123—Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Jaʿfi informed us; Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Rabah reported to us; Ali ibn al-Mundhir narrated to us; Ibn Fudayl narrated to us, from Yazid ibn Abi Ziyad, from Ibrahim, from Alqamah, from Abd Allah, who said:

“How will you be when a tribulation envelops you, in which the young grow up and the old grow aged, such that whenever any part of it is abandoned, it is said: ‘The sunnah has been abandoned’?”

It was asked, “When will that be, O Abu Abd al-Rahman?” He said, “That will be when your scholars pass away, your ignorant people become numerous, your reciters become numerous while your jurists become few, worldly gain is sought through deeds of the Hereafter, and religious knowledge is pursued for other than the sake of religion.”