Devotion to the Qur’aan and Sunnah

Devotion to the Qur’aan and Sunnah
Written by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen
Taken from: Kitaab-ul-’Ilm, Pgs. 44-46

Translated by Kareem Storer, Riyadh



It is compulsory for the student of knowledge to completely devote himself to gaining knowledge and taking it from its sources, and there can be no success for the student who does not start from those sources. The sources are:



1 - The Noble Qur’aan: Be in no doubt that it is compulsory for the student of knowledge to have a great desire for the Qur’aan, for its recital, memorisation, understanding its meanings and acting upon them. Certainly the Qur’aan is Allaah’s firm rope, and it is the base for all the religious sciences. The Salaf certainly strived for the Qur’aan, and there are some astounding accounts of the result of their desire and striving. You will find amongst them those who had memorized the Qur’aan by the age of seven, and some who memorised the entire Qur’aan in less than six months: these are proof of the strength of the desire that the Salaf had for the Qur’aan and how hard they strived for it (may Allaah be pleased with them). It is compulsory, therefore, for the student of knowledge to feel a great desire for the Qur’aan and to memories it under the supervision of a qualified scholar, because the Qur’aan can only be learned by taking it directly from a scholar.



It is very unfortunate that you find some students of knowledge not memorising the Qur’aan, and some of them cannot even read it properly! There is thus a great gap in a student’s Manhaj. For this reason, I repeatedly stress that it is compulsory for the student of knowledge to strive hard in his memorising of the Qur’aan, and to act upon it, and to call people to it, and that his understanding of it is in conformity with an understanding of the righteous predecessors (as-Salaf as-Saalih).



2 - The Authentic Sunnah: This is the second source for the Islamic Sharee’ah which clarifies the meaning of the Noble Qur’aan. It is, therefore, obligatory for the student of knowledge to study both of these sources together and to strive to understand them in relation to each other. It is incumbent upon the student of knowledge to protect the Sunnah, either by memorizing the texts of hadeeth, or by studying the chains of narrators and the related texts so that he can distinguish between the authentic and weak narration. By so doing, he can protect the Sunnah by defending it against the attacks of the people of innovation, and by refuting the doubts and confusion that they bring concerning the Sunnah.



It is, therefore, obligatory for the student of knowledge to commit himself to the Qur’aan and the authentic Sunnah, for both, are to him, like two wings to a bird - if one is broken, the bird will not fly.



For that reason, avoid paying attention to the Sunnah at the expense of the Qur’aan, or concentrating on the Qur’aan at the expense of the Sunnah. Many of the students of knowledge concentrate solely on the Sunnah, its commentaries, its people and legislation, whereas, if you were to ask him about a verse of the Qur’aan, you would find him ignorant of it! This is a major mistake! Therefore, O’ Student of Knowledge: you must make the Qur’aan and Sunnah two wings for you.



Also there is a third source of great importance – namely, the speech of the scholars. Do not be heedless or ignorant of the speech of the scholars, because such scholars are far better grounded in knowledge than you. They understand the rules and principles of the Sharee’ah, with all their subtitles and conditions that you do not. And the scholars are the clearest of authenticators when it comes to putting forward positions that they find to be the most correct. They say: “If someone before has said it (then my position is put forward) and if not, then we do not say it (take that position). An example is Shaykh-ul-Islaam ibn Taymiyyah who, inspire of his great knowledge and understanding, would say: “I say this (fatwa) on the condition that it has been said before me” and he would not just give his judgement based solely on his opinion.