Is knowledge a proof of Allah's love for the servant?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
And to the Shaykh, may Allah make your remembrance sincere, you mentioned your caution that Allah fears in this world those He loves and those He does not love. And many people who adhere to the laws and commands of Allah, until they become the leaders of knowledge and scholars, take on knowledge, and yet you find some of them among the most [deviant] of people, and some, may Allah protect us, leave this religion and go astray with it. So which category do these people belong to? And can we rule that the people of knowledge are among those whom Allah has favored with His love?
Answer:
Granting knowledge is not the same as granting religion. Knowledge may be given as a trial, a test, or a fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). Giving knowledge is not considered a gift of religion unless it is acted upon. If it is acted upon, it is a blessing. But the mere granting of knowledge is not a proof of a person's honor; rather, knowledge may be given to establish the argument against him and for the sake of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). The Jews were given knowledge, and they are the worst of creation, and it was given to them to establish the argument against them. So the mere granting of knowledge is not a proof of a person's honor; rather, it may be given to establish the argument against him and for the sake of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). And Allah the Exalted knows best, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad.
And to the Shaykh, may Allah make your remembrance sincere, you mentioned your caution that Allah fears in this world those He loves and those He does not love. And many people who adhere to the laws and commands of Allah, until they become the leaders of knowledge and scholars, take on knowledge, and yet you find some of them among the most [deviant] of people, and some, may Allah protect us, leave this religion and go astray with it. So which category do these people belong to? And can we rule that the people of knowledge are among those whom Allah has favored with His love?
Answer:
Granting knowledge is not the same as granting religion. Knowledge may be given as a trial, a test, or a fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). Giving knowledge is not considered a gift of religion unless it is acted upon. If it is acted upon, it is a blessing. But the mere granting of knowledge is not a proof of a person's honor; rather, knowledge may be given to establish the argument against him and for the sake of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). The Jews were given knowledge, and they are the worst of creation, and it was given to them to establish the argument against them. So the mere granting of knowledge is not a proof of a person's honor; rather, it may be given to establish the argument against him and for the sake of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). And Allah the Exalted knows best, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad.
Source
شرح مسائل الجاهلية [ صالح الفوزان ]، بداية من المسألة الرابعة عشرة : أن كل ما تقدم مبني على قاعدة، وهي النفي والإثبات — islamhouse.com (1:09:12)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.