for the first time among the Companions in the
city of Madinah. After the Companions, this leadership role passed on to the
next generation, the Successors (tabi'un) and then to the second generation of
Successors, and when they differ which eventually fertile the ground for
development of Ijma.
Scope of Ijma
By taking first above mentioned
definition,
·
Firstly the
reference to the mujtahidun precludes the agreement of laymen from the purview
of ijma.
·
Secondly any period,
is meant a period in which there exist a number of mujtahidun in one time.
·
Thirdly to any
matter implies that ijma` applies to all juridical (shar'i), intellectual
(aqli), customary (urfi,) and linguistic (lughawi) matters.
·
Fourthly ijma'
can only occur after the demise of the Prophet.
The
essence of Ijma lies in the natural growth of ideas. Some ulema have confined
ijma' to religious, and others to shar'i matters, but the majority of ulema do
not restrict ijma to either.
Ijma can also
not be invoked in support of such subjects as the existence of God or the truth
of the prophet hood of Muhammad. Matters of a practical type e.g. the agreement
to send out troops to Syria is out of scope of Ijma.
a) Importance and Halt of Ijma
Ijma'
plays a crucial role in the development of Shari'ah. The existing body of fiqh
is the product of a long process of ijtihad and ijma`. And the idea that ijma`
came to a halt after the first three generations following the advent of Islam
seems to be a byproduct of the phenomenon known as the closure of the gate of
ijtihad. This is, however, no more than a superficial equation, as ijma'
continued to play a role in consolidating and unifying the law after the
supposed termination of ijtihad.
Importance
·
Ijma' ensures
the correct interpretation of the Qur'an.
·
It is the
instrument of conservatism and of preserving the heritage of the past.
·
ijma` is also
an instrument of tolerance and of the evolution of ideas.
·
Ijma` enhances
the authority of Speculative rules which do not carry a binding force, but once
an ijma `is held in their favour, they become binding. For example, the
prohibition of simultaneous marriage to the close relatives of one's wife,
despite the fact that the basis of this ijma` is a solitary Hadith which
prohibits simultaneous marriage to the maternal or paternal aunt of one's wife.
·
And lastly,
ijma` represents authority. Once an ijma is established it tends to become an
authority.
Essential requirements of Ijma
The above mentioned definitions of
Ijma shows that there are some essentials requirements for a valid Ijma, which
are summarised as under;
1.
The
agreement must take place among mujtahids
2.
The
agreement must be unanimous
3.
All
mujtahids must be from Ummah of Muhammad s.a.w
4.
The
agreement must after the demise of Prophet s.a.w
5.
The
agreement must be among mujtahids of single determined period.
6.
The
agreement must be upon a rule of law i.e. hukm shari.
7.
The
mujtahids should relied upon a sanad.
There are some additional
requirements which are summarised as;
·
Number
of mujtahidun available at the time of issue.
·
Unanimity
is a prerequisite of ijma.
·
The
agreement of the mujtahidun must be demonstrated by their expressed opinion.
·
Ijma must
consists of the agreement of all the mujtahidun, and not a mere majority among
them. But as Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and Shah Wali Allah, ijma' may be concluded by a
majority opinion.
Proof of Ijma
What
proof is there that ijma' is a source of law? The ulema have sought to justify ijma
on the authority of the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and reason.
a) Ijma in the Quran
The
Quran (al-Nisa 4:59) is explicit on the requirement of obedience to God, to His
Messenger, and “those who are in charge of affairs”, the ulu al amr, as under;
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“O you who believe! Obey Allâh and obey the Messenger (Muhammad
SAW), and those of you (Muslims) who are in authority”.
The
word ‘amr’ in this context is general and would thus include both
secular and religious affairs. The former is discharged by the political
rulers, whereas the latter is discharged by the ulema.
Further support for Ijma is in sura al-Nisa' (4:83) provides:
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“If
they would only refer it to the Messenger and those among them who hold
command, those of them who investigate matters would have known about it”.
Which once again confirms the authority of the ulu al-amr next to
the Prophet himself.
The
one ayah which is most frequently quoted in support of ijma' occurs in sura
al-Nisa' (4:115), which is as follows;
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“And
anyone who splits off from the Messenger after the guidance has become clear to
him and follows a way other than that of the believers, We shall leave him in
the path he has chosen, and land him in Hell. What an evil refuge”.
In
this ayah “The way of the believers” and “agreement and the way that they have
chosen”, refers to the consensus. And departing from believers is forbidden.
Al-Shafi`i
has drawn the conclusion that this ayah provides a clear authority for ijma. And
Following a path other than that of the believers', according to both al-Suyuti
and al-Shawkani, means abandoning Islam.
Further Al-'Imran
(3:102):
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“Cling
firmly together to God's rope and do not separate”. This ayah obviously forbids
separation (tafarruq).
b) The Sunnah on Ijma
The Hadith which is most frequently quoted in support of ijma reads;
“My community shall never agree on an error”
But Al-Ghazali has pointed out that this Hadith is not mutawatir, and
as such, it is not an absolute authority like the Qur'an.
