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To what extent are the two hadiths "The best of my Ummah are its scholars, and the best of its scholars are its jurists" and "One jurist is harder on Shaytan than a thousand worshippers" authentic? And do they indicate the superiority of jurists over other scholars, such as scholars of Qira'at (recitations) and Hadith? And who holds the highest status with Allah?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The first hadith, "The worst of its scholars," is false and fabricated. As for the second hadith, it is weak. In the era of the Salaf, the Qur'an reciters and hadith narrators were the jurists and scholars. However, in our current era, the jurist who understands the interpretation of the Qur'an and the jurisprudence of hadith is better than one who memorizes the Qur'an with its recitations and the hadith with their chains of narration without understanding. This is based on the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "Whomever Allah wishes good for, He grants him understanding in the religion." Both are upon goodness, and it is preferable for each to complete what the other possesses.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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