True Function of Religious Scholars in Islam (1)
There is no position in Islam
more honorable in status, higher in rank, broader in scope, heavier in
responsibility, firmer in covenant, or greater in reward with Allah than that
of the religious scholar. This is because he is the heir to the prophetic mission,
entrusted with its most vital task — calling people to Allah, guiding His
creation toward Him, purifying their souls, educating them, and training them
upon the truth until they understand, accept, and live by it.
The scholar (in the
Islamic sense) is a leader whose battlefield is the human soul, whose weapon is
the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace be upon him), and
their practical interpretation as exemplified by the Prophet (peace be upon
him) and his Companions.
His greatest aid in triumphing in this field is to forget himself and dissolve
in the lofty meanings of Islam — to cast aside selfish desires and personal
ambitions, and to take from the Prophetic inheritance his true share: to purify and teach, to speak the
truth with his tongue, to manifest it through his deeds, to defend it when
others abandon it, and to strive in its cause with all the strength Allah has
granted him.
Leading by Example, Not by Words
The key to his success in this
leadership lies in him starting with himself in the matter of commanding and
forbidding. He should not command anything that Allah and His Messenger have
ordered until he is the first to act upon it; nor forbid anything until he
himself is the first to abstain from it.
This is so that people learn from him through example more than through words —
for reciting texts and statements is merely transmission, and transmission does
not necessarily lead to imitation or guidance. It merely serves as a reminder
for the heedless, a rebuke for the hardened, an awakening for the sluggish, an
education for the ignorant, and a stirring for the stagnant.
But drawing people to guidance in
a way that compels their hearts is only achieved through practical
demonstration — the same method employed by the first guide, the Prophet (peace
be upon him), who taught his companions through actions more than through
words. He knew — as the leader of all Messengers — the power of practical upbringing in shaping souls and inspiring natural imitation.
The Prophet (peace be upon him)
witnessed the truth of this during the incident of Al-Hudaybiyyah: when he
commanded his companions to perform a certain act and they hesitated, though
they knew he spoke by divine revelation, but when he himself began to act, they
immediately followed his example — as if transformed into entirely different
men.
The Companions’ Zeal for Following the Prophet’s Example
The Companions, endowed
with a powerful readiness to strongly bear Islam, were keen to derive the spirit of worship from the actions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) — just as
they strove to imitate his character, his relationship with Allah, and his
conduct with people. They sought to emulate him in both action and abstention,
in matters of religion and worldly life alike.
They understood that action is
the essence and fruit, while words are but tools of explanation and vehicles of
transmission — means of command, prohibition, encouragement, and warning. The
saying of one of them, “I am the person whose prayer most resembles the
prayer of the Messenger of Allah” shows how deeply this understanding was
rooted in their insight and certainty.
They were extremely cautious in
imitating his practical actions exactly as he performed them, fearing any
shortcoming in doing so, for they knew that the actions they see him performing
directly by the eye are closer to what Allah Intends. In this way, such acts
bear real effects on the soul.
They understood worship as
serving Allah as He legislated, in the manner He legislated — and thus the
forms of worship are part of servitude itself. Therefore, the early generations
never introduced new additions to acts of worship, such as extra Adhkar or
invented practices — under the pretense of “extra goodness,” as later
generations did.
They also understood the ease of
religion in its noble sense — that there is no hardship or undue burden in it,
and that this ease applies only to genuine necessity and within the bounds of
divine law, not as we now take it to mean indulgence and negligence.
The Comprehensive Understanding of Religion by the Early
Scholars and Acting Upon it
The Salaf scholars understood
Islam as a complete and harmonious system, encompassing beliefs, acts of
worship, laws, and morals. They comprehended the interconnection and unity
between all these elements — that they are, in essence, one thing: the
religion, which is Islam itself.
They recognized that the loss of
one aspect signals or leads to the loss of the others; that the religion of
Allah cannot stand on earth except by upholding all of its components. Thus,
when the Quran says: {Uphold the faith, and make no
divisions in it.} [Ash-Shura 42:13] Meaning, to uphold all of it.
This religion doesn’t intend that
a Muslim prays and then lies; or remembers Allah and then swears falsely by His
name with the same tongue that invoked Him; or fasts from food yet consumes the
flesh of others through backbiting; or says to his Lord, {You ˹alone˺ we worship and You ˹alone˺ we ask for help.} [Al-Fatiha 1:5], and then turns in
devotion or reliance to others in what belongs solely to the Divinity of Allah;
or speaks with his tongue what his
heart does not hold; or commands people to strive in the cause of Allah yet
remains behind himself; or preaches charity for the sake of knowledge but
withholds his own wealth; or calls others to righteousness and forgets himself;
or compromises the truth to please a powerful or wealthy person; or delays speaking the truth beyond its time until the truth is lost.
Each one of them saw himself as a
guardian entrusted with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger — responsible for practicing
them, conveying them as they are, and protecting them from distortion by
extremists, misguidance by false claimants, or corruption by innovators.
Every one of them feared that
Islam might be harmed through his negligence; thus, he remained ever-conscious,
keenly aware, and precise in his actions and judgments — alert to what people
said and did, quick to respond to truth when it called, and eager to defend it
if its sanctuary was violated.
They would hasten to confront falsehood at its very first appearance. No thought or rest would
comfort them until they had eradicated and refuted it completely. They would
not remain silent until it grew roots and took hold in the hearts of the
masses.
They constantly remembered the
covenant of Allah, that He took a pledge from the bearers of Scripture that
they would not speak about Allah except the truth. They knew that truth is what
Muhammad (peace be upon him) brought from his Lord for the guidance and welfare
of humankind.
They constantly measured
themselves by the scale of the Quran and Sunnah. Whenever they detected in
themselves any deviation or error, they immediately corrected it through repentance and
return — just as people today obsessed with physical health weigh their bodies
every month to maintain balance.
For Further Reading:
- Joy of Secret Invocation to Allah - Munajah
- Are You Among Allah's Allies?
- Why Do We Tolerate Wrongdoing?
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