Shaykh Abu Abdir Rahmaan Yahyaa bin Alee Al-Hajooree was asked:

Question:

The Prophet said:

“the best of you are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it to others”.

Is it [the case that] if an innovator memorizes the Qur’an, then he is better than the Salafi who did not memorize the Qur’an?

Answer:

The Qur’an is either proof for you or proof against you. And [as for] the people of desires, the Qur’an is proof against them because the Qur’an commands with adherence and with guidance and they [the people of desires] are not guided. So, if he memorized the Qur’an and the 6 books of Hadeeth, all of it with proficiency and he is an innovator, then he is not except an innovator, disobedient and wicked. And it may be that a man from the Orientalist memorizes the Qur’an stronger than some of those who are righteous, not [with the purpose] of acting in accordance with it, [but] rather to challenge in regards to it [i.e. challenge it].

Translated by

Majid Jawed Al Afghanee
Abu Layl