You Are in A Time of Many Scholars and Few Speakers Abu Dharr

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YOU ARE IN A TIME OF MANY

SCHOLARS AND ONLY A FEW
SPEAKERS
The Hadīth of Abu Dharr Al-Ghifārī ()
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In the name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
YOU ARE IN A TIME OF MANY SCHOLARS

AND ONLY A FEW SPEAKERS
By Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid Alam
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation; may Allah extol the
mention of our noble Prophet Muhammad in the highest company
of Angels and give him peace and security―and his family, his
Companions and all those who follow him correctly until the
establishment of the Hour.
Abu Dharr () narrated, and the report is ascribed to the
Messenger of Allah () that he said:
“You are in an age of many scholars, and few speakers. So,
whoever leaves off even a tenth of what he knows is destroyed.
Then after this will come a time wherein there will be many
speakers and only a few scholars―and whoever clings to even a
tenth of what he knows in that time will be saved.”1
So, when preachers (khutubā) among ahlul-ahwā, ahlul-bid’ah, and the
callers to sin and disobedience, and the ignorant callers become
numerous, they will misguide the people causing more corruption in
the Ummah than rectification as is the case in our times, wallāhul-
musta’ān2.
The righteous people, the people of Sunnah, will be few in that time,
and the opposers will be numerous. The further we are from the time
of the Messenger (), his Companions, the Tābi’īn and those
who followed them in the best of generations, the more evil the time
will be. Zubayr Ibn ‘Adiyy said: “We came to Anas Ibn Mālik ()
1
At-Tirmidhī, no. 2267, Ahmad in his Musnad, no. 21372 and others. Graded
sahīh by Shaikh Al-Albānī in As-Sahīhah, no. 2510.
2
i.e., Allah’s aid is sought from such matters.

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and we complained to him about the oppression and tyranny of Al-

Hajjāj3, so he said:
ُ ََْ ْ ٌّ َ ُ َ ْ َ َّ َّ ٌ َ َ ْ ُ ْ َ َ ْ َ َ ُ َّ َ ُ ْ
‫ش ِمنُه َحَّت تلقْوا َرَّبكْم‬ ‫لي بعده‬ ِ ‫ ا‬.ِ ‫ يأِت عليكم زمان إ‬. ‫اصِبوا فإ ِنه‬
‘Be patient, for indeed there will not come a time except that the
time that comes after it is even worse than it until you meet you
Lord. I heard these words from your Prophet ().’”4
Shaikh Al-Albānī () explained: “It is important to understand
this hadīth in light of the narrations that have preceded and other
narrations such as the coming of the Mahdi and the descent of ‘Īsā
() which show that this hadīth is not taken absolutely or
without exception, rather there are exceptions. So it not permitted
for the people to think it is absolute and thus fall into despair because
that is not the trait of a believer:
َ َ ْ َ ْ َّ َّ َ َّ
‫ ٱلقْوُم ٱلكٰـِفُرون‬.ِ ‫ِ إ‬T‫ يَاي ْ َـُٔس ِمن َّرْوِح ٱ‬. ‫إ ِنُهۥ‬
‘Certainly no one despairs of Allah’s Mercy, except those who

disbelieve.’ (Yusuf: 87)
We ask that Allah makes us believers in Him truly.”5
Ibn Hajr Al-Asqalānī () said: “Then I found from Abdullāh Ibn
Mas’ūd () the clear intent of this hadīth. And he is more worthy
of being followed in his understanding. Ya’qūb Ibn Shaybah reported
3
Adh-Dhahabī () said: “Allah destroyed him in middle-age in Ramadān
in the year 95 AH. He was an oppressor, a despot and a tyrant, a hater of the
Prophet’s household (Nāsibī) and a spiller of innocent blood. He besieged
Ibn Az-Zubayr () in Makkah and he destroyed the Ka’bah with
catapults (mangonel). We revile him and we do not love him, rather we hate
him for Allah’s sake. His good deeds are drowned by the sea of his sins, and
his end affair is with Allah.” See Siyar A’lām An-Nubalā, 4/343 (abridged).
4
Al-Bukhārī, no. 7068, At-Tirmidhī, no. 2206.
5
As-Silsilah As-Sahīhah, 1/31 under the heading: The Future is for Islam,
1/36.

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from Hārith Ibn Husayrah from Zayd Ibn Wahb who said: Abdullāh
Ibn Mas’ūd () said:
“There will not come upon you a day except that it will be worse
than the day that came before it until the Hour is established. I
do not mean worse in terms of prosperity in living, nor worse in
terms of wealth that is benefitted from. Rather, there will not
come upon you a day except that there will be less in knowledge
than the day that passed before it. So when the scholars have
passed away, the people will be upon the same level—they will
neither enjoin the good nor forbid the evil, and as a result, they
will be destroyed.”6
And in narration he () said:
“But rather, your ‘ulamā and your fuqahā will die and you will not
find anyone to replace them—then there will come a people who
will give fatāwā from their opinions.”7
So we mentioned earlier that Abu Dharr () narrated from the
Prophet ():
“You are in an age of many scholars, and few speakers. So,
whoever leaves off even a tenth of what he knows is destroyed.
Then after this will come a time wherein there will be many
speakers and only a few scholars―and whoever clings to even a
tenth of what he knows in that time will be saved.”
In the time of the Prophet () and his Companions ()
the scholars were numerous, and even in the generations that
followed, the scholars of hadīth and Sunnah, who cultivated the
Ummah upon the sound Creed were widespread. These generations
were a good sign for the Ummah. In that era, the talkers who would
speak with ignorance and desires were few and were subdued by the
people of Truth. So, whoever left off even a tenth of what he knew in
that golden age would be in loss, have destroyed himself, and
6
Hasan, reported by Ad-Dārimī, no. 194, and Ibn Hajr graded the chain of
narration as jayyid in Fathul-Bārī, 13/26-27.
7
Ibid.

