Clarification of the Meaning of Ijma' and the Decisions of the Fiqh Assemblies
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
And what constitutes ijma' is the consensus of the scholars of the various sects on a ruling of the Shari'ah. For example, if you look at the fatwas, they are issued from the perspective of following precedent. There are types of fatwas; for instance, the members of a committee may have agreed on the permissibility of something. When I asked one of the scholars, he said, "This is haram (forbidden)" or "This is not permissible." If you were present in that setting, you would have answered it.
The Shaykh:
You are the one who is mistaken. There is no permissibility in insurance. It is haram (forbidden) by way of prohibition. Likewise, regarding the transmission of the majority, they did not agree on asking about specific issues only. So, from the transmission of the majority, generally in everything, this is what is called ijma'. Even if it is from the Dar al-Ifta (Department of Fatwa), it is not said to be ijma'; it is said to be the opinion of the scholars of fatwa in the country. Ijma' requires all the scholars of the Muslims to agree on this ruling.
The questioner:
Now, how did Allah inform you? Do you expect that what is there in the world
The Shaykh:
No, it is a support. Do you reject the Dar al-Ijma'? Rather, it is used as a reference. The agreement of the members of the assembly or the members of ijtihad on this matter gives it strength, and it is used as a reference. The primary basis is the evidence. If there is clear evidence with it, the primary basis is the evidence. Yes.
And what constitutes ijma' is the consensus of the scholars of the various sects on a ruling of the Shari'ah. For example, if you look at the fatwas, they are issued from the perspective of following precedent. There are types of fatwas; for instance, the members of a committee may have agreed on the permissibility of something. When I asked one of the scholars, he said, "This is haram (forbidden)" or "This is not permissible." If you were present in that setting, you would have answered it.
The Shaykh:
You are the one who is mistaken. There is no permissibility in insurance. It is haram (forbidden) by way of prohibition. Likewise, regarding the transmission of the majority, they did not agree on asking about specific issues only. So, from the transmission of the majority, generally in everything, this is what is called ijma'. Even if it is from the Dar al-Ifta (Department of Fatwa), it is not said to be ijma'; it is said to be the opinion of the scholars of fatwa in the country. Ijma' requires all the scholars of the Muslims to agree on this ruling.
The questioner:
Now, how did Allah inform you? Do you expect that what is there in the world
The Shaykh:
No, it is a support. Do you reject the Dar al-Ijma'? Rather, it is used as a reference. The agreement of the members of the assembly or the members of ijtihad on this matter gives it strength, and it is used as a reference. The primary basis is the evidence. If there is clear evidence with it, the primary basis is the evidence. Yes.
Source
شرح العقيدة الواسطية [ صالح الفوزان ] [ الشرح القديم ]، من علامات أهل السنة الاتباع وليس الابتداع — islamhouse.com (1:02:06)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.