Seeking Sacred Knowledge...

I would like to ask this quesition, if a student has intended to seek sacred knowledge, what traditional text should he start to study first...I know that first thing we should start off is with akidah, what traditional texts are availble on this subject, what would you move on to next? eg. nur ul idah? akidah tahawiah?

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Knowledge is only through study (ta`allum)."

As Shaykh Akram Abd al-Wahhab, one of the leading scholars of Iraq (presently in Amman, Jordan) explains, this means that:

(a) beneficial knowledge requires a qualified teacher;

(b) beneficial knowledge requires making oneself a student under this teacher;

(c) observing the proper manners entailed by the teacher-student relationship;

(d) observing the proper manners, and maintaining the proper intention--seeking the pleasure of Allah and the means of drawing closer to Him--in one's seeking of knowledge.

Thus, it is best for you to find a teacher or a systematic program of learning that you pursue in order to gain knowledge and for this knowledge to be of benefit to you in this life and the next.

You may want to consider the programs offered by the SunniPath Academy.

And Allah alone gives success.

Faraz Rabbani