Beware of scholars who obey the powers of falsehood!
The Commander of the faithful (as) narrated from the Holy Prophet that he said,
قال رَسُولُ الله ِ(ص) الفُقَهاءُ أُمَناءُ الرّسُلِ مالَمْ یَدْخُلوُا فی الدّنیا.
قِیلَ یا رَسول الله وَ ما دُخولهم فی الدّنیا؟
قالَ: اتّباعُ السّلْطَانِ. فَاذٰا فَعَلوُا ذٰلِکَ، فَاحذَرُوهُمْ عَلی دیِنِکُمْ
The scholars are the guardians of the Prophets provided that they do not enter the world. The Prophet was asked, “O’ Prophet of God! In what way do they enter the world?” Then he (saw) said, “By obeying and following the ruler. And when they are to do such, then beware of your religion [that they do not plunder it].
The scholars are the protectors and guardians of the prophets. Being the amin (guardian) of someone means that the person is entrusting their affairs to this guardian. He is transferring that important responsibility which he has upon his shoulders to this individual so that he may correctly deliver it to its intended destination. This is a guardian. The Prophets have placed a great responsibility upon the shoulders of the scholars. What is that responsibility? The guidance and salvation of the people, and the establishment of the grounds and means for the people to ascend vis-à-vis spirituality, and with regards to hereafterly and worldly improvement. This is the work of the Prophets. This is what they have entrusted to the scholars, and the scholars are their guardians who will execute these tasks for them.
However, the scholars are only the guardians of the Prophets so long as they do not enter the world. “Entering the world” does not mean that they should not eat, drink or get married. No. Rather, it means that they should not be world-seekers. They should not become slaves of the world and the soldiers of their carnal desires. This is what it truly means.
Then a question is asked with regards to how the scholars enter the world and the Prophet replies by citing one instance of “entering the world”. However, it is not limited to this one instance that the Prophet mentioned in his reply.
He (s) says that the scholars enter the world when they obey and follow the Sultan (ruler), or the worldly powers. Of course, when the Prophet says “sultan”, he is not referring to a rightful leader. That is because obeying the rightful leader of the time is an obligation. Sultan here refers to a false, material and wrongful ruler or power, who has unjustly taken the affairs of the people into his hands and is pulling the reins. The scholars are supposed to oppose this ruler and resist against him and should never assist him, let alone join his forces. That would be a precise example of “entering the world”. However, we did say that this is one instance of many. There have been those who although did not obey the wrongful leader, yet entered the world in a different manner. We saw this during the time of the tyrant Shah of Iran, and there are others like them in the world today. There are many instances of people, whom we have seen up close, who did not give in to the wrongful leaders, but they would submit to their filthy and carnal desires. Although there are many examples of such people, the example mentioned initially is a complete and perfect instance of entering the world.
Now, what happens when the scholars do obey the false rulers, or the sultan? The Prophet says, at that point, you should be cautious and alert that they do not plunder and rob you of your religion. After all, they are scholars of religion; they know the pathways and potholes of the religion. The “scholars of the court” of that time are the “scholars who obey America” today. The scholars that would sit in the court of the tyrants and assist him back then are those who follow and accept America as their ruler today. The tyrant of the world today is America, after all. These scholars are placing their religion in the hands of this tyrant. These scholars will interpret and explain the verses and traditions and define the religion in the manner that the tyrant wants. It is at this point, when the scholars are as such, that you should be cautious over your religion so that they do not plunder it. Not only are they not guardians of the Prophets, they are in fact, traitors.
