How can a seeker of knowledge make a schedule to organise his time?

Firstly: 

The status of
the seeker of Islamic knowledge is great in Islam. Allah, may He be blessed
and exalted, has praised knowledge and those who seek it, as He says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“Say: Are
those who know equal to those who know not?’ It is only men of understanding
who will remember (i.e. get a lesson from Allahs Signs and Verses)”

[az-Zumar
39:9]

“It is only
those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah”

[Faatir
35:28]. 

It was
narrated that Humayd ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan said: I heard Mu‘aawiyah say, when
he was delivering a khutbah: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) say: “When Allaah wills good for a person, He
deepens his knowledge of Islam.

Narrated by
al-Bukhaari (71) and Muslim (1037). 

It was
narrated that ‘Abu’d-Darda’ said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) say: “Whoever follows a path in the pursuit
of knowledge, Allaah will make easy for him a path to Paradise. The angels
lower their wings in approval of the seeker of knowledge, and everyone in
the heavens and on earth prays for forgiveness for the seeker of knowledge,
even the fish in the sea. The superiority of the scholar over the worshipper
is like the superiority of the moon over all other heavenly bodies. The
scholars are the heirs of the Prophets, for the Prophets did not leave
behind dinars or dirhams, rather they left behind knowledge, so whoever
takes it has taken a great share.”

Narrated by
at-Tirmidhi (2682), Abu Dawood (3541) and Ibn Maajah (223); classed as hasan
by al-Albaani in Saheeh at-Targheeb, 1/17 

Islamic
knowledge brings a person the good of this world and of the Hereafter; it
takes precedence over all other branches of knowledge, especially if one’s
intention is pure. 

See the answer
to question no. 10471 

Secondly: 

The best thing
you can spend your time on when beginning to seek knowledge is memorising
the Book of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted. This is the best thing
in which people may compete and strive, and it is the best thing on which
the seeker of knowledge may focus his efforts. 

See the answer
to question no. 14035 for
information on the advantages of memorising the Book of Allah. 

See the
answers to questions no. 7966
and 11561 for information on
the basic principles of memorising the Book of Allah. 

Thirdly: 

One of the
things that will make things easier for the seeker of knowledge is to have
many shaykhs and scholars from whom he can learn. The quickest way to seek
knowledge and the best way to attain the goal is if Allah makes it easy for
him to find one shaykh or scholar among the scholars of the Sunnah, from
whom he may acquire knowledge directly. See the answer to question no.
22037. 

Fourthly: 

With regard to
organising your time, it may be as follows. 

(a)

Have fixed
times for regular things every day, such as a time for sleeping, a time for
meals, a time for visits, a time for gatherings, a time for revision. 

(b)

One of the
things that will help you make the most of your time and save time is to put
a stop to time wasters such as sleeping, eating and drinking too much, or
meeting people except for Islamically beneficial purposes. You should also
avoid time wasters such as means of entertainment like TV shows, soap
operas, newspapers, magazines, games, sports matches and competitions. 

Shaykh
Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

The seeker of
knowledge must make the most of his time and avoid wasting time. Wasting
time may take the following forms: 

1.    

Failing to review and revise what he reads

2.    

Sitting with his friends and engaging in idle talk in which is no benefit

3.    

The
most harmful time waster for the seeker of knowledge is when he has no
interest except finding out about people, what they are saying and what they
are doing, with regard to a matter that does not concern him. This
undoubtedly stems from a weakness of commitment to Islam, because the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Part of a person’s
being a good Muslim is leaving alone that which does not concern him.”
Narrated by at-Tirmidhi, 2318; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani. 

Focusing on
who said what and asking a lot of questions is a waste of time. In fact it
is a kind of sickness which if it affects a person – we ask Allah to keep us
safe and sound – will become his main focus and concern and he may end up
showing a hostile attitude towards one who does not deserve enmity, or he
may be friendly towards one who does not deserve friendship, because of his
interest in these matters that are distracting him from seeking knowledge,
on the grounds that this is part of supporting the truth. But that is not
the case; rather this comes under the heading of being distracted by that
which does not concern one. But if news comes to you without you seeking it
or looking for it, everyone receives news but you should not be preoccupied
with it or focus on it, because this causes distraction for the seeker of
knowledge and may confuse him, and it opens the door to partisanship and
division amongst the ummah. 

