What is the ruling on saying: "I seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself"?

Question:
How valid is the statement of the one who says: "I seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge, or for the sake of knowledge itself"? Does this statement conflict with seeking knowledge in the path of Allah?

Answer:
This is generally intended to mean: I do not seek it for the worldly life, nor do I seek it for showing off and fame, but rather I seek it for its virtue and the good that follows from it. This is the common intention of the one who says this, meaning: he seeks it for the sake of Allah, so that he may benefit and know the ruling of Allah, what Allah has prescribed, and what Allah has forbidden, and he does not seek it for the worldly life or for showing off. This is the common intention of the one who says this.
As for if he intends to seek it for the sake of knowledge, so that he may be called a scholar, and to know what has come in the Book and the Sunnah, but not for action, nor for the obedience of Allah and His Messenger, then he is a loser. But I do not think a Muslim would want this and intend this. Rather, the common intention of the one who says this—or what is intended in any case—is that he seeks it for its virtue and the benefits that follow from it, among which are: knowing what Allah has made obligatory, what Allah has forbidden, and knowing the worship for which we were created. He does not seek it for showing off and fame, or for seeking positions; it is not for this. But if his intention is that he learns merely for the sake of knowledge, so that it may be said that he knows, so that it may be said that he is a scholar, then this is of the same kind as learning for showing off and fame. This is a loser. We ask Allah for safety.