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I also picked shaykh bin baz as my favourite contemporary scholar for 2 main reasons: 1. Shaykh bin baz, as you mentioned began losing his sight at 16 and 4 years later Allah took his sight fully, and rather than a hinderance, it was from the greatest of blessings. Some of the blessings of a trial like this we may ponder over includes: - Some of the salaf would say: "لو لا مصائب الدنيا لوردنا القيامة مفاليس" The salaf saw every trial as an opportunity to get closer to Allah and recognising the temporary nature of this dunya - a true embodiment and emulation of the ayah: وَٱلۡـَٔاخِرَةُ خَیۡرࣱ وَأَبۡقَىٰۤ - Allah took away the fitan of they eyes from those who are blind, saving them from destruction of the souls from this avenue that nobody is safe from in this day and age. - That which Allah takes away from sight, Allah bestows in other aspects Studies have been done by Harvard medical school whereby they had found that acquiring or being born blind has profound effects on the brain: “The brains of those who are born blind make new connections in the absence of visual information, resulting in enhanced, compensatory abilities such as a heightened sense of hearing, smell and touch, as well as cognitive functions (such as memory and language) according to a new study led by Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers.” The fact that the shaykh’s disability was not a hinderance to his knowledge nor memory Is not something that is new to Islam. The likes of Imam Ash-shātibi رحمه الله was blind, yet mastered the 7 qirā’at and wrote the 1,173 lined poem “الحرز الأماني ووجه التهاني" which till today is the first poem to be memorised if one endeavours on the path of memorising the modes of recitation - ما هذه النعمة!؟ Likewise, it was mentioned regarding Abu Musa 'Isa Ibn Mina al-Zarqi, more famously known as “Qaloon”, that he was deaf, yet a narrator of the Quran from the qirā’ah of nāfi’ al-madani, which is most commonly recited, and also the main riwayah in Libya. Disabilities are never a hinderance, rather if Allah wills to bring benefit through you despite what he has taken away from you in trial, you will never cease to be a gem for the ummah. Take a moment to really ponder over the legacy of these scholars… 2. The status that Allah عز وجل gave shaykh bin baz رحمه الله It is well known that shaykh bin baz was well-respected and loved by the people and the rulers of the Kingdom of Saudi and had much influence in the Islamic decisions that were made. From them was when he had invited shaykh al-Albani to teach in madinah and in the jamiah which proved to be a massive benefit to the ummah. Another was when he had negotiated with authorities to release shaykh muqbil from his imprisonment. Shaykh bin baz رحمه الله was truly one of a kind - a scholar we may never see the likes of again رحمة الله عليه رحمة واسعة