What is the easiest way for a student of knowledge to become a scholar?

The questioner : What is the easiest and most successful way for a student of knowledge to become a scholar?

The Shaykh : He should begin seeking knowledge from a young age from the people of knowledge. If it is not feasible for him to seek knowledge through what they have left behind of reports, then every branch of knowledge has its books with which one can begin. If your pursuit is the knowledge of hadith, you ask the one who is engaged in the knowledge of hadith. If your pursuit is the knowledge of fiqh, you ask the specialist in the knowledge of fiqh, and so on for the other sciences: grammar, morphology, rhetoric, and tafsir, and so forth. If you ask me with which book to begin regarding the knowledge of hadith, I would tell you that the knowledge of hadith has two divisions: knowledge related to terminology and knowledge related to the hadith itself, the text of the hadith. As for the first division, regarding terminology, we have spoken much about it and said that one should begin, for example, with *Al-Ba'ith al-Hathith fi Ikhtisar 'Ulum al-Hadith* by Ibn Kathir, and the commentator of *Al-Ba'ith*, which is by Shaykh Ahmad Shakir al-Misri (may Allah have mercy on him). One begins with this book, but does not read the whole of it; rather, one reads the first half, because the other half is not relevant to our time. Once one has finished it, digested it, and understood it, and has sought the help of someone trustworthy who is knowledgeable in this science, one then moves on to some other books. These may be condensed, but they require some explanation and clarification, so one seeks help with them through some commentaries, such as the commentary of *Al-Nukhba* by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him). There are commentaries on this commentary, some of which are printed, such as the commentary by Ali al-Qari. If one proceeds along this path, the names of books will open up before him, which are the foundations from which these later scholars derived their books, so he returns to them at that time, such as *'Ulum al-Hadith* by al-Hakim, *Al-Kifayah* by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and *'Ulum al-Hadith* by Shaykh Ibn al-Salah (may Allah have mercy on him), and so on. If he wants the texts of hadith, we advise the book by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) titled *Bulugh al-Maram min Ahadith al-Ahkam*. There are some commentaries on it, the most well-known today being the commentary by Imam al-San'ani titled *Subul al-Salam*. He also selects from these comprehensive books *Al-Ilmam fi Ahadith al-Ahkam* by Imam Ibn Dhaqiq al-Eid. This is, in fact, a good book, and I do not know why the scholars did not pay attention to commenting on it as they did with the book of Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani mentioned above. The merit of *Al-Ilmam* is that it is restricted to mentioning the established and authentic hadiths in every chapter, whereas Ibn Hajar did not restrict himself to this, although he generally distinguishes the authentic from the weak. Similar to *Al-Ilmam* in that it is also specialized in the authentic hadith is *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra* by 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili. Unfortunately, as far as I know, it has not yet been printed. Then he moves on to a book like *Al-Mishkat*, which is well-served and commented upon both in the past and the present. Although it collects what is authentic, good, and weak, it is a comprehensive book. One seeks help in knowing what is authentic from what is not authentic through some of the commentaries or some of the annotations we have on it. And so on. The scope for selection is vast and very vast. This is other than the question.The Shaykh : Ali al-Qari. If one proceeds along this path, the names of books will open up before him, which are the foundations from which these later scholars derived their books, so he returns to them at that time, such as *'Ulum al-Hadith* by al-Hakim, *Al-Kifayah* by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and *'Ulum al-Hadith* by Shaykh Ibn al-Salah (may Allah have mercy on him), and so on. If he wants the texts of hadith, we advise the book by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) titled *Bulugh al-Maram min Ahadith al-Ahkam*. There are some commentaries on it, the most well-known today being the commentary by Imam al-San'ani titled *Subul al-Salam*. He also selects from these comprehensive books *Al-Ilmam fi Ahadith al-Ahkam* by Imam Ibn Dhaqiq al-Eid. This is, in fact, a good book, and I do not know why the scholars did not pay attention to commenting on it as they did with the book of Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani mentioned above. The merit of *Al-Ilmam* is that it is restricted to mentioning the established and authentic hadiths in every chapter, whereas Ibn Hajar did not restrict himself to this, although he generally distinguishes the authentic from the weak. Similar to *Al-Ilmam* in that it is also specialized in the authentic hadith is *Al-Ahkam al-Sughra* by 'Abd al-Haqq al-Isbili. Unfortunately, as far as I know, it has not yet been printed. Then he moves on to a book like *Al-Mishkat*, which is well-served and commented upon both in the past and the present. Although it collects what is authentic, good, and weak, it is a comprehensive book. One seeks help in knowing what is authentic from what is not authentic through some of the commentaries or some of the annotations we have on it. And so on. The scope for selection is vast and very vast. This is other than the question.