What is your opinion regarding some of the brothers who study the sacred knowledge, then withdraw into their homes, close their libraries, and say, “We will convey the knowledge after six or seven years”?

The questioner: Very well, may Allah prolong your life in goodness.

The Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.

The questioner: What we want to add is the word “conveying” (tabligh).

The Shaykh: Conveying (tabligh).

The questioner: Which means the ambition, the ambition of da'wah (calling to Islam) and activity in conveying the matters of purification and fulfilling the responsibility of education. Because we have found some brothers who study the sacred knowledge, then withdraw into their homes, close their libraries, and tell you, “I will convey this after six or seven years.” And we find that there is a deficiency in this, especially in some countries where we do not even have scholars; we do not have any.

The Shaykh: And this is the problem of problems, Professor. This is the problem of problems: the absence of scholars. It is not just with you; it is not just with you, but in the entire world. I will mention to you something that happened between me and some Algerians before their fitnah (trial). About fifteen of them attended a gathering at my place. This was before the same Shaykh Ali Belhadj attended; may Allah relieve him and all the Muslims. We spoke about purification and education as well. I drew their attention to the danger of this collective or political work that is not based on a foundation of purification and education. I said to them: “We hear that the number of Muslims in Algeria reaches 25 million Muslims.” They said: “Yes.” I said: “Out of the 25 million Muslims, how many doctors are there to treat their physical ailments? They need a hundred doctors, is that enough?” They said: “No, they need a thousand.” They said: “No, they need thousands.” I said: “Is that not so? They need educators of the hearts and teachers of the hearts, meaning purification and education, in the hundreds, even thousands, of scholars.” He said: “Yes, it is necessary.” I said to them: “Out of the 25 million Muslims, how many scholars do you have?” He said: “We have none. It is a great calamity, Professor.” And therefore, now, seeking knowledge is the obligatory duty before everything. And it must be, as is well known, that the seeking be for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Because now, as you know, all those who seek the official sciences today, which are built upon certificates—may Allah have mercy on you—do not seek the Face of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with them, but rather the face of the dirham and the dinar. This knowledge is of no benefit, even if it is sacred knowledge, even if it is derived from the Book and the Sunnah. Because you know from His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): That righteous action requires two conditions: the first is that it be in accordance with the Sunnah, and the second is that it be pure for the Face of Allah. So now, we have lost both. Seeking sacred knowledge is lost in the sense that we want it to be purified. And even if it is found, it may be mixed with worldly desires, and it is not sincerity for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in it. If a region or a country like Algeria has about 25 million Muslims and there are no scholars among them, how can there be education? There is no education. I hear very strange questions, and sometimes I am forced to hang up the phone because of the strangeness of the questions. For example, is it permissible for a man to work in a place where naked and clothed women enter, and where cups of intoxicants are brought in, and so on? This indicates a very, very great ignorance of Islam. And every night, dozens of questions reach me by phone from Algeria, confirming the news we heard that they have no scholars. The Islamic world now, leave aside Algeria, there are scholars in Egypt by the thousands, but there are no scholars who are very rare, those who are upon the correct methodology of the Book and the Sunnah. So our problem is that we do not have, first of all, scholars. So our duty is to seek knowledge, as I said. Then, after that, the role of conveying comes, Professor. It is a very natural matter. And those whom you point out who say, “I will convey later,” the reason is that the scholars did not truly exist, and then education was not realized. These people were not educated. Now, I say about our Salafi youth: they learned something of the purified Islam, but they were not educated upon these correct pieces of information. Education requires, first: the spread of this correct knowledge, and then a long, extended time until the Khalaf (later generations) inherit from the Salaf (earliest generations). The connection has been broken, in terms of correct knowledge and correct education, between the Salaf and the Khalaf. I just mentioned, for a certain reason, the story of the slave girl. I wanted to say how this slave girl, who was a shepherdess of sheep, knew the correct creed regarding the answer to “Where is Allah?” while the great scholars were ignorant of it, because she was living in the school of Muhammad (peace be upon him), which spread not only among Mu'adh ibn Jabal and Ali ibn Abi Talab, individuals from the elite of the Companions, but the necessary thing encompassed all the Companions, whether men or women. So her master taught her the correct creed while she was a shepherdess of sheep. This awareness that should spread—and upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings—does not spread except through the efforts of the scholars. And if there are no scholars, it means that education is now being sought prematurely. When you say that so-and-so says, “I will convey later,” because he was not educated upon this purified knowledge, I say personally: we are now teaching, but we are not educating—and upon you be peace—we are not educating, meaning we are not providing collective education, because we cannot connect with people. Each of us has something that occupies him, whether knowledge, profession, trade, or so on. But when the knowledge is disseminated in the hearts of the scholars as purified knowledge, and these scholars educate their own people, these relatives also convey the da'wah to their neighbors, and so on, like a stone thrown on the surface of calm water, creating a first circle, then a second, then a third, and so on, until no circle is visible. So this is the knowledge. In summary, may Allah bless you, the most important thing the Islamic world needs today is purified knowledge from the Book and the Sunnah, and sincerity in it. Education is the effect of this knowledge, and education cannot be realized without this knowledge. And your question or inquiry about these students who rely on others and are lazy about education: this was not the effect of their ignorance of the knowledge, no, but it is the effect of the absence of comprehensive education for these people. These people, five years old, ten years old, learned the correct knowledge, but they have not yet educated themselves, let alone educate others. Now, I cannot speak in the field of caring for or attending to the conveying of the da'wah more than what every student of knowledge reads, such as His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): , and His saying (peace be upon him), as we mentioned earlier: . All of this is understood as knowledge, and this issue is not one of the matters that require purification. It is not among the matters that require purification, because these are agreed-upon issues. But the problem is that education upon this knowledge has not yet been realized. So what do we say to these young men who receive the knowledge and then become preoccupied with the da'wah? We tell them: He (the Exalted) said such and such, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said such and such. But they have read this and heard it repeatedly, but the world has occupied them. So this remains in need of time until the scholars perform the da'wah and education within their capabilities. So, in summary, I imagine that there is a scope to present to these young men, in terms of urging them to convey more than what they learned and did not ignore.

The questioner: Very well, this knowledge that they learned...
The student: Our Shaykh, is it possible before the food gets cold?

The Shaykh: Please, go ahead.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh: In the name of Allah.