Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
1. Introduction
Friends beloved by Allah, have you ever attended a high-level study circle or tried to read a deep tafsir, only to feel dizzy, confused halfway through, and eventually give up? Then a subtle whisper comes to your heart: “This religious knowledge is too complicated. I’m just going to quit.” This internal barrier is often not because we lack intelligence, but because we lack foundational understanding or haven’t mastered the prerequisite material. We want to jump straight to the roof of the house, while the foundation and the stairs haven’t been built yet. From the perspective of educational methodology, knowledge is cumulative and gradual. A person cannot understand complex sentences before mastering basic vocabulary. Spiritually, Islam teaches the concept of _Rabbānī_—educating and learning in stages, starting with the most fundamental matters before moving on to greater ones.
Allah SWT says in the Qur’an about the character of the ideal educator and seeker of knowledge:
مَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُؤْتِيَهُ اللَّهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحُكْمَ وَالنُّبُوَّةَ ثُمَّ يَقُولَ لِلنَّاسِ كُونُوا عِبَادًا لِّي مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ وَلَٰكِن كُونُوا رَبَّانِيِّينَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تُعَلِّمُونَ الْكِتَابَ وَبِمَا كُنتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ
“It is not for a human that Allah should give him the Scripture and authority and prophethood, and then he would say to the people, ‘Be servants to me rather than Allah.’ But [he would say], ‘Be Rabbāniyyūn, because you have been teaching the Scripture and because you have been studying it . (QS. Āli ‘Imrān: 79)
The scholars, such as Imām Al-Bukhārī, explained that a Rabbānī is one who educates people or learns by beginning with the smaller, foundational sciences before the greater ones.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also reminded us to speak and learn according to the level of basic understanding people have, so as not to cause misunderstanding:
حَدِّثُوا النَّاسَ، بِمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَتُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يُكَذَّبَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
“Speak to people according to what they can understand. Do you want Allah and His Messenger to be denied?” (HR. Al-Bukhārī)
2. Lessons and Message
It’s never too late to step back down and review the basics. Lowering your ego and pride to relearn “alif, bā, tā,” or to memorize basic rules, is far nobler before Allah than forcing yourself to appear advanced at the top level while being fragile at the foundation.
Imagine the story of a middle-aged man who received guidance late in life. With great enthusiasm, he immediately bought thick, complex books of fiqh law. He read them day and night without a teacher, without understanding the basic rules of purification (ṭahārah) and the pillars of prayer. One day, he confidently gave a fatwa and criticized the way others prayed in the mosque. When a ustādh gently corrected him that his understanding was wrong because he had skipped the basics, the man broke down in tears in the corner of the mosque. He lamented his situation, feeling ashamed, and said, “I thought I understood, but it turns out I was lost within my own reading.” How sad it is when burning enthusiasm ends in error simply because one is unwilling to take the first step. Studying advanced knowledge without mastering the prerequisites is like insisting on making a special egg martabak when you don’t even know how to crack an egg or turn on the gas stove! Before you even start, the martabak skin is burnt, the stove explodes, the gas leaks, and the egg rolls into the gutter. When the result is a mess, you blame the recipe: “Ah, this martabak recipe is flawed and so difficult!” But who’s actually at fault? You are! Why act like you’re making restaurant-grade martabak when your hands still tremble just turning on the stove? So don’t be ashamed to learn how to crack an egg first. Don’t be ashamed to learn naḥw and ṣarf from the beginner level, don’t be ashamed to learn tajwīd from the basics, before you jump to reading the books of the great scholars.
3. Conclusion and Closing
Brothers and sisters, the cure for the barrier of lacking basic ability is only one thing: be patient and take it step by step. Knowledge cannot be snatched all at once. Whoever tries to take knowledge all at once instantly, will also lose it all at once. Let us reassess our learning process. If you’re confused at a higher level, step back down one level with humility. Strengthen the foundation, master the prerequisites, because a building of knowledge erected on a strong foundation will never collapse, no matter what storm of trials comes
والله أعلم بالصواب
الحمد لله رب العالمين
Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmaullahi Wabarakatuh.
ِAbu Sultan Al-Qadrie
