Al-Albaani’s Humility
“I am only, as I always and forever say, a student of knowledge.”
Al-Albaani
The Albaani Site
Translation from the Works of the Reviver of this Century
Category: The Shaikh’s Biography
October 23, 2011
When he was operated on …
Dr. Abdul-Aziz as-Sadhaan said, ‘Shaikh Esaam Haadi said, ‘When our Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, was admitted to hospital I visited him and asked how he was.
He praised Allaah and then said, ‘So far they have performed more than one endoscopic procedure on me but the cause of the illness is still not clear. And these operations hurt me a great deal. But I seek aid in overcoming them by remembering Allaah and thinking of what happened to our brothers in the way of Allaah, so I say, ‘What have we been through in comparison to what they went through?’
Then he cried, may Allaah have mercy on him.’’
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, p. 90.
October 10, 2011
He Cut off his Lesson to Receive Shaikh Ibn Baaz
Dr. Abdul-Aziz as-Sadhaan said, ‘And an old person in Madinah told me that one time Shaikh Naasir al-Albaani was in a religious gathering with the students around him. At the beginning of the lesson one of the people present whispered something in his ear.
So the Shaikh excused himself from continuing the lesson and explained that Shaikh Ibn Baaz was about to arrive in Medinah and that he was going to give salaam to him or that he would receive him at the airport, and that was when Shaikh Ibn Baaz was at Medinah University.
But what I am not certain of is whether this occurred when Shaikh Naasir was a teacher at the university or when he was visiting Medinah and his presence there happened to coincide with the return of Shaikh Ibn Baaz from one of his journeys.’
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, p. 257.
September 16, 2011
Jump the Queue
Long ago when repairing watches at his shop, the Shaikh would give each customer a receipt for when to collect his watch. One of the customers was not happy with the time he was given and asked to be placed ahead of others [who were also waiting].
So the Shaikh said, ‘I’m a Muslim.’
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, p. 96.
September 14, 2011
“Separately! Separately!” Al-Albaani’s Dream
Translated by Ahmed Abu Turaab
Al-Albaani said, “There was a problem with my eye so the doctor asked me to rest and stop reading and writing for some time. I said [to myself]: so that time is not wasted, I’ll give one of our brothers a small manuscript to copy out for me, such that by the time he finishes, I would have taken sufficient rest.
The brother started to copy out the manuscript and I would look through what he had copied, consoling myself by saying that such reading would not [adversely] affect [my eye] or overstrain it.
[While doing so] I came across a word [in the copy] which I didn’t understand and which I could not read. I went back to the manuscript [the copy was taken from] and found that the brother had copied the word [correctly] just as it appeared in the manuscript, he was a [skilled] scribe.
I started to look over it and ponder, hoping that I’d discover the correct way of reading it. I didn’t [however] and became preoccupied with it.
When the evening came and I slept, I awoke from a dream and I started saying, “Separately, separately! Separately, separately!”
I had no idea what this dream meant? So I said [to myself], ‘O Naasir, write down what happened,’ so that I wouldn’t forget the dream and in the morning I could take a look at it.
So indeed in the morning I started to think and said: maybe it has a connection to the [difficult] word [that I am trying to read in the manuscript].
I brought the manuscript and started to look at the [difficult] word and [at the same time] started to repeat the word [that I said when I woke up from the dream, i.e., ‘Separately!’]–until I came upon the solution to the problem.
The word found in the manuscript was [in fact] two words joined together by the scribe, so I separated them and was able to read it.
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, p. 58.
September 14, 2011
His time …
He said, “Sometimes a hadith will take up hours of my time, sometimes days–and sometimes I will remain on a single hadith for a whole week.”
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, p. 57.
September 11, 2011
Ibn Uthaimeen Angry and Annoyed in Defense of al-Albaani
Dr. Abdul-Aziz as-Sadhaan said, “Shaikh Abu Muhammad Abdullaah Rashid al-Anazi wrote to me saying, ‘Someone I trust told me that he had heard some of those who are falsely counted among the people of knowledge saying that, ‘Shaikh al-Albaani has grown old and has started to become confused/mixed up in some issues related to creed!’
So I made up my mind to travel to the person who made this statement in order to defend this noble Imaam. Before meeting the one who made the statement I attended a lecture by Shaikh Ibn al-Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him. After he finished his lecture I followed him outside the hall and told him about what I had heard.
