How can he strike a balance between his studies, his work and his pursuit of Islamic knowledge?

The noble virtue of knowledge and of the scholars is firmly
established in people’s minds and hearts, and the greatest and noblest of
knowledge is knowledge of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and of His
religion and what He has prescribed for His slaves. 

Allah, may He be exalted, 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 Allah’s Signs and Verses)”

[az-Zumar 39:9]. 

There is sufficient pride for the seeker of knowledge in the
hadith of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): “Whoever
follows a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make a path to Paradise easy
for him.” Narrated by Muslim (2699) from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah. 

There are many verses and hadiths that speak of the virtue of
knowledge. 

You – in sha Allah – have high ambitions and aspirations, and
we would like to highlight several points to you: 

(a)How can you combine the
pursuit of Islamic knowledge with your studies in college?

1.
This can be done by organising your time and giving each
matter its due share of attention. If college takes up one third of your
time, then give two or three hours to seeking knowledge, and allocate the
rest of the time for your work.

2.
Find a branch of Islamic knowledge that matches the type
of knowledge you are studying at university. You are studying business, but
this business needs knowledge of many Islamic rulings having to do with
transactions and buying and selling. This will help you to combine the two
matters, or to contribute to the development of the Islamic economy or
Islamic banking. This is an important area in which you can serve Islam.

3.
You can attain divine help and blessing by asking Allah
for that. How many people there are who have free time but they cannot find
time to seek Islamic knowledge, because they are deprived of divine help.
And how many busy people there are, who are burdened with worldly concerns
and seeking halaal provision, but they find surplus time by the blessing of
Allah. Among the things that bring them divine help and blessings is keeping
away from sin and doing a lot of acts of worship and obedience.

4.
Combining the two matters may mean delaying the pursuit
of Islamic knowledge until you finish studying in the college, if college
and work are taking up all your time and effort. In most cases studies
finish within a certain timeframe, whereas the pursuit of Islamic knowledge
is something that may last from the cradle to the grave. However, we would
like to point out: even if you cannot attain it all, do not give it up
altogether. Rather try your best, do what you are able, and fear Allah as
much as you can. If you do not have many hours to seek knowledge, then at
least give it one hour. If you do not have an hour, then give it part of an
hour. It is possible to make use of much of your time at work, by listening
to Islamic lectures whilst you are working; even if you cannot focus
sufficiently on them, you will still benefit to some extent, and you can
listen to them time after time until you understand them. You can also
listen to what you have memorised of Qur’an and hadith, and so on. We are
sure that you can make use of much of your time at work, without that
adversely affecting what you are doing.

(b)Do not give up college
for the sake of seeking Islamic knowledge,
because you may be able to focus on the compulsory study that you are doing
at college, but you may lose energy when it comes to voluntary study, which
is seeking Islamic knowledge. Therefore we fear that you may lose momentum
and regret giving up college. Moreover, your studies at the college are a
means of earning provision, and you know how great is the need nowadays for
work so that you can spend on yourself. If wealth is available to you in the
near future – by Allah’s leave – you will find yourself able to pursue
Islamic knowledge. 

(c)How can you seek
knowledge, and what are the appropriate books for you, when you are short of
time?

1.
The pursuit of knowledge is based on sincerity and acting
upon what one learns. So you should bear this in mind so that Allah might
decree divine help and support for you.

2.
You should try to receive knowledge from scholars or
seekers of knowledge who are strong in their knowledge, if you can, because
the people of knowledge will save you time and effort, and will guide you if
you drift away from the right path. The Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: “The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets.”
Narrated by Abu Dawood and at-Tirmidhi; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in
Saheeh at-Targheeb (1/17)

3.
Strive hard and try your best, for this kind of knowledge
is heavy and it will not allow you to take some of it until you give it your
all. You should make sure that you have a proper understanding of what you
read and memorise what you learn of short textbooks that you may find.

4.
Keep company with seekers of knowledge and those who are
eager to attain knowledge, for this companionship will help you to revise
and study, and will help you to aspire to more.

(d)What are the books that
the seeker of knowledge should study?

As we have stated previously, it is good to sit with a shaykh
who can direct you to the books that are appropriate for you. However we
will mention here some books that are important for the seeker of
knowledge. 

1.
The best of knowledge is knowledge of Tawheed (Oneness of
Allah) and ‘aqeedah (belief)

Concerning Tawheed: al-Usool ath-Thalaathah, then
Kashf ash-Shubuhaat, then Kitaab at-Tawheed – all by Imam
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab. 

Concerning other aspects of ‘aqeedah: al-‘Aqeedah al-Waasitiyyah,
then at-Tahhaawiyyah, and the books of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah
and his student Ibn al-Qayyim, for they are filled with these two branches
of knowledge: ‘aqeedah and Tawheed. 

