is impossible, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “My community will never agree upon misguidance.” A consensus of that sort exists only in the realm of thought and imagination; it has no footing in reality.

Abū Muḥammad Ibn Ḥazm, may Allah have mercy on him, writes in Al-uṣūl wa-l-aḥkām (2/71–72):

“Some of our scholars have entertained the idea that an authentic hadith from the Prophet ﷺ might reach us while the consensus is contrary to it, claiming that this would prove the hadith to be abrogated. In our judgment, this is a manifest and certain error, for two decisive, self-evident reasons:

1. The coexistence of an authentic hadith and a consensus that contradicts it is non-existent; it has never occurred, nor does it exist anywhere in the world. Whoever asserts otherwise must produce an example—yet, by Allah, he will never be able to do so.

2. Allah the Exalted has said, “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder, and indeed, We will be its guardian” (15:9). Everyone who believes in Allah and the Last Day is sure that whatever Allah has pledged to preserve can never be lost; no Muslim doubts this. All of the Prophet’s ﷺ speech is revelation, as Allah Most High says: “Nor does he speak from his own desire; it is only revelation revealed” (53:3–4). And by unanimous agreement of the entire ummah, revelation is part of that Reminder.”