fire and water...
fire and water, similarly, intellect and ignorance cannot be in the same person at the same time. If you consider someone knowledgeable then you have to deny every kind of ignorance in him. If he is considered knowledgeable in matters of religion then you will have to deny his ignorance in all matters of religion. Now, is there anyone who can make this claim of being knowledgeable? Does anyone have the right to call someone knowledgeable?
Apart from the Holy Infallibles (a.s.) everyone else gains knowledge, and the more they gain the less ignorant they become. Those who gain knowledge are not the knowledgeable ones but can only be referred to as seekers of knowledge. Compared to each other everyone is knowledgeable. I am knowledgeable compared to my son. Someone else is knowledgeable compared to me, and this chain has no bounds.
The Holy Infallibles (a.s.) have clarified this matter so that everyone cannot wear this crown on their heads. I am only presenting two traditions here which are sufficient for those who wish to understand. AL KAFI - H 56, Ch. 3, h4 Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Yunus from Jamil who has said the following: “I heard Imam abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, saying, ‘People become of three groups: Scholars, those who learn and garbled ones.
They follow every pretender and accept every slogan, they have neither acquired any knowledge nor have they secured any support of firm and rational convictions.” - Nahj Ul Balagah Saying No. 146 Previous…