When I did I saw the signs of anger and annoyance on his face, may Allaah have mercy on him, and after I had finished saying what I wanted to him, he said:
‘By Allaah! Whoever says that Shaikh al-Albaani, ‘… has started to become confused/mixed up …,’ [then] by Allaah, he is the one who is confused/mixed up and not the Shaikh!’
Then he said:
‘Indeed before the da’wah of the Shaikh [i.e., al-Albaani], many of the Shaikhs would not differentiate between an authentic, weak or fabricated hadith. And from the Shaikhs were those who would issue religious verdicts and would base them upon weak hadiths, in fact some of them were [even] fabricated! Then the Shaikh [i.e., al-Albaani] started to spread this noble knowledge until the people were enlightened and came to know the authentic from the weak, so may Allaah reward him with the best of rewards …’
Then Shaikh Ibn Uthaimeen began to advise me and warn me against those people who slander and speak ill of the scholars …’’”
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, p. 245.
August 17, 2011
Al-Albaani as I knew Him | End
Dr. Abdul-Aziz continues, “In the sittings of Shaikh al-Albaani, at some of which I was present, you would feel the veneration of the Sunnah, let alone the delight the listeners would feel at the mention of the names of the narrators of hadiths and the authors of the works of hadith, [along with] a mention of some of the well-known works of the books of the Sunnah and the names of the books of narrators and the defects found in hadith.
I have never seen or felt the likes of such gatherings, in my experience, except in the sittings with Shaikh Ibn Baaz.
And one of the things I remember from Shaikh al-Albaani’s gatherings is the fact that he would always touch upon the situation of the Muslims and [mention] that the reason for their splitting and many differences was their distance from the methodology of the Pious Predecessors; and that the callers to rectification bear a great burden due to their neglecting the need to pay attention to rectifying what they are able to from the creed of many of their people which has been polluted by verbal statements and actions damaging to the creed.
And I heard him directly, just as I have heard it on more than one occasion on audio cassettes, express sorrow and grief at those who have been set up by the people as callers to Allaah but who then paint certain innovations with the colour of the Sharee’ah, either due to ignorance or due to their imitating those they blindly follow.
And the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, had an amazing ability to absorb and respond calmly to overzealous zeal.
One of them would come to him, impassioned for a particular notion, having introduced it with an opening comprised of Quranic and Prophetic texts, no sooner would he finish speaking than the Shaikh would surprise him with a question, followed by another, quoting things related to the question itself, all of this with calm and tranquillity. Then he would start to give and take with the questioner, discussing, and it would only be a mere hour and that fervour would disappear.
The point I want to make from [all] this is [to demonstrate] the effect of knowledge in taming inflamed emotions and passions and [to show] how a scholar listens to them magnanimously in such a way that once they have unloaded their burdened souls, he cures those wrought up emotions with kindness and unhurriedness.
If it were not for the Grace of Allaah the Most High and then the forbearance of the Shaikh and his lenience in answering, those stirred up emotions would have turned into a raging tempest.
That which I noticed about Shaikh al-Albaani, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him, was his endurance during discussions in a good-hearted manner, which would be intermitted with joking sometimes, and [such joking] would mainly occur when the Shaikh would have cornered the disputant on a particular premise, so when that person would begin to stutter in his counter answer, the Shaikh would throw a joke at him or a Syrian proverb relevant to the situation, and so everyone present would be engulfed in a friendly and cheerful atmosphere.
And in that respect it is appropriate to mention that I read a description of Yusuf the son of Imaam Ibn al-Jawzi when he would debate, and I saw that Shaikh al-Albaani was the most worthy of the scholars [in resembling this characterstic from those] who I had compared to this description; I saw the report I am referring to in Dhail Tabaqaat al-Hanaabilah and a summary of it is that: Yusuf the son of Imaam Ibn al-Jawzi would not move a limb when debating.
Part of another description of Shaikh al-Albaani has already preceded, for in the book just quoted from [above there occurs], ‘Abdullaah ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Qudaamah would not debate anyone except that he would be smiling. So much so that some people said, ‘This Shaikh kills off his opponent with his smile.’’
I visited him a month before his death in his house in Amman which was in the Hamlaan district, on ShahrZaad street.
His body had become weak due to his illness and I said to him while holding his hand, ‘O Shaikh, receive the glad tidings, for you are upon good.
