Aslam

said: Three things will cause the end of time. One of them is the error of the learned men. Hazrat Ibn Mas'ud said: Soon there will come a time over the people when sweetness of heart will vanish.
At that time neither the teachers, nor the taught will get any benefit from learning. The hearts of the learned will be hard like a hard stone. Rains will fall on it from the sky but it will slip away therefrom. The reason is that the hearts of the learned will be addicted to the love of this world in preference to that of the next ' world. God will then rob them of the fountain of wisdom and extinguish the light of guidance from their hearts. They will say to you by their tongue 'Fear God' but sin will be exposed in their actions. Tongue will then become dry and heart hard. The only reason is that the teachers will teach except for the sake of God and the students will learn except for the sake of God. There is written in the Torah and Bible: Don't search for learning which you do not know till you do what you know. Hazrat Huzaifa said:
You are now in an age wherein if you gi ve up one tenth of what you know, you will perish, but there will soon come an age wherein if a man does one-tenth of what he knows will get salvation.

The simile of the learned man is that of a judge. The Prophet said: Judges are of three classes. One class of judges judge with justice and with knowledge of truth and they will go to Paradise.
Another class of judges judge unjustly with or without knowledge of truth and they will go to Hell. Another class of judges judge contrary to the laws of God and they will go to Hell.
The Prophet said: The devil sometimes will prevail over you on account of knowledge. It was questioned: O Prophet of God, how will it happen? He said: The devil will say: Search for knowledge but don't put it into practice till you acquire it. So he will remain busy with acquisition of knowledge but will remain without action up to his death and at the time of his death he will have no action. Hazrat Ibn Mas'ud said: The Quran was revealed in order that men may direct their lives according to its teachings. Direct your life according as you read it. There will soon appear such men who will keep it like an arrow and they are not good among you. The learned man who does not act up to his knowledge is like a patient who describes the qualities of a medicine without using it or like a hungry man who describes the taste of a food without eating it. God said: Woe unto you for what you utter. The Prophet said: What I fear most for my followers is the errors of the learned and the arguments of the hypocrites about the Quran.

70 THE BOOK OF WORSHIP Vol-I