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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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How to reconcile His saying, the Exalted: “Indeed, only the scholars among His slaves fear Allah,” with the hadith

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The questioner : We enter the topic regarding the scholars for whom the Fire is kindled. The verse says:
Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge. إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ
[Fatir 35:28]
They have fear of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. How can they have fear of Allah and at the same time be, for example,
The student : for whom the Fire is kindled?

The questioner : They made this knowledge for other than Allah. Since they have fear of Allah, our Lord testifies that they have fear of Allah? And how is it that at the same time they do not fear Allah, or do not be mindful of Allah, or do not do so, since our Lord says:
Only those fear Allah إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ
[Fatir 35:28]
meaning He testifies that they have fear?

The Shaykh : You are reminding me now of the story of that shaykh, our companion in Damascus. He was a man of refinement, witty and gentle. He used to say to me, when I was young and he was an old, refined, and blind shaykh, that scholars are of two types: a type is a scholar who acts, and a type is an actor who is a scholar, reversed! You have to understand this now.
The student : A scholar who acts.

The Shaykh : A scholar who acts.
The student : If his intention is the worldly life, learning this knowledge 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 to you the poetry earlier after the hadith:
“And a scholar who did not act with his knowledge *** 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. So now you are confused about understanding the verse:
Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge. إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ
[Fatir 35:28]
. Now, did you understand the scholars as the two types, or as the first type? Meaning the true scholars or the nominal ones? In the verse, the confusion came to you because you understood the verse incorrectly. When you understand the verse correctly, this problem that came to your mind does not arise. “Only the scholars fear Allah” means: only the righteous scholars among His slaves who act with their knowledge fear Allah. Because this knowledge is the beneficial knowledge, meaning that which is acted upon, is what 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 with his knowledge. So the knowledge following him says to him:
And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ
[Al-Bayyinah 98:5]
. He did not act; as evidenced by the fact that he learned the knowledge and taught it and spread it among the people so that people would say about him what?
The student : A scholar.

The Shaykh
A scholar, and it was said; take him to the Fire عالم ، وقد قيل ؛ خذوا به إلى النار
. Similarly, for example, a scholar who does not act with his knowledge. And there is a hadith in “Sahih al-Bukhari” that is very terrifying; the scholar is brought, and he, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and thrown in Hell-Fire and his intestines will pour forth in Hell يُؤتى بالعالم يوم القيامة فيُلقى في النار ، فتندلق أقتاب بطنه
Sahih Muslim 2989a
, his intestines spill out, meaning his guts, and I seek refuge in Allah!! On top of the fact that he is being tormented in the Fire, torment upon torment, his guts 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,
They say to him: What is the matter with you, so-and-so? We know you, you are a scholar; 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 أنت رجل عالم ؛ ألست كنت تأمرنا بالمعروف وتنهانا عن منكر ؟ يقول : نعم ، كنت آمركم بالمعروف ولا آتيه ، وأنهاكم عن المنكر وآتيه
. This is not the scholar whom Allah mentioned in the Qur'an in the verse you mentioned,
Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge. إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ
[Fatir 35:28]
; this is a scholar who is not a scholar in his knowledge, and that one who taught the people so that people would say: he is a scholar; he is a scholar who does not act with his knowledge. Do you understand now? So there is no contradiction between the verse.
I think it is time for 'Isha' now?
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, give the adhan.
The student : No, it is not yet, our shaykh.

The Shaykh : Give the adhan, give the adhan.
The student : According to the timings.
Another student: There is the timing of the clock, and the timing of...
Source www.al-albany.com

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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