Those who love you are many, as are those who supplicate for you, and Allaah the Most High has caused there to be [great] benefit through your books which have spread across the world.’
So he mustered up his strength and raised his left hand putting my hand between his and squeezed them lightly–and the signs of weakness were so clearly visible on him–and then in a frail voice, said, ‘Jazaakallaahu khairaa.’
And then I left.
When I was in Shaikh Muhammad Ibrahim Shaqrah’s house in Ammaan, he said that, ‘One of them had seen a dream where two stars had shot down from the sky. One of them fell to the earth and caused a terrifying boom. The other almost reached the earth but stopped [just before it].’
I interpreted it to mean the death of two great men.
Muhammad Shaqrah said, ‘Some time after the dream, news reached us of the death of Shaikh Ibn Baaz so I said, ‘From what someone who loved the Shaikh said, I understood that he expected al-Albaani to be the second star.’
I say: And that is not far-fetched, for Shaikh al-Albaani passed away a few months after Shaikh Ibn Baaz. Shaikh Ibn Baaz passed away at Fajr time on Thursday, 25/1/1420 and Shaikh al-Albaani at Asr time on Saturday, 23/6/1420.
May Allaah the Most High have mercy on both Imaams, and gather us and them in the Highest Firdous, aameen.”
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, pp. 306-310.
August 15, 2011
Al-Albaani as I knew Him | 1
Dr. Abdul-Aziz as-Sadhaan, said, “The first time he was mentioned before me was when I was leaving the Imaam Turki ibn Abdullaah Jaami Mosque from the north door in the year 1397ah [1977] or just before that, after having listened to a lecture of Shaikh Ibn Baaz, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him.
Some of the people I was with were talking about Shaikh Ibn Baaz and the extensiveness of his knowledge, then they went on to talk about the care he paid to hadith when one of them said, “And likewise Shaikh al-Albaani is also a well-known scholar of hadith.”
When I heard his name and that he was from Syria I asked them about him so they replied saying that he has books about hadith and that he devotes his attention to the authentic [from them], clarifying those that are weak.
When I travelled with some of them to Medinah I heard that al-Albaani would be present in a house known as, ‘The house of the brothers,’ so we went there, those of us who had come from Riyadh, and entered that house.
We found a crowded group of people there, some of whom were wearing a turban, others a white and red scarf, others just the white one, and some had their heads uncovered. The gathering was on the roof of the house, and I saw a chair placed at the centre of the gathering, and it was surrounded, in fact swarmed, by the people close to it.
I was waiting for Shaikh al-Albaani to enter, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him.
While I was sitting in the row before the last a man appeared full of dignity and veneration, and that solemnity would increase when he would look at you, calmly walking between the people who had cleared a way for him until he got to the chair and sat down. He was wearing a loose fitting thawb whose colour was close to light brown, and he had on a gulf type hat [skull cap].
When he began his lecture those present gave him their complete attention, and many of them, especially those sitting around him, had their pens and were making a note of some of what the Shaikh said, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him.
The Shaikh finished his speech and the questions started to come from those present while he answered. Then, as far as I could tell, he excused himself before those present and asked for permission to leave. When he stood some of the people encircled him and they started to walk with him while asking him questions. I was walking behind them.
Then when he reached, or almost reached, his car I got the chance to speak to him, and so I asked him about a hadith I had read in the book, Tuhftudh-Dhaakireen, and this hadith included a supplication which is to be said after having eaten. So the Shaikh said to me in a word, “I do not regard it to be authentic.” Then I bid him farewell and came back and my love for him and his standing had found a place in my heart.
I met him in Munaa during Hajj in the year 1398ah and I recall that someone asked him in a loud voice saying, “O Shaikh, when I read a hadith in any of the books of the Sunnah and then I find that in its chain of narration is a man who is a weak narrator, should I then say, “This hadith is not authentically attributed to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)?”
So the Shaikh gave an answer whose meaning was: your negation of the hadith being attributed to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) could be invalid. May be it is that the hadith has been authentically reported through a different path? So it is more fitting that you limit the [judgement] that the hadith is weak to that [specific] chain of narration, so you say, for example, “This hadith in Ibn Maajah is weak.”
After that I met the Shaikh again during Hajj where he was staying in the tents set up for those working for the Civil Defense Hospital in Munaa. I visited him there with Shaikh Abdul-Kareem al-Muneef and there was no-one with him apart from his son, I think it was Abdul-Musowwir.
