and likewise, many students of knowledge turned to what they considered knowledge other than jurisprudence—either speculative theology or philosophy. For the soul seeks knowledge and recoils from doubt and conjecture, and this inclination is praiseworthy.

One reason for this was that they had studied jurisprudence for purposes other than religion, something for which they were condemned. This is mentioned in a hadith narrated by [Abū Hurayrah and ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with them both], in which [the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him] says:

“When wealth is circulated among a select few, entrusted property is treated as booty, zakat is regarded as a financial burden, and jurisprudence is studied for purposes other than religion; when a man obeys his wife but mistreats his mother, draws his female companion close but keeps his father at a distance; when voices are raised in mosques, a man is honoured for fear of his evil, a tribe is ruled by its wicked member, and the leader of a people is the vilest among them—then let them await a red wind and tribulations following one another like the beads of a worn necklace whose string has snapped, falling one after another.”