How should a student of knowledge deal with the multitude of preachers and the differences in their methodologies of education?

The questioner : As you have graciously stated, we cannot educate an entire community with one or two scholars; this requires a large group of scholars, each working in his own field.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : But, as you see, Your Eminence, the arena has become very crowded with scholars, and every group has adopted...

The Shaykh : What do you mean?

The questioner : Yes?

The Shaykh : What do you mean? The arena has become crowded with many scholars.

The questioner : They are not scholars; they are students of knowledge.

The Shaykh : So, define your phrase so that you do not cut off your speech. The arena has become crowded with what?

The questioner : With these students of knowledge.
Abu Layla : The arena has become crowded with... scholars.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : And every group among them has adopted a specific school of education, and every school has objections to the other school, and every school calls to its own madhhab and its own method. So what is the advice for students of knowledge in such a difficult situation?

The Shaykh : The advice for students of knowledge is to continue in seeking knowledge and not to form groups, associations, and seminars, and so on, based on the principle: "And every one claims a connection to Layla, *** But Layla does not approve of that for them." I tell you about myself: if I were to engage in opening a school, I would be preoccupied from knowledge. So if you were to choose for me, what would you choose? Open a school and be preoccupied from knowledge? You would say, "No." So be content with what Allah has placed me in. These scholars are rushing and hastening, and if we assume sincerity to Allah the Mighty and Majestic in them, it may appear in the atmosphere that many of them do not want sincerity, either for fame or for money, or... or... Allah knows best what is in their hearts. The point is, these students of knowledge, as we sometimes say in some responses, "They defecate before they are ripe." Before becoming a mature scholar who does not set himself up as a leader, and people do not gather around him, even if it is five or ten people. Therefore, education today has a very, very wide scope and requires thousands and thousands of scholars, true scholars with the Book and the Sunnah, and sincere in calling to Allah the Mighty and Majestic. These people emerge in this Islamic world, spreading knowledge and educating to the extent they can. You, and Professor Mashhur, and others, are looking into matters that are necessary, but there is no one who can carry them out. So we say, in accordance with the saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: When I was in Damascus, and we were discussing with some of the partisans, like the Muslim Brotherhood and the Tahrir Party, they would say, "What are you doing? You have no group around you, no young men bent over the yellow books." I would say to them with complete calm, "I believe I am fulfilling my duty. What does a Shaykh of a school do? He teaches the small children. Well, I am fulfilling this duty. What do you want from me? I cannot do anything but this. So would you choose for me to leave this work and live like this, or to continue in my work?" They would fall silent. So I say, "I am continuing in my work, and praise be to Allah. This work, as you all know, and especially as Professor Mashhur mentioned earlier, its effect has appeared, praise be to Allah, in the Islamic world. But he and other sincere, zealous people want the effect of education to appear along with the awakening. I am keen with them on that, but this is not in our power and not within our reach, except to a very small extent, because the person, as Allah the Exalted said in the Qur'an: So if we are to be practical, not theoretical, these people you referred to in the arena, first of all, are not scholars, my brother. Because you must have read and heard, repeatedly, the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim in their "Sahihayn," from the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with them both), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: What do you think, 'Ayy? Are these not Sufis?

The questioner : This is etiquette.

Another questioner : A fly, my Shaykh, it is coming down...

The Shaykh : My Shaykh, this fly cannot catch up, and then...The Shaykh : Its branch has dried up; it is no longer affected.

The questioner : I, my Shaykh, want to advise you: your feet are afraid they will make me think you are a Sufi aspirant.

The Shaykh : Yes, by Allah, stay where you are now.

The questioner : I mean, with the front and the back.

The Shaykh : Yes, well done.

The questioner : You put a payment on...Abu Layla : I mean.

The Shaykh : So the Messenger (peace be upon him) said in this hadith: This is observed today. Therefore, those who are in the arena, my brother, are not scholars. May Allah reward you. Do not be lenient in your expression, because in that case, you insult knowledge without you wanting it, sensing it, or feeling it. The scholar, Allah is greater. We, first of all, interpret knowledge from the scientific aspect, whereas the Salaf used to interpret knowledge because they did not need this interpretation at that time; knowledge was known to them, as Ibn al-Qayyim said in his time:
"Knowledge is: Allah said, His Messenger said, *** The Companions said; it is not deception.
Knowledge is not setting you up for foolish disagreement *** ..." and so on. But in the time of the Companions, there was no need for someone to say this, because knowledge to them was: what did Allah say? What did the Messenger of Allah say? But what were they saying? The scholar is the one who acts upon his knowledge. As for if he does not act upon his knowledge, he is not a scholar. Now, we have two problems. The first problem, which is the fundamental one, is that we do not have scholars, because the hadith is saying: Give the girl water before she moves or does anything. So our problem is from the scientific aspect. Then the problem comes from the practical aspect: we may have some scholars whose knowledge is refined, but they do not care. I know a noble scholar among the scholars of hadith who was shaving his beard and mustache and was living in Iraq. Why? Because he had a deviation in some concepts of some of the Sunnahs that may get mixed up with each other: the Sunnah of worship and ordinary Sunnahs. To this day, for example, there are people in al-Azhar, and this is not strange from the culture of al-Azhar, who say that "leaving the beard to grow is a customary Sunnah"! So if a person does it, there is nothing wrong with him, and if he leaves it, there is nothing wrong with him. Some of those who were following the methodology of the Book and the Sunnah were affected by this. The point is, our problem today is the loss of correct knowledge. And when correct knowledge is lost, correct education is consequently lost. But which comes first, knowledge or action? Knowledge, without a doubt. Yes. Therefore, our land now is barren, with no knowledge in it at all, except what is rare, and the rare has no ruling. So when we want to mention knowledge, we must always keep in mind what knowledge is in relation to our reality today, and then we should keep in mind what knowledge is in relation to the reality of the Salaf, which is acting upon knowledge. Earlier, I mentioned that some of the noble Companions used to learn the Qur'an, its jurisprudence, and act upon it all at the same time. This is knowledge. Allah is greater. So Allah is the Helper. Therefore, my brother, these organizations and these calls should not occupy the minds of the young people to the extent of this correct knowledge. And in that case, he should nourish his knowledge and educate himself, and remember the words of his Lord: I know many young people who hardly understand anything of knowledge except a little. They sit and gather some of the younger young people around them and, in their claim, teach and educate them, but they forgot themselves. So I say it is obligatory for these individual young people to care for themselves primarily and initially, and secondarily, not to immediately turn to teaching the children and the younger young people and educating them, because this will occupy them from their own right. Yes, and Allah is the Helper.