What is the first thread in the threads of seeking knowledge?

The questioner : All right; the second question: What is the first thread in the threads of seeking knowledge? What is the first thread in the threads of seeking knowledge?

The Shaykh : It is that one sits with the people of knowledge, and that he keeps their company as much as he is able to do so, as indicated by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , and as in the other hadith: . So keeping the company of the righteous leaves a good effect on the companion, and keeping the company of the scholars leaves knowledge in the companion. So the matter is as he said—or rather, we should say: as was narrated—from Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "Be a scholar, or a learner, or a listener, and do not be the fourth, lest you perish." So we can take from this athar, in the questioner's expression, that the first thread is to be a listener to knowledge. If that becomes pleasing to him and he finds it agreeable, as is expected of every Muslim, he moves to the second stage, which is to learn. Then, if he continues in learning—and this learning does not mean that he should limit himself to what he learns from his shaykh or his shaykhs—rather, he must strive and exert himself, and read and study until his mind opens up and his thought and knowledge expand, until he becomes one of those to whom the rest of the people should turn when a legal issue comes to them or a calamity befalls them. "Be a scholar, or a learner, or a listener, and do not be the fourth, lest you perish."

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.