The Albaani Site

Some of you were asking for a clarification on the point made at the end of the post on saying, ‘Sadaqallaahul-Adheem,’ at the end of reciting the Quraan where Shaikh al-Albaani said, “… will be like the addition of sending salaah on the Prophet after the call to prayer [which is also an innovation] …”  That was all that was mentioned on the topic because it was taken from a tape, the following should clarify what is meant, inshaa Allaah.

In Ad-Da’eefah, vol. 2, p. 294, Shaikh al-Albaani mentions that the following hadith, “When Bilaal would want to call the Iqaamah he would say, “Peace be upon you, O Messenger, and the Mercy and Blessings of Allaah. May Allaah have mercy on you,” is fabricated and then says:

“And it is as though this [fabricated] hadith is the basis for that widespread innovation which we saw in Aleppo, Idlib and other cities in the north, and it is the sending of prayers and salutation upon the Prophet, صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم, loudly just before the iqaamah. And it is like that other innovation of reading it out aloud after the call to prayer as the verifying scholars have clarified …

Note: when the scholars reject innovations such as these then let it not occur to anyone that they are rejecting the basis of the legitimacy of sending prayers on the Prophet, صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم! Rather they are only rejecting placing it somewhere the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم did not put it, or that it is accompanied by characteristics and forms that Allaah did not legislate on the tongue of His Prophet.

As has been authentically reported from Ibn Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him, that a man sneezed in front of him and said, “Alhamdulillaah, was-Salaatu was-Salaamu alaa Rasoolillaah sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam.”

So Ibn Umar said, “And I [too] say, ‘Alhamdulillaah, was-Salaatu was-Salaamu alaa Rasoolillaah sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam,’ but the Prophet of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم did not teach us [to say it] like this [in this situation]! Say, ‘Alhamdulillaahi rabbil-aalameen,’ or say, ‘Alaa kulli haal.’”

So look at how Ibn Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him, rejected placing [the saying of] salaah next to the saying of Alhamdulillaah after sneezing based upon the proof that the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم did not do that, along with his open declaration that he [also] does send prayers upon the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم [and he mentioned this] in order to make sure that no one would think that he was making an [outright] general rejection of sending salaah upon the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم, as some of the ignorant people do when they see those aiding the Sunnah rejecting this innovation and its like, accusing them of rejecting the sending of salaah upon the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم, may Allaah the Most High guide them to following the Sunnah.”

And in Tamaamal-Minnah, vol. 1, p. 158, Shaikh al-Albaani said, “The saying of the author, ‘Saying the salaah and salaam on the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم out aloud … is a newly-invented, hated affair …’ I [i.e., Shaikh al-Albaani] say: what is understood from this is that saying it quietly is the Sunnah.

And if it said: ‘Where is the proof for that?’

The reply is: it is his صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم saying, ‘When you hear the mu’adhin, then say the same as he says and then send prayers upon me …’ … so the people being addressed here are those who are listening to the adhaan and who have been ordered to respond to the mu’adhin [by saying what he says] and the mu’adhin himself is not included in this.

For if it is argued that he is included, then it would be binding to say that he himself should also respond to himself and no one has said this and such a thing is an innovation in the religion.

Then if it is said: is the mu’adhin prohibited from saying salaah upon the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم quietly?

I [i.e., Shaikh al-Albaani] say: he is not prohibited to do so totally but he is prohibited from sticking to it after the call to prayer for fear of increasing upon the call to prayer and for fear of adding to it that which is not from it, and [for fear of] making equal those whom the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم addressed in the text, i.e., those listening [to the call to prayer], and those who have not been addressed in the text, i.e., the mu’adhin …”

ِAnd in Fadlus-Salaati Alan-Nabiyy on pages 49-50 when explaining this hadith, “When you hear the mu’adhin then say the same as he says, then send salaat upon me, for whoever sends salaat upon me, Allaah will send salaat upon him tenfold.  Then ask Allaah to grant me Al-Waseelah, for it is a station in Paradise which only one of the slaves of Allaah will attain, and I hope to be the one. Whoever asks for al-Waseelah for me, (my) intercession will be permissible for him,” Bukhaari and Muslim (Eng. trans. vol., 1, p. 488, no. 849.) Shaikh al-Albaani said:

“I say: and in this hadith are three Sunnahs that most of the people have neglected: responding to the mu’adhin [i.e., saying what he say], sending salaah upon the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم after finishing saying what he says and then asking for the waseelah for the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم.

And from the strange things is that you will see that some of those who neglect these Sunnahs are the most bigoted of people in sticking to the innovation of the mu’adhin calling the salaah upon the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم out loudly after the adhaan.  Even though it is unanimously regarded as an innovation.  So if they are doing that out of love for the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم why couldn’t they follow him in this Sunnah, and leave that innovation?  We ask Allaah for guidance.”

Transl. note: So what is being referred to is the Mu’adhin himself saying it out loud and making it part of the adhaan or iqaamah, as is done in places in India, where the mu’adhin will send salaah on the Prophet صلى الله تعالى عليه وآله وسلم and then start the iqaamah straight away such that it basically becomes part of the iqaamah, or in Pakistan where it is read before the adhaan and even after on the speakers.

What is not meant is that the person who hears the adhaan can’t say it since such an individual has been told to say it in the hadith Shaikh al-Albaani mentioned above, ‘When you hear the mu’adhin, then say the same as he says and then send prayers upon me …’