What is meant by the word "knowledge"? Who are the scholars? And how does one arrive at knowing the correct knowledge from other things?

The questioner : ... As for what follows:
This meeting is one of the many meetings held with the honorableThe Shaykh : Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, who is visiting the country at the invitation of the Islamic Heritage Revival Society. We ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to benefit us in this session. The topic we hope the honorableThe Shaykh : will speak about is: What is knowledge? That is, what is meant by the word "knowledge"? Who are the scholars? And how does one arrive at knowing the correct knowledge from other things? After that, if Allah wills, we will listen to other questions, which will be written on paper.

The Shaykh: Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whom He leaves to mislead, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, , .
, As for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. And after that:
The motivation for researching beneficial, Shari'ah-based knowledge, upon which the argument against the Muslim is established, is what we hear from time to time: fatwas issued by some who are presumed to be people of knowledge. In most cases, these fatwas contradict the practice of the previous Imams from the righteous Salaf and the Imams who exercised independent legal reasoning. The closest example that occurred to me recently was a question I was asked in one of the previous sessions, namely the meaning of in the verse regarding the expenditures of zakah; to the end of the verse. Then He (the Exalted) said: . The question was: Does "in the cause of Allah" refer specifically to jihad in the cause of Allah? Or does it also include other interests of the Muslims, such as building mosques, schools, and providing public facilities and utilities for Muslims? Does "in the cause of Allah" in this place in the verse on zakah expenditures include anything other than jihad in the cause of Allah, as we hinted at earlier? If the verse includes those matters, is it permissible for a wealthy person to give his money to build a mosque, a school, a hospital, or something else? My answer was that the meaning of the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in this noble verse, , is specific to two matters, with no third:
The first is what is known to everyone, namely jihad in the cause of Allah. This is one of the categories of zakah expenditure, which the one obligated to pay it spends in the cause of Allah, in jihad in the cause of Allah.
The second matter is that the Shari'ah evidence came to expand the word or , including in this phrase the spending of money to take a poor person to the Sacred House of Allah for Hajj. Thus, the meaning of is: in jihad and Hajj. No one from the Salaf, nor even the Imams who exercised independent legal reasoning, expanded this phrase beyond the two matters mentioned. means: in jihad in the cause of Allah, and also in taking the poor person in need to the Sacred House of Allah for Hajj.
Regarding this second matter, taking the poor person for Hajj, there is an authentic hadith in "Sunan Abu Dawud," "Musnad Imam Ahmad," and others, that a man from the Companions, known as Abu Talhah, performed Hajj with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) during the Farewell Pilgrimage. When he returned, his wife came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to complain to him (peace and blessings be upon him), saying: "O Messenger of Allah, my husband Abu Talhah did not take me on his camel so-and-so for Hajj." The Messenger (peace be upon him) sent for Abu Talhah and asked him about this complaint. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, I prepared this camel for the cause of Allah (Mighty and Majestic)." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you had taken her on it, that would have been in the cause of Allah." Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), among the other Imams who restricted the meaning of to jihad in the cause of Allah, took another meaning from this hadith and added it to the first meaning. He said: means: jihad, and also taking for Hajj in the cause of Allah, as indicated by this authentic hadith.
No one from the Salaf has come with a meaning broader than this meaning you have heard, which is taking for Hajj. Yet we find today fatwas issued here and there stating that the meaning of this phrase is broad, such that it includes all the interests in which Muslims benefit, including, as we mentioned earlier, building mosques, schools, and the like. This was the reason for raising this research now: What is the knowledge that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentions in more than one verse, and the Messenger (peace be upon him) praises the virtue of in many hadiths? Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says, for example: . The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says, for example: . And there are many, many hadiths on this, including his saying (peace be upon him): . So what is this knowledge that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) praised its people, and then His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) affirmed that in many hadiths? Is it merely hearing a statement from a scholar, regardless of his status, that interprets a verse or interprets a hadith in a way that was not preceded by the scholars of the righteous Salaf, or those who came after them, or those among the Imams who exercised independent legal reasoning and their followers who followed the path of the predecessors? Is this part of knowledge? The answer: We hear from the words of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), for he says:
"Knowledge is: Allah said, His Messenger said, *** The Companions said, it is not deception.
