واذهب القائلون بهذا الرأي منهم الشافعيّ والحنابلة. وقال جمهور الفقهاء: إذا اتفق المجتهدون من المسلمين، بغضّ النظر عن اختلاف بلدانهم ومواطنهم وطوائفهم، في واقعةٍ عُرضت عليهم ليعرفوا حكمها الشرعيّ، ثم أبدى كلٌّ منهم رأيه فيها تصريحًا بالقول أو الفعل، سواء كان ذلك مجتمعين أو فرادى، فاتفقت آراؤهم جميعًا على حكمٍ واحدٍ في تلك الواقعة، فهذا هو الإجماع. ويكون هذا الحكم الذي اتفقوا عليه حكمًا شرعيًّا واجبَ الاتباع، ولا يجوز مخالفته، كما لا يجوز لغيرهم في أيّ زمانٍ نقضُه، لأنه قد ثبت بالإجماع.

The proponents of this opinion including Ash-Shaafi’iy and AlHanaabilah. The majority of Fuqahaa’ said: If or when the Mujtahideen of the Muslims have agreed irrespective of their different lands (locations), their places of origin and their groupings, in the case where a reality has been presented to them in order to know its Hukm Ash-Shar’iy and then each of them provides his opinion explicitly in respect to its Hukm, by Qawl (speech) or Fi’l (action), whether they did this collectively gathered or as individuals, and then all of their opinions had been in agreement upon a single Hukm in respect to that reality, then this represents an ‘Ijmaa’. This Hukm that they had agreed upon would then represent a Hum Shar’iy that is Waajib (obligatory) to follow and it is not permitted to oppose it just as it is not allowed for others in any time to contravene it because it has been established by Ijmaa’.