How can one know the most knowledgeable of the scholars of the time?
Only someone who knows all the people knows the most knowledgeable of people; because among people, there are scholars who are unknown and avoid fame to preserve their religion, and scholars that oppressors stop the oppressed from knowing and going to them, and it is clear that none but Allah knows what is in the heavens or on Earth. Therefore, there is no choice but to go to Allah to know the most knowledgeable of people, and going to Allah is possible through going to His Prophet; as the Children of Israel went to one of their Prophets, and he guided them to the most knowledgeable of them with a revelation from Allah, and he was Talut; as he said:﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَاهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَزَادَهُ بَسْطَةً فِي الْعِلْمِ وَالْجِسْمِ﴾[1]; “Allah has chosen him over you and increased him in knowledge and physical strength.” In the same way, this nation was guided to its most knowledgeable person by its Prophet with a revelation from Allah, and he is his caliph from his family; as he said: «انْظُرُوا كَيْفَ تَخْلُفُونِي فِي الثَّقَلَيْنِ: كِتَابُ اللَّهِ طَرَفٌ بِيَدِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَطَرَفٌ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ فَاسْتَمْسِكُوا بِهِ لَا تَضِلُّوا، وَالْآخَرُ عِتْرَتِي، وَإِنَّ اللَّطِيفَ الْخَبِيرَ نَبَّأَنِي أَنَّهُمَا لَنْ يَتَفَرَّقَا حَتَّى يَرِدَا عَلَيَّ الْحَوْضَ، وَسَأَلْتُ ذَلِكَ لَهُمَا رَبِّي، فَلَا تَقْدُمُوهُمَا فَتَهْلَكُوا، وَلَا تَقْصُرُوا عَنْهُمَا فَتَهْلَكُوا، وَلَا تُعَلِّمُوهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ أَعْلَمُ مِنْكُمْ»[2]; “See how you treat my caliphate in the two weighty things: the Book of Allah, one side of which is in the hand of Allah, Exalted and Majestic, and the other side is in your hands. So hold firmly to it so that you will not go astray. And the other is my family. The Subtle, the Aware One has informed me that those two will never be separated until they come to me by the Pond, and I requested this non-separation from my Lord. So do not go ahead of them or you will perish, and do not fall behind them or you will perish, and do no teach them, for they are more knowledgeable than you,” and said: «لَا تُعَلِّمُوا أَهْلَ بَيْتِي فَهُمْ أَعْلَمُ مِنْكُمْ»[3]; “Do not teach my Ahl al-Bayt, for they are more knowledgeable than you.” However, this nation did not accept from its Prophet just as the Children of Israel did not accept from their Prophet; as they said: ﴿أَنَّى يَكُونُ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ عَلَيْنَا وَنَحْنُ أَحَقُّ بِالْمُلْكِ مِنْهُ﴾[4]; “How can he have dominion over us, while we are more deserving of dominion than him?!” Based on this, there is no doubt that the most knowledgeable of this nation in every time is its Imam from the family of the Prophet and he is in this time the Mahdi, about whom the Prophet
has said: «الْمَهْدِيُّ مِنْ عِتْرَتِي»[5]; “The Mahdi is from my family.” However, he is unknown and hidden; because he fears for his life from oppressors, and he will remain so until he feels secure due to the gathering of hearts, tongues, and hands to help him, as explained by Mansoor in his enlightening books and pure words.
Yes, if you intend the well-known scholars other than the Mahdi, it is possible for people to identify the most knowledgeable among them by comparing their opinions and actions; because any one of them has opinions that are closer to reason and the Sharia and farther from conjectures, and actions that are closer to justice and piety and farther from aligning with the oppressors, he is the most knowledgeable, and whoever seeks him sincerely and fairly, Allah will guide him to him; because his superiority over other scholars is like the moon’s superiority over the rest of the stars. We believe that he is Mansoor, undisputed, and superiority is in the hand of Allah; ﴿يُؤْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ﴾[6]; “He gives it to whomever He wills. And Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.”