What is knowledge? It is setting up opposition in foolishness *** Between the Messenger and the opinion of a jurist
No, nor denying the attributes and negating them *** Out of fear of denial of the divine attributes and likening Allah to creation
What is knowledge? It is clear, explicit Arabic speech. Knowledge, Allah said, this is the first rank. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said. Then the Companions said. And this, of course, if they agree on something, their agreement is a proof, as we clarified in a previous talk a few nights ago, citing, for example, His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): . So the path of the believers is the path of the noble Companions, and it is not permissible to contradict them. Thus, knowledge is only taken from the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), then from the saying of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and then from what came to us from his noble Companions.
When an exegete comes to a verse like this one, and expands the meaning to the point where spending zakah funds on building mosques and building schools is included, and so on, we should not submit to such an expansion or such an interpretation; because it is an interpretation based on opinion, contrary to the interpretation of the righteous Salaf. If we return to the books of tafsir, especially the mother books and the basic references that all exegetes who came after them rely on, such as "Tafsir Ibn Jarir al-Tabari," by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, the famous exegete, hadith scholar, and historian, or if we return to "Tafsir al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi," also an exegete, hadith scholar, and historian; we will not find such an interpretation in the phrase that it means the general, comprehensive sense of all paths of good. Rather, we found in them and in other books of tafsir, and also in books of fiqh, jihad and Hajj to the House of Allah the Sacred. So when we find such an expansion, we should not accept it; because it is contrary to what our righteous Salaf were upon. We have mentioned more than once that when we call people to follow the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), our following of these two sources should be in accordance with how our righteous Salaf understood them and applied them in their blessed lives. So when we review the interpretation of this verse, we do not find this expansion, and thus this interpretation contains a deviation from what the righteous Salaf were upon. And this alone is sufficient for us to realize the error of such an interpretation.
We often hear, also, fatwas that contradict what the righteous Salaf and the four Imams, and others, held, which some Islamic writers today claim in the name of making things easy and expanding for people. You must have heard someone explicitly declaring musical instruments permissible, even though the scholars of old and their followers of today interpret His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): They interpreted "leisure talk" as singing, which distracts those who engage in this singing from performing many Islamic obligations, which may include maintaining the prayer. So when some people come and interpret this interpretation with words that contradict the Shari'ah, for example, or that incite commotion and noise over the words of Allah alone, and do not interpret it, also, as singing, despite the many hadiths from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the prohibition of musical instruments, which supports this interpretation transmitted from the Salaf, that "leisure talk" is singing. From those hadiths, for example—and I am not listing them all—is what al-Bukhari narrated in his "Sahih" as a hanging hadith, and many hadith scholars completed it with a sound chain from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: meaning: zina, meaning: animal silk, which is called "local" in some countries—meaning: non-plant-based—, . We hear today many people who declare it explicitly, either in writing or in a lecture, that musical instruments are permissible, given the many and very many instruments that the disbelieving Europeans have invented today, which, when heard, cause the listener's strength to collapse and his Islamic meanings and Islamic honor to vanish, and he becomes uninterested in the open sinfulness or lewdness that occurs there.
When we hear such fatwas, we must stand before them questioning, and it is not permissible to stand before them submissive; so that we can say to them: , how do you expand the meaning of so that it includes building mosques, such that no rich person remains who donates from his abundant wealth a donation beyond what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has obligated upon him of zakah? So he does no good except within the limits of the obligation, while he has prevented himself from voluntary acts; because these scholars have created for him a path, that any path of good you spend in, you can consider that from the obligatory zakah.
