Is it true that scholarly consensus takes precedence over the Book and the Sunnah?

The questioner : It is reported from some scholars of usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence) that they said scholarly consensus takes precedence over the Book and the Sunnah. Shaykh, is this from the perspective that the Book and the Sunnah may be abrogated, meaning they are abrogated? Or is it from the perspective of evidence, meaning the basis of scholarly consensus is the Book and the Sunnah? Or is it from the perspective of valid scholarly consensus, which naturally is not abrogated, while the Book and the Sunnah are abrogated and specified? May Allah reward you with good. Could you clarify this point for us?

The Shaykh : Excuse me, "How can the shadow be straight when the stick is crooked?" Who said that scholarly consensus takes precedence over the Book and the Sunnah?

The questioner : Shaykh, of course, this is the statement of scholars, but a section of scholars said that scholarly consensus takes precedence over the Book and the Sunnah...

The Shaykh : Do not repeat your words, may Allah guide you. You are repeating your words. I am asking a brief question: Which of the scholars said that scholarly consensus takes precedence over the Book and the Sunnah?

The questioner : By Allah, a section of scholars said so, but on the basis that scholarly consensus is not abrogated, while the Book and the Sunnah are abrogated...

The Shaykh : Correct your concept. You are wrong when you transmit this. First, you say that the scholars said scholarly consensus takes precedence over the Book and the Sunnah. Then, when the question is directed to you, you say some scholars said this. What is the value of this statement? Think that it is the scholarly consensus that can be refuted, not the Book and the Sunnah. For the sake of scholarly consensus, I have never heard or read anything like this. I did not mention it in the first introduction to the description of prayer, regarding Imam Ahmad, or in any other book now. I am doubtful, but with a sound chain, from Imam Ahmad that he said: "Whoever claims scholarly consensus is a liar, and how does he know? Perhaps they differed." Has this statement passed you by, or not?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : How did you fit this in your head? No blame on you.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Listen, between this statement and the idea that scholarly consensus abrogates the Qur'an and the Sunnah?

The questioner : Our Shaykh, what I mean is valid scholarly consensus, such as the consensus of the Companions or the consensus of Abu Bakr and 'Umar. This, and knowledge is with Allah, is valid scholarly consensus...

The Shaykh : You, may Allah guide us and you.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, we want to learn. We want you to correct us, of course?

The Shaykh : By Allah, I also want to teach you. Do not advise, be eager.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And to complete my teaching, you got ahead of me. I wanted to say "learn." You are not yet a learner, and you imagine that there are those who say scholarly consensus takes precedence over the Book and the Sunnah. This is not knowledge; this is ignorance itself...

The questioner : So, the statement is refuted, and Allah knows best?

The Shaykh : Without a doubt. Where do you have the idea that the Qur'an and the Sunnah are refuted and nullified for the sake of a scholarly consensus that exists only in the mind, with no existence in the external reality? People imagine that bird which Sindbad the Sailor named in his story the Rukh or the Phoenix. Its egg was the size of a dome. How big did he want it to be? The largest airplane we know today would be like one of the wings of that bird if its egg were a dome. This is imagined by the storyteller author, but it does not exist in reality. It is pure imagination. So, first, a scholarly consensus that refutes the Book and the Sunnah is an impossible matter, because we would say: Is there a consensus among Muslims, a certain consensus, just as you pronounce that the Qur'an and the Sunnah are Islam? And if there is now an agreement on something—I do not say consensus, but if there is an agreement on something—where did this agreement come from? Did not these scholars derive it from the Book and the Sunnah? If this agreement is taken from the Book and the Sunnah, we rise a little and say: There is not only agreement, but consensus. From where does the Muslim imagine this consensus occurred? From the Torah or the Gospel, or from the Qur'an and the Sunnah? Without a doubt, the answer will be the Qur'an and the Sunnah. How, after that, do we imagine a consensus that stands against the Book and the Sunnah, abrogates the Book and the Sunnah, and nullifies acting upon the Book and the Sunnah? These are two contradictory opposites. Therefore, I urge you to correct your previous understanding, and its result is that you do not imagine the existence of a consensus that contradicts the Book and the Sunnah and opposes the Book and the Sunnah, such that the Muslim is forced to choose between two things: either take what is in the Book and the Sunnah, or take the consensus that opposes the Book and the Sunnah. Here comes the statement of Imam Ahmad: This sentence should be written in gold ink, because the one who searches for claims of consensus in the depths of long books that mention opinions, disagreements, and the evidence of these and those finds that many claims of consensus have been refuted. Not from later, but refuted by reality from before. In some examples in this, in some books, I mention for example the book "Ahkam al-Janaza' wa Bida'ha" (Rulings on Funerals and Their Innovations), a summary. The summary of the answer: The basis of the question is wrong, because there is no consensus on the opposite of the Book and the Sunnah. What could there be? We might imagine a consensus that occurred on understanding the Book and the Sunnah. I do not understand it, nor you, nor Zayd, nor Bakr, nor 'Amr, nor the general people, but the people of knowledge understand it. The people of knowledge are the people of consensus. They understood something, but we do not see it in our understanding of the Book and the Sunnah. This is possible. But to imagine a consensus that contradicts the Book and the Sunnah, this is an impossible matter, because you read, as we read, the statement of the Lord of the Worlds in the Noble Qur'an: So, before anything else, He said: Where did the guidance become clear to him? From the Book and the Sunnah. And he follows other than the path of the believers. What is the path of the believers? The opposite of the Book and the Sunnah? No, but in accordance with the Book and the Sunnah. I think this is sufficient for the answer, if Allah wills. Now, what do you have?