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Ijma
 
 
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Ijma is an Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 term referring ideally to the consensus
Consensus

Consensus has two common meanings. One is a general Wiktionary:agreement among the members of a given group or community, each of which exercises some discretion in decision making and follow-up action....
 of the ummah
Ummah

Ummah is an Arabic language word meaning "community" or "nation". It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of Islamic state, or the whole Arab world....
 (the community of Muslims, or followers of Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
).

The hadith
Hadith

Hadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad. Hadith collections are regarded by all traditional madhab as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah....
 of Muhammad
Muhammad

Muhammad Patronymic#Arabic Abd Allah ibn Abd al Muttalib , is the founder of the Major religious groups of Islam and is regarded by Muslims as a Rasul and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of prophets....
 which states that "My community will never agree upon an error" is often cited as support for the validity of ijma. Sunni Muslims regard ijma as the third fundamental source of Sharia law, after the divine revelation of the Qur'an
Qur'an

The Qur?an is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur?an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God....
, the prophetic practice or Sunnah
Sunnah

Sunnah literally means ?trodden path,? and therefore, the sunnah of the prophet means ?the way and the manners of the prophet?. The word ?Sunnah? in Sunni Islam means those religious achievements and manners that were instituted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad during the 23 years of his ministry, which Muslims initially obtained through cons...
.






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Ijma is an Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 term referring ideally to the consensus
Consensus

Consensus has two common meanings. One is a general Wiktionary:agreement among the members of a given group or community, each of which exercises some discretion in decision making and follow-up action....
 of the ummah
Ummah

Ummah is an Arabic language word meaning "community" or "nation". It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of Islamic state, or the whole Arab world....
 (the community of Muslims, or followers of Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
).

The hadith
Hadith

Hadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad. Hadith collections are regarded by all traditional madhab as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah....
 of Muhammad
Muhammad

Muhammad Patronymic#Arabic Abd Allah ibn Abd al Muttalib , is the founder of the Major religious groups of Islam and is regarded by Muslims as a Rasul and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of prophets....
 which states that "My community will never agree upon an error" is often cited as support for the validity of ijma. Sunni Muslims regard ijma as the third fundamental source of Sharia law, after the divine revelation of the Qur'an
Qur'an

The Qur?an is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur?an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God....
, the prophetic practice or Sunnah
Sunnah

Sunnah literally means ?trodden path,? and therefore, the sunnah of the prophet means ?the way and the manners of the prophet?. The word ?Sunnah? in Sunni Islam means those religious achievements and manners that were instituted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad during the 23 years of his ministry, which Muslims initially obtained through cons...
. The analogical reasoning or qiyas
Qiyas

In Sunni Fiqh,the qiyas is the process of Analogy in which the teachings of the Quran are compared and contrasted with those of the Hadith, ie....
 is described as fourth source in Sunni Islam, whereas Shi'a Islam uses 'aql
'Aql

?Aql , is an Islamic concept referring to natural human knowledge in Islamic theology or to intellect in Islamic philosophy. In Islamic jurisprudence, it is associated with using reason as a source for sharia "religious law" and has been translated as "dialectical reasoning"....
 (intellect). Many conservative Muslim writers have claimed that the use of ijma' makes Islamic law compatible with democracy
Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek language d?????at?a , "popular government" which was coined from d???? , "people" and ???t?? , "rule, strength" in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political syst...
. Usuli Shia accepts Ijam under restricted conditions as a source of Islamic law
Sources of Islamic law

Various sources of Islamic law are used by Fiqh to elucidate the Sharia, the body of Islamic law. The primary sources, accepted universally by all Muslims, are the Qur'an and Sunnah....
. Technically it is “the unanimous doctrine and opinion of the recognized religious authorities at any given time”.

Various proponents of liberal movements within Islam
Liberal movements within Islam

progressivism Muslims have produced a considerable body of liberalism within Islam . These movements share a philosophy that depends largely on ijtihad....
 criticize the traditional view that ijma' is only a consensus among traditional Islamic scholars (Arabic ulema
Ulema

Ulema refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of Sharia law....
). They claim that truly democratic consensus should involve the entire community rather than a small and conservative clerical class, especially since there is no hierarchical system in Islam.

See also

  • Islamic democracy
    Islamic democracy

    Known as Islamic democracy, two kinds of democratic states can be recognized in the Islamic countries. The basis of this distinction has to do with how comprehensively Islam is incorporated into the affairs of the state....
  • Deliberative democracy
    Deliberative democracy

    Deliberative democracy, also sometimes called discursive democracy, is a term used by some political theorys, to refer to any system of political decisions based on some tradeoff of direct democracy and representative democracy that relies on citizen deliberation to make sound policy....
  • Precedent
    Precedent

    In common law Legal systems of the world, a precedent or authority is a legal case establishing a principle or rule that a court or other judicial body adopts when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts....
  • Qiyas
    Qiyas

    In Sunni Fiqh,the qiyas is the process of Analogy in which the teachings of the Quran are compared and contrasted with those of the Hadith, ie....
  • Ijtihad
    Ijtihad

    Ijtihad is a technical term of Sharia that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources, the Qur'an and the Sunnah....
  • Ulema
    Ulema

    Ulema refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of Sharia law....
  • Usul al-fiqh
    Usul al-fiqh

    Uṣul al-fiqh is a term which literally translates to the roots of the law and refers to the study of the origins, sources, and practice of fiqh....
  • Ashab al-Ijma'


External links

  • by Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq