لم ينكر أحدٌ من العلماء والفقهاء حجيةَ إجماع الصحابة، لأن حجيته واضحة وقطعية، إلا أنهم اختلفوا في الأنواع الأخرى من الإجماع، كإجماع الأمة، وإجماع المجتهدين، وإجماع أهل المدينة، وإجماع الخلفاء الأربعة وغيرها. ويرجع سبب اختلافهم في الأساس الذي يقوم عليه الإجماع إلى الأمور التالية:

None of the ‘Ulamaa or Fuqahaa have denied Ijmaa As-Sahaabah because its Hujjiyah (proof of validity as a source of evidence) is clear and Qat’iy (definite) however they differed and disagreed about the other types of Ijmaa’ like Ijmaa’ Al-Ummah, Ijmaa’ Al-Mujtahideen, Ijmaa’ of the people of Al-Madinah and the Ijmaa’ of the four Khulafaa’ amongst others. The reasons for their difference in respect to the rested upon basis of Ijmaa’ goes back to the following matters:

١ – لقد أُمر المسلمون باتباع ما أنزله الله تعالى، ولذلك فمن الضروري أن يكون للإجماع أساسٌ مستندٌ إلى الوحي، كالكتاب والسنة، الذي يعتمد عليه.

1 – The Muslims have been commanded to follow that which Allah Ta’Aalaa has revealed and so it is necessary for the Ijmaa’ to have a rested upon basis from the Wahi like the Kitaab and the Sunnah that it depends upon.

أمّا القرآن، فقد وصلنا بطريق التواتر، ولم يُفقد منه شيء، لقول الله تعالى:

As for the Qur’aan, then it has arrived to us by way of Tawaatur and nothing of it has been left behind due to the Qawl of Allah Ta’Aalaa:

فيما يتعلق بالأحكام التي أرشد إليها القرآن الكريم ودلّ عليها، سواء أُخذت بالاجتهاد أو بغير اجتهاد، فإنّ دليلها هو القرآن لا الإجماع. ومن ذلك الآية:

In respect to the Ahkaam which the Qur’aan Al-Kareem has guided to and indicated, whether deduced by Ijtihaad or without Ijtihaad, then their Daleel is the Qur’aan and not Ijmaa’. And so the Aayah:

هذه الآية تدل بمفهومها، المأخوذ من معاني ألفاظ اللغة العربية، على أن الأمهات تشمل أصول النساء كالجدات والجدات العليا، كما تدل البنات بمفهومها على بنات الأبناء والبنات وبناتهم. أما ما أجمع عليه الصحابة أو اتفقوا عليه، فهذا هو معنى الآية، كما اتفقوا على كثير من معاني ألفاظ القرآن والسنة.

This Aayah indicates by its Mafhoom (understanding), as taken from the meanings of the Alfaazh (wordings) of the Arabic language, that the mothers include the origins or roots (Usool) of the women like the grandmothers and the great grandmothers, just as the daughters indicates by its Mafhoom the daughters of the boys and girls (grandchildren) and their daughters (great grandchildren). As for what the Sahaabah agreed upon or held a consensus upon, then this was the meaning of the Aayah, just as they had agreed upon many of meanings of the Alfaazh (wordings) of the Qur’aan and the Sunnah.

فَعَلَیْهِ، لَا یُمَثِّلُ هٰذَا إِجْمَاعًا، بَلْ هُوَ اتِّفَاقٌ عَلَى اجْتِهَادٍ، وَالِاجْتِهَادُ لَیْسَ دَلِیلًا. وَإِنَّمَا هُوَ بَذْلُ الْجُهْدِ مِنْ قِبَلِ الْمُجْتَهِدِینَ لِفَهْمِ الْأَدِلَّةِ الشَّرْعِیَّةِ بِغَرَضِ اسْتِنْبَاطِ الْأَحْكَامِ الشَّرْعِیَّةِ العَمَلِیَّةِ.

This then does not represent an Ijmaa’ but rather an agreement upon an Ijtihaad whilst Ijtihaad is not a Daleel. Rather it is the expending of effort by the Mujtahideen in order to understand the Adillah AshShar’iyah to extract the practical Ahkaam Ash-Shar’iyah.

بينما الإجماع دليل في ذاته، وذلك لأن الدليل الذي استندوا إليه في إجماعهم لم يصل إلينا، فيكون دليلنا على الحكم هو إجماعهم. ويترتب على ذلك أن هذا لا يتحقق إلا بإجماع الصحابة، إذ هم وحدهم الذين سمعوا الدليل من رسول الله ﷺ.

