Mufti Menk – Who is the Best Scholar?

			Salam Alaikum The question is who is the best scholar? Well, it's impossible to point at a
particular person and say they are the best, because Allah has given every scholar a uniqueness. And
there are so many departments of the dour and the dean and the field of calling towards Allah and
teaching people and guiding them that each one is specialized in a unique way, in one or perhaps
more of these departments. And this is why we need the scholars, we need all of them. We need those
who disagree with us, we need those who are specialized in a subject we may not be specialized in.
And we do not want every scholar to duplicate and do exactly the same thing that others are doing.
		

			Although some duplication is actually beneficial, but we cannot have every single person do as one
of them does. Or if you're a scholar listening to this, you cannot expect everyone to think like you
to do what you're doing to concentrate on the subject matter you're concentrating on come on the
dean and the field is vast and so broad, it has 1000 different departments. So if you're engaged in
something you believe is the most important, don't belittle what others are engaging in. And this is
why if you look at the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam who are our heroes and
heroines, if we look at them, each one was specialized in something unique. Some of them were
		

			specialized in Tafseer. Some of them were specialized in SubhanAllah. Hadith, some of them were
specialized in more than one, some knew more Hadith than others, some in the knowledge of
inheritance, and so on. And the same applies to the scholars. Some are specialized in aqeedah. Some
are specialized in Tafseer. Some are specialized, perhaps in
		

			laws of inheritance, some may be specialized in Hadith, or para art, you know different recitations
of the Quran pronunciations of the words of the Quran, some of them in fic, and jurisprudence. These
are the scholars, some of them perhaps in Jihad feasability law, we cannot belittle the value of any
one of them, nor can we pointed one and say he or she is ultimately the best No, no, the best is the
Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam closely followed by his companions, and then the next
generations, one after the other, may Allah grant us a good understanding the difficulty we have
today. And if you're a scholar listening to this, or if you are a person who listens to some
		

			scholars who tell you don't listen to other scholars, many times it's because they may feel that the
other scholars not discussing a topic that they are discussing, or they feel is the most important.
Well, I tell you what, nobody belittled that field at all. But what we're saying is, every field is
important. You cannot have everyone do the same thing. You know, we all have a different style. And
these styles happen to
		

			affect different people and inspire different people. Some people like it very hard and harsh, while
others love a beautiful approach of understanding. Some people love to be scared to death before
they can pray. And others love to know what Allah gives them when they pray, or how they can earn
the love of Allah. And some they just need to know what's right and wrong. They they love Allah
enough to just hear what Allah says. And the messenger says, and that's it they obey, or American
Allah alima mina
		

			Mina tiene
		

			la
		

			ma. Me akuna whom we mean, him, me
		

			Rasulullah falcoda Bala Bala.
		

			Surah, Allah says, it is not befitting it is not for a believing male or female, that when Allah or
his messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam declares something that they feel they then have a choice
in that regard. You're a true believer, you don't have a choice, you know, that I have surrendered
to Allah therefore when he declares something, or when the messenger peace be upon him says
something that's it, I surrender. And Allah says whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger have
indeed
		

			have indeed gone astray very clearly in a manifest way. So my brothers and sisters, there is no
point in fighting over scholars to say he is the best or she is the best
		

			Every one is the best. Remember that they have a uniqueness. They have a field, some of them in a
floppy yet, some of them in Coca Cola, some of them in Coca Cola, but some may know a little bit
more than others, some might want to go into politics, and they make political statements, some do
not want to go into politics, they're not wrong. It's just a choice. Perhaps maybe it's, they're
busy doing something else, just like you don't expect your geography teacher to teach you
mathematics. And you don't expect your English teacher to teach you French, and they're all
teachers, and they're all teaching you something, some goodness, in a similar way, although
		

			obviously, it's to do with the dean, you have some of those when I studied, for example, in Madina,
munawwara they were those who taught us fick, those who taught us arcada, those who taught us Arabic
language, those who taught us Tafseer, those who taught us Howdy. And guess what some of them knew a
little bit of the other subject, but they did not know enough to teach it at times, and some knew
enough of more than one subject, or Solon fake or whatever it may be so many different subjects, the
laws of inheritance, cover it with here, you know, CSS, Sharia, all these different subjects in the
Arabic language that were taught to us by different teachers. Some told us clearly, if you'd like to
		

			know in a specific subject, go and ask so and so. What does that make him? Does it make them a stray
deviant. But today, we have some scholars, unfortunately, who begin to bad mouth, others who are
specialized in something different.
		

			And that specialization is so important that if we were to remove it, perhaps there would be a void
in the Dow. So Allah kept everyone unique. Just like if I were to enter a classroom and ask
children, what would you like to be when you grow up? Each one says something different. A few might
say the same thing, but many of them, one wants to be a nurse, the other one a fireman, the other
one has shaved. The other one, that doctor the other one, whatever it may be, Allah created everyone
unique. So you will have people who have excelled in a way that Allah allowed them to excel, it
doesn't mean they are a stray, because they didn't discuss your subject. We, I believe that we
		

			complement each other. We as scholars, we should never belittle anyone, I don't think you've heard
me belittling a single person, not one because I believe what they're doing is important. Even those
who disagree with me, it's good to hear what they say. And it's good to listen to their evidence.
It's good to know what they're saying about me or about anyone else and to see if that's what
convinces you Allah is going to ask you about what what convinced you regarding the evidence that
was brought forward to you from the Quran and the Sunnah, etc, and the understanding of the earliest
generations, the scholars and so on. So remember, don't fall into the war between scholars benefit
		

