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Ijmāʿ (إجماع) is an Arabic term referring to the consensus of the Muslim community. Various schools of thought within Islamic jurisprudence may define this consensus as that of the first generation of Muslims only; the consensus of the first three generations of Muslims; the consensus of the jurists and scholars of the Muslim world, or scholarly consensus; or the consensus of all the Muslim world, both scholars and laymen.
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The hadith of Muhammad which states that "My community will never agree upon an error" is often cited as support for the validity of ijmā'. Sunni Muslims regard ijmā' as the third fundamental source of Sharia law, after the divine revelation of the Qur'an, the prophetic practice or Sunnah. Usuli Shia accepts ijmā' under restricted conditions as a source of Islamic law. Technically, it is “the unanimous doctrine and opinion of the recognized religious authorities at any given time”.
Many Muslim writers have claimed that the use of ijmā' makes Islamic law compatible with democracy. Various proponents of liberal movements within Islam criticize the traditional view that ijmā' is only a consensus among traditional Islamic scholars (ulema). They claim that truly democratic consensus should involve the entire community rather than a small and conservative clerical class, especially since there is no hierarchical system in Islam and no concept of a human intermediate between a Muslim and Allah.