Is it obligatory for a student of knowledge to memorize hadiths and then engage in verification?
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The questioner : The people of hadith, I mean in these days, may Allah reward them with good, are suffering from a lack of sincere shaykhs, especially the shaykhs of the Sunnah. You do not find, I mean in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, despite its size, except those whom Allah has shown mercy, I mean a man who is counted as a scholar of hadith in truth, who can explain the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in a way that satisfies the need, I mean unless it is something we have not seen explicitly. I have not found this scholar until now. But because of that, students of knowledge in this country, especially, and in others, you find them very confused regarding the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Do they follow the methodology of memorization, and then memorize for ten years the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from the authentic collections and others, and then enter the field of verification, which is what you always warn about, that it is not permissible for a beginner student of knowledge to enter it except after a period, or did you mention a text for seeking knowledge? So what does that mean? Do you advise memorizing the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for a period, as I mentioned and presented, and then entering the field of verification? And what is your comment, I mean my Shaykh?
The Shaykh : What exactly do you mean by the word verification? Do you mean verification, I mean distinguishing the authentic from the weak, or do you mean verifying the understanding of the meanings of the hadiths?
The questioner : Of course, verification is usually divided into two sections: verifying the text of the hadith in terms of its authenticity, or if it turns out to be not authentic, and then verifying the conclusions, I mean they mention the precision of the takhrij. This is what I mean.
The Shaykh : I mean you mean both matters?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : What I believe is that the easy method for the general students of knowledge is to focus on memorizing the authentic hadiths, relying on the people of hadith who focused on distinguishing the authentic from the weak. I mean, for example, we say to students of knowledge: you must focus on studying the two Sahihs, al-Bukhari and Muslim, without studying the Sunan with what they contain of weak hadiths, and perhaps some of them are from ... I do not mean memorization in the sense of how a reciter of the Qur'an memorizes the Qur'an, but rather that they constantly study these books called the Sahihs. But I mean by Sahihs the general meaning that includes the Sunan as well. And this requires a long time. During that time, he engages in verification, meaning understanding these hadiths correctly. And that is not possible for him except by referring to the books of the scholars who focused on explaining these hadiths and clarifying the rulings derived from them. This is the first plan that he should follow.The student : And included in this methodology is reading some comprehensive books of hadiths of the chapters of fiqh, for example, Bulugh al-Maram by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, where he generally, by a percentage of ninety or more, does not pass over a hadith without clarifying its rank in terms of authenticity, goodness, or weakness. Also other books, even if they are not famous, such as al-Ilmam bi Ahadith al-Ahkam and the like. The important thing is that the student of knowledge directs his study to be confined to the authentic hadiths on one hand, and to understanding these hadiths in light of the explanations of the scholars of hadith regarding their meanings and rulings. After that, this...The student : ...will find himself feeling that he has approximately covered these authentic hadiths and his chest is filled with understanding and being affected by them. He will find himself after that in need to increase his knowledge from the other hadiths and move on to books of takhrij and other books that contain distinguishing the authentic from the weak, and so he proceeds step by step. People in this field will undoubtedly differ greatly according to their psychological and memorization capabilities and the like. But the beginning is with the authentic hadiths, focusing on studying them and understanding them. This is what appears to me, and Allah knows best.
The Shaykh : What exactly do you mean by the word verification? Do you mean verification, I mean distinguishing the authentic from the weak, or do you mean verifying the understanding of the meanings of the hadiths?
The questioner : Of course, verification is usually divided into two sections: verifying the text of the hadith in terms of its authenticity, or if it turns out to be not authentic, and then verifying the conclusions, I mean they mention the precision of the takhrij. This is what I mean.
The Shaykh : I mean you mean both matters?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : What I believe is that the easy method for the general students of knowledge is to focus on memorizing the authentic hadiths, relying on the people of hadith who focused on distinguishing the authentic from the weak. I mean, for example, we say to students of knowledge: you must focus on studying the two Sahihs, al-Bukhari and Muslim, without studying the Sunan with what they contain of weak hadiths, and perhaps some of them are from ... I do not mean memorization in the sense of how a reciter of the Qur'an memorizes the Qur'an, but rather that they constantly study these books called the Sahihs. But I mean by Sahihs the general meaning that includes the Sunan as well. And this requires a long time. During that time, he engages in verification, meaning understanding these hadiths correctly. And that is not possible for him except by referring to the books of the scholars who focused on explaining these hadiths and clarifying the rulings derived from them. This is the first plan that he should follow.The student : And included in this methodology is reading some comprehensive books of hadiths of the chapters of fiqh, for example, Bulugh al-Maram by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, where he generally, by a percentage of ninety or more, does not pass over a hadith without clarifying its rank in terms of authenticity, goodness, or weakness. Also other books, even if they are not famous, such as al-Ilmam bi Ahadith al-Ahkam and the like. The important thing is that the student of knowledge directs his study to be confined to the authentic hadiths on one hand, and to understanding these hadiths in light of the explanations of the scholars of hadith regarding their meanings and rulings. After that, this...The student : ...will find himself feeling that he has approximately covered these authentic hadiths and his chest is filled with understanding and being affected by them. He will find himself after that in need to increase his knowledge from the other hadiths and move on to books of takhrij and other books that contain distinguishing the authentic from the weak, and so he proceeds step by step. People in this field will undoubtedly differ greatly according to their psychological and memorization capabilities and the like. But the beginning is with the authentic hadiths, focusing on studying them and understanding them. This is what appears to me, and Allah knows best.
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