What are the most important matters with which a student of knowledge begins at the start of his pursuit?
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The student: ...
The Shaykh : By Allah, we see that the most important of all matters is knowledge of this Noble Book, the Book of Allah, before anything else. This is because the Companions did not move past ten verses until they had learned them and the knowledge and practice contained within them. Then comes attention to what is authentic from the Sunnah, and then attention to what the scholars have written and derived from these two primary sources: the Book and the Sunnah. This does not mean that if we say “strive to know the words of Allah and the words of His Messenger,” you should turn away from everything else. We must benefit from the ideas of the scholars who dedicated their efforts to serving knowledge; otherwise, we would be lost. For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) wrote on the principles of jurisprudence, the principles of hadith, the rules of jurisprudence, the rules of hadith transmission, and other matters for the sake of precision, so that people are regulated and proceed according to known rules.
The Shaykh : By Allah, we see that the most important of all matters is knowledge of this Noble Book, the Book of Allah, before anything else. This is because the Companions did not move past ten verses until they had learned them and the knowledge and practice contained within them. Then comes attention to what is authentic from the Sunnah, and then attention to what the scholars have written and derived from these two primary sources: the Book and the Sunnah. This does not mean that if we say “strive to know the words of Allah and the words of His Messenger,” you should turn away from everything else. We must benefit from the ideas of the scholars who dedicated their efforts to serving knowledge; otherwise, we would be lost. For this reason, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) wrote on the principles of jurisprudence, the principles of hadith, the rules of jurisprudence, the rules of hadith transmission, and other matters for the sake of precision, so that people are regulated and proceed according to known rules.