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Types of ijma'
Explicit (ijma' 'azima or ijma' qawli). This type of ijma' takes place as
follows: A question arises and people express their different views. Then there is
discussion on these views and finally a common position is agreed upon.(13)
Absolute (ijma' qat'i). This is ijma' on a matter in which there never has
been any sustained difference (ikhtilaf mustaqar) and which is established with
tawatur (continuity), that is, we can show that all generations of Muslims or
Muslim mujtahidin agreed on the matter.(16)
ii. Ijma' is only an argument for a view but not a conclusive proof.(18)
b. It is not possible for ijma' to take place without sanad from the Qur'an or
Hadith. (Qiyas cannot be a basis for ijma'.)(26)
d. It is possible for ijma' to take place without any sanad from the Qur'an,
Hadith, or qiyas.(28)
In the books of fiqh there are many rulings for which no sanad is found anywhere.
Those who believe that ijma' is possible with sanad explain this by saying that
isnad for these rulings once existed but are now lost.
Another issue raised in connection with ijma' is as follows:
If in an age jurists held one or the other of two (ijma' ala qawlayn) or more
views, it is permissible to hold a view different from these two or more views.
For example, if a man leaves only a grandfather and a brother as his inheritors,
then there are found only two opinions concerning their shares. First, the two
will share inheritance equally. Second, all inheritance will go to the
grandfather. Is it possible to have a third opinion?
According to al-Amdi the answer is negative for a majority of jurists and positive
for some shi'a, some Hanafi jurists and some ahl al-zahir (people who reject
qiyas).(29)
According to Sadr al-Shari'ah hanafi jurists agree that ijma' of suhaba on two or
more views on a matter binds us to stay within those views but they disagree
concerning the ages after the suhaba.(30)
2. The need to form an Islamic society capable of taking unified action when
such action is required.
Now basic Islamic teachings can be known easily from the Qur'an and Hadith,
especially if a person is endowed with iman. The Qur'an says:
"We have made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember, so is there any to pay
heed." (54:17)
However, in some details uncertainty can arise due to the following factors:
i. Like most statements, no matter how clear, the verses of the Qur'an and
ahadith of the Prophet can be often understood in more than one way.
ii. It may not be possible to uniquely determine which Qur'anic verses and
prophetic ahadith are applicable to a given question and in which order.
iii. It may not be certain whether some applicable ahadith are authentic or not.
iv. The Qur'an and Hadith may not contain answers to questions faced a long
period after the revelation and so people come up with their own different answers
by qiyas (analogy) or by other less than completely objective approaches.
Now, as far as individuals are concerned, they can still lead righteous lives
despite different possible answers to some questions of detail, as indeed Muslims
have done throughout history. The Qur'an guarantees that everyone who has ikhlas
(sincerity, honesty) and strives in the way of God (which includes controlling
one's desires, obeying the clear commandments and practicing dhikr and fikr, that
is, remembrance of God and thinking and reflecting) will be protected from the
devil, that is, going astray and will be shown the path of God:
"And (the devil) said: By Your honor (O Lord) I will lead them all astray except
such among Your servants as are sincere." (38:83)
"And those who exert effort in Our way we show them Our paths and God is surely
with the good." (29:69)
So, individuals will be able to find the way of God despite differences in matters
of detail. However, often a need is felt by Muslims for collective, united, action
and in such cases differences in views can be crippling. This is why the
establishment of Islamic states in Muslim countries has been found very difficult.
In fact, it can be said without hesitation that after the time of four rightly
guided khulafa Islam has largely existed as a way of life of individuals and not
of societies. Yet it is clearly an intention of Islam to shape both individuals
and societies according to its principles.
One of the purposes of ijma' is to limit differences and to prevent them from
disintegrating the Muslim society. This role of ijma' is comparable to the role of
the Pope in Catholicism. But ijma' has not been as effective in ensuring cohesion
of the society and in providing answers to new questions. This is because ijma' is
itself subject to differences of views, as we have seen above. Furthermore, it is
often extremely difficult to know whether or not ijma' on a matter has taken
place, so much so that Imam Ahmad bin Hambal reportedly used to say that anyone
claiming ijma' (after the age of suhaba) is a liar.(40) In other words, we do not
know exactly what ijma' is or what it is saying. In contrast, those who believe in
papacy can know both who the Pope is and what he is saying.
This, of course, does not mean that Muslims should adopt something like the
institution of papacy. The idea of a priestly hierarchy having an exclusive right
to define religious doctrines and rules and given obedience as infallible is
totally against the grain of Islam and is apparently condemned as shirk in the
Qur'an:
"And (Jews and Christians) take their ahbar (priests) and ruhban (monks, saints)
as lords besides God" (9:31)
Indeed, history shows that an institution like that of papacy can, along with
cohesion and continuity in the life of a group, cause untold repression and plunge
a society in the uttermost depths of darkness.
