In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Allah, The Most High, said:

فَبَدَأَ بِأَوْعِيَتِهِمْ قَبْلَ وِعَآءِ أَخِيهِ ثُمَّ ٱسْتَخْرَجَهَا مِن وِعَآءِ أَخِيهِ كَذَٰلِكَ كِدْنَا لِيُوسُفَ مَا كَانَ لِيَأْخُذَ أَخَاهُ فِى دِينِ ٱلْمَلِكِ إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ نَرْفَعُ دَرَجَٰتٍ مَّن نَّشَآءُ وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِى عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ

So he [Yusuf] began (the search) in their bags before the bag of his brother. Then he brought it out of his brother’s bag. Thus did We plan for Yusuf. He could not take his brother by the law of the king (as a slave), except that Allah willed it. (So Allah made the brothers to bind themselves with their way of “punishment, i.e. enslaving of a thief.”) We raise to degrees whom We please, but over all those endowed with knowledge is the All-Knowing (Allah). [12:76]

[نَرْفَعُ دَرَجَٰتٍ مَّن نَّشَآءُ – We raise to degrees whom We please], as Allah said (i.e. in another Ayah):

يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ ۚ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ

Allah will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge. And Allah is Well-Acquainted with what you do]. [Al-Mujadilah 11]

[وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِى عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ – but over all those endowed with knowledge is the All-Knowing (Allah)].

Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

There is not a scholar except that above him is (another) scholar until the all knowledge goes back to Allah, The Mighty and Majestic, (i.e. Allah as the absolute Owner and Bestower of all knowledge).

Abdur Razzaq, may Allah have mercy upon him, reported from Sufyan ath-Thawri, may Allah have mercy upon him, from Abdul A’laa ath-Tha’labi, may Allah have mercy upon him, from Sa’eed Ibn Jubayr, may Allah have mercy upon him, who said:

“We were with Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, when he delivered an amazing speech. Then a man was amazed and said, ‘All praise and thanks be to Allah, above every possessor of knowledge is One All-Knowing’. Ibn Abbas said: ‘What an evil (or terrible) thing you have uttered! Allah is the All-Knowing, and He is above every knowledgeable one'”. [1]

[نَرْفَعُ دَرَجَاتٍ مَنْ نَشَاءُ – We raise to degrees whom We please].

Meaning, through beneficial knowledge and acquaintance with the paths that lead to their intended goals, just as We raised Yusuf’s, peace be upon him, in ranks.

Basheer al-Hujaymee, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: One day, I heard al-Ḥasan al-Baṣri, may Allah have mercy upon him, recite this verse:

[وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِى عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ – but over all those endowed with knowledge is the All-Knowing (Allah)]. Then he paused and said:

“By Allah! There is not a single scholar on the face of the earth who has reached the evening except that above him is one who is more knowledgeable until (all) knowledge goes back to the One who taught it (i.e. Allah)”. [2]

“We raise in degrees whom We will”. Imam as-Sadi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

(Meaning), through beneficial knowledge and acquaintance with the paths that lead to the intended goals, just as We raised the ranks of Yusuf. [وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ – but over all those endowed with knowledge is the All-Knowing (Allah)]- Meaning, for every scholar, there is one above him who is more knowledgeable until (all) knowledge goes back to Allah the Knower of the unseen and the seen. [3]

Imam Muhamad Ibn Salih Al-Uthaymin, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

know that regardless how much knowledge you have attained, indeed, there is always someone more knowledgeable than you. ” but over all those endowed with knowledge is the All-Knowing (Allah)”, until all knowledge goes back to Allah, the Might and Majestic (as the absolute Owner and Bestower of all knowledge). Do not think that you are the most knowledgeable of people, for (even) if you possess abundant knowledge, there is one who is more knowledgeable than you. Contemplate Musa, peace be upon him, when he said: “I do not know anyone among the people of the earth who is more knowledgeable than I”. What happened? He was told that indeed in a such and such place there is one who is more knowledgeable than you, meaning al-Khiḍr, peace be upon him. Then took place that which Allah Allah, The Most High, related to us in Surah al-Kahf. [4]

The scholars of the Permanent Committee for Fatwa said:

“As for the reasons behind the differing of the scholars, they are many. Among them is that each of them does not encompass all knowledge, so something known to one may be hidden from other than him. And he may understand from the texts what another does not understand when when a clear proof is not apparent to the other. [5]

Respect For The Scholars

Ibn Abbas stood up next to Zaid Bin Thabit [may Allah be pleased with both of them] and held the stirrup of his riding beast. Zaid said to him, “Step aside, O cousin of Allah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allah be upon him]”. Ibn Abbas said to him, “This is what we do for our scholars and elders”. [6]

Salamah Bin Kuhail [may Allah have mercy upon him] said: “Ash-Shabi and Ibrahim An-Nakha’i [may Allah have mercy upon upon both of them] never sat together except that Ibrahim remained silent, and both of them were Taabi’een”. [7]

