Listening or Reading in the Pursuit of Knowledge and Traveling for It
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Your Eminence the Shaykh, the questioner says: There are no scholars or students of knowledge in our town qualified to deliver lessons and lectures, so we sometimes sit in the mosque and listen to an explanation by one of the scholars, and sometimes a person reads an explanation of the books of one of the scholars. Which is stronger, listening or reading?
Answer:
None of this is sufficient, neither listening nor reading. You must travel to seek knowledge, or some of you must travel. Individuals. They learn the knowledge and return to you to teach it.
Allah the Exalted said, and Allah Glorified and Exalted is He said: "It is not for the believers to disavow a disbeliever."[At-Tawbah 9:122]. Yes. So when a group of those eager to seek knowledge go out and learn, then return and explain things to those behind them, that is a good thing. This is the meaning of the noble verse: "It is not for the believers to go out all at once, but a group from each division should go forth to gain understanding of the religion, and when they return to their people, they should warn them of evil." [At-Tawbah 9:122]. Yes.
And now, praise be to Allah, it is possible for righteous people to come to the Islamic universities and learn the knowledge from them, or sit with the scholars in the mosques or gatherings of dhikr. So when they return to their people, they convey to them the knowledge they have brought. Yes.
Your Eminence the Shaykh, the questioner says: There are no scholars or students of knowledge in our town qualified to deliver lessons and lectures, so we sometimes sit in the mosque and listen to an explanation by one of the scholars, and sometimes a person reads an explanation of the books of one of the scholars. Which is stronger, listening or reading?
Answer:
None of this is sufficient, neither listening nor reading. You must travel to seek knowledge, or some of you must travel. Individuals. They learn the knowledge and return to you to teach it.
Allah the Exalted said, and Allah Glorified and Exalted is He said: "It is not for the believers to disavow a disbeliever."
For there should separate from every division of them a group [remaining] to obtain understanding in the religion and warn their people when they return to them that they might be cautious.
فَلَوْلَا نَفَرَ مِن كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لِّيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ وَلِيُنذِرُوا قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَحْذَرُونَFor there should separate from every division of them a group [remaining] to obtain understanding in the religion and warn their people when they return to them that they might be cautious.
فَلَوْلَا نَفَرَ مِن كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لِّيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ وَلِيُنذِرُوا قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَحْذَرُونَAnd now, praise be to Allah, it is possible for righteous people to come to the Islamic universities and learn the knowledge from them, or sit with the scholars in the mosques or gatherings of dhikr. So when they return to their people, they convey to them the knowledge they have brought. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-094-موقف الإسلام من التيارات الفكرية|صالح الفوزان|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (46:15)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.