Kitaab
al-‘Ilm,
p. 143-144 

(c)

Another matter
that is detrimental to the issue of organising one’s time and making the
most of it is procrastination. Procrastination is a severe disease that
deprives one of many good things in this world and in the Hereafter. 

(d)

One of the
best ways of succeeding in this world is to keep yourself busy at all times
with that which is best for you and most beneficial for you in the
Hereafter, as Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The best act
of worship is to strive to please the Lord at all times by doing that which
is most appropriate and is expected at any particular time. 

Madaarij
as-Saalikeen,
1/88 

(e)

Investing
one’s time as much as one can and not wasting a single moment in anything
that is not an act of obedience or worship. Our early generations (may Allah
have mercy on them) set an amazing example of making the most of their time.
All seekers of Qur’anic knowledge were keen to study under Abu Na‘eem
al-Asfahaani (d. 430) and every day one of them would have his turn and he
would study whatever he wanted with the Shaykh until just before Zuhr. Then
when he got up to go home, another student might recite a juz’ to him on the
way (for him to listen and correct), and he never showed any impatience. 

Saleem
ar-Raazi was a Shaafa‘i. One day he went home and came back, and he said: I
recited a juz’ on my way. Al-Haafiz adh-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on
him) said in his biography of al-Khateeb al-Baghdaadi: The khateeb used to
walk with a juz’ in his hand, which he would study. 

For forty
years, Ibn ‘Asaakir (may Allah have mercy on him) – as his son said – did
not focus on anything except matters of knowledge, even during his free time
or when he was alone. He always had with him books of knowledge and the
Qur’an, which he would read and memorise. They were always keen to make the
most of their time by doing more than one thing at the same time. If the pen
became blunt and he needed to sharpen it, one of them would move his lips
with remembrance of Allah whilst fixing his pen, or he would review things
that he had memorised lest any time pass without him doing something
useful. 

Abu’l-Wafa’
‘Ali ibn ‘Aqeel (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I do not allow myself to
waste even one hour of my life; even when I am not reading anything or
reciting anything, I would think whilst I am resting of some issues of
knowledge and I will not get up until I have come up with something I can
write down. 

Ibn al-Qayyim
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: I know someone who fell sick with a
headache and fever, and his book was beside his head. When he was awake he
would read, and when he fell asleep he would put it down. 

(f)

With regard to
making a schedule and organising one’s time, that may be done as follows: 

1.

The program of
the seeker of knowledge begins at dawn, which is the time for memorisation
of Qur’an and hadeeth. The best time for memorising – especially memorising
Qur’an – is the time just before dawn and after Fajr prayer, when the mind
is clear and it is easier to memorise. So the seeker of knowledge prays in
the mosque and remains there until sunrise or afterwards, memorising and
reviewing what he has memorised. When he has finished that, he begins to
memorise texts of knowledge – the texts of hadeeth, fiqh, usool and Arabic
language. 

2.

If he has a
job or is in school, he goes to it. Otherwise he spends the rest of the
morning memorising and revising until Zuhr, then he takes a siesta and rests
a little. 

3.

As for the
afternoon, it is for studying and reading, or studying with others, or
discussion and reviewing issues of knowledge with others. 

4.

After Maghrib,
he attends study circles and after ‘Isha’ he reviews what he has learnt or
he may read a new book. 

It should be
noted that what we have mentioned here comes under the heading of organising
time in general terms. Each student should organise his time according to
his circumstances, whether he is working or not, whether he is married or
single, whether he devotes all his time to Islamic knowledge or he has some
other preoccupations, and so on. What matters with regard to organising time
is that there should be some hours of the day and night in which he makes
himself memorise and read. People tend to want to rest and like to be
somewhat lazy, so he should train himself to work hard and be active, and he
should make himself get used to being organised and adhere to doing acts of
worship and obedience. Otherwise he will have wasted his day and then he
will have wasted his life. 

For
information on how to seek knowledge, see the answer to question no.
20191

For
information on the etiquette of seeking knowledge, see the answer to
question no. 10324

See also the
lecture, Kayfa yunazzim al-Muslim waqtahu (How the Muslim should
organise his time) which is transcribed here:

http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/2344rncejpadn/47# 

And Allah
knows best.