The Real Alim (Scholar)

Sa’d ibn Ibrahim (rahmatullahi alayhi) was asked, ‘Who is the most learned person in Madina?’ He replied, ‘The one who has the most fear for his Lord.’

Hadhrat Hasan al-Basri [rahmatullahi alayhi] comments on this aayat that an Aalim is that person who fears Allah in secrecy and openness, he desires those things that Allah encourages and he dislikes those things that Allah dislikes.

Hadhrat Abdullah ibn Mas’ood [Radhiallaahu anhu] said, ‘Ilm is not a lot of speech, but rather Ilm is a lot of fear of Allah.’ The summary of this is the amount which he fears Allah, is the level of his Ilm.

Ahmad ibn Saalih al-Misri [rahmatullahi alayhi] said, ‘Plentiness of Ilm is not the means of recognising the fear but rather the following of the Qur’aan and Sunnah is the means of recognising Allah.’

Shaykh Shihabuddin [rahmatullahi alayhi] said that ‘The indication from this Aayat is that a person who does not have the fear of Allah in him, he is not an Aalim.’

Hadhrat Rabee ibn Anas [rahmatullahi alayhi] said, ‘Verily, the Aalim is that person who fears Allah.’

Hadhrat Ali [Radhiallahu anhu] also explained a Faqih in this manner, ‘A complete Aalim is that person who does not make a person despondent of the mercy of Allah, nor does he give them leeway in their sins, nor does he give them security from the punishment of Allah, nor does he abandon the Qur’aan desiring some other objective.’ And he also says, ‘There is no good in any ibaadat in which there’s no Ilm and there’s no knowledge in which there’s no deep insight into it and there’s no recitation in which there’s no pondering into it.’ (Ma’ariful Qur’aan vol.6 pg.336)