A man has knowledge, but he drinks intoxicants and does not pray the Friday prayer with the people. How did he acquire this knowledge?

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: What do we say about the man who is famous for being a close friend of Allah, but he drinks intoxicants and does not pray the Friday prayer with the people? However, O our Shaykh, he has knowledge, and knowledge is the light of Allah, and the light of Allah does not guide a disobedient person. So how do we reconcile this?

Answer:
It is possible that he has knowledge, but he is a misguided scholar. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "I fear for my Ummah the misleading imams." He said, "I fear for my Ummah the argument of a hypocrite with the Qur'an." Not every scholar is a scholar of guidance; there are misguided scholars, may Allah protect us from that. So he is one of the scholars of misguidance. Yes, and one should not be deceived by him. Yes.