The Method of Seeking Knowledge and the Books with Which the Student Begins

Question:
We would like you to clarify the books with which a student of knowledge should begin, and what is the first method for seeking knowledge?

Answer:
The best method in seeking knowledge, or rather the only method, the only method with no other alternative, is choosing the teacher and choosing the book. If you succeed in choosing the teacher and succeed in choosing the book, then you will be successful, with the permission of Allah. The books, and praise be to Allah, are numerous. Some are abridgments, some are intermediate, some are extensive, some are texts (mutan), some are commentaries, some are in verse, and some are in prose. Our scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) did not fall short in our right; they bequeathed to us abundant knowledge. May Allah reward them for Islam and the Muslims with the best reward. But it is upon us to handle these books well.
First, a person reads in the abridgments, abridgments of the sciences, abridgments of how to write, such as *Umdat al-Ahkam* by al-Muwaffaq ibn Qudamah, the text of *al-Dalil* by Shaykh Muray ibn Yusuf al-Hanbali, and then after that the text of *al-Zad* after he has read *al-Umdah* and the text of *al-Dalil*, he reads the text of *al-Zad* by al-Hijawi, for Imam Musa al-Hijawi, the author of *al-Iqla*. Then after that, this is in jurisprudence. In grammar, for example, *al-Arba' al-Rumiyyah*, *al-Arba' al-Rumiyyah* in grammar, this is the first thing, then after that, for example, *al-Mulhah*, *Mulhah al-I'rab* by al-Hariri, a poem composed by al-Hariri, then after that *al-Afiyyah* by Ibn Malik and the conditions upon it. It has a goal, and morphology.
In the principles of jurisprudence, he turns to an abridgment from among the abridgments, such as *al-Waraqat* by Imam al-Juwayni, and its commentary also by al-Jalal al-Mahalli, but *al-Waraqat*, we complete *al-Waraqat* with a commentary on it called *Qurrat al-'Ayn* explaining the *Waraqat* of Imam al-Haramayn. We read this in the institute, we read it and studied it, and I am telling you about it that it is very beneficial and easy, very concise, the *Waraqat* of Imam al-Haramayn and the commentary *Qurrat al-'Ayn* by Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli, the author of *al-Jalalayn*, the author of the Tafsir of *al-Jalalayn*. And after that, for example, some of the *Waraqat*, he reads in a book wider than it. Wider than it, *Rawdat al-Nazir*, for example, by Imam al-Muwaffaq al-Din ibn Qudamah, *Rawdat al-Nazir* and *Mizan al-Munazhir*. We read this in the Faculty of Sharia with its commentary, and it is very beneficial, but it does not happen that you go to it immediately; you must take an abridgment before it that makes it easy for you to enter into it little by little. Knowledge is formed little by little. In tawhid (the oneness of Allah), for example, they differ. Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, *Kashf al-Shubuhat*. After that, all of these we read in the schools when they were prescribed. They were prescribed in the primary schools: *al-Thalathah al-Usul*, *Kashf al-Shubuhat*, *al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah*. All of them were prescribed in primary school. We removed them and read them. So, for example, *al-Thalathah al-Usul*, *Kashf al-Shubuhat*, after that, then after that the book of *al-Tawhid*, which is the right of Allah over His slaves, with its commentary, then after that *al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah*, then you move to *al-Hamawiyyah* and *al-Tamimiyyah*, and so on. The commentary on *al-Tahawiyyah* also, what is it, little by little. Do not take the long books before the abridgments. In, for example, the science of hadith, you take first *Nukhbat al-Fikr* by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar with its commentary, which is also very good and concise, and the scholars used to memorize it. After that, you take *al-Afiyyah* by al-'Iraqi with one of its commentaries, *al-Afiyyah* of al-'Iraqi in the science of hadith, after *Nukhbat al-Fikr*. In this way, for example, in inheritance, you memorize *al-Rahbiyyah*, which is easy in wording and has many commentaries on it. You read one of the commentaries on it, and after you finish, for example, *al-Wahidiyyah*, you can move to *al-Shawshuriyyah* and to the commentary on *al-Tartib* and to *al-'Adad al-Fayd*. These are long books in the free time, but do not go to the long book before the abridgment. Little by little. Knowledge is stages, like the road. You take it in stages. And these books are not sufficient. You must choose a teacher. You choose a teacher in jurisprudence, you choose a teacher in grammar, you choose a teacher in tawhid (the oneness of Allah), you choose a teacher in inheritance. If the teacher has the ability to teach all these arts, meaning he has specialization in jurisprudence, creed, inheritance, and grammar, then one teacher is sufficient. But if he is not able to do more than one art, you read with him in that art and seek other teachers in other arts. And I believe that the student.
...who studies the regular curriculum in the schools, then in the primary schools, then in the middle school, then in the secondary school, then in the College of Sharia or Principles of Religion, I believe that if the student follows the curriculum in these stages and does not move from one stage until he has mastered its curriculum, he will graduate, with the permission of Allah, with a good accumulation. Regular study, if a person maintains it and masters it, it contains abundant knowledge. Then you are served. The book is prepared for you, chosen for you, the teacher is prepared for you, and specialized for you. Teachers, do not go looking for them; they are prepared for you. The opportunity is prepared for you, stage by stage, until you graduate from primary school to postgraduate studies. All of this is prepared for you. So if you master these stages and walk through them correctly, with the success of Allah, you will come out with a good accumulation. And this has been tried with people who strived in seeking and cared for systematic study, and praise be to Allah, they benefited from this study. And the one who is not able to do regular study can study in the mosques or in the circles of dhikr outside the schools, with the shaykhs in Ta'if. The result is that a person does not isolate himself; he does not graduate on the books and read the books by himself without referring to a teacher and without organizing the study gradually. It is necessary, and knowledge requires patience. Some people do not have patience; they become a scholar one day, and in the morning they are not patient. Knowledge does not come to your liking; it requires patience, it requires patience from you, and it lengthens the time, and staying up at night, and fatigue. Knowledge is not in a pocket. They say, "If you give knowledge all of yourself, it gives you some of itself." And Imam al-Shafi'i said, "Whoever has not tasted the humiliation of learning for an hour, will drink the cup of ignorance for his whole life."
Whoever has not tasted the humiliation of learning for an hour will drink the cup of ignorance for his whole life. That you are patient in learning is better than that you remain ignorant. So knowledge requires patience, it requires a good intention, it requires effort, it requires a long time, it requires many things. Knowledge is precious; it does not come for free. The noble is precious; it does not come to you for free, absolutely not. What comes to you for free has no value. Follow, the newspapers come to you for free. No, by Allah, the talk is over, there is nothing in them. Or the magazines. But knowledge and books, no, you do not get what is in them for free. It is necessary to have fatigue.