Introduction by Professor Abu Malik before Shaykh al-Albani on the spread of knowledge and the pen, and the phenomenon of the proliferation of authorship.

Abu Malik: ...
In this meeting, as in previous meetings which yielded a good result, the discussion did not branch out; it addressed a specific topic and did not deviate from either the question or the answer. On this night, we would like to present to our Shaykh a topic we have wanted to present for some time, but Allah decreed that it be delayed, and we believe that everything is with Him by measure.
In this topic, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated, or perhaps it is one of the prophecies he informed us about, which is among the greatest miracles that have appeared to people in this time, settled among them, and become a clear sign of the severe condemnation contained in the Prophetic hadith in which he (peace and blessings be upon him), while informing about the signs of the Hour, said: . In reality, those ignorant of the Prophetic reports may think that this is a matter of knowledge and its prevalence, falling under the category of praise and the desire for students of knowledge and scholars to be like what this hadith indicates, as they understood it. But we understand this hadith in another way; we understand that it contains both condemnation and warning at the same time.
It is not hidden from you, our Shaykh, this matter in the time we are in. Every day, if I said tens of books appear to people, I would be inaccurate; rather, hundreds of papers, books, small works, and many volumes appear to us. There are also what are called periodicals, which are weekly or monthly magazines, or those published at specific intervals, or for specific purposes and events. Whenever an event occurs, something from these periodicals appears, and they are numerous and very numerous.
Perhaps what arises in the mind from the understanding we derive from this hadith is that the spread of the pen and the prevalence of knowledge appear in people’s disinterest in following what appears in this time, because it is certainly impossible for a person to engage with everything that is published every day. This generates in him some boredom and weariness, and then he turns away from everything that appears.
From here, I say that the successful ones in knowledge are those who remained walking on the methodology of the predecessors. They took the old works and devoted themselves to studying, understanding, memorizing, teaching, and explaining jurisprudence to people. Perhaps one of the phenomena that encourages us to speak about this matter is what also happens to these writers who produce many papers and books. The principle in knowledge is that the scholar should intend the Face of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in what he publishes, authors, and writes. In my opinion, this matter is absent in this time except for a very few scholars and students of knowledge who care about authorship. Even among those of our methodology, if I say "most," I might be inaccurate, so I say that the vast majority of them no longer view authorship as a goal by which they seek to spread knowledge, encourage students of knowledge to read, and spread the methodology with its causes, principles, and goals, and to make it accessible and understandable to the youth.
This is also clearly apparent. Therefore, you see the great race and acceleration that nearly blinds people who follow the movement of authorship in this time. One of us is astonished seeing his brothers falling into this circle of condemnation, refuge to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Therefore, it is a right upon our Shaykh to clarify to us and to the entire Ummah something related to this authorial methodology that helps us in clarifying the correct path so we hold onto it, and helps us in clarifying the error so we warn against it and alert people to it. Especially, as I said, our brothers, and I do not say this only in this country, but in the lands of the Muslims in general, we find that our brothers have fallen into what we warn against, or what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) warned against. This has also generated, through preoccupation with this style of publishing books and knowledge, many errors, indeed enmity and hatred in the hearts of our brothers. It has also generated in their hearts the boldness or daring to attack the Shaykhs of Islam and the great scholars and leaders of the religion, so that one of them hardly passes a month or two writing many lines without raising his head to condemn and attack those renowned scholars.