In the name of Allāh, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. All praise is due to Allāh, Lord of all the worlds, and may blessings and peace be upon the most noble of prophets and messengers, and upon his family, companions, and followers. To proceed: Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb (may Allāh have mercy on him) says: [The fourth principle: Explanation of knowledge, scholars, fiqh, and jurists, and clarification of those who imitate them but are not among them. Allāh Almighty has clarified this principle at the beginning of Sūrah al-Baqarah from His saying: "O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I have bestowed upon you" (al-Baqarah, 40) to His saying before mentioning Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him): "O Children of Israel" (al-Baqarah, 122), and this is further clarified by the sunnah with much clear and evident speech for the common person, yet this has become one of the strangest matters. Knowledge and fiqh have become innovations and misguidance, and the best of what they have is mixing truth with falsehood. The knowledge that Allāh has obligated upon creation and praised is not spoken of except by a heretic or madman, and the one who denies it, opposes it, and writes to warn against it is considered the knowledgeable jurist.] This is the fourth principle in this blessed message, and this principle is summarized as the sharīʿah has come to explain beneficial knowledge and the attributes of its bearers, and it has clarified the attributes of its people with clear, unambiguous, and doubtless explanation, so that truth is not confused with falsehood, knowledge is not confused with ignorance, and fiqh is not confused with anything else for those who read the Book of Allāh and the sunnah of His Messenger (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam). He (may Allāh have mercy on him) said: (The fourth principle: Explanation of knowledge, scholars, fiqh, and jurists). (Knowledge) is the subject of this principle, (scholars) are the bearers of this knowledge, (fiqh) meaning that this principle is specifically about explaining the reality of fiqh and who the jurists are. The author (may Allāh have mercy on him) does not mean by fiqh here its specific technical meaning, which is knowing the sharīʿah rulings from their detailed evidences, but rather by fiqh here is meant understanding the sharīʿah and comprehending it, which is intended by the saying of the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam): "Whomever Allāh intends good for, He gives him understanding in the religion," so it does not mean only knowing the detailed sharīʿah rulings. He (may Allāh have mercy on him) said: (And clarification of those who imitate them but are not among them). His saying: (imitate them) means: the scholars and jurists, (but are not among them) means: and in reality, he is not among them, because Allāh ﷾ has clarified the attributes of the true scholars, and He has clarified those who imitate them in acquiring knowledge, but this knowledge has not borne fruit, and its bearer has not achieved his purpose; because knowledge is carried by two types of people: those who act upon it, and they are the successful ones who achieve the intended purpose, and those who neglect it, and they are the losers deprived of it; because whoever learns knowledge and does not act upon it, it is a proof against him, as the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said: "The Qurʾān is a proof for you or against you," a proof for the one who takes it, reads it, and acts upon it, and it is a proof against the one who reads it and turns away from it, and likewise a proof against the one who turns away initially and does not read or act, so both are included in the Qurʾān being a proof against him, but the one who takes the Qurʾān and turns away from it is more guilty than the one who did not take it from the start, because the one who took the Qurʾān has seen, and he has the means of guidance and knowing the straight path, unlike the one who turned away completely; he has not attained insight, nor carried the light. Therefore, the severe blame mentioned in the Qurʾān is for the one who took the Qurʾān and turned away from it, for the worst two examples mentioned by Allāh ﷿ in His Book are for those who took knowledge and did not act upon it, Allāh ﷾ said in Sūrah al-Aʿrāf: "And recite to them the news of the one to whom We gave Our signs, but he detached himself from them" (al-Aʿrāf, 175), (We gave him Our signs) meaning: the clear and evident ones, (but he detached himself from them) as the skin is removed from the sheep. Meaning: nothing remained with him from them. Just as when you skin a sheep, nothing of its skin remains on it, so is the case with the one whom Allāh granted knowledge but did not benefit from it, "So Satan followed him, and he became of the deviators * And if We had willed, We could have elevated him thereby, but he adhered to the earth" (al-Aʿrāf, 175-176), and this indicates that the misguidance and deviation came from him, taken from His saying: (but he detached himself from them), and from His saying: (he adhered). "So Satan followed him, and he became of the deviators" meaning: Satan assisted him in this, we seek refuge in Allāh, He said: "And if We had willed, We could have elevated him thereby, but he adhered to the earth and followed his desires, so his example is like that of a dog: if you chase it, it pants, or if you leave it, it pants" (al-Aʿrāf, 176) meaning he is in constant distress and unending panting whether the cause is present or absent, because he turned away from the light and guidance after having insight, and this is among the most severe things on the heart that a person turns away after having insight. The second example is in Sūrah al-Jumuʿah, where He ﷾ said: "The example of those who were entrusted with the Torah and then did not take it on is like that of a donkey carrying books. Wretched is the example of the people who deny the signs of Allāh. And Allāh does not guide the wrongdoing people" (al-Jumuʿah, 5) so He made their turning away from what they were entrusted with of knowledge a denial, and consequently, they denied what they were entrusted with of knowledge; because if they were truthful and believed in this knowledge, they would have acted upon it, for it is not possible for a person who believes and holds what he carries of knowledge to abandon and turn away from it. This is in the complete turning away, but for a person to oppose what he knows at times due to desire or temptation, this happens, but he does not persist in turning away, nor does he persist in detachment, rather he returns, seeks forgiveness, and repents. The important thing is that the Book of Allāh ﷾ and the sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ have explained beneficial knowledge and its people with clear, sufficient explanation, and distinguished it from what is confused with it by those who claim knowledge, who are in reality callers at the gates of Hell, calling people to the fire with their actions, and sometimes with their opinions and statements; as they distort words from their places, and justify evil and misguidance for people, and they have clarified those who imitate them but are not among them, and Allāh Almighty has clarified this principle at the beginning of Sūrah al-Baqarah in His saying: "O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I have bestowed upon you" (al-Baqarah, 40) to His saying before mentioning Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him): "O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I have bestowed upon you" (al-Baqarah, 122), for Allāh ﷿ narrated in this sūrah the story of the Jews, and what they did of denial and turning away, and how they responded to the call, reminding them of the great favors He bestowed upon them of knowledge, guidance, selection, and other things, and how they responded to those favors, so it was a proof against them, not a proof for them.