When our visit was over we got up and were going to leave when I came back to him and said, “O Shaikh, some of the people who love you spoke about you in Makkah and I said something which was not slander of you, Allaah forbid, but still I regret saying it. And I want you to forgive me.”
So he never asked me, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him, what it was that I had said, rather he said something which I, inshaa Allaah, remember word for word, he said, “May Allaah absolve you of what you said, what you will say, and what you didn’t say.” So I kissed his head and bid him farewell.
The Shaikh came to Riyadh so I called him to breakfast at my house and that was after morning prayer on Thursday 6/7/1410ah [2/2/1990]. He came and along with him came a group of noble people at the head of whom was his Excellency, the Shaikh, Abdullaah ibn Qu’ood, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him.”
July 26, 2011
A Conversation with his Wife |End | Something which Distressed the Shaikh; details of his Bank Account
See here for part five.
“There must be a situation which affected the Shaikh in a big way. Something whose effect on the Shaikh can’t be forgotten, can you tell us what such an occurrence was, whether happy or sad?”
As for that which occurred in my time and which greatly affected the Shaikh, then it was his disagreement with Shaikh Zuhair ash-Shaaweesh, may Allaah protect him. And that is because Shaikh Zuhair was from the closest of people to the Shaikh and the most beloved. And disputes with the people you love and are devoted to is something which will always affect a person.
I ask Allaah to have mercy on both Shaikhs and to forgive them both, and to gather them in the Gardens of Eternal Bliss. Aameen.
“As-Salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu. My noble mother, how would the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, gather between da’wah and lessons [he taught] and his wife, home and the upbringing of his children?”
Wa alaikum salaam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu wa maghfiratuhu. The Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, was very organised in his time, and he would often say, ‘My profession as a watch-maker taught me precision and organisation.’ He would not let anything from his affairs overtake something else, everything had its turn.
“What is the story of his exit from the Emirates and Saudia and [the fact that] he was refused entry into Jordan and waited at the borders until someone of high standing in Jordan took on his case, I wish we could get to know that story, if you would be so kind as to tell us.”
As for the story about his exit from Jordan: then the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, was expelled from it in 1982 to Syria whose government was after him such that the secret service gave him a piece of paper asking him to return to them [on a certain date], but the Shaikh sought the counsel of his brothers in Syria and immediately left for Beirut where his friend–at that time–Shaikh Zuhair ash-Shaaweesh received him. He remained as a guest with him for about three months then one of his students hosted him in the Emirates in Sharjah so we went to him for about two months. And we went to Qatar for a month, staying at the Waahah hotel. Then [we stayed in] Kuwait for ten days, then the Emirates.
At that time Shaikh Muhammad Ibrahim Shaqrah was trying to get him back to Jordan using the highest channels that understood the situation of the Shaikh and his standing in knowledge and service to the Prophetic Sunnah. So they allowed him to return to Jordan … we came back by way of the airport and there was no waiting at the borders as you mentioned. And we will not forget the effort of Shaikh Abu Malik Shaqrah in that; Shaikh al-Albaani would acknowledge that about him, all the way to the end of his life, may Allaah reward him with good. May Allaah have mercy on the Shaikh and record that deed in his scale of good.
As for Shaikh al-Albaani himself then he didn’t have any connection with those politicians in authority in the Arab and Islamic lands whatsoever. And he would always follow the saying of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, ‘Whoever goes to the doors of the ruler, will be put to trial.’
“After reading through his biography, may Allaah have mercy on him, [I came to know that] he wrote in his will that his books should be bequeathed to Medinah al-Munowwarah. But didn’t anything of his remain in his house, like his notes or papers he may have written which he never completed, his mushaf, so that we can get to know what is in such documents and other than them which he may not have completed? May Allaah bless you.”
Yes, the Shaikh bequeathed all of his books and his papers which he had written with his own hand and his manuscripts to the library at the Islamic University in Medinah al-Munowwarah. Nothing from that remained in his house. The Shaikh didn’t have notebooks [as such], his notebooks were his books and treatises in which he would put down summaries of his thoughts and experience. The Shaikh didn’t have a specific mushaf, rather we had many mushafs in the house which we would read.
