The Difference Between the Consensus of Scholars and Their Agreement

Question:
All right, Shaykh (may Allah preserve you), is it possible to obtain the scholars of our past or present era in a stable state of their agreement in knowing their opinions on issues?

Answer:
It is possible if you organize their books that you obtain the convergence of their opinions, but do not call this ijma' (scholarly consensus), because ijma' means that you follow the opinions of the scholars in the entire world, which is difficult. But if you find a set of statements from the scholars that you have found to be in agreement, you say, "These agreed on such and such," and do not say, "They reached consensus on such and such," because consensus is difficult; it encompasses the statements of the scholars in the entire world, and no scholar is left out. You cannot encompass the scholars of the entire world, but you say, "These are the opinions of those present, and they are considered agreement, not consensus."