The Beneficial Method for Studying Books of Jurisprudence
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The questioner : Your Eminence the Shaykh! What is the beneficial method?
The Shaykh : To complete this question, there are hair dyes about which people ask frequently. We say that the default ruling for dyes is that they are permissible. It is not possible for us to forbid what Allah and His Messenger have not forbidden, except for dyeing white hair black. This has been prohibited, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Change this gray hair and avoid black." As for the other colors, such as red, brown, and the like, there is nothing wrong with them. This is the default ruling.
The questioner : What is the beneficial method for studying books of jurisprudence? And which book of jurisprudence do you advise consulting and studying frequently? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : The beneficial method for studying jurisprudence and other types of knowledge is for a person to begin with the concise texts. If he is able to memorize some of them, that is better. For ascending to the heights is done from the first step, climbing it bit by bit.
He memorizes the concise texts and reflects upon them and contemplates them, then he progresses to the larger ones, then the larger. Some people have told me that Shaykh 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Batir (may Allah have mercy on him), who was the mufti of the Najd region in his time, did not go beyond reviewing al-Rawd al-Murja'. However, he would repeat it and contemplate it in its wording, meaning, and implication. As you know, he was one of the jurists of the people of Najd, even though he had al-Muntaha, al-Iqna', and the commentary on al-Muntaha and al-Iqna'. But he stuck to this book and would contemplate it, repeat it, and contemplate it in its wording, meaning, and implication, and he gained much knowledge. Then, I advise the beginner student of knowledge—I advise him not to overdo reviewing books of jurisprudence that mention opinions and discuss them. Because if the young student of knowledge sees these opinions, his mind becomes scattered, and he does not have established knowledge. So, when the knowledge becomes established in his heart and he has looked into much knowledge, then he begins to review the books that contain the discussion of the issue.
The Shaykh : To complete this question, there are hair dyes about which people ask frequently. We say that the default ruling for dyes is that they are permissible. It is not possible for us to forbid what Allah and His Messenger have not forbidden, except for dyeing white hair black. This has been prohibited, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Change this gray hair and avoid black." As for the other colors, such as red, brown, and the like, there is nothing wrong with them. This is the default ruling.
The questioner : What is the beneficial method for studying books of jurisprudence? And which book of jurisprudence do you advise consulting and studying frequently? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : The beneficial method for studying jurisprudence and other types of knowledge is for a person to begin with the concise texts. If he is able to memorize some of them, that is better. For ascending to the heights is done from the first step, climbing it bit by bit.
He memorizes the concise texts and reflects upon them and contemplates them, then he progresses to the larger ones, then the larger. Some people have told me that Shaykh 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Batir (may Allah have mercy on him), who was the mufti of the Najd region in his time, did not go beyond reviewing al-Rawd al-Murja'. However, he would repeat it and contemplate it in its wording, meaning, and implication. As you know, he was one of the jurists of the people of Najd, even though he had al-Muntaha, al-Iqna', and the commentary on al-Muntaha and al-Iqna'. But he stuck to this book and would contemplate it, repeat it, and contemplate it in its wording, meaning, and implication, and he gained much knowledge. Then, I advise the beginner student of knowledge—I advise him not to overdo reviewing books of jurisprudence that mention opinions and discuss them. Because if the young student of knowledge sees these opinions, his mind becomes scattered, and he does not have established knowledge. So, when the knowledge becomes established in his heart and he has looked into much knowledge, then he begins to review the books that contain the discussion of the issue.
Source
لقاء بمبنى المؤتمرات بجامعة الإمام — archive.org (16:29)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.