Likewise, he claims that anyone who times his prayer merely in accordance with the mu’adhdhin’s schedule has an invalid prayer. Why, you ask? Because—so he alleges—the timetable is based on fixed clock hours rather than on actually observing the sun. Yet the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The time for Ẓuhr begins when the sun passes its zenith and a man’s shadow is equal to his height, until the time for ʿAṣr arrives.” Nowadays, however, the prayer times are printed on sheets of paper and people follow them; therefore, according to him, all of these people—the entire Muslim community, no less—have unsound prayers. This is nothing but agitation and confusion.

The problem is that such a person is described as someone who possesses knowledge, when in reality it is only “paper knowledge”: a certificate handed to him proclaiming that he graduated from this or that institution. Then he puffs himself up and says, “I am so-and-so, I…!” The upshot is that the Muslim ummah desperately needs scholars who are firmly grounded in learning. If matters are left in this disorderly state, they are in grave danger: people’s religion will not be upright, their hearts will not feel at ease, and you will have someone issuing fatwas under a tree, another beneath a roof, and a third on the peak of a mountain. This is unacceptable. We must have scholars whose knowledge is deep and well-established, built upon the Quran and the Sunnah, and reinforced by sound intellect and wisdom. Allah is the One who grants success.