The Second Criterion for the Success of the Awakening in the Ummah is Knowledge and Sincerity in It

al-Eid Abbasi : And I said the second criterion is broad knowledge, and this requires that there be many among the Muslims who seek knowledge from its foundations, so that scholars and mujtahids (scholars qualified to derive rulings) increase, such that they meet the needs of the Muslims and fulfill the required purpose. They issue fatwas on every emergency and answer every question, so that there is not just one mujtahid and one reference, but rather these references multiply. The Islamic lands are many, and the number of Muslims is vast, so it is not permissible for the number of mujtahids, unfortunately, to remain limited to a number that does not exceed the fingers of one hand or two hands. This is a disgrace and a shame upon the Muslims. It is obligatory that these people increase, and they will not increase unless we prepare the desired environment for them by having students of knowledge turn to knowledge with all effort and all enthusiasm. I mentioned to you yesterday some of the efforts and sacrifices of the Salaf (the earliest generations) in acquiring knowledge. How Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) would accompany the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on a full stomach, not wanting work, not having time even for food or eating. In the biographies of the scholars of hadith and the Salaf, there are many of these reports. One of them, I am now forgetting his name, remained seeking knowledge; perhaps it was Sufyan. And two others went searching, meaning they were hungry, so they passed by a road and one of them bought a fish to eat at home, to grill it. Then it reached them that so-and-so the hadith scholar was narrating a hadith at his place, so they hurried and left it. And from his hadith, the pursuit of knowledge continued, one following the other. The fish remained for three days, and then they did not have time to grill it, so they ate it raw. So the stories of this are many. I mentioned the case of Jabir, and he traveled to Egypt to ask Abdullah ibn Anis al-Juhani a question about one hadith. Such determination is needed from the student of knowledge. We must restore our original way and be the best Khalaf (the later generations) for the best Salaf. Allah said that about the prophets and the followers of the prophets; they are close to them in that. So it is not permissible for us to remain, meaning, we have only half an hour a day to read and study and arm ourselves, and if that is not enough, the situation does not proceed, or we spend our times in idle talk and empty words, and how much of it there is. The gatherings of the youth, meaning, they take the Islamic direction, and you see many of them are of this type.
So we must all turn to seeking knowledge and seek thereby the Face of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and be sincere in it. Not to dispute with scholars, nor to keep pace with the foolish, but to act upon it, seeking thereby the Face of Allah. We do not want reward or gratitude, nor do we want the praise of people, nor fame, nor reputation, nor profit, nor interests. So this broad, deep knowledge must be the guide for the Muslims who turn to Islam and respond to the call of Islam, and these calls affect them from here and there. So we must equip them with beneficial knowledge and answer every question they ask. Of course, I do not say that if we do not know, we answer just as it happens. Rather, among the Muslims, if this one does not answer, that one will answer, due to the breadth of their knowledge, they will find the answer. Because the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) is complete and contains clarification for everything, as Allah the Exalted said: So in all specialties, and you know that life has expanded and sciences have multiplied. Now, one mujtahid cannot encompass everything. Matters of economics are among the broadest, and matters of politics, and matters of society, and inventions, matters that are very many, require abundant efforts. The efforts of many must succeed one another to meet some of the current needs of the Muslims.