The Method of Seeking Knowledge and Benefiting People through Preaching and the Friday Sermon

Question:
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good. We move on to another issue that one of our brother listeners is asking about. Muhammad Awadh from the Ismailia Governorate in the Arab Republic of Egypt, who was residing in Libya when he wrote the letter, says: There is a disagreement between us and some dear brothers regarding the seeking of knowledge. I have learned that it is obligatory for one who takes the path of knowledge to acquire it little by little, little by little, and bit by bit, and to begin first by memorizing the Book of Allah and understanding it, and learning everything that aids in its understanding, and then to take on knowledge gradually, as the righteous Salaf (may Allah have mercy on them) said. These brothers attend many different lessons, and while they memorize, this leads to a scattering of the mind. These brothers tell us that we are falling short because we have limited ourselves to the Qur'an and have not delivered sermons in the villages that need preachers, even though we are not qualified to be preachers, and our Arabic is very weak. We ask you, Honorable Shaykh, to clarify the answer for us and guide us to the truth, especially since this issue has caused some friction between us and them. May Allah reward you with the best reward.

Answer:
This question consists of two parts. The first part is the method of learning. There is no doubt that the method indicated by the questioner is the successful one, which is that the student of knowledge begins by acquiring knowledge bit by bit under the guidance of scholars, and by memorizing concise texts. He memorizes a concise text in every discipline: a concise text in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), a concise text in the sciences of hadith, a concise text in grammar, and a concise text in the principles of jurisprudence, and so on. He reads in the tafsir (exegesis) of the Noble Qur'an, choosing reliable tafsirs, and he reads whatever is available to him in the commentaries on hadith. This is done under the guidance of teachers and scholars, either in formal schools if they are concerned with teaching the Book and the Sunnah, or under the guidance of scholars in mosques and schools dedicated to this purpose. For a person to expand his seeking of knowledge and learn from more than one teacher is according to his capacity. If a person has the capacity to comprehend, meaning he attends with this teacher, and with another, and with another, then this is an increase in good.
However, if a person does not have the aptitude or capacity for comprehension, let him limit himself to one teacher, in whom there is blessing and good, if Allah wills, until his understanding and knowledge expand. This is the successful method in seeking knowledge. Now, as for the one who attacks knowledge head-on and takes it from the wrong door, and reads and strains himself and his books, or attends with scholars but does not memorize the texts or concern himself with them, and does not follow the educational method we mentioned, then he toils without benefit. In fact, his work may be harmful to him, as he misunderstands and thinks he has understood, when he has not. This is the first part. As for the second part, which is benefiting people through preaching, guidance, direction, and the Friday sermon, students of knowledge should strive to do this. They should direct people, preach to them, and remind them with authentic verses and hadiths and the words of trustworthy scholars. The Friday sermon is a necessary matter. The student of knowledge delivers the Friday sermon; if he is able to prepare it himself, let him prepare it himself. If he is not able to prepare it, let him resort to prepared and written sermons, choose from them, and deliver them. He delivers them from a paper; there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with delivering the sermon from a paper, provided that this sermon is documented and contains what is required of the sermon, and it is a reliable sermon that contains no foreign elements or religious innovations. In that case, there is no harm in him taking it and delivering it from a paper, and thereby he attains the reward, benefit, and good for the Muslims. Yes. May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good. Shaykh Salih, the observer notes that he says this causes some friction between us and them. Shaykh Salih must comment on this. Between him and those who say that knowledge must be taken all at once. This is a mistake. Taking knowledge all at once is not possible. Knowledge is taken gradually, bit by bit. The proverb says: "Whoever neglects the fundamentals is deprived of the fundamentals." The fundamental is that you take knowledge gradually, bit by bit. As for taking knowledge all at once, this is not possible. And whoever wants to take all of knowledge will leave it all, because as it is said: "Knowledge will not give you a part of it unless you give it all of yourself." Yes.