Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people; rather, He takes away knowledge with the death of the scholars
Authentic hadithعن عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص رضي الله عنهما ، قال: سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: «إنَّ اللهَ لاَ يَقْبِضُ العِلْمَ انْتِزَاعاً يَنْتَزعهُ مِنَ النَّاسِ، وَلكِنْ يَقْبِضُ العِلْمَ بِقَبْضِ العُلَمَاءِ، حَتَّى إِذَا لَمْ يُبْقِ عَالِماً، اتَّخَذَ النَّاسُ رُؤُوساً جُهَّالاً، فَسُئِلُوا فَأفْتوا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ، فَضَلُّوا وَأضَلُّوا».
‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people; rather, He takes away knowledge with the death of the scholars until, when He leaves no scholar behind, the people turn to the ignorant as their leaders. They are asked, so they give religious judgments without knowledge; thus they are led astray and lead others astray.”
Explanation
‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge,” meaning knowledge of the Qur’an and the Sunnah and what is relevant to them. “By snatching it from the people,” i.e. removing knowledge from among them by raising it to heaven. “Rather, He takes away knowledge with the death of the scholars,” i.e. He raises knowledge by the death of scholars and the raising of their souls. “The people turn to the ignorant as their leaders,” i.e. they turn to them as rulers, judges, muftis, Imāms and Sheikhs. They rule and give religious judgments without knowledge, thus they are led astray and lead others astray, and ignorance prevails in the world. This Hadīth portends the removal of knowledge. There will be no scholar left on earth to guide the people to the religion of Allah. In consequence, the Muslim nation will deteriorate and go astray.
Source · Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim
From the Hadith Encyclopedia (hadeethenc.com).