As for other than that which he did not complete, then they are many, and they are his knowledge-based projects which need many times the life of the Shaikh to be completed. We ask Allaah to prepare from the Muslims those who will complete them and reward them on behalf of the Muslims with the best reward.
“We’ve heard of a situation which caused him to cry, so what is the situation which made him laugh, may Allaah have mercy on him?”
As for the situations that made him laugh, may Allaah have mercy on him, then the Shaikh would only laugh a little, may Allaah have mercy on him, and he would not become happy at anything from the affairs of the world, rather he would become pleased at the obedience of Allaah the Mighty and Majestic and aiding the Prophetic Sunnah.
To the extent that when the news of the King Faisal Award came to him no signs of happiness were seen on him at all, rather he said, ‘It came late.’ For it came at the start of his illness from which he died, may Allaah have mercy on him.
And the Shaikh did not have an account in any of the banks which were widespread [i.e., easily accessible]. And he refused to open a bank account to receive the prize money for the King Faisal Award which Shaikh Abu Maalik Shaqrah, may Allaah protect him, received on his behalf.
End.
Taken from: http://majles.alukah.net/showthread.php?t=17903
See here for the PDF.
July 25, 2011
A Conversation with his Wife | 5 | Her Advice to the Sisters and Her Reaction to those who Lied Against the Shaikh
See here for part four.
“Do you feel the extent of the love of the Muslims for your husband, may Allaah have mercy on him, or do you feel that they have fallen short in that?”
Yes, my children, I know the extent of the people’s love for the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, but I want them to always remember him by supplicating for him, [asking] that Allaah reward him with the best of rewards on behalf of the Muslims.
I personally bought a small apartment opposite the graveyard in which he was buried in South Marca, Amman. And believe me, I always wake up at night and look at the graveyard and supplicate for him and his student Abu Mu’aadh and the daughter of our brother Abul-Yamaan, Sumayyah, may Allaah have mercy on them all. And may Allaah have mercy on all of the deceased Muslims, and may He gather us with them in Paradise with the Chief of the Messengers. Aameen.
“How can we, when we are deprived of the presence of a great scholar amongst us, recall the times that the great Shaikh would give his lectures in when we were not present at those lectures whose loss to us Allaah knows the extent of?”
My brother, it is possible for you to recall those beautiful times with the Shaikh through his recorded tapes which are widespread and in their thousands, the same goes for his books in the Islamic bookshops.
“Did any of the Shaikh’s sons take their fathers lead in seeking knowledge and excelling in the Science of Hadith? And did the Shaikh have an effect in that?”
The one who followed his lead the most in the science of hadith was his daughter, Umm Abdullaah, may Allaah protect her.
“I ask that you don’t deprive us ladies of advice on what our role in nurturing a generation of those who strive should be? And I repeat my thanks and gratitude to those who came up with this idea and strove to implement it.”
My advice to my daughters, the Muslim girls, is that they fear Allaah the Mighty and Majestic, and learn their religion especially that which concerns the Muslim woman’s role in her home and such circumstances, and that which is connected to raising their children. And that the Muslim sister concentrate on the affairs of her household, on nurturing her children herself, and taking care of her husband, in compliance with the Saying of the Most High, “… and stay in your houses …” [Al-Ahzaab 33:33]. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, ‘When the woman prays her five, fasts her month, guards her chastity, obeys her husband, it is said to her, ‘Enter Paradise from whichever gate you wish,’’ what more do you want?
“What was the reaction of the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, to those people of unsound creed who are widespread in Jordan and other countries when they would attack and lie against him in the newspapers and other such media?”
The Shaikh would treat those who attacked and lied against him as noble people do, [their example is that] of an ibex striking a rock with its horns, [in the end it only weakens its own antlers].
And I remember one time I was with him in the car, and he had turned on the cassette of a sermon delivered by a man who was attacking and lying upon the Shaikh and declaring him to be a disbeliever and so on, may Allaah have mercy on him.
I was about to explode in rage.
I was watching the Shaikh [i.e, his reaction] and it was as though nothing had happened! Until I [finally] said to him, ‘What is wrong with you? Can you hear what he is saying?’ So he signalled to me that it’s no problem, don’t worry about it.
The important thing is that Allaah accepts it, may Allaah have mercy on him and make both us and you from those whose actions are accepted.
See here for the last post in the series.
July 24, 2011
A Conversation with his Wife | 4 | How did Umm al-Fadl help the Shaikh in his Knowledge?