This is whilst the Ijmaa’ is a Daleel in itself. That is because the Daleel that they took in their Ijmaa’ did not reach us and as such our Daleel for the Hukm is their Ijmaa’. It follows that this cannot be realised in other than the Ijmaa’ As-Sahaabah because they alone are those who heard the Daleel from the Messenger of Allah (saw)

سواءٌ أكان ذلك متجلّياً في قولٍ أو فعلٍ أو تقرير. ولذلك فإنّ المستند الذي يقوم عليه إجماعُ الصحابة هو السنّةُ وحدها. وذلك لأنّ القرآن وصل إلينا على وجهٍ كامل، بينما وصلتِ السنّةُ إلينا بطريق الرواية على وجهٍ غير كامل، فأتمّ إجماعُ الصحابة وصولَها إلينا. وبهذا يكون الرسولُ ﷺ قد بلّغ رسالته إلى أصحابه على وجهٍ كامل. قال الله تعالى:

whether this was manifested in a Qawl, Fi’l or Taqreer (speech, act or consent). Therefore, the rested upon basis (Mustanad) for Ijmaa’ AsSahaabah is the Sunnah alone. That is because the Qur’aan has reached us in a complete form whilst the Sunnah has reached us through narration in an incomplete form and the Ijmaa’ As-Sahaabah then completed its arrival to us. In that way the Messenger (saw) had completed his delivery of the Message in a complete form to his companions. Allah Ta’Aalaa said:

2 – As for the Mustanad (the basis relied upon) for Ijmaa' being Qiyaas (analogy), this is not accurate. That is because the correct (or sound) Qiyaas, the one recognised by the Shar'a, is the one that rests upon a text (Nass) from the Kitaab or the Sunnah. Most of Ijtihaad falls within the subject area of Qiyaas, and Qiyaas is a source from amongst the sources of legislation, like the Qur'aan, Sunnah and Ijmaa', and is a Daleel for the Ahkaam Ash-Shar'iyah. Therefore, an Ijmaa' of the Sahaabah or of the Mujtahideen upon a Hukm Shar'iy, the source of which is Qiyaas, would actually mean that the Daleel for the Hukm is Qiyaas and not Ijmaa', whilst their Ijmaa' would only represent an agreement or consensus upon its understanding and its transmission alone.

2 – As for the Mustanad (relied upon basis) for Ijmaa’ being Qiyaas (analogy) then this is not accurate. That is because the correct (or sound) Qiyaas and the one that is recognised by the Shar’a is the one that rests upon a text (Nass) from the Kitaab or the Sunnah. Most of Ijtihaad falls within the subject area of Qiyaas and Qiyaas is a source from amongst the sources of legislation like the Qur’aan, Sunnah and Ijmaa’, and is a Daleel for the Ahkaam Ash-Shar’iyah. Therefore, an Ijmaa’ of the Sahaabah or of the Mujtahideen upon a Hukm Shar’iy, the source of which is Qiyaas, would actually mean that the Daleel for the Hukm is Qiyaas and not Ijmaa’ whilst their Ijmaa’ would only represent an agreement or consensus upon its understanding and its transmission alone.

٣ – أولئك الذين يقولون إن الإجماع يُنعقد دون سند شرعي ليس لديهم دليل، ولا ما يُشبه الدليل، يعتمدون عليه في موقفهم. إنهم قالوا هذا وهم يريدون إدخال في الإسلام ما ليس منه، بينما رسول الله ﷺ

3 – Those who say that the Ijmaa’ is convened without a Shar’iy Sanad (basis/attribution) have no Daleel or semblance of a Daleel to support their position. They have said this wanting to insert into Islaam that which is not from it whilst the Messenger of Allah (saw)

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said:

4 – لم يَنقل العلماءُ حُكمًا شرعيًّا أجمعوا عليه سوى إجماع الصحابة. وكل ما بحثوه من إجماع الأمة وإجماع المجتهدين لا يعدو أن يكون دراسةً نظريةً منفصلةً عن الواقع العملي، هذا بالإضافة إلى أن الأدلة التي استندوا إليها في إثبات هذين النوعين من الإجماع ظنيةٌ، بينما الأصول لا تُؤخذ أدلتها بالظن، لقول الله تعالى:

4 – None of the ‘Ulamaa have relayed a Hukm Shar’iy that they have agreed upon other than the Ijmaa’ As-Sahaabah. All that they looked in to in terms of Ijmaa’ Al-Ummah and Ijmaa’ Al-Mujtahideen represents nothing more than a theoretical study detached from practicality. This is in addition to the evidences that they used to establish these types of Ijmaa’ being Zhanniyah (indefinite). This is whilst in Usool (the foundations) sources of evidence are not taken based upon Zhann due to the Qawl of Allah Ta’Aalaa:

والعلم في هذه الآية هو اليقين.

And ‘Ilm (knowledge) in this Aayah is Yaqeen (certainty).