And so the examples multiply in interpreting texts from the Book and texts from the Sunnah contrary to what the scholars of the Muslims of old were upon. So what is knowledge, such that when we are told something, we do not say, "By Allah, so-and-so the scholar issued this fatwa"? We must understand knowledge in its reality: what is it? And by that, we know who the scholars are. You have just heard that knowledge is: Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said, the Companions said. And knowledge is not—and you hear this explicitly from some of these who come to you with new fatwas—me saying, "This is my opinion, and you are free." This is not in Islam: "This is my opinion, and you are free." Rather, you must issue a fatwa based on what Allah said, what the Messenger of Allah said, and what our righteous Salaf were upon. If there is no opinion of the scholars who passed away on a new issue, and here there is a necessity for ijtihad and expressing an opinion, but the opinion must be based on those three sources: the Book, the Sunnah, and consensus. As for a person who sets himself up to issue a fatwa that contradicts those before us from the Salaf, and even contradicts the texts of the Book and the Sunnah by interpreting these texts in a way that agrees with his opinion, and concludes by saying, "This is my opinion!" The people of knowledge say: "When the athar comes, the opinion is void." When the athar comes from Allah and His Messenger or their Companions, there is no longer room for opinion. And they say, in another phrase: "There is no ijtihad in the place of the text." And "When the river of Allah comes—and they also say in old Arabic—Ma'qil's river is void." So this opinion can only have validity and acceptance if it does not contradict, either a verse, or a hadith, or what the Salaf were upon in interpreting a verse, or in interpreting a sound hadith. Therefore, we must know how to study fiqh and how to learn.
And we do not impose—as some people imagine, and some may explicitly state—we do not want every person to become a scholar and a jurist in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), for this is not easy for most people, even for many of those who have set themselves up to express opinions that contradict the Book and the Sunnah. It is not easy for such people to perform ijtihad that relies on the Book and the Sunnah. Relying on the Book requires that the one relying on it returns to the books of tafsir we mentioned, and relying on the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) requires relying on what is authentic from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And so, when he wants to perform ijtihad and express his opinion on an issue that has occurred, he must have relied on the general evidences from the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Otherwise, whoever is not of this caliber is not a scholar; because all the scholars agreed that the scholar is the one who says, in everything he goes to, "Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said." And the muqallid is not a scholar by the consensus of the scholars. The muqallid who says, "So-and-so said," or "So-and-so issued a fatwa,"The Shaykh : this is not of knowledge in any way,The Shaykh : rather, this is of the ignorance that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) referred to in the sound hadith, which is what was narratedThe Shaykh : in "their two Sahihs" from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is a sound hadith, and in it the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly stated that knowledge will disappear little by little, and knowledge will not be taken away by our Lord plucking it from the people of knowledge and virtue; rather, the people of knowledge will die, which is the Sunnah of Allah in His creation, and then people will remain who know nothing of knowledge. And I return to remind you: knowledge is "Allah said, the Messenger of Allah said," and it is not "So-and-so said and so-and-so issued a fatwa." And this is our reality in the present age.
Therefore, we advise all our Muslim brothers, and especially those who are with us on this path and the straight way in following the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), to ask these muftis. I do not say that they should perform ijtihad themselves—for they are not qualified for ijtihad!—but rather, they should ask the muftis when they issue a ruling on a matter: "Where did you get this from?" If the current trend is to scrutinize matters related to the accumulation of wealth, and they draw attention to the fact that it is part of the Islamic system that rulers and governors who become wealthy and rich after taking up their positions should be held accountable; they should be asked: "Where did you get this money from?" It is even more important to ask about knowledge than about money: "Where did you get this by which you are issuing rulings to the people?" If they say, "Allah said it," we tell them: "Explain to us the saying of Allah as the Salaf explained it, not as you see it and as others of the people of opinion in this era see it!" And if they say to us, "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said it," we ask them: "Is this hadith authentic or not?" If they say it is an authentic hadith, we hold them responsible for it, and we bear no responsibility for it, because they are supposed to be people of trust. If they issue a ruling based on a weak hadith, and the reality is that it is a weak hadith, or if they issue a ruling based on a hadith that is actually weak but they claim it is authentic; then they bear what they have been charged with, because they are the ones responsible for delivering the trust to the people.
