[9] These people are either unaware of or concealing some realities regarding the legacy of Erudite Salafi Imam Abdul Azeez Bin Baaz
In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.
The Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be upon him] said, “Indeed, the scholars are the inheritors of the prophets, for the prophets do not leave behind a dinar or a dirham for inheritance, but rather, they leave behind knowledge. So whoever takes hold of it, has acquired a large share (i.e. of inheritance)”. [(1)]
The anonymous writers at Wikipedia stated, “In 1927 when he was sixteen, he started losing his eyesight after a serious infection in his eyes. By the time he was twenty, he had totally lost his sight and had become blind. At that time, Saudi Arabia lacked a modern university system. Ibn Baz received a traditional education in Islamic literature with Islamic scholars”. [End of quote]
First of all, the Salafus Saalih (pious predecessors), the best generations of this Ummah, did not receive their Islamic education from contemporary educational systems, despite the fact that they and their successors were the ones who established solid foundations of Islamic knowledge in numerous regions of the world before contemporary universities were established in the Ummah. The Masjid of the Messenger in Madeenah and many other Masaajid in the Islamic Ummah produced scholars far greater than Imaam Abdul Azeez Bin Baaz even though there were no modern universities in the Ummah at the time. Likewise, the Imaam himself – an Imam of knowledge and piety – is a manifest proof of the blessed traditional system of Shariah knowledge.
As a result, the lack of contemporary universities had no detrimental effects on the results of knowledge and scholarship; rather, the traditional system produced the greatest Erudite Scholars, whose knowledge has never been equalled. Imam Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali [may Allah have mercy upon him] stated, “There is not to be found in the statements of those who came after the Salaf (any) truth, except that it is found in their statements with a more concise wording and a shorter expression. There is not to be found in the statements of those who came after them (any) falsehood, except that there is in their statements that which clarifies its falsity, for the one who understands and contemplates [i.e. the one who understands the statements of the Salaf]. There are wonderful meanings found in their statements and precise observations, which those who came after them were neither guided to nor knew about. The one who does not take knowledge from their statements will miss all that goodness, alongside the numerous (affairs) of falsehood he will fall into due to following those who came after them [i.e. those who came after the Salaf]”. [(2)]
Likewise, it was the traditional systems that produced the likes of the great Mujaddideen, such as Shaikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim, Imaam Muhammad Ibn Abdil Wahhaab, and others [may Allah have mercy upon them].
Second, when institutions of Shariah knowledge other than Masaajid were initially formed, the upright Scholars reminded seekers of knowledge that the purpose of learning is the purification of the soul, not simply the establishment of institutions, as Al-Allaamah Siddeeq Hasan Khan [may Allah have mercy upon him] stated, “The scholars unveiled what the drive behind this was and they spoke about it when the building of schools reached them at Baghdad, so they held gatherings of knowledge and said, ‘The possessors of lofty ambitions and the pure souls used to pre-occupy themselves with it (i.e. knowledge) – those whose intention behind knowledge was due to its nobility and the perfection (reached by way of it), therefore, they came to the scholars to benefit from them and their knowledge'”. [(3)]
Third, there is no doubt that modern university systems are beneficial and in some cases, they make learning easier for those who are blind or affected by severe visual impairment. All the beneficial methods that facilitate learning for the disabled enters into the Masaalih Mursalah. Read here: https://abukhadeejah.com/issues-which-arise-after-the-time-of-revelation-for-which-there-is-no-specific-text-al-masalih-al-mursalah-and-how-islam-is-applicable-in-every-age/
Finally, it should also be noted that University Shariah Certificates do not inevitably imply that a person has outperformed other students of knowledge who have sat in the company of scholars for many years. Click this link:
To be continued InShaaAllah
[(1)]: Sunan At-Tirmidhee 2682
[(2)]: An Excerpt from “Fadl Ilm As-Salaf Alaa Ilm Al-Khalaf’ page 61.
[(3)]: An Excerpt from (أبجد العلوم – Vol 1. pages 77-78. slightly paraphrased