But as for the people in our day, most of them neglect the obligations and many violate the sacred limits, yet they still wish that Allah would set righteous caliphs over them. That is far-fetched. Our duty, rather, is to listen and obey; if the rulers themselves fall short, their shortcoming is upon them. They are accountable for what they have been charged with, and we are accountable for what we have been charged with.

When neither scholars nor governors are shown due respect, both religion and worldly life are lost—may Allah grant us safety.

The author then cites the Almighty’s words: “Say, ‘Are those who know equal to those who do not know?’” (Az-Zumar 39:9). The verse means that they are certainly not equal, for ignorance is a blameworthy defect while knowledge is a praiseworthy virtue. Even the lowest of ordinary folk would be offended were you to call him ignorant; this shows that ignorance is a censured flaw from which everyone recoils, whereas knowledge is pure good. In no circumstance are those who know equal to those who do not.

The scholar worships Allah upon clear insight: he knows how to perform ablution, how to pray, how to give zakat, how to fast, how to perform the pilgrimage, how to show filial piety to his parents, and how to maintain ties of kinship.

The scholar guides others, as in the verse: “Is one who was dead, then We gave him life and a light by which he walks among the people, like one who is in layers of darkness from which he cannot emerge?” (Al-Anʿām 6:122). The two can never be the same. A scholar is a light by which people find guidance and through whom Allah elevates them, whereas an ignorant person is a burden on others—benefiting neither himself nor anyone else. Should he issue a fatwa in ignorance, he harms himself and harms others. Thus, those who know and those who do not know are never equal.

The author next adduces the hadith of ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir, in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The one who leads the people in prayer …”