			from them and move on when they start yelling about someone else. Excuse them, they are human, they
are human. A lot of them have a little bit of an ego and a pride. May Allah protect us? Well, maybe
I shouldn't say a lot, but I've heard some, they swipe at people without knowing them. And they say
this one's a stray that one doesn't follow Quran and Sunnah This one is not, you know, their beliefs
are upside down this one associates with this and this one does that. Hang on? Hang on, ask
yourself, have they clearly taught against the poor and the sooner and what has been enshrined by
the earliest two generations of Muslims? If that is the case, then yes, we should present what is
		

			right and wrong to the people rather than waste your time attacking specific people. So this is my
piece of advice. I really believe my brothers, my sisters, we need help. People are arguing about
who is the best. Do you know what everyone is the best in their own way. Some are activists, there
are scholars and there are activists and others are not activist. Some prefer to pray at night for
the oppressed and reach out to them in their own way. Some prefer to make a loud noise about it. I'm
not saying any one of them is wrong. We need all of this in the oma that's how Allah has created us.
So let's stop belittling scholars. Also, sometimes you have some whom Allah has given access to
		

			different types of people. Sometimes there are some scholars whom the non Muslims listen to so much.
They can reach out to the enemies and reduce the enmity by the help of Allah. Isn't that success?
Don't we need those people? It doesn't mean they're astray simply because they haven't discussed the
subject you are discussing. You know what I feel if you're discussing it, that's good enough. I
don't need to go into it because you're doing it. Why should everyone be a mathematics teacher? Why
should everyone be a geography teacher? Surely we should have 500 subjects that we're teaching and
we should be able to provide the oma with so much. If someone were to search for a topic, not every
		

			scholar has to discuss the topics that the other has discussed. Sometimes they mean some important
matters. They
		

			Do I have certain political things people tell me to continue talking about, you know what the ball
is round. Sometimes in politics, a guy like me might not understand certain challenges and some
details. And I just, I prefer sometimes to deal with it differently, doesn't make me wrong, I'm not
a sellout at all. No other sellers, and those who dive into it and make mistakes, or don't make
mistakes, that was their own trial and error, I have not attacked them. And I wouldn't like to
attack them, they can do what they feel because you know what, they're good. They are also the best
in the way Allah has made them. So each one of us is receptive to a certain type of approach in
		

			doubt. If you are a person who loves a hard approach, you're not going to like me at all. You're
going to think to yourself, this guy is too soft. This guy is this. You know what, I probably don't
cater for your category. But that doesn't make me a person who's a stray, nor does it make me
someone who doesn't care. I have a totally unique field that Allah has given me and I'm happy about
it. I don't bother if people attack if people refuse to do you know what I smile, I pray for them
and I move on. I don't bother responding. And I don't want to they can think what they want. If
people unfollow you know what? They've just created space for others. So Allah, so I really don't
		

			care. Nobody said you need to follow me to get to paradise. Absolutely not probably unfollow. And
you might get paradise. Who knows? It depends. But be careful. Be careful, because sometimes when we
speak bad about scholars, we actually make people unfollow, and you know, go away. And those people
their only link towards the Dean was that particular scholar, now they're lost, and when they're
lost, you know what, it's not a competition between scholars here. Not at all. I am not in
competition with anyone. I am in competition with myself between me and Allah. I want to do better
each day. That's what I am doing. And I want Allah to know that my few years on earth and life is
		

			very short. My few years on Earth, I did my best when I go, I just want to meet a lie and say who I
completed that race. Please accept it from me. Forgive my shortcomings. That's Allah. We're all in a
race to panela with what with ourselves, I did better than what I did yesterday, today. And that's
why I'm talking to you. So the best scholar who's the best scholar, this one is the best. This one
is the most influential. This one is this. All that is irrelevant. the one closest to Allah is the
one who has the best relationship with Allah. In akoma, como
		

			de la he adds,
		

			in Surah 200, that verse remains and it is valid. Indeed, the most honored amongst you are those who
have the greatest relationship with Allah, the greatest taqwa the greatest consciousness of Allah.
That's what it is. And this applies to everyone. And guess what toccoa is only known by Allah. So I
feel very sorry for people whom I hear sometimes sometimes I stumble across people who are yelling
at others and screaming at this one and that one, relax to your job. Allah has given you a unique
way a style a method, Mashallah Go for it, do things, do positive things and warn people about what
is wrong and so on. And you have a beautiful field you might want to go into, you know, 10 different
		

			subjects, no problem Alhamdulillah someone else might be going in five subjects that you haven't
even tackled, who knows. They're also needed. Don't be little. Don't think you're the only one on
Earth. So Pinilla and I shouldn't either. I'm definitely not the only one. I love all the other
scholars, even those who dislike me, they don't have time for me. They call me names. May Allah give
them genital fair dose? May Allah bless them with goodness in this world and the next May Allah
grant them an elevation in the world and understanding wisdom a method may Allah use their methods
to affect people positively and bring people towards the deen we have billions of Muslims on the
		

			globe. And you know what, we have a shortage of scholars to be honest with you. And we have a
shortage of great understanding amongst scholars. Look at the our predecessors when they disputed
and disagreed. What did they do? Go back and study it? The time is not sufficient. But if you were
to study that, you would definitely see that they were amazing. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us
all a beautiful understanding the way they differed was something unique. And may Allah subhanho wa
Taala make us from those who appreciate all the scholars in their own subjects and fields, and who
can discount or excuse those who speak ill and bad about others. Because at the end of the day,
		

			Allah is not going to ask you what did this scholar or that scholar say, no matter how big that name
sounded in your era, Allah is going to ask you what were you
		

			convinced by but from what was brought in front of you, from what Allah and His Messenger had
taught, and the earliest generations, may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us a beautiful
understanding. I love you all my brothers and sisters, even if you hate me Assalamu alaykum
warahmatullahi wabarakatuh