Sh. Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn رحمه الله replied:

“This verse contains a great sentence which is: restriction of reverential fear (خَشْيَة) of Allāh سبحانه وتعالى to the scholars.

Reverential fear is: fear coupled with veneration of the feared, i.e., it is fear that comes as a result of the greatness of the one feared. Allāh is the most deserving of being feared with reverence, and He is the most deserving of being venerated, and He is the most deserving of being feared. However, none has reverential fear of Him except one who is knowledgeable of the greatness, ultimate pride, ability, and honourable might that He possesses.

The scholars intended here (in this verse) are those knowledgeable of Allāh, His Names, His Attributes, and His signs. The intent is not the scholars of manufacturing and technology etc, for indeed those are scholars of the dunyá who know the apparent worldly life, and that is because reverential fear only comes from knowing the condition of the one feared, and it is known that knowledge of these crafts is not connected to the greatness of Allāh عز وجل for it is purely material, in contrast to knowledge of Allāh and His greatness, and so the people who are knowledgeable of this, they are the people who have reverential fear of Him.”

Source: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá (26: 26).

I ask Allāh, the Almighty and Majestic, to grant us all reverential fear of Him.