Advice for the Beginner in Seeking Knowledge

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Question:
Your Eminence, the father, what is your advice for the beginner in seeking knowledge, and we bear witness to Allah regarding your love?

Answer:
May Allah love you, for you have loved us for His sake. Loving one another for the sake of Allah is among the best of the means of drawing near to Him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in an authentic hadith:

Allah would say on the Day of Resurrection: Where are those who have mutual love for My Glory's sake? Today I shall shelter them in My shadow when there is no other shadow but the shadow of Mine.

يقول الله يوم القيامة أين المتحاب بجلالي؟ اليوم أظله في ظلي يوم لا ظل إلا ظلي

Sahih Muslim 2566

, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

There are seven whom Allah will shade in His shade on the day on which there is no shade except His shade

سبعة يظلهم الله في ظله يوم لا ظل إلا ظله

Muwatta Malik 51:14

, mentioning two men who loved each other for the sake of Allah, who met for that purpose and parted for that purpose. In an authentic hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Indeed,

A man went to his brother

رجلا ذهب إلى أخ له

He would visit him for the sake of Allah, so Allah stationed an angel on his path. When he passed by, the angel asked him in the form of a human: “What do you want?” He said: “I am going to such-and-such a village.” The angel said: “Do you have any blessing that you can increase for him, meaning, that you can grow and return to him in exchange?” He said: “No, except that I love him for the sake of Allah.” So the angel said to him: “I am a messenger from Allah to you, that Allah loves you as you have loved

يعود يزوره في الله فأرصد الله على طريقه ملكا، فلما مر سأل في صورة الإنسان ماذا تريد؟ قال خلي في القرية الفلانية، قال هل لك من نعمة تربها عليه يعني تنميها ترد مقابلها؟ قال لا، إلا أني أحبه في الله، فقال له الملك إني رسول الله إليك أن الله يحبك كما أحببت

,” narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. So, loving one another for the sake of Allah is among the best of the means of drawing near to Him, and it entails cooperating in righteousness and piety and advising one another to truth. Thus, the friends of Allah cooperate in righteousness and piety and advise one another. We advise you to begin with the Noble Qur'an, memorizing the Qur'an and whatever is easy for you to memorize. Strive to memorize the Qur'an, and the concise books of creed, such as *Kitab al-Tawhid* (The Book of Tawhid), *Al-Usool al-Thalathah* (The Three Fundamental Principles), *Al-Qawa'id al-Arba'ah* (The Four Rules), *Kashf al-Shubuhat* (Clarification of Doubts), *Al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah* (The Middle Creed), *Jum'at al-'Aqidah al-Muwaffaq* (The Successful Creed), *Umdat al-Fiqh* (The Pillar of Jurisprudence), *Al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyyah* (Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths), and *Khamsoona Hadithan* (Fifty Hadiths) by Ibn Rajab. These are what a student should first learn and pay attention to, as they form the foundation upon which he builds his learning and study. Among these is *Umdat al-Hadith* by Shaykh Ghalib ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, a good book containing more than four hundred authentic hadiths. If it is easy for you to memorize them, that is among the great blessings. Yes.

Source لقاءات لابن باز - لقاء مع إخوة في الله - ابن باز - ١ — archive.org (1:08:52)

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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