Abu Wa’il reported: Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Do you know how Islam is weakened?” They said, “Just as the dye of a garment fades, or as an animal gets tired, or as a coin is rusted by the passage of time.” Abdullah said, “That is surely part of it, but even worse than that is the death or disappearance of the scholars.”
Source: al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr lil-Ṭabarānī 8991
Grade: Mawthuq (reliable) according to Al-Haythami
عَنْ أَبِي وَائِلٍ قَالَ قَالَ عَبْدُ اللهِ بْن مَسْعُودٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ تَدْرُونَ كَيْفَ يَنْقُصُ الْإِسْلَامُ قَالُوا كَمَا يَنْقُصُ صِبْغُ الثَّوْبِ وَكَمَا يَنْقُصُ مِنَ الدَّابَّةِ وَكَمَا يَقْسُو الدِّرْهَمُ عَنْ طُولِ الْحَبْيِ قَالَ إِنَّ ذَلِكَ لَمِنْهُ وَأَكْثَرُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ مَوْتُ أَوْ ذَهَابُ الْعُلَمَاءِ
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1/202 المحدث الهيثمي خلاصة حكم المحدث رجاله موثقون في مجمع الزوائد
