A summary of the concepts held by the Ahl al-Sunnah.
Preferring the worldly life and true knowledge can never coexist.
Anyone among the people of knowledge who prefers the worldly life and loves it,
will inevitably speak untruths about Allah in their legal rulings and judgments.
This is because the rulings of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, often contradict the desires of people,
especially those among them who hold positions of authority.
So, if a scholar follows the lust for worldly life and seeks to please those in power,
they will, as a result, compromise much of the truth and oppose it.
Allah, the Exalted, says:
"Then there succeeded them a generation who inherited the Book,
“And a generation hath succeeded them who inherited the scriptures. They grasp the goods of this low life (as the price of evil-doing) and say: It will be forgiven us. And if there came to them (again) the offer of the like, they would accept it (and would sin again). Hath not the covenant of the Scripture been taken on their behalf that they should not speak aught concerning Allah save the truth? And they have studied that which is therein. And the abode of the Hereafter is better, for those who ward off (evil). Have ye then no sense?” (7:169)
and if an offer of this lowly life comes to them, they seize it.
“And a generation hath succeeded them who inherited the scriptures. They grasp the goods of this low life (as the price of evil-doing) and say: It will be forgiven us. And if there came to them (again) the offer of the like, they would accept it (and would sin again). Hath not the covenant of the Scripture been taken on their behalf that they should not speak aught concerning Allah save the truth? And they have studied that which is therein. And the abode of the Hereafter is better, for those who ward off (evil). Have ye then no sense?” (7:169)
Did they not take a covenant in the Book not to say anything about Allah except the truth, while they had studied what was in it?
“And a generation hath succeeded them who inherited the scriptures. They grasp the goods of this low life (as the price of evil-doing) and say: It will be forgiven us. And if there came to them (again) the offer of the like, they would accept it (and would sin again). Hath not the covenant of the Scripture been taken on their behalf that they should not speak aught concerning Allah save the truth? And they have studied that which is therein. And the abode of the Hereafter is better, for those who ward off (evil). Have ye then no sense?” (7:169)
Will you not then use your reason?"
He, the Glorified, informs us that the people of knowledge among the Jews who inherited the Book,
took the base worldly offer,
meaning the fleeting enjoyments of this worldly life.
And even if this situation were to repeat itself for them,
they would prioritize the worldly life over speaking the truth every single time.