ما الفرق بين المثقفين والعلماء؟

Intellectuals vary in their levels: there are highly cultured intellectuals (knowledgeable in sciences, literature, and arts), generally cultured intellectuals (possessing knowledge of the sum of sciences), and nationally cultured intellectuals. As for the scholar (al-ʿalim) in the legalistic sense, he is the mujtahid (one who exercises independent reasoning in legal matters) who fulfills certain conditions, including: intellect, Islam, intelligence, knowledge of the evidences of rulings from the Qur’an, Sunnah (definition), consensus (ijmaʿ), and difference of opinion (ikhtilaf), knowledge of the abrogating and abrogated verses (nasikh and mansukh), and knowledge of analogical reasoning (qiyas (definition)), the Arabic language, and the status of hadith (definition) narrators. The difference between them becomes clear through these definitions, yet a highly cultured intellectual may become a mujtahid if the conditions are met. The true scholar is one who combines knowledge and action, for not acting upon knowledge leads to its disappearance and the theft of its fruit, as the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "This is the time when knowledge will be stolen from people until they cannot get anything from it..." the Hadith.