How did the Shaykh begin his pursuit of knowledge, and what were the books he read?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Your Eminence the Shaykh! I love you for the sake of Allah, and may Allah prolong your life in obedience and faith. How did you read the books of knowledge at the beginning of your pursuit of knowledge? And what were the books you read at the start of the pursuit, since I am a student and I find boredom when reading, and I am not skilled at choosing books? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : I say to this student, may Allah love him as He loves us in him: My initial pursuit was under the hands of the shaykhs. My first shaykh was 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Nasir al-Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him). He did not have these many subjects. You would find reading in tafsir, reading in 'aqidah, reading in tawhid (the oneness of Allah), in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), and in hadith in the hearts of the women. So the methodology is easy. Everyone can grasp it.
And we would memorize al-Ajrumiyyah first in nahw (Arabic grammar), then the matn of Qatr al-Nada', then al-Arfiyyah. We would also memorize 'Umdat al-Ahkam in hadith, and some of us memorized Bulugh al-Maram. We would memorize al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah in 'aqidah. In tawhid (the oneness of Allah), we would read the Book of Tawhid; some of us would memorize it and some would not. In fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), we would memorize and read Zad al-Mustaqim with the shaykh, and we gained much good. Then, when the institutes were opened, some people advised us to come to Riyadh and study in the scientific institutes. And we studied, and we benefited from new sciences, such as the science of balagha (rhetoric), and also the science of mustalah (hadith terminology), and the science of sarf (Arabic morphology). Then we continued our studies with the shaykhs as well, with Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Baz.
And we did not reach the stage of studying with Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him). After two or three years, we returned to the town, and we became teachers of students in the scientific institutes. Then, when the university branch was opened in al-Qasim, we became teachers there. But the truth is that I did not find the blessing in knowledge except in what I received in the mosques. As for what we took from the institutes and the college, we benefited from new advantages, such as the disciplines I mentioned to you. We also benefited in that I obtained the degree so that we could be able to teach in the university and other things that this degree qualifies us for.
The Shaykh : I say to this student, may Allah love him as He loves us in him: My initial pursuit was under the hands of the shaykhs. My first shaykh was 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Nasir al-Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him). He did not have these many subjects. You would find reading in tafsir, reading in 'aqidah, reading in tawhid (the oneness of Allah), in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), and in hadith in the hearts of the women. So the methodology is easy. Everyone can grasp it.
And we would memorize al-Ajrumiyyah first in nahw (Arabic grammar), then the matn of Qatr al-Nada', then al-Arfiyyah. We would also memorize 'Umdat al-Ahkam in hadith, and some of us memorized Bulugh al-Maram. We would memorize al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah in 'aqidah. In tawhid (the oneness of Allah), we would read the Book of Tawhid; some of us would memorize it and some would not. In fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), we would memorize and read Zad al-Mustaqim with the shaykh, and we gained much good. Then, when the institutes were opened, some people advised us to come to Riyadh and study in the scientific institutes. And we studied, and we benefited from new sciences, such as the science of balagha (rhetoric), and also the science of mustalah (hadith terminology), and the science of sarf (Arabic morphology). Then we continued our studies with the shaykhs as well, with Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Baz.
And we did not reach the stage of studying with Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him). After two or three years, we returned to the town, and we became teachers of students in the scientific institutes. Then, when the university branch was opened in al-Qasim, we became teachers there. But the truth is that I did not find the blessing in knowledge except in what I received in the mosques. As for what we took from the institutes and the college, we benefited from new advantages, such as the disciplines I mentioned to you. We also benefited in that I obtained the degree so that we could be able to teach in the university and other things that this degree qualifies us for.
Source
لقاء بمسجد الطلاب بالمدينة الجامعية - 1 — archive.org (32:52)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.