Review the definition and ruling of each form:
1. Explicit Companion consensus: openly expressed agreement; definitive, with the source’s strongest ruling on denial.
2. Tacit Companion consensus: some speak and the rest remain silent; definitive, but without the first type’s ruling on denial.
3. Later consensus where no early view exists: analogous to a mashhur report; assurance but not certainty.
4. Later consensus on one early view: analogous to a solitary report; action required without certainty and given priority over analogy.
Conclusion: identifying a claimed ijma‘ requires knowing its category and proving that it actually occurred, not merely assigning all claims the same authority.
The following lesson introduces the definition, authority, and conditions of qiyas.