ISLAMIC SCHOLARSHIP AND CELEBRITYDOM

By

Ustadh Kabir Al-Asfar 

17th September 2024

Sometimes young Muslims want to be scholars , preachers or in the least a relatively known student of knowledge because of their celebrity status. As I've once mentioned, knowledge within the Muslim community comes with its share of celebritydom. Even if you're the quiet type , people will get to know and respect you , at least,  within your immediate community.  

Well, this is to show you that a lot of hate and problems comes with any type of popularity, however little.  First of all,  you shouldn't seek knowledge for fame, it will not earn you any reward. And you will face the consequences in the Hereafter. 

As to the problems of fame , whether ill-gotten or naturally acquired , I can think of the following from my own personal experience:

1. Seeking fame through notoriety. This is the major reason behind a lot of seeking out people's errors and refutation culture. This doesn't last. Notoriety is quick to gain,  very difficult to sustain. At a point , people will realize what's going on and then move on to other things. If you want to specialize in refutation,  go ahead, it's your decision, however add constructive teaching of the Deen to your business if people will continue listening to you. "Refutation is salt. Too much of it spoils the soup"

2. You lose the ability to be anonymous. And every human being needs moments of being unknown at least once in a while. You propose to someone,  she tells her friend or her Shaykh , who proceeds to tell his or her bestest friend or trusted acolyte until everyone knows you are seeking marriage with Sister Barbiatu Al Matteliyyah 🤣. In fact , if it's another wife you're seeking , your wife may know before Barbiatu says yes or no. Muslims, male or female , are unfortunately plagued by gossip culture just like any other group. And who do you think the focus of these gossips would be ? Yes. You're right. Their own "celebrities".

3. You get HATE. Raw undiluted hate. This comes from:

a. Fellow students of knowledge: this is ancient,  " envy is the disease of scholars"

There are a variety of reasons, the one I find particularly stupid are students of a teacher hating on another student of knowledge because he disagrees with their own Shaykh on subsidiary issues of the Deen. Like are these people serious ?! Take for instance , I spend my money and TIME on books of Islam, about Islam. I spend hours listening , reading the sacred sciences and I am supposed to come out and agree with your Shaykh ? I be mumu ni?! In fact , I have had instances where a person will threaten me, I swear by Allah, because of a position i adopted. This will never happen again. We go curse ourselves there ni.

b. You will be asked about divorce and marriage , business and inheritance,  these are issues attached to human base desires. When you act against a spouse and hold that divorce is to be done, or you declare a particular transaction haram, or you warn against a particular fraudulent individual whether a financial or marriage bandit, you WILL GET TONS OF HATE. What people expect is that your interpretation of the text follows their desires.

c. No concrete reason. The person just hates you. I have seen instances where I would support a person with every thing I can muster , money, time, support,  and the next moment when said individual feels you're not doing enough , they become active , ardent enemies. 

d. Someone who has genuine issues with you. Because you have different creedal orientations or methodological framework,  I find this perfectly justifiable. And most times intellectual hate from honorable men rarely goes beyond its boundary. 

3. People think fame is equal to wealth. It is not. Yes some people have been blessed with both, and some have found ways of monetizing their fame. But, believe me, there are poor famous people out there. 

4. This is tied to 3. Someone wants you to raise money for him or her, or wants you to talk to someone to give his or her services free, you refuse. It becomes hate. 

Let me stop here. If I am to write about my experience in da'wah ,it'll fill a book and create more HATE 🤣🤣🤣

Anyway,  da'wah is not for the faint hearted , you have to call a spade a spade and not a spoon identifying as a shovel. As Allah mentioned about Luqman's advice to his son:

وَٱصۡبِرۡ عَلَىٰ مَاۤ أَصَابَكَۖ إِنَّ ذَ ٰ⁠لِكَ مِنۡ عَزۡمِ ٱلۡأُمُورِ

"...advocate righteousness, forbid evil, and be patient over what has befallen you. These are of the most honorable traits) [Q31:17]