A man who has repented from committing sins and transgressions, and wants to seek knowledge: with what does he begin, and on what methodology does he proceed?

The questioner : Here a questioner asks: He says, a man spent twenty-five years of his life between sins and transgressions, then Allah granted him guidance, and he wants to dedicate his life to knowledge and learning. He is not proficient in reading the Qur'an or in its recitation, and naturally, he is not proficient in the language. So with what does he begin, and on what methodology does he proceed?

The Shaykh : He begins by praying, as it is said: "in his own way," so 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 has come in the Sunnah that he must learn: , for the ease of memorizing it, and this serves as a substitute for his recitation of Surat al-Fatihah. However, at the same time, he must not turn away or be satisfied with this temporary facilitation to the extent that he neglects learning what corrects his prayer, such as reading Surat al-Fatihah, for example. The important thing is that this person, 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 the people of knowledge, as is the text of the Noble Qur'an: . What can be answered now is that he should hasten to perform the prayer, every prayer in its time, and he should concern himself with memorizing something of the Qur'an. If he has nothing of it, then the tasbih mentioned earlier serves as a substitute for Surat al-Fatihah until he learns it.

The questioner : The question wants to learn...

The Shaykh : The question is not like that; rather, this question is from you.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: All right.

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 much
And life is short in acquiring it
So present the most important of it, then the most important.
So he learns, even if he is a non-Arab. We do not burden him to learn the Arabic language now until he is able to 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. So he asks the people of knowledge who understand his language, and he learns what is more obligatory, as came in the previous verse. When he finishes this matter, he moves to what is obligatory upon him. So, for example, if he is poor, zakah is not obligatory upon him, and Hajj to the House of Allah is not obligatory upon him, so he is not burdened to study the rulings of zakah and the rituals of Hajj, because that is not obligatory upon him. But prayer is obligatory upon him, and fasting is obligatory upon him. So he learns the rulings of prayer to know its conditions, rulings, obligations, and the like. As he also learns how to fast the obligatory fast of Ramadan, and what is not permissible for him to do while fasting, and what is permissible, and other details. So the answer in brief is that he begins with the most important, then the most important.