How to reconcile Allah’s saying: “Only those of His servants who have knowledge fear Allah” with the hadith
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The questioner : We will enter into the subject regarding the scholars for whom the Fire is kindled. The verse says: [Fatir 35:28] They have fear of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. How can they have fear, while at the same time, for example,
The student: The Fire is kindled for them.
The questioner : They made this knowledge for other than Allah. Since they have fear of our Lord, He testifies that they have fear of Allah. And how, at the same time, do they not believe in Allah, or not fear Allah, or not do so, when our Lord says “Only those who fear Allah,” meaning He testifies that they have fear?
The Shaykh : You are now reminding me of the story of that scholar, our companion in Damascus. He was a man of refinement, wit, and gentleness. He used to say, and I was young while he was an old man, a man of refinement and blind. He used to say to me: Scholars are of two types: a type is a scholar who acts, and a type is an actor who is a scholar. It is reversed; you must understand it now.
The student: A scholar who acts.
The Shaykh : A scholar who acts.
The student: If his intention is the worldly life, learning knowledge, this is not...
Another student: Name, listen.
The Shaykh : A scholar who acts and an actor who is a scholar, meaning a scholar who acts with his knowledge. And I mentioned the poetry to you just now after the hadith.
“And a scholar with knowledge who did not act *** Is tormented before the worshippers of idols”
This is a scholar who acts. Reverse it: an actor who is a scholar, meaning he pretends to be a scholar but is not truly a scholar. Now, you are confused about understanding the verse[Fatir 35:28]. Now, the scholars: did you understand them as the two types, or as the first type, meaning the true scholars, or the nominal ones? In the verse, the confusion arose because you understood the verse incorrectly. When you understand the verse correctly, this confusion that came to your mind will not occur. “Only those who fear Allah” means only the righteous scholars who act upon their knowledge fear Allah, because this knowledge is the beneficial knowledge, meaning that which is acted upon is that which bears the fruit of fear in the heart of its owner. These do not contradict the hadith, because the hadith is explicit that he did not act upon his knowledge. So the knowledge following him will say to him: [Al-Bayyinah 98:5] So he did not act, as evidenced by the fact that he learned the knowledge, taught it, and spread it among the people so that people would say about him, what?
The student: A scholar.
The Shaykh :, likewise, for example, a scholar who does not act upon his knowledge. And there is a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, very terrifying. The scholar is brought, and he said, peace and blessings be upon him: Sahih Muslim 2989a The girths of his belly will burst out, meaning his intestines, and I seek refuge in Allah. On top of the fact that he is being tormented in the Fire, torment upon torment, his intestines are coming out of his belly. A very terrifying and very ugly image. And he is being tormented in the Fire, tormented in the Fire with the people of the Fire, and the people of the Fire are tormented by the intensity of his torment and rub against him, surrounding him . This is not the scholar whom Allah mentioned in the Qur’an in the verse you cited, “Only those of His servants who have knowledge fear Allah.” This is a scholar who is not a scholar with his knowledge, and that one who taught the people so that people would say he is a scholar is a scholar who does not act upon his knowledge. Do you understand now? So there is no contradiction between the verse. I think it is time for 'Isha'?
The student: No, there is still about a quarter of an hour or a third of an hour left.
The Shaykh : The time has come, everyone. The time has come, the adhan.
The student: No, it has not come yet, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : The adhan, the adhan.
The student: According to the timings.
Another student: There is a timing for the clock and a timing for...
Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge.
إنما يخشى الله من عباده العلماءThe student: The Fire is kindled for them.
The questioner : They made this knowledge for other than Allah. Since they have fear of our Lord, He testifies that they have fear of Allah. And how, at the same time, do they not believe in Allah, or not fear Allah, or not do so, when our Lord says “Only those who fear Allah,” meaning He testifies that they have fear?
The Shaykh : You are now reminding me of the story of that scholar, our companion in Damascus. He was a man of refinement, wit, and gentleness. He used to say, and I was young while he was an old man, a man of refinement and blind. He used to say to me: Scholars are of two types: a type is a scholar who acts, and a type is an actor who is a scholar. It is reversed; you must understand it now.
The student: A scholar who acts.
The Shaykh : A scholar who acts.
The student: If his intention is the worldly life, learning knowledge, this is not...
Another student: Name, listen.
The Shaykh : A scholar who acts and an actor who is a scholar, meaning a scholar who acts with his knowledge. And I mentioned the poetry to you just now after the hadith.
“And a scholar with knowledge who did not act *** Is tormented before the worshippers of idols”
This is a scholar who acts. Reverse it: an actor who is a scholar, meaning he pretends to be a scholar but is not truly a scholar. Now, you are confused about understanding the verse
Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge.
إنما يخشى الله من عباده العلماءAnd they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion
وما أمروا إلا ليعبدوا الله مخلصين له الدينThe student: A scholar.
The Shaykh :
A scholar, and it was said, take him to the Fire.
عالم وقد قيل ، خذو به إلى النارA man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and thrown in Hell-Fire and his intestines will pour forth in Hell
يؤتى بالعالم يوم القيامة فيلقى في النار فتندلق أقتاب بطنهThey say to him, “What is the matter with you, so-and-so? We know you as a man of knowledge. Were you not the one who ordered us to do good and forbade us from evil?” He says, “Yes, I ordered you to do good but did not do it, and I forbade you from evil but did it.”
يقولون له ما لك يا فلان نحن نعرفك أنك رجل عالم ألست كنت تأمرنا بالمعروف وتنهانا عن منكر؟ يقول نعم كنت آمركم بالمعروف ولا آتيه وأنهاكم عن المنكر وآتيهThe student: No, there is still about a quarter of an hour or a third of an hour left.
The Shaykh : The time has come, everyone. The time has come, the adhan.
The student: No, it has not come yet, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh : The adhan, the adhan.
The student: According to the timings.
Another student: There is a timing for the clock and a timing for...