Advice on seeking knowledge, and the books from which benefit is derived.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : I want to seek knowledge; so what advice do you give me...?
The Shaykh : This is a broad and very good question, but I remind you of what I delivered after the 'Isha' prayer this evening: that a person should seek Islamic knowledge derived from the Book of Allah and the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This is, of course, rare among scholars in many countries, but books that carry this correct scholarly methodology are published today in the world of print, and praise be to Allah. So the student of knowledge should, if it is facilitated for him to find a scholar of the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the pious predecessors, seek books from a group of scholars. We call some of them those concerned with 'aqidah (creed); so he should turn to the books of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah. Also, the 'aqidah known as "al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah" and its commentary by Ibn Abi al-'Izz al-Hanafi; for this book is entirely on the Salafi methodology except for one or two issues. As for what concerns hadith, the student of knowledge should initially restrict himself to "al-Sahihayn" (the two authentic collections), and then to any book in which the author has specialized in authentic hadiths. This, though few in number, is found in some comprehensive books that contain only authentic hadiths. For example, "al-Ilmam bi Ahadith al-Ahkam" by Ibn Daqiq al-Eid, and also, with a slight difference, "Bulugh al-Maram min Ahadith al-Ahkam" by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. Although he mentioned some weak hadiths in it, because some schools of jurisprudence rely on them, he was honest when he explained their defects. As for the rest of the hadiths in this book, they are also authentic. Similarly, one might choose the book "Riyad al-Salihin" by Imam al-Nawawi for hadiths on manners and morals, as it has little weakness in its hadiths. And so the student of knowledge finds many books, praise be to Allah, that are refined in much of what is found in some books of fiqh... Then I advise the student of knowledge not to seek knowledge for a job; even if that job is to be an imam, or a mu'adhdhin, or to be, for example, a mufti in a village, or a judge in his town, or the like. Because if he intends to seek knowledge for one of these needs, his work is invalidated and his reward is lost, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Bayyinah 98:5].
These are brief words, and after that, what do you have?
The questioner : I want to seek knowledge; so what advice do you give me...?
The Shaykh : This is a broad and very good question, but I remind you of what I delivered after the 'Isha' prayer this evening: that a person should seek Islamic knowledge derived from the Book of Allah and the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This is, of course, rare among scholars in many countries, but books that carry this correct scholarly methodology are published today in the world of print, and praise be to Allah. So the student of knowledge should, if it is facilitated for him to find a scholar of the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the pious predecessors, seek books from a group of scholars. We call some of them those concerned with 'aqidah (creed); so he should turn to the books of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah. Also, the 'aqidah known as "al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah" and its commentary by Ibn Abi al-'Izz al-Hanafi; for this book is entirely on the Salafi methodology except for one or two issues. As for what concerns hadith, the student of knowledge should initially restrict himself to "al-Sahihayn" (the two authentic collections), and then to any book in which the author has specialized in authentic hadiths. This, though few in number, is found in some comprehensive books that contain only authentic hadiths. For example, "al-Ilmam bi Ahadith al-Ahkam" by Ibn Daqiq al-Eid, and also, with a slight difference, "Bulugh al-Maram min Ahadith al-Ahkam" by al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. Although he mentioned some weak hadiths in it, because some schools of jurisprudence rely on them, he was honest when he explained their defects. As for the rest of the hadiths in this book, they are also authentic. Similarly, one might choose the book "Riyad al-Salihin" by Imam al-Nawawi for hadiths on manners and morals, as it has little weakness in its hadiths. And so the student of knowledge finds many books, praise be to Allah, that are refined in much of what is found in some books of fiqh... Then I advise the student of knowledge not to seek knowledge for a job; even if that job is to be an imam, or a mu'adhdhin, or to be, for example, a mufti in a village, or a judge in his town, or the like. Because if he intends to seek knowledge for one of these needs, his work is invalidated and his reward is lost, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion
وما أمروا إلا ليعبدوا الله مخلصين له الدينThese are brief words, and after that, what do you have?
Source
www.al-albany.com
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