CONSENSUS AND DISAGREEMENT  89

consensus of the scholars without misgivings. Later he came more and more to qualify it. Finally he reached the stage of refusing it any authority and even denying its existence. But so deeply ingrained was the habit of referring to it that he did not completely abandon it, but went on using it, mostly as a subsidiary argument and as an argument ad hominem.

In the first group of treatises Shāfi'ī's use of the argument of consensus is indistinguishable from that of the ancient schools.

Tr. I, 127: an analogy with a doctrine based on the consensus, 'which no one can be allowed to neglect'; Shāfi'ī states explicitly farther on that this is the consensus of the scholars (although he calls it madhhab al-'amma), and not the consensus of the community on essentials. § 182: Shāfi'ī refers to the scholars in general.

Tr. II, 16 (e): 'Neither we nor anyone we know holds this. The general opinion is (yaqūl al-nās). . . . ' § 17 (c): 'This is the opinion of the muftis in general (muftu l-nās), and we know of no disagreement in this respect.' § 19 (p): 'Neither we nor any mufti we know [except the Iraqians] holds this. . . . I am not aware that they [the Iraqians] relate this from anyone in the past (mimman maḍā) whose word carries authority (qauluh ḥujja).' § 19 (r): 'Our opinion—and Allah knows best—comes nearest to what is recognized by the scholars.' § 21 (g): 'They [the Iraqians] . . . do not follow the opinion of any predecessor (aḥad min al-salaf), as far as I know . . . . [The opinion which we hold] is the opinion of our scholars in general [that is, the Medinese].'

Tr. VIII, 6: 'This is also the opinion of Ibn Musaiyib, Ḥasan, Ibrahim Nakha'ī, and the majority of the muftis among the Hijazis and the traditionists of whom we have heard.' § 7: 'The argument is the sunna [or, rather, an analogy based on traditions from the Prophet] and the lack of disagreement among the scholars, to the best of my knowledge.' § 11: '[Who holds this], puts himself outside the several possible opinions (kharaj min qaul al-muttafigin wal-mukhtalifin).' § 14: 'The doctrine of the mass of the scholars in all countries (qaul 'awāmm ahl al-buldān min al-fugahā').'

Tr. IX, 10: 'It is established by tradition and by fetwas [opinions given by scholars].' § 25: 'The authorities of the Muslims are agreed (ajma'at a'immat al-Muslimīn).'

In the following two treatises, Shāfi'ī still holds essentially the old idea of consensus, but qualifies it; the consensus of the Muslims gains prominence.

Tr. VII, 271 ff.: Nobody is authorized to give a judgment or a fetwa 'unless he bases himself on . . . what the scholars agree in