Prologue
All praise is due to Allah the One who sent His messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, and Allah is sufficient as a witness. I testify that there is no god but Allah alone and that He has no partner. And I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, may Allah greatly bless him, his family, and his companions. And as to what follows:

Seeking knowledge is a lengthy path that is not possible to embark upon except by abandoning play and amusement and approaching it in a serious manner. This is because Allah the Exalted, the most High, described what He revealed to Muhammad (sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam), and He (Allah) is the most truthful in speech, as a weighty word. Allah the Exalted, the most High says,

" Soon shall We send down to thee a weighty word." (Al-Muzzammil: 5)

And this weighty word is the Kitâb and the sunnah. Thus, when it was said to Imam Mâlik Ibn Anas, Imam of Dar Al-Hijrah (Madinah), concerning some questions he could not answer, " These are easy questions." He replied,

“Do not say this, for regardless whether the knowledge is small or big, there exists no such thing as easy because Allah the Exalted, the most High described it as a weighty word."

This is very in-depth understanding. It is the first step towards seeking knowledge – that one realizes that all knowledge is weighty. Every field (of knowledge) requires that one approaches it wholeheartedly and with an objective mind. So whoever says that this is an easy matter and just passes by it without paying close attention, then such a person will not gain knowledge until all the branches of knowledge are of equal footing (to him/her). Whether it is the generalities (of knowledge) or the specifics, the principles or the details. A person must give equal concern to all the aspects of knowledge, whether it is obtaining it, revising it or memorizing it. Because if you leave it, it leaves you, and if you approach, it gives you some. As the famous saying states,

" Knowledge is a thing that if you give it all of yourself it gives you some of itself, and if you give some of yourself you will gain nothing of it."

Practical experience proves this. Hence, I titled this lecture: " How to Read the Books of the People of Knowledge." This is very important topic because many people have read different types of books, and a lot of them complain that they have not obtained firmly, grounded knowledge to the extent that they can feel satisfied (with themselves) for all the years that they have exerted in seeking knowledge. Perhaps some of them have attended classes of the people of knowledge, they may have even written research papers or wrote books. However, within themselves they are aware that they have not attained knowledge whereby they can clearly distinguish matters. Thus, because of this problem this lecture came about. For one must have a structured methodology when reading the books of the people of knowledge. And whoever does not thread upon a structured methodology that he can resort to, he will leave the clear path and adopt conflicting ones.

The evolution of knowledge
If one were to take a look at the books that are present in our times, one would discover that there are tens of thousands of them and in many different subjects. But is there so much knowledge as is reflected in multitudes of these books? The answer to this question was given by the rightly guided khalifah Ali Ibn Abi Talib when he said, " Knowledge is a small dot magnified by the ignorant ones." He meant that the basis of the knowledge that the companions (May Allah be pleased with them) understood was not much, i.e. just the understanding of the Kitâb and the sunnah. This knowledge was relatively little with regards to the many problems that began to appear during Ali’s time. This is because as time progresses the more people become distanced from the period of the early Muslims, the need for knowledge and books increases so that people can understand (their religion). It is because of the presence of ignorance and its people many books were written. By doing this, many of the ignorant ones were enlightened and many of those who had went astray were guided. Likewise, one finds that the books during the initial stages of Islâm were very little, then it gradually increased. The first books to be written were those of hadîth after the complete compilation of the Qur’ân . Then the books of aqîdah came when the different groups began to appear like the Khawarij and the Murji’ah. These books (of aqîdah) were found either within the works of the people of hadîth (like Al-Bukhari, Muslim, et. al) or in the form of treatise, (and things evolved like this) until each Islâmic science had many books. So therefore, if we would like to establish a standardized methodology for reading the books of the people of knowledge, then we will have to divide this (methodology) into two broad categories.

General guidelines for reading any book
I am going to mention some general guidelines that are applicable for reading any kind of book, whether it is the books of aqîdah, tafsîr, fiqh, etc. But first of all it must be known that Islâmic knowledge is divided into two main categories:

Knowledge that is sought as an end in of itself

Knowledge that is sought as a means to an end

The knowledge that is sought due to its intrinsic nature is the knowledge wherein one is able to comprehend the Book of Allah and the sunnah of his messenger (sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam). These (who posses this knowledge) are the ones who are praised in the ayah,

"Allâh will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge. " (Al-Mujâdilah: 11)

i.e. they understand the Book of Allah and the sunnah of his messenger (sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam) as it should be understood. Knowledge of the Qur’ân and the sunnah consists of At Tawhîd and matters of halal and haram. Therefore, this issue in fact goes back to two types of knowledge – At-Tawhîd which is actually aqîdah, and matters of halal and haram i.e. fiqh. These two types of knowledge are aimed at in of itself, because by (knowledge of) At-Tawhîd one achieves sincerity in his worship of Allah, and by (knowledge of) fiqh one is able to execute the commands of Allah and abstain from His prohibitions. For Allah the Exalted, the most High has made this dîn based upon information and commands, therefore believing in the information is considered aqîdah or creed, and fulfilling His command is considered action. Allah the Exalted, the most High states,

" And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice " (Al-An'âm: 115)

Truth in what He informs of, and justice in His commands and prohibitions. Thus, the knowledge of At-Tawhîd and fiqh is sought for its innate nature. The other branches of knowledge such as Arabic grammar, principles of fiqh, the science of hadîth, sîrah, etc. are all sought as a means to an end and not as end in of itself. Because when a person these books, he reads them in order to arrive at the knowledge of aqîdah and the knowledge of fiqh.