The Importance of Seeking Religious Knowledge

Question:
This is Abdullah. He hopes that the Honorable Shaykh Salih (may Allah preserve him) will tell us about the importance of seeking religious knowledge, what is meant by knowledge, and what are the etiquettes that the student and seeker of this knowledge must possess?

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, this is an important question. Seeking knowledge is a necessary matter. Every Muslim man and woman must learn what is required for the soundness of his or her religion, such as his or her creed, prayer, zakah, fasting, and Hajj, as well as the rulings of transactions, inheritance, and other matters beyond that. This is a collective obligation (fard kifayah). If a sufficient number of people from the community devote themselves to it, the sin is lifted from the rest, and it remains a recommended practice (sunnah) for them, like the other sunnahs. The presence of knowledge is necessary; the collective obligation must be fulfilled. It has a necessary consequence that every individual must fulfill. If a group or a segment of the Muslims in the society fulfills it, that is sufficient, and it meets the need of the Muslims. If everyone abandons it, they all sin. The ways of seeking knowledge are well known. As the Salaf (the earliest generations) used to sit with the scholars known for their knowledge and seek knowledge from their hands. Knowledge is not taken from the recognized scholars only; it is not taken from books and reading alone; it is not taken from the ignorant or those who pretend to be scholars. Rather, it is taken from the recognized, well-known scholars who are the source of satisfaction for the community, or through formal education in schools, institutes, and Islamic colleges.
Formal education is regulated, has its curricula, and qualified teachers are appointed for it. Knowledge is taken from these two sources. As for the recognized scholars, one sits with them in the mosques in the circles of dhikr (remembrance of Allah), or through formal Islamic education.
And knowledge is not sought for its own sake, but for action. It is sought to act upon it, for the benefit of the Muslims, so that its possessor acts upon it, and so that he benefits the Muslims with it. Yes.