Allah – ta’ala – said: : ((يا أيها الذين آمنوا أطيعوا الله وأطيعوا الرسول وأولي الأمر منكم)) النساء ٥٩
“O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey His Messenger, and those who are put in authority among you.” An-Nisaa: 59
Imaam Al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar – rahimahullah – said:
“and there is some difference concerning who are meant by the ‘Ulu Al-Amr’ (the People in authority), it is transmitted from Abu Hurayrah that he said ‘they are the leaders’ as it is recorded by At-Tabari with an authentic isnad; and Maymun bn Mahran and others transmitted something similar from him (Abu Hurayrah); and from Jaabir bn Abdillah that he said: ‘they are the people of Ilm and good’, and (transmitted) from Mujaahid, Ataa and Abu Al-Aaliya (that) ‘they are the Ulamaa’…” (Fat’hu Al-Baari 8/254)
But because Allah – Ta’ala – said also:
[ ((وإذا جائهم أمر من الأمن أو الخوف أذاعوا به ولو ردوه إلي الرسول وإلي أولي الأمر منهم لعلمه الذين يستنبتونه منهم)) النساء ٨٣“And if a anything of the matter of security of fear comes to them, they go about broadcasting it. And had they returned a settling of the matter to the Messenger and to the ‘Ulu Al-Amr’ (the People of the Matter) among them, then those who can make derivations and deduct the rulings and solutions among them would have known the solutions” An-Nisaa 83
Shaykhu Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah – rahimahullah – said:
[“It is for this reason that the Ulu Al-Amr (The People in Authority) are of two categories: the Ulamaa and the Umaraa (leaders). If they are both rectified, then the entire people are rectified; and if they are corrupt, then the entire people will be corrupted.” (Majmu’u Al-Fataawa 28/170)
Therefore brothers and sisters! Let us struggle to, have a large share of ILM and that the Ulamaa among us are the (or one of the) highest authorities among us. Allah knows best!