2.
Another aspect of knowledge that the seeker of Islamic
knowledge cannot do without is Arabic language, and the fields of nahw
(grammar), sarf (morphology) and balaaghah (rhetoric)

Concerning nahw: Matn al-Ajroomiyyah and the
commentary thereon, at-Tuhfah as-Saniyyah; then Qatr an-Nada
by Ibn Hishaam, then al-Alfiyyah by Ibn Maalik and Ibn ‘Aqeel’s
commentary thereon. 

Concerning sarf: Matn al-Bina’ by Imam
az-Zanjaani; Laamiyyah al-Af‘aal by Ibn Maalik; Shadha al-‘Urf fi
Fann al-Sarf. This is a field of knowledge that it is essential to
learn. 

Concerning balaaghah: Duroos al-Balaaghah al-‘Arabiyyah,
which was written by a group of Egyptian scholars, and a commentary on it
was written by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen; al-Balaaghah al-Waadihah
by ‘Ali al-Jaarim and Mustafa Ameen. 

3.
With regard to fiqh, it is good to follow one of the
madhhabs of fiqh, which may then be a starting-point to learn the other
madhhabs.

The Hanbalis have the book Akhsar al-Mukhtasaraat by
Imam Muhammad ibn Badr ad-Deen ibn Balbaan; then ‘Umdat al-Fiqh by
Ibn Qudaamah, on which there are many commentaries; then Zaad al-Mustaqni‘
and its commentary ar-Rawd al-Murbi‘; then you can move on to al-Mughni
fi’l-Fiqh by Ibn Qudaamah. 

Or if you want to study the books of the Shaafa‘is, you can
start with Matn Abi Shujaa‘ and its commentary by Ibn al-Qaasim al-Ghazzi;
then ‘Umdat as-Saalik wa ‘Uddat an-Naasik, or al-Fiqh al-Manhaji,
written by a group of Syrian scholars; then Minhaaj at-Taalibeen by
Imam an-Nawawi; then the commentaries thereon, whilst noting that the issues
of ‘aqeedah in them differ from the ‘aqeedah of the salaf; then al-Majmoo‘
by an-Nawawi, with the same proviso. 

4.
In the field of hadith:

Al-Arba‘een an-Nawawiyyah
[an-Nawawi’s Forty Hadith] and its many commentaries, and ‘Umdat al-Ahkaam
– to be memorised and understood. Then Buloogh al-Maraam, then
Saheeh al-Imam Muslim and its commentary by an-Nawawi; then Saheeh
al-Bukhaari with its commentary Fath al-Baari by Imam al-Haafiz
Ibn Hajar. 

5.
In the field of mustalah al-hadith (hadith science):

Matn al-Bayqooniyyah
or Tayseer Mustalah al-Hadith; then Nukhbat al-Fikar and its
commentary by Imam Ibn Hajar; then Muqaddimat Ibn as-Salaah. After
that you will have knowledge of which book to
choose.                                                                                                           

6.
In the field of tafseer (Qur’anic exegesis):

The tafseer of Imam as-Sa‘di, Tayseer al-Kareem al-Rahmaan
fi Tafseer Kalaam al-Mannaan; then Mukhtasar Tafseer Ibn Katheer
by Shaykh Nusayb ar-Rifaa‘i; then Tafseer Ibn Katheer itself; then
Tafseer at-Tabari. And you cannot do without other tafseers that discuss
balaaghah and language. 

It is also essential to read books of literature such as
al-‘Iqd al-Fareed by Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi, al-Bayaan wa’t-Tabyeen by
al-Haafiz, and so on. 

7.
In the field of history:

Tareekh al-Khulafa’ ar-Raashideen
by as-Suyooti, al-Bidaayah wa’n-Nihaayah by Ibn Katheer, and
Tareekh al-Islam by Mahmoud Shaakir. 

This syllabus is just a rough outline, and is not compulsory.
Books other than those mentioned here may be more appropriate for you, but
you must pay attention to taking a gradual approach in seeking knowledge. 

(e)
How can you reconcile between having little time and
seeking knowledge?

If your work takes up twelve hours and you add to that
efforts to seek knowledge, this may be too physically exhausting, so we
advise you to be kind to yourself and seek knowledge little by little. As we
mentioned above, try to invest whatever time you can at work into listening
or reciting your regular portion of Qur’an, and the like, in such a way that
this will not adversely affect the work that you are doing and that has been
entrusted to you. 

For more information and details on what has been mentioned
above in general terms, please see the answers to questions no.
161081, 20191,
160836, 153227 and
138389. 

And Allah is the source of strength.