The Albaani Site

“My son, Shaikh Muhammad Zahraan ibn ’Abdullaah ’Aloosh told me that one of his friends, a youth, told him that Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani wanted to cause fitnah in the Al-Daqqaaq Jaami’ Mosque and that Shaikh ’Abdul-’Aziz al-Rifaa’i was able to stop him in his tracks, according to what this youth’s grandfather said. My son asked me about this incident, so I told him that:

‘I was there when it happened in 1956. We were in a lesson of our Shaikh and Muhaddith, al-Albaani, in Shaikh ’Abdur-Rahmaan al-Baani’s house [not al-Albaani, i.e., Shaikh Al-Albaani was giving a lecture in the house of another Shaikh called ’Abdur-Rahmaan al-Baani] in al-Midan. When he finished from his first dars, we left with the Shaikh to perform ’ishaa prayer in Jaami’ al-Daqqaaq, so the ’iqaamah for the prayer was given.

The Imaam was [a person called] Shaikh ’Abdul-’Aziz al-Rifaa’i, when he turned around to the worshippers to ask them to straighten their rows he caught a glimpse of our Shaikh al-Albaani standing in the first row to the right, about ten metres from him.

So Shaitaan overtook Shaikh al-Rifa’i and made him forget the remembrance of Allah, and he forgot the du’aa that was usually said before the prayer … and he shook as though the Devil had thrown a bucket of hot water on him, or like a thousand watt electrical current had struck him, so he started shouting angrily, ‘Get out! Get out! Get out!’ addressing these hard words at our Shaikh al-Albaani, expelling him from the mosque!

But our Shaikh replied to him with complete calm, saying, ‘I am in the House of Allaah, the Most High—I’m not in your house, and when I enter your house, throw me out [then]!’

So Shaikh al-Rifa’i’s rage and anger increased even more, and he shouted out [quoting the hadith], ‘My ummah will split into seventy-three sects, all of them in the Fire—’ and he pointed with his hand at al-Albaani!

Some of the worshippers tried to calm the Shaikh [i.e., the Imaam] and others said, ‘Yaa Jamaa’ah, pray now and delay your fighting for after the prayer!’ So the Imaam prayed and we prayed behind him and it was a prayer like that of the one who performed his prayer badly!

After he gave salaam, the Imaam immediately turned and began shouting and screaming again and saying things. So we calmly left the mosque and left Shaikh Rifa’i to quench his desire.

A number of young guys met us, or Shaikh Rifa’i sent them to us, who wanted to fight us. We were about twenty youth in number and had circled our Shaikh al-Albaani, but then some of the noble people from that area who had intellect got involved and prevented the youth from al-Rifa’i’s group with wisdom and calming words, and it was over.

So who created that fitnah and stoked the fire? It was Shaikh ’Abdul-’Aziz al-Rifaa’i, may Allaah forgive us and him.’”

Source.