Chapter on Voluntary Prayer

Shaykh al-Islām was asked:

Which is better: learning the Quran or seeking knowledge?

He replied:

Knowledge that is individually obligatory—such as knowing what Allah has commanded and what He has forbidden—takes precedence over memorizing portions of the Quran that one is not obliged to memorize. Acquiring the former is obligatory, whereas pursuing the latter is recommended, and what is obligatory takes precedence over what is recommended.

As for memorizing the Quran, it takes precedence over much of what people call knowledge, which is either false or of little benefit. It should also come first in the education of someone wishing to study religious knowledge, both its fundamentals and its branches. The prescribed course for such a person in these times is to begin by memorizing the Quran, for it is the foundation of the religious sciences. This is contrary to the practice of many adherents of religious innovation, non-Arabs and others, who occupy themselves with superfluous branches of learning, such as speculative theology or disputation