It has been reported from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, that the scholars of this nation are the prophets of the Children of Israel.

This means the status to which we have referred, for the prophets of the Children of Israel used to preserve and carry out the laws of their messengers. In them, as well as the scholars and imams of this nation, they memorize the rulings of its Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, like the scholars of the Companions and those who descended from them among the Successors and the followers of the Successors, such as Al-Thawri, Ibn Uyaynah, Ibn Sirin, Al-Hasan, Malik, Ibn Abi Rabah, Abu Hanifa, and those who descended from them, such as Al-Shafi’i and Ibn Hanbal, and whoever followed the path of these to so on in memorizing. Provisions