[Adeniinteme]

salaam,

There doesnt seem to be much consensus as to what a scholar is. Would be interesting to hear what actually constitutes a scholar.

So are the following scholars?

1. Someone who has completed dars nizami at a Darul Uloom.

2. Someone who has studied arabic and BA degree in Shariah at Al-Azhar.

3. Someone who has studied arabic and BA in Shariah at Madinah University.

If not to any of those, what exactly constitutes a scholar/sheikh in this day and age?

And if anyone knows, what were the requirements in the past, that would be interesting to read too.

[indentKew]

A True answer can be found at: http://www.saltanat.org

Not so much...

Anyway, to the OP its all subjective. Certain groups will put forward people who are definitely not scholars, like the person above or like the super salafis and their random unknown students of knowledge that they put forward as allamah ul ulamah du jour.

From what I can tell, its how well a person is spoken of after his death.

[tramadolwithall]

A scholar of a particular discipline could be defined as the one who has studied and mastered advanced texts in that particular discipline at the hands of a teacher who has done the same with his teacher in an unbroken sanad going back to the author of the book, or through other people of that discipline, back to the messenger of Allah, the sayyid of scholars, Muhammad sallaLlah `alayh wa alih wa sallam.

A Murabbi, or one who can guide spiritually, should be aware and have studied the basics of the shari`ah as above, as well as be a sunni male muslim, has recived permission to train at the hands of a guide, and should be known as a person of taqwa who inspires people to the dhikr of Allah and following the path of the messenger of Allah, sallaLlah `alayh wa sallam.

A da`i, or caller to Allah, should have mastered basic `aqidah and shari`ah at the hands of a qualified teacher. Every Muslim should be a da`i, yet there are specialized fields e.g. a TV presenter. These people should be accutely aware of their audiences and their way of thinking at the same time as being aware of what Allah commands, so as to convey the message effectively.

This is a summary of what I have heard from those I trust; of course all mistakes are mine, fal `afw minkum. One such person I trusted made the following points about da`wah:

Some general points on da’wa for the occasion about which you asked and any occasion are:

(1) Da’wa is for Allah, meaning that it is sincere obedience to His command;
(2) Da’wa is to Allah, we call the creatures to the Creator; we do not call to ourselves nor our school of thought, tariqa, jamat, etc., etc.;
(3) we do so out of mercy and with gentleness according to the Sunna,
(4) the most important means are prayer and good character prior to speech; I Habib Umar bin Hafiz (Allah preserve him) say, “90% of this da’wa is prayer in the midst of the night;”
(5) for each situation one should strive his or her utmost to pick the most appropriate person, methods and means;
(6) ends do not justify means; we call out of obedience to Allah seeking His pleasure, so we can’t bend His rules in that call;
(7) guidance is from Allah alone. Keep me in your duas, was-salam

[Automobill]

So how comes darul uloom graduates often refer to themselves as the 'ulemah'

[adolfadsermens]

So how comes darul uloom graduates often refer to themselves as the 'ulemah'

As salaamu alaikum.


Because they believe that the information they have acquired from all the books they studied constitutes Knowledge.

Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (RA) explains who can be called Ulama, explaining the meaning of the Hadith "The scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets".
"To be Ulama, one has to have Ilm, He should Put the Ilm into Practice, and Practice with Sincerity."

That constitutes Knowledge, and the mark of a true scholar, who can be called the Inheritor of the Prophet(SAW)

So now we know, that there are 'scholars', and 'SCHOLARS'.

Being given a title or giving oneself a title is easy. Living up to it is another story.

[priceyicey]

Ok, so studying wuth scholars wurg genuine sanad is a requirement.

But surely there must be a minimum amount of subjects studied to be considered a scholar?

Not for fame or resiect but I find it a very worrying and dangerous trend especially in here in UK questionably qualified individuals carrying out study circles and even answering questions on Islam and fiqh issues to a public audience.

