IḤYĀʾU ʾL-MAWĀT (احياء الموات). Lit. “The revival of dead lands.” A legal term for the cultivation of wastes.
IḤẒĀR (احضار). A summons citing to appear before a Qāẓī or Judge.
ĪJĀB (ايجاب). The first proposal made by one of the parties in negociating or concluding a bargain. [[MARRIAGE].]
IJĀRAH (اجارة). Price, hire, wages, rent, profit, emolument, according to the subject to which it applies. [[HIRE].]
IJMĀʿ (اجماع). The third foundation of Islām. It literally means “collecting,” or “assembling,” and in Muslim divinity it expresses the unanimous consent of the Mujtahidūn (learned doctors); or, as we should call it, “the unanimous consent of the Fathers.” A Mujtahid is a Muslim divine of the highest degree of learning, a title usually conferred by Muslim rulers. [[MUJTAHID].] There are three foundations of Ijmāʿ: (1) Ittifāq-i-Qaulī, unanimous consent expressed in declaration of opinion; (2) Ittifāq-i-Fiʿlī expressed in unanimity of practice; (3) Ittifāq-i-Sakūtī, when the majority of the Mujtahidūn signified their tacit assent to the opinions of the minority by “silence” or non-interference.
The Mujtahidūn capable of making Ijmāʿ must be “men of learning and piety, not heretics, nor fools, but men of judgment.”
There is great diversity of opinion as to up to what period in the history of Islām Ijmāʿ can be accepted. Some doctors assert that only the Ijmāʿ of the Mujtahidūn who were Aṣḥāb (companions); others, that of those who were not only “companions” but “descendants” of the “Prophet,” can be accepted; whilst others accept the Ijmāʿ of the Anṣārs (helpers), and of the Muhājirūn (fugitives), who were dwellers in al-Madīnah with Muḥammad. The majority of learned Muslim divines, however, appear to think that Ijmāʿ may be collected in every age, although they admit that, owing to the numerous divisions which have arisen amongst Muḥammadans, it has not been possible since the days of the Tabaʿu ʾt-Tābiʿīn (i.e. the followers of the followers of the Companions).
The following is considered to be the relative value of Ijmāʿ:—
That of the Aṣḥāb (companions) is equal to Ḥadīs̤ Mutawātir. That which was decided afterwards, but in accordance with the unanimous opinion of the Aṣḥāb, is equal to Ḥadīs̤-i-K͟habar-i-Mashhūr, and that upon which there was diversity of opinion amongst the Aṣḥāb, but has since been decided by the later Mujtahidūn is equal to Ḥadīs̤-i-K͟habar-i-Wāḥid. (See Syud Ahmad Khan’s Essay.)
Some European writers confuse the term Ijmāʿ with Ijtihād. But Ijtihād is the deduction made by a single Mujtahid, whilst Ijmāʿ is the collective opinion of a council of Mujtahidūn, or enlightened doctors.