The Audacity of Ignorance. - Rawdah

“The point of reference from this hadeeth is this vile comment, and the fact of the matter is that allof the prophets (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon them all) were harmed in theirpursuit of giving da’wah, even our Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa salam), but they were patient. This vilecomment was made about him eight years after he made the migration from Makkah to Medina,and not something that occurred at the onset of his da’wah (i.e. call). Rather this comment wasmade well after Allah established him in the earth and well after the people were familiar with histruthfulness and integrity, even after Allah showed them the signs in the horizon that he was in facta Prophet (i.e. splitting of the moon) and even the signs within themselves. However, even after allof this, it was still said: “this distribution is not fair and nor is it done desiring the face of Allah!”So if this statement managed to emanate from an individual amongst his companions about him(Sallallahu alaihi wa salam), then do not be surprised when an individual utters about a scholar from thepeople of knowledge: “This scholar is such and such!” and describe him with all types ofinadequacies- (in Abu Khadeejah’s case: “Shaykh Waseeallah is a liar! Shaykh Waseeallah isoppressive!”, “Shaykh Waseeallah needs to recent his statement!” etc.).For it is the Shaytan who encourages individuals such as this to insult the scholars, because whenthey insult the scholars, their statements loose validity in the eyes of the people, and there is noneleft to direct them with the Book of Allah. Who is there to direct them with the Book of Allah ifthey lose trust in the statements of the scholars? The Shayateen and their constituents will directthem, and because of this, backbiting the scholars is, by far, more detrimental than backbitingother than them. Because backbiting other than the scholars, is the backbiting of an individual, andif it is harmful, then it only harms the one who it was done to and the proprietor of it. On the otherhand, backbiting the scholars harms the whole religion of Islam, because the scholars are the flagbearers of the religion, and the moment people lose trust in their statements the flag of Islam islost, and the harm goes back to the Ummah as a whole.16 | P a g e w w w . r a w d a h . o r g