Ijtihad vs. Ijma

Ijtihadnoun

(Islam) The process of Muslim jurists making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the Qur'an and the Sunna.

Ijtihadnoun

the endeavor of a Moslem scholar to derive a rule of divine law from the Koran and Hadith without relying on the views of other scholars; by the end of the 10th century theologians decided that debate on such matters would be closed and Muslim theology and law were frozen;

Ijtihad

Ijtihad (Arabic: اجتهاد‎ ijtihād, [ʔidʒ.tihaːd]; lit. physical or mental effort, expended in a particular activity) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question.

Ijmanoun

(Islam) The consensus of the Muslim community.

Ijma

Ijmāʿ (Arabic: إجماع‎) is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of Islamic scholars on a point of Islamic law.: 472  Various schools of thought within Islamic jurisprudence may define this consensus to be that of the first generation of Muslims only; or the consensus of the first three generations of Muslims; or 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. Sunni Muslims regard ijmā' as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur'an, and the Sunnah.