Albeit
that Leading figures among the Companions such as 'Umar b. al-Khattab,
`Abdullah b. Mas'ud, Anas b. Malik. `Abdullah b. Umar have reported ahadith in
favour of Ijma, which includes the following;
·
“God will not
let my community agree upon an error”.
·
“A group of my
ummah shall continue to remain on the right path”.
·
“Whoever
separates himself from the community and dies, dies the death of ignorance”.
Although
the foregoing ahadith are all Ahad and could be subjected to doubt if taken
individually, their collective import may, nevertheless, not be denied.
c) Rational arguments on Ijma
Notwithstanding
the doubts and uncertainties in the nusus, the majority of ulema have concluded
that the consensus of all the mujtahidun is a sure indication that the word of
truth has prevailed over their differences.
Further
consensus upon a shar'i ruling is bound to be founded on sound ijtihad, and since
ijtihad is founded on sound authority in the first place, the unanimous
agreement of all the mujtahidun on a particular ruling indicates that there is
clear authority in the Shari'ah to sustain their consensus.
From the viewpoint of the manner of its occurrence, ijma is
divided into two types:
a) Explicit ijma;
In
which every mujtahid expresses his opinion either verbally or by an action. Explicit
ijma is definitive and binding. This may happen when all gather in one session
and collectively express a unanimous opinion.
b) Tacit ijma;
Whereby
some of the mujtahidun of a particular age give an expressed opinion concerning
an incident while the rest remain silent. Tacit ijma' is a presumptive ijma and
since tacit ijma` does not imply the definite agreement of all its
participants, the Ulema have differed over its authority as a proof, i.e.
including Al-shafi.
But
the Hanafis have considered tacit ijma to be a proof provided that the mujtahid
who has remained silent had known of the opinion and even then still chose to
remain silent.
Basis (Sanad) of Ijma
According to
the majority if ulema, ijma must be founded in a textual authority or in
ijtihad and are in agreement that ijma may be based on the Qur'an or the
Sunnah. But disagreement is as to whether ijma can be based on a ruling in the
secondary proofs such as qiyas or maslahah.
There
are three views on this point;
1.
The first of
which is that ijma may not be founded on qiyas, because in all cases Companion
are known to have reached a consensus, at the root of it there has been some
authority in the primary sources.
2.
The second view
is qiyas may form the basis of consensus. For qiyas itself consists of an
analogy to the nass and relying on qiyas is therefore equivalent to relying on
the nass.
3.
The third view
on this subject is that when the effective cause (illah) of qiyas is clearly
stated in the nass, then qiyas may validly form the bases of ijma.
Non-feasibility of Ijma, a reason to halt
Some
Shi'i ulema, held that ijma as defined by the jumhur ulema is not feasible
because the mujtahids would normally be located in distant places, cities and
continents, access to all of them and obtaining their views is beyond the
bounds of practicality.
Further the difficulties
are also encountered in distinguishing a mujtahid from a non-mujtahid i.e.
absence of clear criteria concerning the attributes of a mujtahid.
a) Consequences
It
is mainly due to these reasons that;
·
Imam Shafi'i
confines the occurrence of ijma to the obligatory duties alone.
·
Ahmad ibn
Hanbal ijma refers to the consensus of the Companions alone.
·
Imam Malik
confines ijma to the people of Madinah, and
·
The Shi'ah
Imamiyyah recognise only the agreement of the members of the Prophet's family
(ahl al-bayt).
Apart
from all these obstacles, today its feasibility can be made easier by the
ruling authorities, i.e. by governments through specifying certain conditions,
procedures and criteria of Mujtahid.
Proposed Reforms
According to
the modern critics, Ijma fails to find its place as a solution for the modern
problems of community, because it is too slow process and cannot cope with social
changes. The obvious reason is its feasibility.
Muhammad
Iqbal in his book “Reconstruction” is primarily concerned with the
question of how to utilise the potentials of ijma modern statutory legislation.
He considers it largely theoretical.
He
writes;
“It
is strange, that this important notion rarely assumed the form of a permanent
institution”.
He
then suggests that the transfer of the power of ijtihad from individual
representatives of schools to a Muslim legislative assembly is the only
possible form ijma can take in modern times.
Iqbal's
proposed reform has been fairly widely supported by other scholars as well, but
at same time been criticised on other grounds. S. M. Yusuf has observed that
Iqbal was mistaken in trying to convert ijma` into a modern legislative
institution. He argues that ijtihad and ijma have never been the prerogatives
of a political organisation and it is non-transferable e.g. through elections.
Ahmad Hasan
observes that;
“Dr
Yusuf has probably not understood Iqbal's view correctly”. And he finds Iqbal's
view Ijtihad today cannot be exercised in isolation. Modern conditions demand
that it should be exercised collectively and goes on to point out that the
legislative assembly is `the right place' for the purpose of collective ijtihad.
So
concluding the topic here by pointing that, although classical definition of
Ijma is discouraging diversity, but this is no justification to put Ijma in
halt. The gap between the theory and practice of Shariah has already grown to
alarming position and what requires is to respect, chanalised, legalize, and
freedom of opinion should be vouchsafed the participants of Ijma. This
challenge has to be met, not through laissez faire attitude but by judicious
attitude by protecting and respecting freedom of opinion.
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