Allah has made knowledge a beacon that guides to His path, and without knowledge the people will lose their way. True knowledge prevents one from falling into error. In this hadith, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) tells us that Allah will not take knowledge away from people by removing it from the hearts of the scholars and erasing it; rather He will take knowledge away through the death of the scholars. Thus knowledge will be lost, and there will be no one among those who are left to take the place of the scholars who have passed away. Every time a scholar passes away, the knowledge that he had will be lost, until Allah will have left no knowledgeable person, as all the people of true knowledge will have died, then ignorant people will reach academic positions for which they are not qualified, such as teaching, issuing fatwas, and so on. But the people will regard them as scholars and ask them questions, so they will issue fatwas without knowledge, because of their ignorance. They will regard as permissible that which is forbidden, and regard as forbidden that which is permissible. They themselves will go astray from the truth, and they will lead astray those of the common folk who follow them and accept their fatwas. Books and essays are not sufficient without scholars, because they cannot be understood in a proper manner without them. In this hadith, we are urged to seek knowledge and memorize it, for it will not be taken away except when the scholars die. It is also a warning against appointing ignorant people to positions of leadership, and it warns those in authority not to appoint ignorant people to positions of religious authority. It also highlights the fact that the position of issuing fatwas is a true position of leadership, and criticizes those who issue fatwas without knowledge. .