and Majestic—so that you may protect Allah’s law, lift ignorance from yourself and your fellow Muslims, point people to true guidance, and obtain a portion of the Prophet’s legacy, for the scholars are the heirs of the prophets. We ask Allah to purify our intentions and yours and to rectify our deeds; He is surely able to do all things.

1392 – On the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “Allah does not take away knowledge by plucking it out of people’s hearts; rather, He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars. When no scholar remains, people will take ignorant leaders; they will be asked and will issue legal opinions without knowledge, so they will go astray and lead others astray.” Agreed upon.

[Explanation]

The compiler Imām al-Nawawī (d. 676 AH), in the chapter “The Merit of Knowledge—seeking it and teaching it for Allah’s sake” of Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, cites this hadith of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ. The Prophet ﷺ states that Allah will not remove knowledge by snatching it from people’s chests; rather, knowledge will be withdrawn when the scholars pass away. This hadith points to a time when no scholar will remain on earth to guide people to Allah’s religion, after which the community will decline and go astray. At that point the Quran itself will be taken away—removed from hearts and from written copies—as the people of the Sunnah affirm: the Quran is the speech of Allah, revealed and uncreated; it originated from Him and to Him it shall return. They explain “to Him it shall return” to mean that it will go back to Allah.