Is it permissible to describe a wicked scholar as a donkey, citing the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Like a donkey”?
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Question:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner asks: Is it permissible to describe a wicked scholar as a donkey or a dog, citing the saying of Allah the Exalted, “Like a donkey”?
Answer:
Do not judge a specific individual; do not say it about a specific person. However, in general, scholars who do not act upon their knowledge are like a donkey, or rather like a dog. His likeness is like that of a dog,[Al-A'raf 7:175], up to the saying of Allah the Exalted, “His likeness is like that of a dog.” This is in the general sense. But to say so-and-so is a donkey and so-and-so is a dog, that is not permissible. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner asks: Is it permissible to describe a wicked scholar as a donkey or a dog, citing the saying of Allah the Exalted, “Like a donkey”?
Answer:
Do not judge a specific individual; do not say it about a specific person. However, in general, scholars who do not act upon their knowledge are like a donkey, or rather like a dog. His likeness is like that of a dog,
And recite to them, [O Muhammad], the news of him to whom we gave [knowledge of] Our signs, but he detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviators.
وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ الَّذِي آتَيْنَاهُ آيَاتِنَا فَانسَلَخَ مِنْهَا فَأَتْبَعَهُ الشَّيْطَانُ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْغَاوِينَ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [1817- 4717] هل يجوز أن يوصف عالم السوء بأنه حمار استدلالا بقوله تعالى:﴿كمثل الحمار﴾؟ -صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.