❖ Can Consensus (Ijma‘) Be Established Against the Qur’an and Sunnah?
Source: Fatawa Amun Puri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amun Puri
❀ Question:
Can ijma‘ (consensus) be established in opposition to the Qur’an and Sunnah?
❀ Answer:
The consensus of the Ummah is a truth, and it is the third fundamental source of religion. No consensus can ever be formed against the clear texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah. There has never been any ijma‘ in contradiction to them, because ijma‘ is protected from error, and Allah never gathers the entire Ummah upon misguidance.
❀ Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (d. 728H) said:
الإجماع الصحيح لا يعارض كتابا ولا سنة
“Authentic (valid) consensus can never oppose the Qur’an or the Sunnah.”
(Majmu‘ al-Fatawa, 19/202)
