Memorize the Qur'aan

al-Nawawi said:

The first thing that one must begin with is memorizing the Qur'aan.

It is the most important of all branches of knowledge.

The Salaf would not teach hadiith and fiqh except to the one who had memorized the Qur'aan.

Once you have memorized the Qur'aan then you must be careful from letting yourself being preoccupied with hadiith, fiqh, and other things to the extent that it leads you to forget anything from the Qur'aan.

al-Majmuu
Volume 1 Page 38