What is the Shaykh's advice for the beginner student of knowledge, and does he start with the Qur'an or with knowing the Sunnahs and innovations and knowing the authenticity and weakness of hadith?

Al-Halabi : Some people ask, saying: What is the adviceThe Shaykh : (may Allah preserve him) for the student of knowledge at the beginning of his pursuit? Should he be encouraged to memorize and master the Noble Qur'an, or to know the Sunnahs and innovations and seek Islamic knowledge, and the authenticity and weakness of hadiths? And what was the practice of the righteous Salaf (may Allah be pleased with them), knowing the Qur'an or the hadith? I mean, at the beginning of their pursuit.

The Shaykh : This question is repeated by many young people. It is not possible to give a unified or rigid answer for all young people. ThisThe questioner : For example, I would say to him: If you have been granted a memory that helps you memorize the Qur'an, you should memorize the Qur'an. But from our knowledge of the reality of people, are all people given a smooth memory? Do they have the ability to memorize quickly and retain this memorization in their minds for a long time? In my opinion, this is rare, very rare. So ifThe questioner : he feels that he has been granted a strong memory, let him focus on memorizing the Qur'an. And his focus should not be mere memorization; rather, he must study the Qur'an with a knowledgeable, reciting, and skilled Shaykh. He should attend his sessions for months, and perhaps years, until he masters the recitation of the Qur'an as it should be. During this time, if he occupies himself with memorizing the Qur'an, it will be light upon light. But if he memorizes only for the sake of memorization, and then when he recites, he does not recite the Qur'an well as it was revealed, then this memorization will be a burden upon him. So, the memorization of the Qur'an that we seek and mean is that he memorizes it as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed it. And this does not happen except by reading thisThe student : and completing it with a good, skilled reciter.
On this occasion, I was asked a question recently by one of them. He consulted me and sought my advice. He said his occupation was something he liked, and some people invited him to teach in Saudi Arabia. I said to him: What do you teach? He said: The Qur'an. I said, surprised by that, because I do not know that about him personally: Do you read the Qur'an well? He said: Yes. I said to him: I mean, are you certified? He said: Yes. I said: From where? He said: From the Ministry of Awqaf. I said to him: A certification from the Ministry of Awqaf has no value in this time. And if you do not believe me, come and pray Maghrib and Isha with us, and listen to the Qur'an recited by those certified by the Awqaf. Most of the imams of the mosques do not recite the Qur'an well.
Therefore, we cannot determine a path for every student of knowledge. But I will say something brief: If he cannot memorize, because there are people whose memory is dry, and they do not have the ability to memorize or retain it over time, then he should occupy himself with knowledge, with fiqh, with the sciences that he must have to help him understand what he reads, a normal reading from the Book of Allah and from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So, there is no specific plan set for every student.
Al-Halabi : Al-Ghazali, in *Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din*, speaks about the issue of fear and hope. Finally, he says: Which one should be presented to people first, fear or hope? He gives an example and says: We cannot prioritize one over the other, for they are to the person like water and bread. If one is in no need of water, we give him bread, and if one is in no need of bread, we give him water. Is this a somewhat close expression?

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, here, some of the brothers think thatThe Shaykh : Nasser does not encourage people to memorize the Qur'an, meaning that he does not remind people of this. Some of them do not have any of your books with them, even though they are students of knowledge. So some of the brothers are surprised and say: Why is there not *Irwa' al-Ghalil* in your library, why is there not such-and-such? I meanThe Shaykh : that he does not advise memorizing the Qur'an?

The Shaykh : There is no power or strength except in Allah. O Allah, I am between... I mean, suppose thatThe Shaykh : that is the case, and it is not so. But does this mean he forbids his state from knowledge? I mean, if he believes in this knowledge, we do not know what. We say: Subhan Allah! I mean, strange morals. If we see a man who is a grammarian, and he does not mention a hadith encouraging people to recite the Qur'an, or a hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), what benefit do we get from his knowledge of grammar?