Maratib al-Ijma

Maratib al-Ijma (Maratib al-Ijma fi al-Ibadat wa-l-Mu'amalat wa-l-I'tiqadat, "The Ranks of Consensus in Acts of Worship, Transactions, and Beliefs") is a specialized treatise on Islamic scholarly consensus (ijma) authored by the Zahiri jurist and theologian Ibn Hazm (384–456 AH / 994–1064 CE) Maratib al-Ijma+1. The book compiles legal and creedal rulings that the author determined to be subject to definitive consensus, distinguishing them from matters marked by scholarly disagreement (khilaf) Maratib al-Ijma.

Purpose and Scope

In his introduction, Ibn Hazm states that consensus is an essential foundation of the religion, to which scholars refer and from which divergence is prohibited once established Maratib al-Ijma. He composed the work to gather points of valid consensus and isolate them from disputed questions, noting that grouping agreed-upon rulings together facilitates their memorization, retrieval, and application in legal debate Maratib al-Ijma. Unlike general legal compendia that integrate points of consensus into discussions of substantive divergence, the text serves as a dedicated compendium specifically focused on recording transmitted agreements across legal and doctrinal topics Mawsuat al-Ijma fi al-Fiq…+1.

Method and Definition of Consensus

Ibn Hazm defines genuine consensus as that which is known with certainty to have no dissent among Muslim scholars, comparing this certainty to necessary historical knowledge of widely transmitted facts (tawatur) Maratib al-Ijma+1. He divides valid consensus into two primary categories:

• Al-Ijma al-lazim (binding consensus): rulings upon which all scholars agree regarding their obligatory, prohibited, or permissible status Maratib al-Ijma.
• Al-Ijma al-jazi or al-mujaz (discharging consensus): cases where all scholars agree that whoever performs an act or avoids it has fulfilled their religious duty or incurred no sin, a category he frequently presents with multiple restrictive qualifications to exclude dissenting opinions Maratib al-Ijma+1.

He explicitly rejects several notions treated as consensus by other jurists, such as the majority opinion (qawl al-akthar), the view for which a scholar simply does not know a contrary opinion, the widespread opinion of an individual Companion, the consensus of the people of Medina or Kufa, and the agreement of a later generation on one of multiple earlier opinions Maratib al-Ijma+1. He maintained that opposition to true, established consensus constitutes unbelief (kufr) once proof has been presented Maratib al-Ijma+1.

In determining whose consensus counts, Ibn Hazm restricts the definition of scholars (al-ulama) to those from the Companions, the Successors, the subsequent generations, the jurists of the regional centers, and the leading hadith scholars whose formal legal opinions (futya) were transmitted Maratib al-Ijma. He excludes dialectical theologians and sectarian groups who did not occupy themselves with verifying hadiths or deducing Quranic legal rulings—such as Ibrahim al-Nazzam, Abu al-Hudhayl al-Allaf, the Kharijites, and the Rafidites—while including upright transmitters and jurists known for legal inquiry even if they held theological errors, such as Qatada ibn Di'ama, Amr ibn Ubayd, and Muhammad ibn Ishaq Maratib al-Ijma+1.

Structure

The book is organized systematically across the conventional chapters of jurisprudence, beginning with the chapters of ritual purity (taharah), prayer (salah), funerals (jana'iz), poor-due (zakat), fasting (sawm), and pilgrimage (hajj) Mawsuat al-Ijma fi al-Fiq…+1. It proceeds through financial transactions, marriage and divorce, judicial procedures, testimonies, and penal law, and concludes with a dedicated section on consensus in theological beliefs (al-i'tiqadat), such as the oneness of God, the creation of the world, the creation of the Throne, and the eternity of Paradise and Hell Fatawa al-Shabaka al-Isla…+1.

Reception and Critique

The work holds a prominent place in the specialized literature on legal consensus, though several scholars subjected its claims to scrutiny Mawsuat al-Ijma fi al-Fiq…+1. The Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE) wrote a dedicated treatise examining the book, titled Naqd Maratib al-Ijma ("Critique of the Ranks of Consensus") Mawsuat al-Ijma fi al-Fiq…+1. Ibn Taymiyyah tracked rulings where Ibn Hazm claimed consensus despite well-known scholarly divergence, contested his assertion that disagreement with any consensus constitutes kufr, and pointed out instances where Ibn Hazm himself adopted positions in his substantive legal work Al-Muhalla that conflicted with the consensus reported in this treatise Mawsuat al-Ijma fi al-Fiq…+1.

Editions

Maratib al-Ijma was printed in Cairo in 1357 AH (1938 CE), published by Husam al-Din al-Qudsi alongside Ibn Taymiyyah's Naqd Maratib al-Ijma al-Ijma li-Ibn al-Mundhir. Subsequent editions combining both works include the publication edited by Hasan Ahmad Asbar (Beirut: Dar Ibn Hazm, 1419 AH / 1998 CE) and an edition published by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah Mawsuat al-Ijma fi al-Fiq…+1.