2, h9 Al-Hassan ibn Muhammad has narrated from Ahmad ibn...

2, h9 Al-Hassan ibn Muhammad has narrated from Ahmad ibn Ishaq from Su'dan ibnMuslim from Mu'awiya ibn 'Ammar who has said the following: "Once, I asked (Imam) abu 'Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, 'There is a man who recounts your Hadith and spreads them among people and ties them to their hearts and the hearts of your followers. Also there is a worshipper among your followers who does not narrate your Hadith.

Which of these two people is better?' The Imam replied, 'The one who narrates our Hadith and ties them up to the hearts of our followers is better than seventy thousand worshippers.'" So, at the end of the day it all points in the same direction. A scholar is one who narrates Hadeeth and not the one who goes around as an expert in jurisprudence. Wasaail Us Shia Vol 11 H 27; Bihar Ul Anwaar Vol. 82 H 2; Rijal Kashi Vol 3.

Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said: Understand the status of our Shias according to the good reports from us for we do not recognise the Faqih from among them to be a Faqih unless he becomes a Muhaddith (Narrator of traditions) This is explained in more detail under the chapter on Fuqaha. Let us now look at a Hadeeth frequently quoted by the priests.

Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Isa from Muhammad ibn Khalid from abu al-Bakhtari from abu 'Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who has said the following: "The scholars are the heirs of the prophets because the prophets did not leave any Dirham or Dinar (units of money) as their legacy. What they left was certain pieces of their statements. Those who acquired anything of these pieces of their statements have certainly gained a colossal share.

You must be very careful, when acquiring such knowledge, to know from what kind of people you receive them.

After (the death of) every one of us (the , family of the Holy Prophet, recipient of divine supreme covenant), there comes a just person who removes (and exposes) from (the texts of Shari'a) the forgeries of the exaggerators, the materials of the fallacious ones that might have been made to infiltrate and the interpretations of the ignorant ones." For some reason the priests usually only quote the words, 'The scholars are the heirs of the prophets' and thereby claim justification for all of their actions.