—for the people of knowledge. Allah has coupled their testimony with His own and with the testimony of His angels, thereby acknowledging the witness borne by the scholars among His creation and highlighting their virtue, honor, and standing in relation to the greatest truth ever attested to—tawḥīd (the oneness of Allah).

As for the expression “those endowed with knowledge,” what is meant are the scholars of the revealed Law. It is not, as some claim, a reference to experts in industry or agriculture. Such specialists are not called “the people of knowledge” in an absolute sense, for their expertise is limited and confined. One may say, “He is learned in arithmetic,” “learned in engineering,” or “learned in medicine,” but one does not, without qualification, call them “the people of knowledge,” for that title is reserved exclusively for the scholars of the Sharīʿah. In fact, most practitioners of purely worldly sciences include atheists whose learning often increases them in ignorance of Allah, conceit, and unbelief—as you can plainly see in many of today’s technologically advanced yet disbelieving nations. How, then, could they be the “people of knowledge” mentioned by Allah in His words “and those who possess knowledge”? Such a notion is utterly unreasonable.

The same holds true for His statement, “It is only those among His servants who have knowledge that truly fear Allah” (Fāṭir 35:28). The “scholars” in this verse are the scholars of the Sharīʿah who know Allah as He ought to be known.