The Shaykh’s remarks on the beginning of his pursuit of the science of hadith

The Shaykh: And I was a young, naive person, and then it became clear that my Lord — Blessed and Exalted is He — was compassionate with me and arranged this path and method for me so that I could learn. Why? I saw that this last volume exists; if... it is with me. They mentioned to me this book; you will find the first volume has three or four hadiths under it, perhaps you will find one or two lines of commentary. But the further you go, the fewer the hadiths become and the more the commentaries increase, to the point that in the last volume the text is one line and everything below it is explanation. ... This Egyptian; I still visit him, and I find a cheap book to buy from him. I bought in bulk a very important book regarding what I was engaged in, called *Al-Nihayah fi Gharib al-Hadith wa al-Athar*. This is from the sources of the great scholars, and I have no knowledge of it, but knowledge is this; it is what opened the door for me. Now we say to our brothers... Islamic... Islamic... and so on, and they found someone to guide them and direct them, but I did not find anyone.
The student: I did not find anyone. Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh: To Allah — Glorified and Exalted is He. And the strange thing in this matter, and this is part of the divine artistry that inspired me, is that I used to write hadith with a quill. The quill at that time was called *milla*, written in Arabic on it. There was another type written on it *khattat*, like the reed pens that are cut like this... so that the alif comes out beautiful.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh: This is the text of the hadith; the commentary is with a very soft French quill, a quill with which you write French letters. You will find the notebooks, or the last notebook, perhaps one page contains about thirty lines in fine script with the French quill.
The student: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh: Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. So when I finished the book in the *takhrij* in this manner, I returned the book, yes, and took back the pledge I had left for it. And the book is now with me as a reserve, a reserve I have. In this way, the door to the science of hadith was opened for me, and the first thing I did in *takhrij* was *Ihya* by al-Hafiz al-Iraqi. So I truly, even now, know the favor of two men upon me. The first favor is that of Sayyid Rashid Rida, because he is the one who directed me to *takhrij*. The second favor is that of al-Hafiz al-Iraqi.