---
title: "What is Ijma (consensus of jurists)? | IslamicOpenFinance™"
description: "The consensus of qualified jurists on a ruling, treated as a source of Shariah after the Quran and the Sunnah."
url: https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/ijma/
lang: en-GB
source: "IslamicOpenFinance"
---

[Glossary](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/) / [Shariah fundamentals](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/#fundamentals)

Shariah fundamentals

# Ijma (consensus of jurists)

The consensus of qualified jurists on a ruling, treated as a source of Shariah after the Quran and the Sunnah.

Ijma is the agreement of qualified jurists on a Shariah ruling, and classical legal theory treats it as a source of law alongside the Quran and the Sunnah. AAOIFI's standard on fatwa says a fatwa should be founded on what the Quran and the Sunnah state explicitly, together with what is supported by ijma or established by qiyas, and should not contradict a well-established consensus. In practice, a ruling that rests on ijma is far less open to debate than one that rests on an individual scholar's reasoning.

## Sources

- [AAOIFI Shari'ah Standards, English edition (full text, PDF): Shari'ah Standard No. 29, Stipulations and Ethics of Fatwa, items on methods of fatwa](https://aaoifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Shariaa-Standards-ENG.pdf)

This entry explains a term; it is not a Shariah ruling. Approving a product is for each institution's own Shariah board and regulator.

## Related terms

[**Qiyas (analogical reasoning)** Extending a ruling from a case covered by the texts to a new case that shares the same underlying cause.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/qiyas/) [**Ijtihad (independent juristic reasoning)** The effort of a qualified jurist to derive a ruling on a question the texts do not settle directly.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/ijtihad/) [**Usul al-fiqh (principles of jurisprudence)** The discipline that studies the sources of Shariah and the methods for deriving rulings from them.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/usul-al-fiqh/) [**Fatwa** A juristic opinion on a Shariah question; in finance, usually a Shariah board's ruling on a product or transaction.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/fatwa/) [**Shariah** Islamic law and its principles; in finance, the rules that contracts, products and institutions are expected to comply with.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah/)

**Shariah fundamentals**

1. [Riba](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba/)
2. [Gharar](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/gharar/)
3. [Maysir](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/maysir/)
4. [Shariah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah/)
5. [Fiqh al-muamalat](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/fiqh-al-muamalat/)
6. [Maqasid al-Shariah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/maqasid-al-shariah/)
7. [Riba al-nasiah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba-al-nasiah/)
8. [Riba al-fadl](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba-al-fadl/)

[All 221 terms](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/)