Who are the people of knowledge? And what are their characteristics?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : What is the first question now?
The questioner : The first question is about the people of knowledge. You mentioned the people of knowledge in three places in your speech. In the first place, you said that the principle is to take from the Book and the Sunnah unless there is dire necessity, and that dire necessity is for the general public, while the principle is for the people of knowledge; that is, without a doubt, the people of independent legal reasoning. This is what the speech implies.
The Shaykh: Of course.
The questioner : The people of independent legal reasoning. Then you said: Second, it is obligatory that there be a scholar, or scholars, in every city, every town, and every time, so that the word "community" can be used. Third, you said that it is upon us to know whom we ask. Does this mean that we ask from the scholars? Does this mean that we do not ask from the scholars except those who possess the first characteristics, the people of independent legal reasoning?
The Shaykh : Excuse me, you went back and repeated the speech.
The questioner : You asked me to repeat the question.
The Shaykh : No, no, I want you to repeat the question, not the speech.
Another questioner : Please allow me, what is a scholar?
...
The Shaykh : This is... what is a scholar?
The questioner : What is a scholar?
The Shaykh : This is the question. Do you have a second question...?
The questioner : ... please.
The Shaykh : So that it is complete...
The questioner : My question is: What is a scholar? Taking into consideration what you spoke about in your speech.
The Shaykh : Of course, when you see me, you left when I spoke, so your tongue is with you, and your eloquence is with you. We are the second ones who testify to Allah with this.
The questioner : The tongue of mutual advice, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : We ask Allah to grant us success in all good.
The questioner: Amen.
The Shaykh : A scholar is one who understands the Qur'an first, and the Sunnah, and distinguishes the authentic Sunnah from its weak parts. This returns to the knowledge of the scholars' principles, which is the principles of hadith. Then, a scholar is one who is able to reconcile between the verses that may appear to have some contradiction to those who are not people of knowledge, and likewise between the hadiths, where some of them also appear to have that, or where there appears to be a difference between a verse and a hadith. And this is self-evident in that it is obligatory for him to be proficient in the knowledge of the Arabic language in its rules and principles. So, we have here three things: knowledge of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, the principles of hadith, and the principles of jurisprudence, as well as the principles of the Qur'an and the language. Whoever possesses these conditions is the scholar who is intended whenever mentioned in the Book and the Sunnah. There are hadiths, as you all know... explaining the virtue of the scholars, and they are those who possess these characteristics. And as I said in the context of my previous speech, those who are their opposite are not scholars.
The questioner : The first question is about the people of knowledge. You mentioned the people of knowledge in three places in your speech. In the first place, you said that the principle is to take from the Book and the Sunnah unless there is dire necessity, and that dire necessity is for the general public, while the principle is for the people of knowledge; that is, without a doubt, the people of independent legal reasoning. This is what the speech implies.
The Shaykh: Of course.
The questioner : The people of independent legal reasoning. Then you said: Second, it is obligatory that there be a scholar, or scholars, in every city, every town, and every time, so that the word "community" can be used. Third, you said that it is upon us to know whom we ask. Does this mean that we ask from the scholars? Does this mean that we do not ask from the scholars except those who possess the first characteristics, the people of independent legal reasoning?
The Shaykh : Excuse me, you went back and repeated the speech.
The questioner : You asked me to repeat the question.
The Shaykh : No, no, I want you to repeat the question, not the speech.
Another questioner : Please allow me, what is a scholar?
...
The Shaykh : This is... what is a scholar?
The questioner : What is a scholar?
The Shaykh : This is the question. Do you have a second question...?
The questioner : ... please.
The Shaykh : So that it is complete...
The questioner : My question is: What is a scholar? Taking into consideration what you spoke about in your speech.
The Shaykh : Of course, when you see me, you left when I spoke, so your tongue is with you, and your eloquence is with you. We are the second ones who testify to Allah with this.
The questioner : The tongue of mutual advice, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : We ask Allah to grant us success in all good.
The questioner: Amen.
The Shaykh : A scholar is one who understands the Qur'an first, and the Sunnah, and distinguishes the authentic Sunnah from its weak parts. This returns to the knowledge of the scholars' principles, which is the principles of hadith. Then, a scholar is one who is able to reconcile between the verses that may appear to have some contradiction to those who are not people of knowledge, and likewise between the hadiths, where some of them also appear to have that, or where there appears to be a difference between a verse and a hadith. And this is self-evident in that it is obligatory for him to be proficient in the knowledge of the Arabic language in its rules and principles. So, we have here three things: knowledge of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, the principles of hadith, and the principles of jurisprudence, as well as the principles of the Qur'an and the language. Whoever possesses these conditions is the scholar who is intended whenever mentioned in the Book and the Sunnah. There are hadiths, as you all know... explaining the virtue of the scholars, and they are those who possess these characteristics. And as I said in the context of my previous speech, those who are their opposite are not scholars.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.