Types of Scholars (Ulama)
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (ra) says:
"The scholars are divided into three types: religious scholars, palace scholars, and populist scholars".
Religious scholar: it is one who spreads the religion of Islam and issues verdicts based on knowledge of it. It does not matter to him whether the evidences of the law agree with the whims of people or not.
Palace scholars: it is one who considers what the government wants and issues verdicts accordingly, even if that distorts the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah.
Populist scholar: it is one who considers what pleases people. If he sees people doing something, he issues verdicts to satisfy them and attempts to distort the texts of the Book and Sunnah to make them agree with the whims of the people.
Sharh Riyad al-Salihin 4/307-308
