What is your guidance for one who slanders scholars?

Question:
May Allah reward you. The honorable scholar says: We observe these days, we observe these days, the boldness of a number of young people in speaking about the scholars and belittling them, to the point that they have gone so far as to describe them as compromising. We ask you to clarify this matter, the danger of speaking about the scholars, and to guide the youth in this matter.

Answer:
A person does not know but about himself. If he speaks about the Muslims, whether they are scholars or not, if he speaks about the honor of the Muslims, he does not harm the Muslims; rather, he harms himself. He becomes a backbiter who eats the flesh of people. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: The backbiting of scholars is more severe, because the scholars are the place of trust for the community and they are the role models. If he backbites them and speaks ill of them, this harms the religion and harms the knowledge they carry, and it makes people lose interest in them. Consequently, many harms and dangers attach to it. Every danger is sufficient to make one sinful and to be considered undutifulness to parents. So the Muslim should hold his tongue and not speak about the Muslims in general, and specifically about the rulers and the scholars. He should hold his tongue. If he does not hold his tongue, he harms no one but himself and brings no harm but upon himself.