Ijma

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A collective consensus reached by qualified Islamic scholars regarding legal or theological matters represents a form of agreement grounded in communal reasoning
2. It denotes a unified stance taken by adept scholars in the Islamic community on specific legal or doctrinal issues through collaborative discourse
3. A consensus achieved through collective deliberation by recognized Islamic scholars on matters of law or theology signifies a shared agreement based on mutual understanding

Etymology: Arabic "ijmāʿ" comes from the verb "ajmaʿa," meaning "to resolve upon" or "to bring together." The same root gives "jamāʿa," a group or congregation, and "jumʿa," the name of the Friday gathering prayer. Agreement was thus understood as people coming together around a single conclusion. In Islamic law, "ijmāʿ" is the consensus of qualified scholars on a legal or doctrinal question. Sunni jurisprudence recognizes it as a source of law alongside the Quran, the Sunnah, and analogical reasoning. One justification for its authority is a saying attributed to the Prophet that his community would not agree on an error. The jurist al-Shāfiʿī, who died in 820, was among the first to set out "ijmāʿ" as a formal principle of legal method. Its exact definition and scope remained debated for centuries afterward.

Synonyms: consensus, agreement