Al-Marwazi [may Allah have mercy upon him] said, “Abu Abdillah [Imam Ahmad – may Allah have mercy upon him] used to be from those who honoured his fellow Muslim brothers the most and those who were older than him. One time, Abu Hammam [may Allah have mercy upon him] came to him on a donkey, so he held the stirrup of the riding beast for him. I witnessed him doing the same for the eldest Shaikhs”. [8]

Idris Bin Abdul Karim said: “Salamah Bin Aasim said to me: “I want to hear Kitaab Al-Adad from khalaf”. I said, “Khalaf?” He said: “Let him come”. When Khalaf entered, he tried to make Salamah sit in the teacher’s place, but he refused, and said: “I will not sit except in front of you”. Then he said, “This is the right of learning”. Khalaf said to him: “Ahmad Ibn Hanbal came to me to listen to the narrations of Abu Awanah, so I tried make him sit and transmit, but he refused and said: “I will not sit except in front of you. We are commanded to be humble in the presence of the one from whom we learn”. [9]

Muhammad Ibn Raafi said: I was with Ahmad (Imam Ahmad) and Ishaq in the company of Abdur Razzaaq when the day of Eidul Fitr arrived, so we went out with Abdur Razzaaq to the Musalla and with us were many people. When we returned, Abdur Razzaaq invited us to lunch, then he said to Ahmad and Ishaq, “Today I saw something strange from both of you. You did not say the Takbir”. Ahmad and Ishaq said, “O father of Abu Bakr! We were waiting for you to say the Takbir so that we could say the Takbir, but when we saw that you did not say the Takbir, we refrained”. Abdur Razzaaq said, “I was waiting for both of you to say the Takbir so that I could say the Takbir”. [10]

Abdullah Bin Ahmad [may Allah have mercy upon him] said: I heard my father [Imam Ahmad – may Allah have mercy upon him] being asked: “Why did you not hear a lot (of hadith) from Ibrahim Bin Sa’d [may Allah have mercy upon him] and indeed he did stay next to you in the house of Amarah?” He said: “We attended his gathering once and he narrated to us. When the second session was held, he saw youth putting themselves forward (or speaking) before the elders, so he became angry and said, ‘By Allah! I will not narrate for a year’. He died and did not narrate (thereafter)”. [11]

Imam As-Sadi, may Allah have mercy upon him, stated about the Mu’allimeen (teachers):

They are the intermediary between the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and his Ummah with regards to propagation of the religion and clarification of the Shariah. Had it not been for these ones, the people would have been like cattle. They nurture the souls and hearts of the slaves upon the beneficial sciences and sound knowledge. They are the ones who guide the Ummah in the fundamental and subsidiary affairs of their religion, and return them to the rulings related to the duties obligated to them and in their dealings, just as they return them to the affairs pertaining to worship. Through them the Book and the Sunnah are established, and through them is made clear truth from falsehood, guidance as opposed to misguidance, Halal as opposed to Haram, good as opposed to evil, and rectification as opposed to corruption. They are of varying ranks, in accordance with what they establish of knowledge, teaching and benefit- great or small. They have great rights (owed to them) by the ummah and are possessors of a lofty status. Therefore, the people must have love and respect for them. They must recognise their excellence and virtue, and thank them greatly. They are to supplicate for them in private and public, and seek nearness to Allah by having love for them and praising them. They are to proclaim their excellence; guard the hearts (from harbouring evil against them) and the tongues (from) insulting them, for this would tarnish their excellence. [12]

Finally, must pursue truth and follow the proofs: https://salafidawahmanchester.com/2025/04/16/reflections-on-some-statements-of-al-allamah-rabee-bin-hadi-al-madkhali-77-of-80/

[1] An Excerpt from Tafseer Ibn Kathir

[2] An Excerpt from Mawsu’ah at-Tafseer al-Ma’thur 11/708

[3] An Excerpt from Tafseer as-Sadi

[4] https://alathar.net/home/esound/index.php?op=codevi&coid=39439

[5] Signed by: Shaikh Abdul Aziz ibn Baz, Shaikh Abdur Razzaq ‘Afeefee, Shaikh Abdullah ibn Ghudayyan, Shaykh Abdullah ibn Qu’ud. Fatawa al-Lajnah ad-Da’imah 2/178.

[6] Al-Muntadhim Fee Taareekh Al-Muluk Wal Umam 5/215

[7] Taareekh Dimashq 25/367

[8] Al-Aadaab Ash-Shar’iyyah 1/416

[9] Al-Jaami Li-Akhlaaq Ar-Raawi Wa Aadaab As-Saami 1/198

[10] Siyar A’laam An-Nubula 9/566

[11] Siyar A’laam An-Nubula 11/317

[12] An Excerpt from Nurul Basaa-ir Wal Albaab Fee Ahkaamil Ibaadaat Wal-Mu’aamalaat Wal Huqooq Wal Aadaab, page: 57-58]