What are the books with which a student of knowledge should begin?

Question:
If a person wants to seek knowledge, what are the books it is recommended that he begin with? And what do you advise regarding reading religious books?

Answer:
The one who wants to seek knowledge chooses a teacher. He trusts his knowledge and experience and follows his guidance. But in general, the one who wants to learn from the two Hasanins, if he wants to learn the formal education in schools, institutes, and colleges, he follows the curricula prescribed in those schools, institutes, and colleges. He masters them and gets them right, and there is much good in them. As for if he wants to learn in the mosque from the shaykhs, he begins with the concise texts, memorizes them, and receives their explanations from them. And as we mentioned at the beginning of the session, he memorizes a concise text in each of the disciplines to enter that science, because these concise texts are the keys to the sciences. A concise text in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), a concise text in 'aqidah (creed), a concise text in hadith, a concise text in nahw (Arabic grammar), a concise text in usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence), and a concise text in mustalah al-hadith (the terminology of hadith).
He memorizes these texts and receives their explanations from a scholar who is skilled in explaining them, and he progresses from them to broader scientific books later on. This is the correct method of learning. As for the person who takes knowledge from its beginning, from its top—he takes knowledge from its top—and reads in the lengthy books and those dealing with scholarly disagreement, while he has no foundation and no memorization of the texts, and reads in al-Mughni or Ibn Hazm’s al-Muhallá, or reads in the lengthy books, this achieves nothing. Whoever seeks all of knowledge misses all of it. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: .
So everything has a door and an entrance. If you come with the door, you obtain what is sought. If you come from the roof and from the top, you do not obtain anything. "Enter the houses from their doors." This is a great rule: that all matters are approached from their entrances. The scholars say: "Whoever neglects the principles is prevented from reaching the goal." You want to take knowledge from other than that, you must progress in it from its principles and its basics. You feed from reaching what you want, you toil but you do not obtain anything.