Section on Consensus
Definition of ijmāʿ:
First: Linguistic usage. Al-Rāzī says in al-Maḥṣūl (4/20, 19): “The word ijmāʿ is employed, by way of homonymy, with two meanings:
- Firm resolve (1). Allah the Exalted says: ‘So resolve upon your plan’ (Yūnus 10:71). And it is narrated, ‘There is no fast for the one who did not resolve (ijmaʿa) to fast during the night’ (2).
- Agreement. One says ajmaʿa al-rajul when a person acquires collective agreement, just as it is said alban and atamara when he comes to possess milk or dates. Hence our expression ijmaʿū ʿalā kadha, “Agree upon such-and-such,” means that they all became united in their agreement on it …”
Al-Shawkānī cites this passage in Irshād al-Fuḥūl (p. 131) and then remarks: “An objection was raised that ijmāʿ of the Ummah is governed by the preposition ʿalā, whereas ijmāʿ in the sense of determination is not. The answer is what Ibn Fāris recorded in al-Maqāyīs: one may say ajmaʿtu ʿalā al-amr ijmāʿan and also ajmaʿtuhu. Al-Ghazālī likewise affirmed that the term is shared between the two meanings. The Qāḍī said: determination ultimately returns to agreement, for whoever agrees upon a matter has resolved upon it. Ibn Burhān and Ibn al-Samʿānī held that the first meaning—determination—is closer to the language, while the second—agreement—is closer to the legal usage …”
Muhibb Allāh al-Shakūr notes in Musallam al-Thubūt (2/211) that both senses “spring from the idea of gathering: determination gathers the thoughts, and agreement gathers the opinions.”
Second: Technical usage. Al-Taftāzānī defines ijmāʿ in Sharḥ al-Talwīḥ ʿalā al-Tawḍīḥ (2/82) as “The concurrence of the mujtahid scholars of the community of Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on them) in a single era upon a particular legal ruling, and what is meant…"