The Albaani Site

See here for part one.

     “Can you, O Khaalah, tell us briefly about the times the Shaikh had to relocate?”

The Shaikh emigrated from Albania with his father to Damascus when he was about ten years old. He then emigrated to Jordan in 1980 and settled in South Marca, Amman. Then he was compelled to go back to Damascus and from there to Beirut, Lebanon, in 1981. Shaikh Zuhair ash-Shaaweesh hosted him there in his house. After that he travelled to Sharjah and stayed there for two months, calling to the Salafi manhaj. After which he went to Qatar for one month, then Kuwait, staying there for ten days. Then Sharjah and from there back to Jordan where he stayed until he passed away on Saturday, 2/10/1999.

     “Being the wife of this noble scholar, did you see that his knowledge, seeking knowledge and teaching it to the people took away from his coexistence with you as the head of your household? And did this have a negative effect on his children? And my dear mother, can I ask you to single me out with some supplication for I am in dire need of it. May Allaah protect you and give you good.” Wa alaikum Salaam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu

I thank you for your warm sentiments and I want to let you know that seeking knowledge would not prevent the Shaikh from carrying out any of his family obligations.

Rather, the total opposite was true.

For he, may Allaah have mercy on him, was an exemplary head of a household, cooperating with his family.

And believe me, my son, he used to help me a great deal in the household chores such that I would feel embarrassed in front of him due to it. So much so that one time he was cleaning the patio with me, to which I said, ‘O Shaikh! Don’t disgrace me in front of the neighbours, they will say that you are doing your wife’s work.’ He replied, ‘This is not a disgrace. Don’t you know that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would be at the service of his family?’

When I would ask him for anything [I needed] for the house, for example, an extra shelf somewhere, he would assess the situation and think about it and if he found that it was appropriate he would go ahead with it and do it with his own hands. And if he needed to go and buy something for it, he would do so in his car and then come back and do what I had requested of him.

One of his hobbies was to go on trips, may Allaah have mercy on him, like Syrians do, the [picnic] basket was always in the car. We would go together in spring, summer, even winter, looking at the snow and [the] wintertime [landscape]. He would complement me by drinking tea and coffee, even though it was not his habit to drink either of them.

But he would never leave his books on any outing we would go on. Books were his companions wherever he went.

In fact, there were many times when I would wake up and would not see him on the bed. So I would look for him and find him in his study, having turned on the lamp, engrossed in his books. I’d be surprised and he would say, ‘These are my beloved!’ May Allaah have mercy on him.

May Allaah grant you succees, remove your distress and calamity and make you from those happy in this world and the Hereafter. Aameen.

See here for part three.