Aslam

Question. If the dangers of bad and irreligious learned men are open, yet great benefit is derived from their sermons. The Prophet said: If God gives guidance to a single man through you, it is better than all the wealth and what is therein of the world.
The Prophet said: He who calls towards guidance and it is followed, will get its virtues and the virtues of those people who follow it. What is the reply with regard to the admonitions of the bad learned men?

Answer. There are merits and demerits of education as there are harms and benefits in administration and public affairs.
Owing to the harms of education, we shall not say to anybody:
Give up education. There is harm only in show of education and learning without action.

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There are certain stages of show. The first stage is show is administrative matters. For this danger, the ancient sages gave up these charges. The second stage is in prayer, fast, pilgrimage and jehad. The ancierit sages did not love to give up divine services owing to dangers therein. The third stage is the middle between the above two stages. That is to be candidates for delivering lectures, sermons, giving legal decisions and teaching traditions and other matters. The dangers that are in these affairs are less than those in administrative matters but greater than the internal dangers in prayers. For fears of show, those who are weak in faith should not give up prayer. Rather they should give up the sudden thoughts of show in prayer.

The fourth stage is to earn wealth and distribute it to those who are in want, and there is hidden wish to get praise for charities and expenses. Hazrat Hasan was asked about two persons - one searches for his necessaries and another searches for what is in addition to what is necessary for him and gives in charity the additional income. He said that the first person is better as he knows that there is very little safety in the world and he knows that if the world is given up, nearness of God is attained. The sage Abu Darda said: If I earn daily fifty gold coins

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and give them in charity standing in the staircase of the mosque of Damascus, I will not consider it good. I don't make sale and purchase unlawful but I wish to be included within those persons whom merchandise and trade cannot divert from the remembrance of God. Jesus Christ said: O worshippers of the world, your renunciation of the world is a more meritorious work in search of virtues. He said: In doing good by wealth, a little drifting from the remembrance of God is bad. The remembrance of God is greatest and best.