With the Hadith
"Chapter on How Knowledge is Taken Away"
We greet you all, dear listeners everywhere, in a new episode of your program "With the Hadith," and we begin with the best greeting: peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.
It is mentioned in Fath al-Bari, Explanation of Sahih al-Bukhari by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, with modification, in "How Knowledge is Taken Away"
Ismail bin Abi Uways narrated to us, saying: Malik narrated to me, from Hisham bin Urwa, from his father, from Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-Aas, who said: "I heard the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, say: "God does not take away knowledge by removing it from people, but He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars, until when there is no scholar left, people will take ignorant people as leaders, and they will be asked and give verdicts without knowledge, so they will go astray and lead others astray."
His saying: (Does not take away knowledge by removing it) means: erasing it from hearts, and the Prophet's narration - may God bless him and grant him peace - of that was in the Farewell Pilgrimage, as narrated by Ahmad and al-Tabarani from the hadith of Abu Umama, who said: When it was the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet - may God bless him and grant him peace - said: "Take knowledge before it is taken away or raised." An Arab said: How is it raised? He said: Verily, the loss of knowledge is the loss of its bearers. Three times. Ibn al-Munir said: Erasing knowledge from hearts is permissible in terms of power, but this hadith indicates that it does not occur.
Dear listeners:
Perhaps in this hadith is an important message to the scholars. Before they leave this world, and their knowledge leaves with them, we ask them: O scholars, what is the benefit of knowledge if it is not applied in life? Has the news not reached you of those before you who wore the garb of scholars? So he died and the nation continued to pursue him with its words, why did he not act on his knowledge? Where is he today? How many scholars lived and died during the ninety years since the destruction of the Islamic state, and did not work to restore this state again? Did he not know that this obligation is the most important obligation? Or do you see that the nation has realized this obligation, and he - with his knowledge and understanding - has not realized what the nation has realized after? No, by God, but it is the fear that the nation has suffered from throughout those decades, fear of rulers and greed for the fleeting world. But - O scholar - the nation has broken this barrier, and it is less knowledgeable about God than you, so what can we say to you? And what are you going to do? Do you - after this - stand in the position of the nation; rather, precede it, by standing with it in its revolution? Before you leave and your knowledge leaves with you, so it will be against you on the Day of Resurrection, not for you. So rise up and declare it a revolution, you and those with you from the scholars, declare it a "Scholars' Revolution", and this is the least that should be done by people like you in this difficult time that your nation is going through.
Have we conveyed the message? O God, bear witness.
Dear listeners, and until we meet you with another prophetic hadith, we leave you in God's care, and peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.