The Best Methods and Ways of Seeking Knowledge
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Honorable Shaykh! What are the methods and ways of seeking knowledge, and what is your opinion of one who memorizes but does not understand, or one who understands but does not memorize?
The methods for seeking knowledge are that a person should begin with the basics of knowledge before the advanced, so that he ascends to the top from the bottom of the stairs. He should start, for example, with concise books, and it is necessary to have a Shaykh who reads to him and explains to him; because reading from a Shaykh yields two great benefits for the person: The first benefit is that it involves less error than receiving knowledge from books, because the scholar has a breadth of knowledge, knowing the general and the specific, the absolute and the restricted, the abrogating and the abrogated, and the general and the detailed, which the student of knowledge who merely takes a book and reads it does not know. Thus, the scholar possesses knowledge that the student who reads from books does not have.
The second benefit: It is also closer to acquiring knowledge, because if you take knowledge from books, you must review it many times, and you may remain on a single issue for several days if you want to clarify it. But if you take knowledge from a scholar who has given you the essence,He said to you: saying "such and such was said, and such and such was said, and the stronger position is this," explaining the reason for its strength and refuting the other side's argument, then receiving knowledge from scholars is undoubtedly more preferable and better for these two reasons. And if a scholar is granted success for a person, he will guide him to what he should begin with from the means of knowledge.
As for the one who memorizes but does not understand, and the one who understands but does not memorize: the one who memorizes but does not understand should ask Allah the Exalted to grant him understanding, and the one who understands but does not memorize should ask Allah to grant him memorization. He who has been given one will be given the other, if Allah wills.
The methods for seeking knowledge are that a person should begin with the basics of knowledge before the advanced, so that he ascends to the top from the bottom of the stairs. He should start, for example, with concise books, and it is necessary to have a Shaykh who reads to him and explains to him; because reading from a Shaykh yields two great benefits for the person: The first benefit is that it involves less error than receiving knowledge from books, because the scholar has a breadth of knowledge, knowing the general and the specific, the absolute and the restricted, the abrogating and the abrogated, and the general and the detailed, which the student of knowledge who merely takes a book and reads it does not know. Thus, the scholar possesses knowledge that the student who reads from books does not have.
The second benefit: It is also closer to acquiring knowledge, because if you take knowledge from books, you must review it many times, and you may remain on a single issue for several days if you want to clarify it. But if you take knowledge from a scholar who has given you the essence,He said to you: saying "such and such was said, and such and such was said, and the stronger position is this," explaining the reason for its strength and refuting the other side's argument, then receiving knowledge from scholars is undoubtedly more preferable and better for these two reasons. And if a scholar is granted success for a person, he will guide him to what he should begin with from the means of knowledge.
As for the one who memorizes but does not understand, and the one who understands but does not memorize: the one who memorizes but does not understand should ask Allah the Exalted to grant him understanding, and the one who understands but does not memorize should ask Allah to grant him memorization. He who has been given one will be given the other, if Allah wills.