I was under the impression you had to be a mufti to answer fiqh questions?

I think it's a VERY worrying trend - in the UK anyway - where weekend and evening classes are claiming to produce alims/scholars.

Surely surely there must be a set minimum agreed upon criteria or general consensus of understanding of what has to be studied, with whom and to what extent to be considered a scholar???

[encumeterz]

I once had a discussion with a Salafi on this issue.

He mocked Deobandis, and how graduates of Dars-Nizami are called Alims.

I then asked him what he believes qualifies a person for scholarship. He said that a person becomes a scholar when a group of major scholars from his area are satisfied with his knowledge, and confer upon him that title.

I laugh, because graduates of Dars-Nizami don't give themselves the title, and because he believed that there were no scholars presently in the US, which basically also means that there will most likely never be a scholar in the US (because there aren't any major scholars here to give tazkiyyah).

[immelawealecy]

I've heard the same thing few times that it's the people who give the title of a sheikh/scholar.

Once I heard it from a deobandi darul uloom graduate who then proceded to print leaflets himself a few weeks later about a talk he was giving with the word 'Sheikh' in front of his name! (and he wasn't an old guy. In UK 'shaykh' is pretty much synonymous with scholar).

Hamza Yusuf once gave a talk as to how dangerous it is to take knowledge from someone who isn't a proper scholar, I think it's a shame we don't even appear to know what one is.

[herbalviagra]

I think there's not per se a definition of an Islamic scholar and we will never find out who Allah truly regards as scholars. It's possible that a person who never stepped into a Madrassah or Darul 'Uloom in his life is a scholar in the sight of Allah. And maybe someone who spent at least one decade in a Madrassah and at the feet of 'Ulema is not regarded as a scholar by Allah. Allah knows best.

But I think this is not even our business, we are not to judge people or to decide who is a scholar and who is not. I think the concept of ijaza/sanad is a good protection for us. A student of knowledge only teaches what he has been given permission by his teachers. You can not expect from all Darul Uloom graduates, or in other words those who have been given permission by their teachers, to be Fuqaha and Muhaddithin. They've acquired the basics and from now progress relies on their on endeavour. They just have to know their limits. If they're not capable of answering a Masalah, they should keep silent as this is part of knowledge. But most if not all Darul Uloom graduates are capeable of leading Salah, teaching basic Tajweed etc. And a person of knowledge (Sahib 'Ilm) who regards himself as a scholar and proficient enough to give himself lofty titles is of course truly misled by his Nafs. May Allah save us all.

[neotheMit]

So are the following scholars?

1. Someone who has completed dars nizami at a Darul Uloom.

2. Someone who has studied arabic and BA degree in Shariah at Al-Azhar.

3. Someone who has studied arabic and BA in Shariah at Madinah University.

If not to any of those, what exactly constitutes a scholar/sheikh in this day and age?

.

I think anyone who has graduates from any of these programs can rightfully be called a Shaykh or an Alim, meaning they have the basic tools to lead and teach a community, but they not Muftis or Specialities. This would require additional training. Can these individual explain any hadith or quranic ayat when you first mention it to them??? probably not Do they know how to respond to every difficult question??? probaqbly not.

One would have to look at these programs extensively to see what kind of shaykhs they are offering the Muslim world. The Univeristy of Medinah, its weakness is that its graduates are not required to have memorized the Quran, while Al Azhar University does require their graduate to memorize Quran before graduating.

There are different levels of scholarship. Certainly there are some programs better than others.

[66paptroump]

The question is quite similair to "What exactly is a doctor?". You can make your qiyas from there to find an answer.

[Cabinanteerip]

Salam,


Rasulullah (saws) said:

"The noblest charity is that a Muslim acquires some knowledge (of the Deen), then imparts it to a brother Muslim, " (Ibn Majah)

What is the Islamic daleel that we need ijaza or permission from Ulema in order to convey the message of Al Islam?

Jazakallah

[unishisse]

http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/show...ighlight=ulama