1. Beware of Corrupt Scholars
Keys to Living Islam
Beware of Corrupt
Scholars

2. In order to attain the status of a Believer and Practice islam one must have knowledge of the Religion
We have already discussed how because of this, seeking knowledge of the deen is an obligation upon all Muslims
So thus many are the people who appear claiming to be scholars of the deen. The term “Shaykh” is given to just about anyone who can speak arabic and read the Quran beautifully.
This is so much in abundance that you find men as young as in their teens being referred to as “shaykh”
The reality is that most of these people are not scholars at all, instead they are just good speakers and are calling to a way other than islam

3. This is why many Muslims today are misguided and confused
This is why many Muslims today are misguided and confused. The reality is that the true scholars of the religion are few
In fact the prophet (sa) has told us that one of the signs of the last hour is that true knowledge of the religion will dissapear with the death of the true scholars. He said:
"Religious knowledge will be taken away by the death of the true scholars and ignorance in the religion will appear..” (Bukhari)
In another hadith:
"Near the establishment of the Hour, there will be the days of killing, and the religious knowledge will be taken away by the death of Religious scholars and general ignorance will spread."

4. He also said:
“Allah does not take away the knowledge, by taking it away from (the hearts of) the people, but takes it away by the death of the religious learned men till when none of the (religious learned men) remains, people will take as their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead the people astray."
(Bukhari)

5. So thus we have to be careful who we receive our knowledge of islam from
Corrupt scholars sit in front of the door to Paradise calling people to it while they themselves are doing deeds that lead to Hellfire.
For example the man who does not wear a beard is like a woman without hijab. They are both obligations imposed by Allah
Whenever a persons actions do not match their words, this makes them a hypocrit, and instead of being a leader, such a person is no more than a highwaymen.
We have to beware of such people

6. Now a days we have many tools that schemers can use such as the internet
And many are the people claiming to be scholars who lurk there selling islam for a miserable price while promising to give a piece of paper that in turn will make you a scholar too.
We have to understand that a paper does not make one a person of knowledge just as memorization does not make one a person of knowledge either. Instead it is the implementation of what one has memorized that makes him a person of knowledge
And the term scholar is given to a person by his peers due to his implementation and practice of what he has memorized

7. Unfortunately today there are many on the internet posing as scholars and they are teaching from their own interpretations thus falling in the same mode that Allah speaks of with the jews:
Verily, We did send down the Taurât (Torah) [to Mûsâ (Moses)], therein was guidance and light, by which the Prophets, who submitted themselves to Allâh’s Will, judged for the Jews. And the rabbis and the priests [too judged for the Jews by the Taurât (Torah) after those Prophets], for to them was entrusted the protection of Allâh’s Book, and they were witnesses thereto. Therefore fear not men but fear Me (O Jews) and sell not My Verses for a miserable price. And whosoever does not judge by what Allâh has revealed, such are the Kâfirûn (i.e. disbelievers - of a lesser degree as they do not act on Allâh’s Laws). (5:44)

8. In this verse:
Allah warns those who distort the Book and change its laws, those who betrayed the trust of knowledge and religion, with loss, punishment and doom on the Day of Resurrection.
They The Jews distorted the Book by adding to it and taking away from it while saying and this was what allah meant when it was not.
They thus lied on Allah and changed his book all for their own worldy gain. And those gains were:
The desire for power and fame
The desire to make money off the ignorant

9. Unfortunately we find many Muslims today doing the same thing for the same reasons so we have to take care when choosing who we learn from
There are certain ways to assure that you are learning from a qualified person and they are:
Pay attention to how the person answers questions. Does he answer with evidence from the Quran and the authentic sunnah or is he answering with his own opinion or what he heard from somewhere else
His lectures, are they directly from the Quran and authentic hadiths or from other sources
If something is unsure does he give the opinion of the prophets companions or others

10. So thus a key to practicing islam is to stay away from corrupt scholars
As Ibn masood told the people during his time:
“Verily, you are in a time in which the scholars are many and the speakers are few. And verily there will come a time after you in which the speakers will be many and the scholars will be few.”
He goes on to say that when the speakers out number the scholars, this is when the calamities will be many and the sunnah will become corrupted
We are living in such times now so take care in choosing who to learn from