[The Superiority of the Acting Scholar over the Fighter in Jihad]

Answer – and success is from Allah: The scholar who acts according to his knowledge and teaches people good is better with Allah and higher in rank than the one who fights in the path of Allah, patient and seeking reward, until he is killed facing [the enemy] and not turning his back. That is due to the proofs indicating this, such as His saying, exalted is He: "Say, ‘Are those who know equal to those who do not know?’" [al-Zumar], and: "…and those who were given knowledge, by degrees" [al-Mujadila:11]. And in the Qur’an there are many verses mentioning knowledge and its virtue.
- And the scholar is the one who succeeds the Prophet (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) in conveying the religion, spreading its rulings, and clarifying its laws; and the scholar is a candidate for succeeding the Prophet of Allah (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace) in leadership if the other considered conditions are fulfilled in him.
- And there is no doubt that the virtue intended here is the abundance of reward; so whoever’s reward is greater is the more virtuous.
- And through the scholar Allah rescues many groups from misguidance, and clarifies for them guidance and the path of right direction.
- And in the well-known hadith: “Whoever establishes a good practice will have its reward and the reward of whoever acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection.” There is no doubt that the scholar revives the practices of guidance and causes the practices of misguidance to die.
- Furthermore, what is established among the Muslims and firmly rooted in their souls from their first day until today is that the rank of the scholar is higher with Allah, and that he is more virtuous than the fighter in jihad.
- Moreover, it is the scholar who guides the fighter to jihad, clarifies the truth for him, outlines for him the path of jihad, and teaches him its laws and rulings. Allah, exalted is He, has said: "Is then he who guides to the truth more worthy to be followed, or he who finds no guidance unless he is guided? So what is [wrong] with you – how do you judge?" [Yunus].
- While the scholar dies, his knowledge remains, from which people benefit after his death, generation after generation, and nations after nations are guided by it.
- The mention of the scholars of the Ummah becomes widely famous among the generations with great fame, whereas the fame of the fighters in jihad is not like that. This indicates the greatness of the scholars in people’s hearts, and their belief in the scholars’ great superiority over other believers and fighters.
- The scholar is, in his religiosity, upon an insight that surpasses the insights of the fighters in jihad; for this reason Allah, exalted is He, coupled the testimony of the scholars with His own testimony and the testimony of His angels in His saying: "Allah bears witness that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge, maintaining [creation] in justice. There is no deity except Him, the Mighty, the Wise" [Al ‘Imran].
- And it is the scholar who fears Allah, exalted is He, with the true fear, contrary to the ignorant person; from here His saying, exalted is He: "Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge" [Fatir:28].
- And how many texts have come in the Sunnah mentioning the tremendous virtue of the scholars, clarifying the loftiness of their ranks, and their surpassing every other rank.

Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.3