Obstacles in the Path of Seeking Knowledge – Shaykh Rabi
al-Madkhali
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON : 30 Nov 2017
SOURCE: Madkhalī, Rabī' bin Hādī, 'Awāiq fi Talab al-Ilm,
Adwā as-Salaf, Egypt, Cairo, 2012 - pp. 34-37
Shaykh Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī:
From [obstacles in
the path of seeking knowledge] is hastiness and seeking knowledge in an
unorganised manner. [Meaning] he reads from here and there, from here and there
without being firmly grounded. In the olden days, the people used to have methods that
caused them to gain knowledge in specific time frames. So they would start with
the memorisation of the Qur’ān and learning how to write. They would then learn
a very small book in Islamic jurisprudence. They would learn inheritance.
Inheritance is from the fundamentals. Thus, one would not begin seeking
knowledge except after memorising the Qur’ān and learning how to pray.
Today, many of the students of knowledge and maybe [even]
some scholars, do not bother with inheritance. And in this regard there is a
weak hadīth however the reality of today proves it to be true and that
is that the knowledge of inheritance will be the first to be lost – and Allāh’s
refuge is sought. By Allāh, we witnessed [this] in the beginning stages of
teaching. Shaykh ʿAbdullāh al-Qarʿāwī and his students would start with
inheritance and al-Usūl ath-Thalāthah.
My dear brother, abandon hastiness [and] start with the foundations and the
books and the texts that will gather for you the fundamentals which will make
easy for you and be a ladder to the larger books.
You start with al-Aqīdah al-Wāsitiyyah and it is a
comprehensive creed whilst being small in size. You memorise before everything.
Memorise it. You memorise Kitāb at-Tawhīd and you understand it. Al-Usūl
ath-Thalāthah, you memorise it and understand it. Bulūgh al-Marām or
al-‘Umdah al-Ahkām (by Abd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī) and the like of that.
And a small book in Islamic jurisprudence from any jurisprudence of the jurists
and from the best of them is Mukhtasar al-Muqniʿ (Zād al-Mustaqniʿ) … Al-‘Umdah (Al-‘Umdah al-Fiqh by ibn Qudamāh) and it has an
explanation [called] al-ʿUddah. He reads them, understands them and
comprehends them. Then he reads their explanations and what is connected to
them.
He reads the explanation of at-Tahawiyyah and the
explanation of Kitāb at-Tawhīd. It has many explanations. He reads them.
He strengthens this knowledge. [Then] new knowledge will be established upon
these foundations and increase.
And after some time
he [still] does not become hasty. After he has completed this stage, he starts
reading al-Bukhārī, Muslim and Abū Dāwūd. And he read the books about the
narrators of ḥadīth.
He reads the books of ḥadīth
terminology. [Regarding] these sciences, the one studying the Islamic
legislation is in need of them. What is important, is that he progresses step
by step.
He does not dive into knowledge like this and blunder around
randomly. Due to this, we find that many of the people do not have firm
foundations. They are not firmly grounded. They do not know the fundamentals of
knowledge. You find that in Islamic jurisprudence that he has ignorance. You
find that in ḥadīth terminology
he has ignorance. You find that in ḥadīth he has ignorance. You find in the science of narrators he
knows nothing at all, and the like of that. If he had started step by step upon
the path of the early scholars you would have found with him much good and
beneficial knowledge.
~
Source: http://dusunnah.com/article/obstacles-in-the-path-of-seeking-knowledge-shaykh-rabi-al-madkhali/
Note: Posted with kind permission
