'Abdullah bin 'Amr bin al-'As reported Allah's Messenger ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) as saying: Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people but He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars, so that when He leaves no learned person, people turn to ignorant as their leaders; then they are asked to deliver religious verdicts and they deliver them without knowledge, they go astray, and lead others astray.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah bin 'Umar (RA) through other chains of transmitters, but in the hadith transmitted by Umar bin 'Ali there is an addition of these words: I met 'Abdullah bin 'Amr at the end of the year and I asked him about it, and he narrated to us the hadith as he had narrated before that he had heard Allah's Messenger ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) as saying.... (The rest of the hadith is the same).

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah bin 'Amr (RA) bin al-'As through another chain of transmitters.

'Urwa bin Zubair reported that 'A'isha said to him: This news has reached me that 'Abdullah bin 'Amr al-'As would pass by us during the Hajj season, so you meet him and ask him (about religious matters) as he has acquired great knowledge from Allah's Messenger ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) . I thus met him and asked him about things which he narrated from Allah's Messenger ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) . And amongst these the one he mentioned was that Allah's Apostle ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) said: Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge from people directly but he takes away the scholars and consequently takes away (knowledge) along with them and leaves amongst persons the ignorant as their leaders who deliver religious verdicts without (adequate) knowledge and themselves go astray and lead others astray. 'Urwa said: When I narrated this to 'A'isha, she deemed it too much (to believe) and thus showed reluctance to accept that (as perfectly true) and said to 'Urwa (RA): Did he ('Abdullah bin 'Amr) say to you that he had heard Allah's Apostle ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) as saying: ('Urwa had forgotten to ask this from 'Abdullah bin 'Amr). So when it was the next year, she ('A'isha) said to him ('Urwa): Ibn Amr has come (for Hajj), so meet him, talk to him and ask him about this hadith that he narrated to you (last year on the occasion of the Hajj) pertaining to knowledge. He ('Urwa), said: So I met him, and asked about it and he narrated to me exactly like one that he had narrated (to me) for the first time. So when I informed her ('A'isha) about that, she said: I do not think but this that he has certainly told the truth and I find that he has neither made any addition to it, nor missed anything from it.