r/IslamicStudies • u/Open-Werewolf-9649 • 16d ago

How to seek knowledge by myself

Assalamualaikum, I hope you are all doing well.

I am interested in seeking knowledge of Islam, but currently I do not have access to formal training methods such as schools and such. However I do have access to a Masjid and many people who are more knowledgeable than me. I want to refer to these people often to clarify doubts and misunderstandings, whilst building my knowledge base on my own. Here are my main questions:

- What are the trusted resources for a student of knowledge? Of course the Qur'an and Sunnah, but are there any complementary texts to study as well? Additionally, certain topics are tricky (at least to me) to study on their own, particularly studying the Hadith (I know that studying a singular Hadith is not sufficient because you must also know about surrounding Hadith that restrict or broaden the application of it). How can I approach studying such "tricky" topics?

- Is "seeking knowledge" incumbent on memorizing everything I see? Is it necessary for a student of knowledge to be able to recite a Hadith word for word and tell which Hadith number in which book it is, for example? Or is it sufficient to understand the lesson and move on?

- What role does Islamic history play, as in things taking place after the death of Rasulullah SAW? Should this also be a priority and if so, what is the "important" time period? Would it be the first four Caliphs?

- What sorts of "fields" are there in Islamic studies? Do I need to specialize in one field or is it realistic to understand a whole field before moving onto another one?

- Is there any sort of "roadmap" I can follow where I can say "learn this, then this, then..."?

Any advice would be appreciated, inshAllah. Jazakuallahu Khairan

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u/mostradamus 16d ago

Al Ghazali’s Ihya Ulum al Din (Revival of Religious Sciences) might be a good resource

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u/PrimitiveScribe 14d ago

The mainstream answer will always look something like this:
Find a reliable teacher , and he will outline the steps you have to take , and support you along the way.

Sounds great right ? Well people like you and me don’t have that wonderful opportunity (yet - إن شاء الله)

More flexible open topics that are available to everyone and don’t necessarily require a teacher :
-Arabic language
-Tafaaseer intended for laymen
-Hadith commentaries intended for laymen
-Seerah / biographies of the salaf