⌘ K
In plain terms
Ijma
Checking for an Arabic voice…
The long final vowel is followed by Arabic ayn.
Source entry · Editorial review pending ↗
Ijma is the scholarly consensus of qualified jurists on a point of Islamic law, in a given era. Classical scholarship treats a genuine ijma as strong evidence. How carefully a specific claim of ijma was verified is itself sometimes discussed.
Learn this word in context.
Related terms
Ijtihad
Ijtihad is the disciplined effort a qualified scholar makes to work out a ruling. It applies when a question isn't answered directly by the Qur'an or sunnah. Later scholars can…
Qiyas
Qiyas is analogical reasoning: extending a known ruling to a new case that shares its underlying reason. It is one of the tools scholars use in ijtihad. Two scholars can identify…
Madhhab
A madhhab is an established school of Islamic legal thought, built on a shared method for deriving rulings. The four Sunni schools in wide use today are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i…