The Prescribed Reverence for the People of Knowledge

The Shaykh : ... It addresses one of these many errors that the Islamic world has suffered from since ancient times. If we were to inherit these errors that came to us from the past, the struggle to eradicate them alone would be sufficient for us, let alone what else is there, or what is our situation? There are errors you find every day, because we distinguish between an error committed by some of the scholars and an error committed by one who has no knowledge. The latter are merely traditions and desires that have no cure except through the fear of Allah. As for the former, its cure is knowledge. Therefore, we remind our brothers of two facts: one is a general rule, and the other is a specific application. As for the general rule, it is the glorification, exaltation, and reverence of the people of knowledge, but within the limits of the Shari'ah. As you know, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Similarly, he (peace be upon him) said: . This is the rule, but it is not absolute or comprehensive in the sense that every Muslim who wants to show reverence to a scholar, to recognize his worth, and to honor the elderly Muslim should do so according to his own desires. Rather, it must be according to what his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) brought, whether it aligns with his desires or contradicts them. This is how our righteous predecessors (the Salaf) acted, following the guidance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), setting aside their emotions and taking the commands of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with their right hands. Do you know that among the sayings of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is: . But few know the reason for the transmission of this hadith. One of its reasons is that Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) had traveled from Madinah to Damascus. When he returned and his eyes fell upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he wanted to prostrate to him, but the Prophet forbade it and disapproved of it. Mu'adh said: "O Messenger of Allah, I came to the Levant and found the Christians prostrating to their priests and monks, and I found you more deserving of exaltation than they are." This is sound logic, truly, were it not for the religion. Sound reason alone does not suffice and is not enough. This is an example among hundreds of examples that reason cannot independently determine what is lawful and what is not, nor can it independently determine what is good and what is bad. From here, the Mu'tazilah went astray when they claimed that reason determines good and evil, and when a faction of Muslims today makes reason a legal proof like the Book and the Sunnah. This is the modern form of Mu'tazilism today. Therefore, the truly guided Muslim does not let his reason govern the matters that come to him or that stand in his way; rather, he submits his religion to those matters. When Mu'adh ibn Jabal said what he said, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said the aforementioned hadith: . But it is not permissible, or as in some narrations. One of the reasons or occasions for mentioning this hadith is that a camel strayed from its owners and came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), lowering its head to him, as if it had stopped. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was inspired or understood from this animal that it was wronged, so he asked about its owner. The owner said: "It is mine." The Prophet said: "It complains that you have worked it for years, and when it grew old and weak, you disliked it and slaughtered it." So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered them to treat it well. The Companions saw the camel as if it had placed its head down and understood it as prostrating to the Messenger of Allah, so they said to him: "We are more deserving of prostration." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned this hadith. The point is that the exaltation of a scholar is not to be done according to desires. Of course, in general Islamic societies today, praise be to Allah, there is no prostration to scholars and Shaykhs. However, this still exists in some Sufi orders, particularly the Mawlawiyyah, known in the Levant and Turkey. We have seen some of them in the Great Mosque, the Umayyad Mosque, standing...The Shaykh : ...the Mawlawi, with the long fez on his head. He stands in a place in the mosque, and the dervishes gather in a circle around him. One of them comes out of the circle, of course, as a planned matter among them, and comes before...The Shaykh : ...and bows to him. You see a very ugly sight, because a person of tall stature looks ugly when he bows before his Shaykh. How much more so when he has made his stature even taller than necessary with this long fez? They consider this a sign of respect for the Shaykh. This is due to their ignorance of such hadiths. If this prostration or exaltation of some Shaykhs for such a phenomenon is rare today, praise be to Allah, but what is common is the exaltation of scholars by standing up for them, and the exaltation of scholars by giving them precedence...