Seeking the Truth in Islamic Knowledge
24-3-2001 | IslamWeb
Question:
I want to be like the companions of the Prophet and the Salaf in following the Prophet's teachings. However, in our country it is difficult to do so our Ulama' and scholars confuse me about whether teaching the truth about Islam. By their answers to some questions regarding the government or a sensitive issue, they seem fearful of stating the whole truth. I need your guidance to be a Muslim according to Qur'an and Sunnah.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Everyone who wants to be a real Muslim has to follow the way of the Prophet and the way of his companions 
. For doing so, we advise one to follow the following instructions.
1. One should become engaged in gaining Islamic knowledge as much as possible. Knowledge helps him to correct his beliefs, manners of worship, behavior, etc. He should learn the knowledge of Islamic Sharee’ah from authentic Muslim scholars who are known in Muslim Ummah for their deep knowledge and for their utmost fear of Allah. He should also choose and rely on authentic Islamic books to gain knowledge. A little authentic knowledge is much better than any amount which lacks authenticity.
2. One should perform obligatory and supererogatory acts of worship as much as possible and avoid all kinds of prohibitions and disliked activities.
3. One should have pious and religious companions who engage in good activities such as making Da’wah and seeking Islamic knowledge. One must avoid those who waste their time in matters such as making gossip, backbiting, defaming Muslim scholars or making jokes of them. He should also keep himself away from those who neglect the worship of Allah and degrade the Sunnah.
4. One should read the biography of the Prophet his companions and other pious predecessors, and try to follow them and adopt their manner of life. Allah Says (what means): {There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.} [Quran 33:21]
5. One should try to adopt the belief of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah and concentrate on purifying himself from all kinds of bad beliefs, morals and behavior.
Finally, we advise you and every Muslim to take what is sound and correct from the scholars in your country and search for those things which they have neglected by using other means of knowledge such as books, Internet, etc. Avoid wasting your time abusing or degrading them. This will lessen the purity of your intention. The scholars may have sound excuses that you may not know. Anyway, seeking the truth is a goal for the Muslim that he should accept and pursue regardless where it leads.
You may benefit from frequent visits to our site. Read the Fataawa and other Islamic material to help you gain more knowledge.
Allah knows best.