Advice for the Beginner Student of Knowledge
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Your Eminence! What advice do you have for the beginner student of knowledge?
I advise the beginner student of knowledge to stick to a specific shaykh in whom he trusts his knowledge and integrity, and not to scatter his mind between so-and-so and so-and-so. As long as he is convinced that this shaykh has the knowledge, integrity, and trustworthiness upon which he can rely, let him stick to him. If it happens that the shaykh does not have the knowledge the student needs, let him seek another shaykh to study that specific knowledge only.An example of that is: If you stick to a person in the science of 'aqidah and the science of fiqh, but he does not have knowledge of grammar, you go to another shaykh. You do not study 'aqidah and fiqh with him; you study grammar with him. This is because the statements of this shaykh and the other shaykh might conflict, leaving the student in confusion and scattering his mind. This is the advice.
The second piece of advice: He should start with the smaller sciences before the larger ones, beginning with concise, clear books before advancing to the books above them. If we assume he wants to read in fiqh, he reads concise books in fiqh, such as Zad al-Mustaqni', for example, and does not read the larger books above it; because that will waste him. It is like a man learning to swim anew; does he go to the deep water or not? No, he starts with the shallow, little by little, until he learns.
Third: He should strive to apply everything he learns. If he learns that prayer is obligatory, he prays. If he learns that dutifulness to parents is obligatory, he is dutiful to his parents. If he learns that greeting with salam is a recommended practice, he gives the salam. If he learns that helping a person with his mount by carrying him on it, or helping him carry his luggage, is good, he does it. Because when a person applies knowledge, Allah the Exalted grants him knowledge of what he did not know before. And there is no better path to acquiring knowledge than acting upon it.And read the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Muhammad:17] When they were guided by knowledge, Allah increased them in knowledge and increased them in mindfulness of Allah. This is lacking in many students of knowledge. Many students of knowledge have taken knowledge theoretically, not practically. You find that they have a great deal of strength in memorization, memory, argumentation, and disputation, but they are negligent in action. This is a great danger; because if a person does not act upon knowledge, his knowledge becomes a burden upon him, without doubt, but it may be taken from him.As Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Ma'idah:13] And for this reason it was said:
Knowledge calls out to action; if it responds, otherwise it departs.
"Yahitaf" means: It calls out, it calls out to action. If it responds, otherwise the knowledge departs.
Fourth: He should be devoted to knowledge, not getting tired, weary, or exhausted. And if he gets tired, he rests to the extent that his energy returns. Because Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father), who the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for Allah to make him understand the religion and teach him interpretation, used to follow the people until it was said: He would come during the midday nap, and the one seeking knowledge from him would be asleep. He would use his cloak as a pillow and sleep at the threshold of his door without waking him. When he woke up, he would ask him for the hadith.He says to him: The cousin of the Messenger of Allah, do you stay at my door?He said: [I am the one in need, and I do not wake you from your sleep],And it was said to him: How did you attain knowledge?He said: [I attained knowledge with a tongue that asks, a heart that understands, and a body that does not get bored] And this is witnessed by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Keep up your recitation of the Qur'an, for by Him in whose hand is my soul, it is more likely to slip away than camels in their ropes" This perseverance is important.
Some students are like a cow that runs fast, fast, but soon becomes exhausted and stops. Some students are energetic at first and get tired, and then they regress.
So among the important matters: A person should be patient in seeking knowledge and persevering.
I advise the beginner student of knowledge to stick to a specific shaykh in whom he trusts his knowledge and integrity, and not to scatter his mind between so-and-so and so-and-so. As long as he is convinced that this shaykh has the knowledge, integrity, and trustworthiness upon which he can rely, let him stick to him. If it happens that the shaykh does not have the knowledge the student needs, let him seek another shaykh to study that specific knowledge only.An example of that is: If you stick to a person in the science of 'aqidah and the science of fiqh, but he does not have knowledge of grammar, you go to another shaykh. You do not study 'aqidah and fiqh with him; you study grammar with him. This is because the statements of this shaykh and the other shaykh might conflict, leaving the student in confusion and scattering his mind. This is the advice.
The second piece of advice: He should start with the smaller sciences before the larger ones, beginning with concise, clear books before advancing to the books above them. If we assume he wants to read in fiqh, he reads concise books in fiqh, such as Zad al-Mustaqni', for example, and does not read the larger books above it; because that will waste him. It is like a man learning to swim anew; does he go to the deep water or not? No, he starts with the shallow, little by little, until he learns.
Third: He should strive to apply everything he learns. If he learns that prayer is obligatory, he prays. If he learns that dutifulness to parents is obligatory, he is dutiful to his parents. If he learns that greeting with salam is a recommended practice, he gives the salam. If he learns that helping a person with his mount by carrying him on it, or helping him carry his luggage, is good, he does it. Because when a person applies knowledge, Allah the Exalted grants him knowledge of what he did not know before. And there is no better path to acquiring knowledge than acting upon it.And read the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And those who are guided - He increases them in guidance and gives them their righteousness.
وَالَّذِينَ اهْتَدَوْا زَادَهُمْ هُدىً وَآتَاهُمْ تَقْوَاهُمْSo for their breaking of the covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard. They distort words from their [proper] usages and have forgotten a portion of that of which they were reminded
فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِمْ مِيثَاقَهُمْ لَعَنَّاهُمْ وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَنْ مَوَاضِعِهِ وَنَسُوا حَظّاً مِمَّا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِKnowledge calls out to action; if it responds, otherwise it departs.
"Yahitaf" means: It calls out, it calls out to action. If it responds, otherwise the knowledge departs.
Fourth: He should be devoted to knowledge, not getting tired, weary, or exhausted. And if he gets tired, he rests to the extent that his energy returns. Because Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father), who the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for Allah to make him understand the religion and teach him interpretation, used to follow the people until it was said: He would come during the midday nap, and the one seeking knowledge from him would be asleep. He would use his cloak as a pillow and sleep at the threshold of his door without waking him. When he woke up, he would ask him for the hadith.He says to him: The cousin of the Messenger of Allah, do you stay at my door?He said: [I am the one in need, and I do not wake you from your sleep],And it was said to him: How did you attain knowledge?He said: [I attained knowledge with a tongue that asks, a heart that understands, and a body that does not get bored] And this is witnessed by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Keep up your recitation of the Qur'an, for by Him in whose hand is my soul, it is more likely to slip away than camels in their ropes" This perseverance is important.
Some students are like a cow that runs fast, fast, but soon becomes exhausted and stops. Some students are energetic at first and get tired, and then they regress.
So among the important matters: A person should be patient in seeking knowledge and persevering.