Way to jannah

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قال ابن تيمية رحمه الله، " وأُبَىٌّ بن كعب لما قام بهم وهم جماعة واحدة لم يمكن أن يطيل بهم القيام ، فكثر الركعات ليكون ذلك عوضا عن طول القيام ، وجعلوا ذلك ضعف عدد ركعاته ، فإنه كان يقوم بالليل إحدى عشرة ركعة أو ثلاث عشرة ، ثم بعد ذلك كأن الناس بالمدينة ضعفوا عن طول القيام ، فكثروا الركعات ، حتى بلغت تسعا وثلاثين "⁣
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[مجموع الفتاوى 23/113]⁣
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Shaykh ul-Islām ibn Taymiyyah (may Allāh have mercy on him) said, ⁣
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“When 'Ubayy bin Ka’b (may Allāh be pleased with him) led the people (in Qiyām) while they were a single congregation, he could not prolong them standing, so he increased the rak'ahs and that would be compensation for the long duration of standing. They made that double the number of rak'ahs, for verily he used to pray eleven or thirteen rak'ahs at night, then after that the poeple in Madīnah fatigued from standing long (i.e.they found it difficult), so they increased the rak'ahs until it reached thirty nine (rak'ahs, to make it easier).”⁣
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[Majmū' al-Fatāwā 23/113]⁣
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translation: The_Authentic_Sunnah

Abū ad-Dardāʾ رضي الله عنه narrated that The Prophet ﷺ said:

“The ʿUlamā’ are the inheritors of the Prophets who bequeath neither dinar nor dirham but only that of knowledge; and he who acquires it, has in fact acquired an abundant portion.”

Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān حفظه الله commentated:

“What is meant by the ʿUlamā’ are the learned ones of Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʾah, those who possess knowledge, foresight, and understanding, as well as those who are experts of the traditions of the Salaf, namely, the Ḥadīth scholars.

There are two types of ʿUlamā’:

1. Those who have knowledge of the traditions and accounts of the Salaf. They are those who have been concerned with the Sunnah of The Prophet ﷺ and with preserving and defending it, who present it to the Ummah in it’s purest form as spoken by The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. They remove from it every contamination and lie, put all of the fabricated Ḥadīth reports to the side and demonstrate and distinguish them as being fabrications. Such people are called ʿUlamā’ ar-Riwāyah (scholars of transmission).
2. The Fuqahā’: they are the ones who derive the laws from pieces of evidence, who demonstrate and explain it’s proper understanding for the people. They are termed ʿUlamā’ ad-Dirāyah (scholars of insight).

There are scholars who mastered both kinds of knowledge, called Fuqahā’ al-Muḥaddithīn; such as Imām Aḥmad, Imām Mālik, Imām ash-Shāfiʿī, and Imām al-Bukhārī. All of these learned people are people of virtue. The Prophet ﷺ said:

‘May Allāh brighten the face of a person who hears a Ḥadīth from us and memorizes it until he can convey it to others.’

Here, The Prophet ﷺ devoted a supplication for such people and praised them.

The ʿUlamā’ have carried out their duty from Allāh ﷻ to protect the religion, creed, and explain the laws; such as the laws of inheritance and what is lawful and unlawful. They have also clarified the jurisprudence of the Qurʾān and the Sunnah and thus left a great wealth for the Ummah to benefit from and use to measure upon contemporary problems.”

May Allāh ﷻ preseve our scholars and accept their efforts.

[Extracted & summarized from Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah aṭ-Ṭaḥāwīyyah P. 226-227]