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السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Many of us pick up a book and read it the same way every time—slow, careful, page by page. But classical scholars didn’t treat every book the same. They had different modes of reading, just like a traveler moves through a city at different speeds depending on what he wants to see.

Here are the five types of reading every Muslim—especially students of knowledge—should know:

1. Analytical Reading (القراءة التحليلية)

This is slow, careful reading.
You walk through the city one street at a time.
You pause. You take notes. You revisit pages.

Use this for:

Foundational books of a science
Few, but life-changing texts
Books that build your understanding and worldview

This mode shapes who you become.

2. Survey Reading (القراءة الجردية)

Here, you don’t stop for every difficulty.
You’re walking steadily through the main streets, trying to see the whole city.

Use this to:

Cover many Islamic books across multiple fields
Build broad literacy
Understand what exists before deciding what to master

Most Muslims skip this step—but it’s essential.

3. “Snapshot” Reading (القراءة التصويرية)

This is fast reading with focus.
You skim to capture the structure, the major themes, the author’s intent.

It helps you learn:

The core ideas of a book
The style of the author
Whether this book deserves deeper time later

Think of it as taking a quick aerial photo of the city.

4. Exploratory Reading (القراءة الاستكشافية)

This is the fastest mode—flipping pages like someone jogging through the city.

Why do it?

To decide which type of reading the book deserves
To know whether to buy the book
To understand the general field it belongs to

This is the “first glance.” Every serious reader needs it.

5. Selective Reading (القراءة الانتقائية)

You’re not touring the whole city—you’re visiting one building.

Examples:

There’s a lunar eclipse—so you check only the chapter on its rulings
You need a fatwa on zakāh—so you read only that section
You’re preparing a class—so you focus on only one topic

This is how scholars used massive books without reading every page.

A Final Thought

The more you want to understand a book, the slower you walk through it.
The more you want to explore the landscape of knowledge, the faster you move.

If you choose the right reading mode for the right book, you’ll:

Read more
Understand better
Waste less time
Grow faster as a student of knowledge

Taken from “Maʿārij al-ʿUlūm,” p. 97

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في امان الله.