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deprived himself of good. That is because the Religion was

established, strong, apparent and there was clarity upon the Sunnah.
A Muslim was able to hold fast to every aspect of Religion without
hinderance or fear from enemies, whether close or far. Therefore,
whoever abandoned an affair that he was able to perform from the
obligations was sinful.
So why would the people in the time when the scholars are few be
saved by just clinging to a tenth of what they knew? In a time when
there are very few scholars, and few callers to the Sunnah, or in some
places of the earth where there are no scholars and no callers to
Allah, then in that situation, there is no one to enjoin the good or to
forbid the evil. Due to this, sin and disobedience is widespread, and
the people of desires and innovations hold sway in communities, and
they misguide the masses. It is in those societies that deviations such
as grave worship, calling upon the dead, celebration of the Prophet’s
() birthday, building shrines over graves, etc., is
widespread, not to mention lying, theft, murder, usury, fornication,
drinking, cutting the ties of kinship and so on. So, in these societies,
whoever finds the truth has been truly guided and given success. It
is difficult in situations such as this to hold on to the Sunnah, or to
revive the Sunnah and to combat innovations and resist sins. They
live among people who commit immoral acts and major sins, and if
they are living in the lands of the non-muslims, then their situation
will be even worse, wallāhul-musta’ān. These are times when holding
on to the Sunnah and Islam is like holding on to hot coals. Ibn Mas’ūd
() stated:
“How will you be when you are surrounded by fitan (innovations,
desires and misguidance)? A time wherein the young one grows
old knowing only fitnah and the old one reaches old age knowing
only fitnah. It will become so engrained that if the fitnah is
abandoned, it will be said, ‘The Sunnah has been abandoned.’”
It was said to Ibn Mas’ūd (): “When will that happen O father
of ‘Abdur-Rahmān?” Ibn Mas’ūd replied, “When your scholars
pass away and the ignorant among you are numerous; when the
reciters of Qurān among you are plenty, when the men of
understanding (fuqahā) are scarce; your leaders are numerous

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and the trustworthy among you are little; when the worldly
possessions are sought through the deeds of the Hereafter and
the Religion is studied for other than the Religion.”8
So, we must strive to be from those who seek out the reward of the
Strangers (Ghurabā) and the holders of hot coals, may Allah bless you,
just as the Prophet () said:
َْ ‫[ ا‬
ََ َْ َ ََ ٌ ََ ْ
‫لْمِر‬ ‫يَأِت [ الَّاِس َزَمان الَّصاب ُِر فِيِهْم [ ِدين ِهِ كلقاب ِِض‬
“There will come a time upon the people when the patient
amongst them upon his Religion will be like one holding on to
hot coals.”9
And in a wording, he () said:
“The one who acts rightly during that time will have the reward
of fifty men among you who does that deed.” We asked: “The
reward of fifty of us or fifty of them?” He replied: “The reward of
fifty of you.”10
Who are those people in our times? They are without a doubt, the
Salafis, Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Hadīth―those who patiently hold on to the
truth whilst bearing the onslaught from the people of bid’ah,
opposition and sins. So, upon us is to hold fast to the Truth until we
meet our Lord.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation; may Allah extol the
mention of our noble Prophet Muhammad in the highest company
of Angels and give him peace and security―and his family, his
Companions and all those who follow him correctly until the
establishment of the Hour.
8
The translation of the hadīth has been made according to its correct
meaning. It is sahīh, reported by Ad-Dārimee, nos. 191-192, and Shaikh Al-
Albānī () said in Qiyām Ramadān, p. 3: “It is authentic as the statement
of Ibn Mas’ūd and in its ruling, it is elevated to the saying of the Prophet
().”
9
At-Tirmidhī, no. 2260.
10
Abu Dawūd, no. 4341, At-Tirmidhi, no. 3058, Ibn Mājah no. 4014.

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abukhadeejah.

YOU ARE IN A TIME OF MANY

Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid Alam © 2022 All rights reserved Page 1

In the name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

YOU ARE IN A TIME OF MANY SCHOLARS

Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid Alam © 2022 All rights reserved Page 2

and we complained to him about the oppression and tyranny of Al-

‘Certainly no one despairs of Allah’s Mercy, except those who

Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid Alam © 2022 All rights reserved Page 3

Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid Alam © 2022 All rights reserved Page 4

deprived himself of good. That is because the Religion was

Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid Alam © 2022 All rights reserved Page 5

Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid Alam © 2022 All rights reserved Page 6

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