Clarifying the Methodology in Seeking Knowledge and the Arrangement of Summaries and Books

Question:
This questioner says: With what does a student of knowledge begin his path in seeking knowledge? With tafsir first, or with 'aqidah, or with fiqh? We ask your honor to clarify the order of these disciplines, the most important and the important among them, and then to clarify the first books a student of knowledge needs in each discipline.

Answer:
Yes. The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) established a methodology for us, so we follow it. They want us to proceed along it. This is because they compiled summaries, summaries in every science of the sciences. They compiled summaries in 'aqidah. And they compiled summaries. There. They compiled excerpts. In hadith and its sciences, they compiled summaries for the tafsir of the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). They placed summaries in the science of grammar. Glory be to Allah.
The correct method is for the student of knowledge to take a summary from each discipline, memorize it, and recite it to one of the scholars who explains it to him. So, if he takes a summary in creed, a summary in jurisprudence, a summary in hadith, and in the sciences of hadith, takes a summary in the science of grammar, takes a summary in the principles of jurisprudence, and memorizes these and understands them, the door of knowledge will open for him by the permission of Allah, because these are keys and foundations through which the student of knowledge enters into the generalities and their expansions. Knowledge is not acquired all at once, but rather bit by bit, step by step. So, what I advise my brothers and people, as I previously stipulated, is that they organize themselves in the study tracks of the scientific institutes, in the College of Sharia and Principles of Religion, or that they organize mosque study circles under the guidance of scholars, and read these summaries in every country. These are means and keys to elevation. As the proverb says, "Whoever neglects the foundations is deprived of the goal; whoever neglects the foundations is deprived of the goal." So, the one who wants to take knowledge without a method will not reach anything, but rather will be lost. This is the correct path, it is the sound path.
And I also warn and repeat that the beginner student of knowledge does not rely on himself in reading books or in learning knowledge. Because he does not have foundations and principles to proceed upon, and he does not have rules to proceed upon. So he must take the thing from its proper source. And Allah the Exalted says: So the doors of knowledge are known. And the path of knowledge is known. From the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to our present time. They used to read these excerpts from the scholars. They used to read these summaries from the scholars. In the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), they received from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And in the time of the Tabi'un, they received knowledge from the Companions. The Tabi'un received knowledge from the Companions, the first tier. And the seventh tier received knowledge from the Companions. And the followers of the Tabi'un received knowledge from the Tabi'un, and so on. A connected chain. The latter takes it from the former. This chain ends with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
The one who wants to break this chain by inventing a new method for learning knowledge is mistaken and will not reach a result, but rather his result will be loss, or misguidance and deviation. Because any structure built on other than sound foundations will end in collapse. Knowledge must be built on correct examples; a person does not restrict himself to the discipline of creed only, or the discipline of jurisprudence only, or the discipline of hadith only, or the discipline of grammar only. He does not restrict himself to this, but rather takes a summary from every discipline. When he digests this summary and understands it, he moves to what is broader than it, and so on, bit by bit. If he takes these foundations and masters them, he will be able, by the permission of Allah, to consult the encyclopedias and the books, benefit from them, and expand in his sciences, because he is building on a foundation and a basis.
Like the merchant who has his capital; profit does not come except after the availability of capital. There is no profit without capital. And the capital is these summaries and these principles established in every science of the sciences of Sharia, the sciences of the goal, and the sciences of language. This is the correct seeking of knowledge, and this is the seeking of the sons. No, if the questioner means that you should guide him to a book, a book in every discipline, yes, the books are many. You read in creed; there are many of them, for example, three from the images. Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, this is a concise and beneficial summary. Kashf al-Shubuhat by Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, this is also a concise and beneficial summary that answers the doubts raised by the polytheists and the worshippers of graves, and it exposes them and answers them with a clear answer, by the permission of Allah. And that is the book al-Tawhid by the Imam, also Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, and this is broader than what came before it, because he places his writings in steps, bit by bit. Every writing is broader than the one before it, and so on.
The explanations of the book al-Tawhid: Fath al-Mujid, Taysir al-'Aziz al-Hamid, Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid, all of these are beneficial explanations, but after memorizing the text and reading it to one of the scholars. Also, al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. In the questions and the disparagement. And the principles of faith: faith in Allah, and faith in His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and faith in the divine decree, its good and its evil, all of these are covered in the creed. We boil two in the joy.
The explanation of Sahiyyah by 'Izz ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Halabi, all these books are beneficial for the great, but I repeat and emphasize that the beginner student of knowledge does not restrict himself to the details of the books and reading them, but rather he must rely on the people of knowledge and study with them and receive knowledge from them. They clarify these books to him, for example in jurisprudence, for example in jurisprudence, Musnad al-Dalil, Musnad al-Dhat, 'Umdat al-Ahkam, all of these are summaries in the jurisprudence of the lawful. And if he memorizes these texts and reads them to the people of knowledge, he can expand to what is broader than them: explanations, Sharh al-Zad, Gharz al-Murabba', Sharh al-Iqna' known as al-Irshad, Sharh al-Manazil, and so on. He spends his efforts in the scientific encyclopedias in the sea. For example in hadith. For example in hadith. The hadith Bulugh al-Maram. This is a good selection of hadiths of rulings, and broader than it is al-Muntakha, Muntakha al-Ahkam, and this is also a book on hadiths of rulings, and it is broader than Bulugh, and broader than it is al-Mantiq, Mantiq al-Ahkam, this is also a book on hadiths of rulings and it is broader than Bulugh, then the explanations: Sharh Bulugh al-Maram, Subul al-Salam, Sharh Bulugh al-Maram by al-Awtar, Sharh Miltaqi al-Akhar. Then, if the door opens for him in the science of hadith, before him are the encyclopedias, the hadiths, the musnads, and the sunans, all are available, praise be to Allah, but it is necessary to take the foundation, it is necessary to read the summaries first to the people of knowledge so that the person has a skill through which he enters the encyclopedias. In the sciences of hadith, for example, al-Nukhba, Nukhbat al-Fatra by the Imam Ibn Hajar and its explanation by the author, that is, the biography of al-'Iraqi on the terminology of hadith, its explanation by the author himself, the author explained it and others also explained it, explained by non-authors, as in the hands of al-'Iraqi, the letters. In the principles of jurisprudence, for example, Rawdat al-Nazir by Ibn Qudama and its explanation, and Waraqat by the Imam al-Haramayn and its explanation Qurrat al-'Ayn. And if the person enters this discipline, before him are many encyclopedias in the principles of jurisprudence.
For example in grammar. It is al-Ajrumiyyah, the introduction al-Ajrumiyyah, this is the beginning from which the student of knowledge starts. And it is necessary to prepare it with one of the scholars, then al-Qasr, Qasr li-Ibn al-Zaytun, its explanation. Sharh Qatr al-Nada, also al-Mulha, Mulha al-I'rab by al-Hariri and its explanation, also al-Alfiyyah, Alfiyyat Ibn Malik, its explanations, and the most famous of its explanations and its most concise and its most asked is by Ibn 'Aqil. These books which. In every discipline, and they are arranged: concise, medium, and long. And in other schools, the Shafi'i school, the Maliki school, the Hanafi school, they also have the same thing, they have concise books, they have medium books, and they have long books. Yes.