Ijmāʿ (Arabic: إجماع‎) is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of Islamic scholars on a point of Islamic law. 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.