How can the Muslim begin to seek knowledge?

Praise
be to Allah

The way in which
Muslim should begin to seek knowledge is by starting with the most important
matters. The seeker of knowledge should be keen to have a sound beginning,
so that he can remain steadfast in seeking knowledge and not waste his time
and effort.

The aim in
seeking knowledge is so that the Muslim can rectify himself and others. So
the seeker should begin with matters that are important for himself first of
all, then for those around him.

The first step:

The seeker of
knowledge should begin by attaining some general knowledge of the texts of
revelation, because they are the main source for the religion of Allah, may
He be exalted. So he should begin by memorising the Holy Qur’an, as much as
his energy and free time allow, and he should be keen to understand what he
memorises. For this purpose we advise him to study the Tafseer of
Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan as-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him), because this
author is one of those who are well-known for sound belief, and his tafseer
is written in straightforward language and easy to read.

At the same
time, the seeker should strive hard to study ‘aqeedah (belief) and fiqh
(jurisprudence); he cannot delay that because the seeker has a need for that
for himself, and so that he can advise and guide the people around him.

With regard to
‘aqeedah, we have previously explained how to learn it gradually, in fatwa
no. 226903.

With regard to
fiqh, the best is for the seeker to begin with the madhhab that is most
widespread in his own environment, for the following reasons:

1.    

because it will
be easier for the seeker to find a shaykh who is well-versed in that madhhab,
from whom he can learn and who can guide him;

2.    

because learning
the madhhab of his fellow countrymen will help the seeker to call his fellow
countrymen to the truth, because by doing so he will be able to seek help
from the books that are available and the views of local scholars when there
is a need for that.

Based on that,
you can look for a shaykh in your local environment who is trustworthy in
terms of his knowledge and religious commitment, and start studying with
him, with the easiest text of the madhhab which will give you the view that
is regarded by the scholars of that madhhab as more correct. The shaykh will
be able to tell you of the evidence for every issue, without too much
elaboration, and will help you to avoid a lot of the scholarly opinions that
will not help you at the beginning of your quest for knowledge.

The second step:

As you memorise
and study the first source of the law of Allah, may He be exalted, which is
the Holy Qur’an, you can also begin to study the second source, which is the
prophetic Sunnah beginning with the most important, then the next most
important.

Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

There is no book
better than the Book of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted. What I
advise my brothers to do is to focus on the Holy Qur’an, memorising it,
understanding it and acting upon it, for the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased
with them) did not go beyond ten verses until they had learned them and what
they contain of knowledge and prescribed actions; they learned knowledge and
put it into practice at the same time.

Then after that,
you should focus on the hadiths that have been soundly narrated from the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). It is well-known that
the hadiths that have been soundly narrated from the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) are very many, and the seeker of knowledge who
is at a beginner or intermediate level cannot learn all of them, but there
are some books on this topic which can be referred to, such as ‘Umdat al-Ahkaam
by ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi (may Allah have mercy on him); al-Arba‘een
an-Nawawiyyah by an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him); and other
brief books. Then after that, he can move on to somewhat longer books, such
as Buloogh al-Maraam and al-Muntaqa min Akhbaar al-Mustafa.
Then after that, he can read further in the books of hadith, such as
Saheeh al-Bukhaari and Saheeh Muslim.

End quote from
Majmoo‘ Fataawa wa Rasaa’il Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (26/375-376).

After you have
built a solid foundation in fiqh and gained an understanding of the most
important issues of ‘aqeedah, you can prepare yourself for deeper study of
the laws of Allah, learning about differences of opinion and how to
determine which view is more likely to be correct, as there are specific
tools for this task that you cannot do without, the most important of which
are ‘ilm an-nahw was-sarf (study of Arabic language and grammar), ‘ilm usool
al-fiqh (the funadamentals of fiqh) and ‘ilm al-hadith (study of hadith).

With regard to
‘ilm al-hadith, please see fatwa no. 153227, in
which there is a detailed discussion of how to seek knowledge of hadith.

With regard to
usool al-fiqh, the best is for the student to acquire knowledge thereof
gradually, according to the books of usool of the madhhab that he is
studying. So you should consult your shaykh from whom you are learning fiqh,
so that he can advise you as to how you should begin studying usool al-fiqh.

With regard to
‘ilm an-nahw wa’s-sarf, you should begin with al-Ajroomiyyah and the
commentary thereon, at-Tuhfat as-Sanniyyah by Shaykh Muhiy ad-Deen
‘Abd al-Hameed (may Allah have mercy on him).

Then Qatr
an-Nada wa Ball as-Sada by Ibn Hishaam.

Then after that,
Alfiyyat Ibn Maalik, with its commentary by Ibn ‘Aqeel (may Allah
have mercy on him).

Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

With regard to
nahw (Arabic grammar), he should start with brief books first, such as
al-Ajroomiyyah, which is a useful, blessed and brief book that is
divided into portions that the beginner can grasp, especially if Allah
enables him to find a scholar who can explain it to him. Then after that, I
advise him to memorise Alfiyyah Ibn Maalik (may Allah have mercy on
him) and understand its meanings, for it is a blessed Alfiyyah in
which there is much good.

End quote from
Majmoo ‘ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (23/376).

In addition to
these books, there are other books that discuss details of morphology (sarf)
that the author of al-Alfiyyah did not deal with. The student may
choose whatever he thinks is easy for him.

The third step:

After the seeker
has learned about the most important tools of ijtihad, he may begin the step
of deepening his knowledge of different views and ways of determining which
view is more likely to be correct, whether that is in the field of fiqh,
tafseer or hadith commentary.

It is also
essential for the student to observe the etiquette and manners of seeking
knowledge, which has been explained previously on our website, in fatwa no.
10324.

And Allah knows
best.