So, let us not forget that all people are divided into two groups, as explicitly stated in the Qur'an, where He (Mighty and Majestic) said: . The people of knowledge are the people of the Qur'an, because "knowledge" (dhikr) has been mentioned in other verses as well, and the scholars agreed on this that the intended meaning of "knowledge" here and there is the Qur'an. So, when Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: , the intended meaning of this "knowledge" is the Noble Qur'an. Likewise, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the previous verse that divided people into scholars and non-scholars, when he said: ; so the intended meaning of "knowledge" in this verse is also exactly the same as the intended meaning in the previous verse, which is the Qur'an.
So, if we ask the people of the Qur'an, and it is self-evident that the intended meaning of "people of the Qur'an" here is not those who recite the Qur'an, memorize its letters, and the rules related to tajwid, and perhaps they are moved by it in an impermissible way, but they do not understand anything of the meanings of what they recite. The intended meaning of "people of the Qur'an" is not those who memorize its letters without its meanings, but rather the intended meaning is the people of knowledge; that is, the people of understanding of the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
It is not possible—if we do not say it is not permissible—for a Muslim to consider himself knowledgeable of the Qur'an, its interpretation, and its meanings, while being ignorant of the Sunnah. Therefore, we must keep in mind and in our hearts that when we interpret this verse with "people of the Qur'an," and that the intended meaning is the people of knowledge of the Qur'an and understanding of its meanings; we must keep in mind that they are also knowledgeable of the Sunnah. Otherwise, whoever is ignorant of the Sunnah, or does not distinguish its authentic from its weak, and its weak from its fabricated; such a person cannot understand the Qur'an in any way. It is not possible for a person to interpret the Qur'an except by relying on the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
And this is indicated by the Qur'an itself; because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said in it, addressing His Prophet: . So, the explanation of the Messenger (peace be upon him) of the Qur'an is his Sunnah. If the scholar does not know this explanation, he will never be able to interpret the Qur'an correctly. Therefore, we see in this era, and before this era, many people who do not know anything of the Sunnah worth mentioning, and yet they dare to interpret the Qur'anic verses according to their desires in a way that is not understood, not even in the custom of the language in which the Qur'an was revealed.
So, the Noble Verse divides people into two groups: scholars and non-scholars. It is obligatory for the scholars to issue rulings for the non-scholars. It is obligatory for the non-scholars to ask the people of knowledge, as explicitly stated in this verse. So, each of the two groups has its obligation. Whoever is not a scholar the people of knowledge. And whoever is among the people of knowledge; it is his duty to convey this knowledge, otherwise the curse mentioned in the Qur'an will encompass him, and the warning of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): .
Therefore; that is, to fulfill the obligation of asking, for one who is not a scholar to ask the people of knowledge, he (peace be upon him) said in a well-known hadith: . So, if we ask someone who is not knowledgeable of the Book and the Sunnah, and we do not ask a scholar; if this one who is not knowledgeable of the Book and the Sunnah issues a ruling for us, or issues a ruling contrary to the Book and the Sunnah, and does not present us with knowledge; then it is not permissible for us at that time to follow him, otherwise we will be misguided with him, as you heard in the previous hadith: . So, if there are some people who do not care if they are misguided by issuing rulings based on opinion contrary to correct knowledge; it is necessary for the masses of Muslims who are not among the people of knowledge, and whose duty—as we mentioned—is to ask, that they should be alert, and not be misguided with those who are misguided among those who issue rulings without knowledge. The way to do this is to be polite with the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in the Qur'an . And if we do not do as our Lord commands us in this verse, we will be misguided with the misguided, and we will be among the people of the Hellfire.
We ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to protect us and you from everything that misleads us and takes us off the straight path. And perhaps this extent is sufficient to clarify that beneficial knowledge is only: "Allah said," "The Messenger of Allah said," "The Companions said."

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And beware of that.