A man who has repented from committing sins and transgressions and wishes to seek knowledge: with what should he begin, and on what methodology should he proceed?
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The questioner : A questioner asks, saying: A man spent twenty-five years of his life in sins and transgressions, then Allah granted him guidance. He wants to dedicate his life to knowledge and learning, but he cannot read the Qur'an well, nor recite it with proper tajwid, and he is not proficient in the language. With what should he begin, and on what methodology should he proceed?
The Shaykh : He should begin by praying, as it is said, "in his own state". It is not permissible for him to delay the prayer because, for example, he does not know how to read the Qur'an. If he does not memorize anything at all, it is reported in the Sunnah that he must learn "Subhan Allah" (Glory be to Allah), "Alhamdulillah" (Praise be to Allah), "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah), and "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the Greatest), because they are easy to memorize. These serve as a substitute for reciting Surat al-Fatihah. However, at the same time, he must not be satisfied with this temporary ease to the extent that he neglects learning what corrects his prayer, such as reciting al-Fatihah. The important point is that this man, whose state was as described, then repented to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and turned back to Him, so he must fear Allah as much as he is able and seek help in doing so by asking people of knowledge, as stated in the Noble Qur'an:[An-Nahl 16:43]. The answer that can be given now is that he should hasten to perform every prayer in its time and focus on memorizing some of the Qur'an. If he has none of it, the tasbih mentioned above serves as a substitute for al-Fatihah until he learns it.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The question is not like that; rather, this question is from you.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Fine.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : What Allah willed, is all of this understood from the question?! How does he begin? He begins as the learned poet said:
"If you seek knowledge, it is vast, *** and your life is too short to acquire it all.
So he presents the most important of them, the most important. .
He learns, even if he is a non-Arab. We do not burden him to learn the Arabic language now so that he can learn through the Arabic language. Rather, we tell him, above all, to learn the knowledge of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) through learning the Arabic language? No, that is postponed because that is a means. He asks the people of knowledge who speak his language to learn what is more obligatory, as mentioned in the previous poem. When he finishes this matter, he moves on to what is obligatory for him. For example, if he is poor, zakah (the obligatory alms) is not obligatory for him, and Hajj (the major pilgrimage) to the House of Allah is not obligatory for him, so he is not burdened to study the rulings of zakah and the rituals of Hajj, because that is not obligatory for him. But prayer is obligatory for him, and fasting is obligatory for him. So he learns the rulings of prayer to know its conditions, rulings, and obligations, and so on. He also learns how to fast Ramadan, what is not permissible for him to do while fasting, what is permissible, and other details. So, the answer in brief is: he begins with the most important, then the next most important.
The Shaykh : He should begin by praying, as it is said, "in his own state". It is not permissible for him to delay the prayer because, for example, he does not know how to read the Qur'an. If he does not memorize anything at all, it is reported in the Sunnah that he must learn "Subhan Allah" (Glory be to Allah), "Alhamdulillah" (Praise be to Allah), "La ilaha illa Allah" (There is no god but Allah), and "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the Greatest), because they are easy to memorize. These serve as a substitute for reciting Surat al-Fatihah. However, at the same time, he must not be satisfied with this temporary ease to the extent that he neglects learning what corrects his prayer, such as reciting al-Fatihah. The important point is that this man, whose state was as described, then repented to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and turned back to Him, so he must fear Allah as much as he is able and seek help in doing so by asking people of knowledge, as stated in the Noble Qur'an:
So ask the people of the message if you do not know.
فاسألوا أهل الذكر إن كنتم لا تعلمونThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The question is not like that; rather, this question is from you.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Fine.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : What Allah willed, is all of this understood from the question?! How does he begin? He begins as the learned poet said:
"If you seek knowledge, it is vast, *** and your life is too short to acquire it all.
So he presents the most important of them, the most important. .
He learns, even if he is a non-Arab. We do not burden him to learn the Arabic language now so that he can learn through the Arabic language. Rather, we tell him, above all, to learn the knowledge of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) through learning the Arabic language? No, that is postponed because that is a means. He asks the people of knowledge who speak his language to learn what is more obligatory, as mentioned in the previous poem. When he finishes this matter, he moves on to what is obligatory for him. For example, if he is poor, zakah (the obligatory alms) is not obligatory for him, and Hajj (the major pilgrimage) to the House of Allah is not obligatory for him, so he is not burdened to study the rulings of zakah and the rituals of Hajj, because that is not obligatory for him. But prayer is obligatory for him, and fasting is obligatory for him. So he learns the rulings of prayer to know its conditions, rulings, and obligations, and so on. He also learns how to fast Ramadan, what is not permissible for him to do while fasting, what is permissible, and other details. So, the answer in brief is: he begins with the most important, then the next most important.