BENEFIT: When Consensus Is Established, Later Opposition Carries No Weight

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Jaza'iri hafidhahullah: The principle among scholars is that an established consensus is not cancelled by a disagreement that comes after it. So if the Companions agreed upon something, and then a tābiʿī later disagrees—due to an excuse, perhaps the consensus did not reach him, or it was not clear to him—then his disagreement is not considered a valid proof that overturns that consensus. So what about when the disagreement comes even later, after the best generations? There are many examples of this. You will find that a consensus is reported from the Companions, yet some people after them—whether from the tābiʿīn or those who came later—may disagree. However, the scholars do not consider such disagreement as legally valid or as something that breaks the consensus. The report of the consensus remains, and the one who disagrees is excused if the consensus did not reach him or was not clear to him. For example, the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—all agreed that abandoning Salah is kufr, as reported by the tābiʿī ʿAbdullāh ibn Shaqīq. He mentioned that the Companions did not consider abandoning any act of worship to be kufr except Salah. This consensus was transmitted by more than one of the tābiʿīn and those after them. Nevertheless, some later disagreement occurred—such as reports from Az-Zuhrī and others who differed on this issue. But this did not invalidate the established consensus. Source: https://t.me/almanhajussalafi/2286