Ijma as a Mechanism of Consensus Lawmaking

The article is devoted to the study of the ijma legal nature as an in-stitution of consensus lawmaking in Islamic law. Ijma is a mechanism for the for-mation of legal norms based on reaching agreement between competent jurists on issues that have not received an unambiguous solution in the primary sources of Sharia. The study shows that the classical doctrine of ijma, formulated by the end of the 4th century, established strict requirements for the unanimity of all competent mujtahids, which in practice made it difficult to achieve. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of the ijma functioning and analyze the prospects for its de-velopment in modern conditions. Methods: theoretical and legal analysis, compara-tive legal method, historical method, systematic approach to the study of legal insti-tutions. Results: the fundamental features of ijma as a mechanism for the transfor-mation of the legal opinions plurality into a single normative prescription are re-vealed. It is established that the effectiveness of ijma is inversely proportional to the degree of its formalization. The modern practice of collective ijtihad demonstrates the viability of consensual procedures provided that the maximalist requirements of classical doctrine are rejected. The central problem of ijma is the contradiction be-tween the requirement of universal participation of all competent jurists and the practical need for a limited number of participants. Socio-economic analysis has shown that consensus-building invariably reflects the interests of the dominant groups of the legal community. The future of ijma is linked to the recognition of its limited applicability to specialized areas of modern Islamic law.