So, how can we achieve maximum enlightenment and freedom of thought and conscience
along with cohesion and continuity? By following four well-known Islamic
principles:
1. Khilafa, institution of an Islamic government
2. Shura, government by consultation
3. Sawad al-a'zam, rule by majority
4. Amr bi al-ma'ruf wa nahi 'an al-mukar, enjoining right and forbidding wrong.
These four principles require the following mode for the functioning of a suhaba
on "decisions". These always concerned legal rulings, state policies, strategies
for war, etc. In the interpretation of Qur'an and Hadith we can encounter purely
theological questions (e.g. whether the ascension of Jesus was physical or
spiritual). On such questions ijma' of suhaba has been seldom demonstrated, if at
all.
Whatever has been said above about ijma' suhaba also applies to ijma' qat'i.
No other type of ijma' by itself constitutes a conclusive historical argument that
a certain position is Islamic. Most ijma'at do carry weight but how much weight
will depend on direct evidence from Qur'an and Hadith and other relevant
considerations.
________________________________________
Notes
1. Sadr al-Shari'ah 'Ubayd Allah, Tanqih wa Sharh al-Tawdih (Egypt, 1957), II,
211.
2. 'Abd al-Wahhab Taj al-Din ibn al-Subki, Jam' al-Jawani' (Cairo: Mustafa al Babi
al-Halbi), second edition, II, 176.
3. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Shafi'i according to Muhammad al-Shawkani, Irshad al-
Fahul ila Tahqiq al-Haqq min 'Ilm al-Usul (Cairo: Mustafa al-Babi al-Halbi,
1356H/1937), first edition, 83.
4. Qadi Abu Bakr Baqalani according to: 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Bukhari, Kashf al-Israr
Sharh Bazdwi (Egypt), iii, 237-239.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid, III, 238.
7. al-Tabari and Abu Bakr Razi according to: Sayf al-Din al-Amdi, Ahkam al-Ahkam
(Egypt: Muhammad Ali Sabih, 1347H), I, i20.
8. This view is held by Khawarij who consider themselves as mu'minin. See Jamal
al-Din al-Asmawi, Nihaya al-Sawal fi Sharh Minhaj (Egypt: al-Maktaba al-Mahmudiyya
al-Tijara, 1340H), II, 233-234.
9. Da' ud Zahiri according to: al-Amdi, op. cit. I, 117.
10.al-Amdi, op. cit., I, 125 and Muhammad Yahya ibn Shaykh Aman, Nuzha al-Mushtaq
(Egypt: Matba' Hijazi, 1370H/195), 598.
11. al-Amdi, op. cit., I, 124.
12. al-Amdi, op. cit., I, 127.
13. Shah Wali Allah, Qura al-'aynayn fi Tafsil al-Shaykhayn (Dheli: Mujtaba'i,
1310H) 251-255. Also see: Muhammad Abu Zahra, Imam Ahmad bin Hambal, 267-268.
14. al-Shawkani, op. cit., 84.
15. Abu Zahra, op. cit., 267-268.
16. 'Abn al-'Ala, Fawatih al-Rahmuwat, (Bulaq, 1325H), II, 143.
17. al-Shawkani, op. cit., 78.
18. al-Amdi, op. cit., 79. Shi'a also hold the same view. For them ijma' has no
authority unless it is supported by qawl ma'sum (word of an infallible imam) which
is authoritative anyway (al-Bukhari, op. cit., III, 252).
19. Some hanafi jurists and Imam Bazdwi according to: al-Amdi, op. cit., 79.
20. Da'ud Zahiri, Abu Bakr Baqlani according to: al-Bukhari, op. cit., 84.
21. al-Shawkani. op. cit., 84.
22. al-Bukhari, op. cit., III, 228.
23. Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali,al-Mustasfa min 'Ilm al-Usul (Bulaq, 1325H),
I,191
24. Shams al-Din ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, 'Ilam al-Mu'qi'in 'an Rabb al-'Alamin
(Dheli), I, 32-33; II, 235.
25. al-Amdi, op. cit., I, 135. Shah Wali Allah says in Hujjat Allah al-Baligha
(Egypt: 1352H), I, 121 that an ijma' without sanad will become a cause of tahrif
(corruption) in religion as in the case of Jews and Christians.
26. al-Shawkani, op. cit., 79-80.
27. & 28. Ibid
29. Op. cit., I, 137.
30. Op. cit., II, 42.
31. al-Amdi, op. cit., I, 144; and Sa'd al-Din Mas'ud al-Taftazani, al-Talwih 'ala
al-Tawdih (Egypt: Muhammad Ali al-Sahih, 1957), II, 47.
32. See Muhammad Amin al-Husayni, al-Taysir al-Tahrir (Egypt: Mustafa al-Babi al-
Halbi, 1351H), III, 258.
33. Op. cit., II, 48-51.
34. Op. cit., II, 50.
35. Op. cit., I, 175.
36. al-Insaf fi Bayan Sabab al-Ikhtilaf (Dheli: Mujtabai, 1935), I, 118-119.
37. See Qadi Taqi al-Din and 'Abd al-Wahhab, al-Ibhaj fi Sharh al-Minhaj (Egypt:
al-Maktaba al-Mahmudiyya al-Tijariyya, 1340H), II, 239-240.
38. Op. cit., 576.
39. al-Amdi, op. cit., I, 120.
40. Ibn al-Qayyin al-Jawziyya, op. cit., 32-33.