Our Prophet (saas) refers to scholarship disappearing and being replaced by ignorance as one of the portents of the End Times:
• “Almighty Allah will not take back knowledge (from your memories) after having bestowed it on you. However, He will take scholars, together with their knowledge, from within their communities and take their souls. All that remains will be an ignorant body of people. The people will ask them about their religious needs, and they will issue fatwas (religious opinion on a matter) in the light of their own ideas and desires (ignoring the Qur’an and hadith) and will both deviate themselves and lead other into deviation.” (Sahih Bukhari, Tajrid as-Sarih: 2174)
• “Seventy thousand people from the Jews of Isfahan with turbans and gowns will follow the antichrist.” (Muslim, At-Taj Ali Nasif al-Husayn, Vol. 5, p. 627)
• “SEVENTY THOUSAND SCHOLARS WEARING TURBANS FROM MY COMMUNITY WILL FOLLOW THE ANTICHRIST.” (Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, p. 796)
• The Messenger of Allah (saas) said: “Such a time will befall my Community that rulers will be oppressive and scholars will be avaricious and without fear of Allah, those who worship will be hypocritical, traders will seek to earn interest and they will only hide their disgraces in business. Their women will be caught up in the baubles of this world. Evils will plague them at that time. The good will pray and they will not be heeded.” (Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 23, p. 22)
• My Community will be destroyed because of evil scholars and ignorant servants. (Darimi)
• On the Day of Reckoning a religious scholar is cast into hell. People he knows say to him, “While in the world you communicated the commandments of the religion. Why has this torment befallen you?” And he will say; “I told people not to sin, but sinned myself. And I did not do those things I told them to do. I am being punished for that.” (Bukhari)
• Such a time will come that scholars will be an element of mischief. (Abu Nuaim)
• Imam Rabbani said: Listening to the words or reading the books of religious scholars who follow their own worldly interests is as harmful as eating poison. The harm done by evil religious scholars is contagious. They damage communities and split nations asunder. Evil religious scholars were always responsible for the disasters that befell Islamic states. They caused the heads of the states to deviate from the true path. Our Prophet (saas) said that Muslims will be divided into 73 parties, of which 72 will go to hell and only one party will be saved from hell. The leaders of these 72 heretical parties are all evil religious scholars. The only party to be saved from hell in the People of the Sunna. (Imam Rabbani, The Letters of Rabbani, 47th letter)
• “Seeking knowledge from spiritually little people with understanding of bid’ah (innovation) is one of the signs of the Last Day.” (Al Jami as-Sagir, p. 2475) (Ömer Öngüt, Kıyamet ve Alametleri [The Last Day and Its Portents], p. 53)
• “The Hour will not come until renunciation of this world no longer remains in people’s vocabularies, and until fear of Allah also become artificial.” (Jamiu’s-sagir: 9856) (Ömer Öngüt, Kıyamet ve Alametleri [The Last Day and Its Portents], , p. 53)
• Our Prophet (saas) described the End Times: Such a time will come to people that only the name of Islam and the image of the Qur’an will remain. Mosques will be prosperous on the outside, but will have no salvation in them. Their scholars will be the most evil under the sky. Corruption emerged from them and will return to them. (al-Bayhaqi) (Omer Ongut, Kiyamet ve Alametleri [The Last Day and Its Portents], p. 54)
• In the hadith the Messenger of Allah (saas) says: “Such a time will befall my Community that only the name of Islam, the image of faith and the letters and typeface in the Qur’an will remain. Their efforts will be directed toward their stomachs, the faith will be money and their Qibla [direction] their wives. They will be discontent with little and unsatisfied by much.” (Omer Ongut, Kiyamet ve Alametleri [The Last Day and Its Portents], p. 50)
• “... WHEN THE IMAM MAHDI (AS) APPEARS RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS WILL BE HIS PARTICULAR ENEMIES. HIS SWORD IS HIS [HAZRAT MAHDI’S (AS)] BROTHERS. Had he no sword in his hand -HAD HE NO BROTHERS-, THE RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS WOULD ISSUE A FATWA [RELIGIOUS OPINION] FOR HIS DEATH. Because Almighty Allah will cleanse him [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] with benevolence and the sword (HIS BROTHERS) and they will place credence in him [Hazrat Mahdi (as)]. THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE HIS PRONOUCEMENTS WILL BE FORCED TO BELIEVE, OR ELSE HIDE THEMSELVES AWAY. (Ahmad Diya ad-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Hadith, pp. 56, 73)
• In his [Hazrat Mahdi’s (as)] time the religion will assume its previous form by being purged of all conflicting opinions. HE WILL OPPOSE THE MEMBERS OF THE ULAMA (RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS) IN MANY OF HIS JUDGMENTS. FOR THAT REASON, THEY WILL AVOID HIM [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)]. Because they will imagine that that Allah will leave no Mujtahid (a scholar who derives legal rulings) of the faith after the imams... (Muhyiddin Arabi, Futuhat Al-Makkiya, chapter 66, Vol. 3, pp. 327- 328)
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