قال حماد بن زيد رحمه الله: قيل لأيوب: العلم اليوم أكثر أم قلّ اليوم؟ قال: الكلام اليوم أكثر و العلم كان قبل اليوم أكثر. (المعرفة والتاريخ للفسوي 2/ 302)
قال ابن القيم رحمه الله: “ففرق هذا الراسخ بين العلم والكلام. فالكتب كثيرة جدا، والكلام والجدال والمقدرات الذهنية كثيرة، والعلم بمعزل عن أكثرها، وهو ما جاء به الرسول عن الله. قال تعالى:
1. Hammād ibn Zayd (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“It was said to Ayyūb: ‘Is knowledge today more or less than before?’ He replied: ‘Speech today is more, but knowledge was greater before today.'”
(Al-Maʿrifah wal-Tārīkh by Al-Fasawī 2/302)
2. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“This well-versed scholar differentiated between knowledge and mere talk. There are many books, and the discussions, arguments, and mental conjectures are plenty, but knowledge is absent from most of them. True knowledge is what the Messenger (ﷺ) brought from Allah. Allah says:
{فمن حاجك فيه من بعد ما جاءك من العلم} وقال: {ولئن اتبعت أهواءهم بعد الذي جاءك من لعلم} وقال في القرآن: {أنزله بعلمه} أي وفيه علمه
‘Then whoever argues with you concerning it after (this) knowledge has come to you…'[Surah Āl-‘Imrān 3:61]
and He also says:
‘And if you were to follow their desires after what you have received of knowledge…’ [Surah Al-Baqarah 2:120]
and regarding the Qur’an, He says:
‘He has sent it down with His Knowledge…’ [Surah An-Nisā’ 4:166], meaning it contains His knowledge.
ولما بعد العهد بهذا العلم آل الأمر بكثير من الناس إلى أن اتخذوا هواجس الأفكار وسوانح الخواطر والآراء علما، ووضعوا فيها الكتب، وأنفقوا فيها الأنفاس، فضيعوا فيها الزمان، وملأوا بها الصحف مدادا والقلوب سوادا، حتى صرح كثير منهم أنه ليس في القرآن والسنة علم، وأن أدلتها لفظية لا تفيد يقينا ولا علما، وصرخ الشيطان بهذه الكلمة فيهم، وأذن بها بين أظهرهم، حتى أسمعها دانيهم لقاصيهم، فانسلخت بها القلوب من العلم والإيمان كانسلاخ الحية من قشرها والثوب عن لابسه”. (الفوائد لابن القيم ص151-152)
When the connection to this knowledge became distant, many people turned to whims of thought, fleeting notions, and opinions, taking them as knowledge. They wrote books on these, expended their breaths on them, wasted their time on them, and filled papers with ink and hearts with darkness. Many openly declared that there is no knowledge in the Qur’an and Sunnah, claiming that their evidence is merely verbal and does not provide certainty or knowledge. Shayṭān proclaimed this notion among them until the close ones heard it from the distant ones. Thus, hearts became stripped of knowledge and faith, like a snake shedding its skin or a garment removed from its wearer.”
(Al-Fawā’id by Ibn al-Qayyim, p. 151-152)
Ahlul-Hadith 