alaHazrat says: The Doomsday is near - Good people are leaving the world. Whoever leaves does not leave behind his deputy. When Imam Bukhari died he left behind ninety thousand disciples and scholars of Hadith (Muhaddis). Sayyiduna Imam-e-Azam (may Allah be pleased with him) on his death left behind one thousand Mujtahids who were his disciples. To be a Muhaddis is the first step on the ladder of knowledge (Ilm) and to be a Mujtahid is the last destination. And these days thousands die but leave behind nobody. ---end of alaHazrat quote--- i feel this is the meaning of the hadith that says that 'ilm will be taken away. not taken away in the sense that Allah will take away the actual 'ilm but in the sense that Allah will raise the scholars. this is what alaHazrat may be referring to. in the early days, the 'ulama left their deputies but today this is seldom found. and alaHazrat wrote that at least 90 years ago; so things have gotten even worse. nowadays we have people who claim massive titles and they are just deviants. people appear on the TV channels who cannot even read the Qur'an properly and they are seen by tens/hundreds of thousands of people. Allah is RaHman and RaHeem.
