Introduction

The scholars in Islam have a fundamental role in reforming what deviates in Islamic society from the path of religion, and confronting manifestations of deviation from Sharia in any field it appears in: politics, economics, general morals, and it is not the role entrusted to them in this from the category of recommended acts that they do if they wish and are rewarded, and if they wish they refrain from it and are not sinful, but rather it is a responsibility they carry to the extent of obligation as much as they can bear, and they will be held accountable for it before their Lord on the Day of Judgment. The Messenger of God, peace be upon him, depicted the weight of this responsibility that scholars bear in his saying: "The scholars are the inheritors of the prophets." Achieving virtue and honor in this prophetic inheritance is contingent upon following the path of the prophets in their continuous struggle to establish truth and abolish falsehood, and their concern in working to spread justice, pursue oppression, and follow their righteous ways in achieving human dignity, by removing ignorance, liberating from servitude to other than God, and supporting the weak. The scholars bore this responsibility because, by virtue of their knowledge, they knew the truth and realized it. The paths of truth became distinct from the paths of falsehood for them, so they were therefore obligated to convey the truth and spread it among people, and to work for it to be the path by which life proceeds in its various fields, and for this they also have virtue and good reward. The early Muslims were well aware of this responsibility that the scholars bore. Narrated by Ibn Majah in the chapter on the virtue of scholars and the encouragement of seeking knowledge. (1)