{نَحۡنُ قَسَمۡنَا بَیۡنَهُم مَّعِیشَتَهُمۡ فِی ٱلۡحَیَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡیَاۚ وَرَفَعۡنَا بَعۡضَهُمۡ فَوۡقَ بَعۡضࣲ دَرَجَـٰتࣲ لِّیَتَّخِذَ بَعۡضُهُم بَعۡضࣰا سُخۡرِیࣰّا

“We ˹alone˺ have distributed their ˹very˺ livelihood among them in this worldly life and raised some of them in rank above others so that some may employ others in service.” [Surah Az-Zukhruf: 32] You said: اعقل فتوكل Which means, do the best you can, then leave the rest to God.” I say: It's better to translate/explain it as, “tie your horse and place your reliance in Allah” or “Take the necessary means and place your reliance in Allah” I say this because your explanation is ambiguous, see link: ⤵️ https://t.me/AbuHaatimEn/1089 You said: “One cannot simply not do what's important to achieve success and then say "oh, this is my qadr.” I say: This is true - generally speaking! But if we put it into context, you're making it seem like there's no other route to achieving success except through reading such books. Furthermore, let's remember there are two types of means (asbaab), see link ⤵️ https://t.me/madrasatuna/1814 So which type of sabab does reading books contradictory to the correct 'Aqeedah fall under? You said: “Read the book (as long as it doesn't affect your faith)” I say: Sheikh Muhammad said the same thing, but you described his statement as being "very stupid". Even though the Sheikh was merely emphasising the fact that preserving your Deen is the ultimate success. Islam is the ra'sul maal (capital) that you must strive to protect. He was telling us not to jeopardise our capital by seeking a small gain which is not even guaranteed. This is far from stupid! I offer you two final pieces of advice: 1. Seek Tawbah for your insult & 2. Learn your Deen from correct sources