Causes of Not Forgetting Knowledge

Question : Honorable Shaykh! As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. I am a student of knowledge, but I forget and I am weak in retaining much of what I read and hear. What is your advice to me? And I ask you to make du'a for me?

Answer : Preserving knowledge is for a person to act upon it, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted, "And those who were guided" , and He said, "And Allah increases those who are guided in guidance" . So, the more a person acts upon his knowledge, the more Allah the Exalted increases him in preservation and increases him in understanding as well. This is because the generality of His saying "He increased them in guidance" includes an increase in preservation, an increase in understanding, an increase in knowledge, and the means of acquiring it. So, the increase here is from three aspects: in preservation, in understanding, and in the means of acquisition. Thus, the more a person is guided by his knowledge, the more he increases in preservation, understanding, and means to acquire it. It was narrated from al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said, "I complained to Waki' of my poor memory, so he directed me to abandon sins. He said, 'I know that knowledge is light, and the light of Allah is not given to a sinner.'"
Among the causes is also for a person to turn away from distractions from knowledge, such that he has no thought, work, or inclination toward anything other than knowledge. This is because a person is human; so, if he directs his effort to one thing and shares it with another, that aspect weakens and his acquisition of knowledge becomes little. Among the causes of not forgetting is also frequent discussion between him and his colleagues, on the condition that the purpose of the discussion is to reach the truth, not to dominate. This is because many people may discuss with others and argue with them just to defeat them. So, if that is his intention, he is likely to be deprived of knowledge, may Allah protect us from that. It is obligatory for a person to discuss with his brothers, the students of knowledge, with the intention of reaching the truth.