See here for part three.
“Our noble mother, did you have a role to play with regard to the level that our scholar and Shaikh, al-Albaani, reached in terms of excellence and knowledge in the religion of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger عليه الصلاة والسلام. Because this concerns us greatly, how can we encourage and help our brothers and families in seeking knowledge? Was there a piece of research or an opinion in a matter or point of knowledge that may have popped up that was shared between you and the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, and did you benefit from his knowledge? Your daughter and someone who loves you for the sake of Allaah.”
As for benefitting from [his] knowledge, then all praise is due to Allaah, we benefitted vastly from him. In fact, my family, Aal-Aabideen, and others benefitted from him after we got married. Many times people will ask me about a legislative ruling so I say, ‘The Shaikh used to say such and such about that,’ and if I don’t know, [then] on their behalf I ask some of the Shaikh’s students who were close to him and who he trusted.
As for my role in his knowledge, then I am not even a student of knowledge, and how can someone like me share with him in his knowledge and his precise knowledge-based research?
But I used to prepare the environment for him, as they say, as much as I was able to. I would serve him, his guests and his students as much as I could, for he did not have a maid and he would never accept having a maid in the house.
May Allaah grant you success, was-salaamu alaikum.
“What effect did leaving Medinah al-Munawwarah have on our great scholar, i.e., when he moved from there?”
The Shaikh was greatly affected when he left Medinah an-Nabawiyyah. He used to regard the days he spent in the City of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم as the best of his life. But [at the same time] that did not ever stop him from continuing in his knowledge-based projects.
“What is the most distinguished Islamic event that he participated in while residing in Medinah al-Munawwrah?”
As for the most distinguished Islamic even that occurred there then I do not know for I was not with him.
“In the opinion of our Khaalah, Umm al-Fadl, how do we honour a great scholar like him?”
As for honouring the Shaikh then there is nothing like supplicating for him and adhering to the methodology which he would always call to and which he would summarise in two words: purification and cultivation. Namely, purifying the methodology of the Muslims and their heritage from the innovations, heretical superstitions [khuraafaat] and weak hadiths and so on, while cultivating [the people] upon the true methodology and the upright religion. The Shaikh used to regard one of the greatest problems of the Muslims, especially those who claim to be following the Sunnah, to be correct cultivation upon the sound methodology. And by and large, this cultivation requires a long period of time and great effort.
See here for part five.
July 23, 2011
A Conversation with his Wife | 3 | A Description of his Day
See here for part two.
“Our noble mother, we’d like you to give us a description of a complete day from his life, may Allaah have mercy on him, from the time he would wake up for fajr until the time he’d go to bed at night.”
A description of a full day from the Shaikh’s life. The Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, would wake up for the morning prayer, if not before it, and would also wake some of his students through the phone. Then he would, as long as he was physically able, go and take his students from their houses or from the road where they’d be waiting for him. They would pray the morning prayer in a mosque where the Imaam would strive to implement the Sunnah and shun innovations, like the qunoot in fajr, and most of the time the mosque was far away from our area.
Then if there was no sitting with his students in the mosque, the Shaikh would come back to his library and stay there amongst his books and his research up until seven o’clock in the morning at which time I would have prepared some breakfast for him. So he would take his breakfast and then return to his library and stay there until it was time for the siesta [qailulah], which was when the Shaikh would begin to feel sleepy. So he would go and sleep for a short while and then return to his library.
And this was how his lunch would be too, at one o’clock. As for dinner, then the Shaikh would not desire it. He would answer calls on the phone after ishaa prayer, for he had appointed two hours for issuing religious verdicts on the phone. As for visits, he had set the time between maghrib and ishaa for them during the days when his circumstances would allow him to do so.
“How would the Shaikh react to what the Islamic nation was going through and what affect did that have on him?”
As for the reaction of the Shaikh to what was occurring in the Islamic ummah, then we did not have a television in the house, because the Shaikh did not want to bring that upon us, and he wouldn’t buy newspapers but [at the same time] he would be extremely hurt at what was happening to the Muslims in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and the other Islamic countries.
And he was often moved by his Muslim brothers in Syria at the time of the events that occurred in the eighties with the Alawites. Since many times the Muslim youth would come to him and seek his counsel and he would honour them and receive them in the best way possible.
See here for part four.
July 22, 2011
A Conversation with his Wife | 2 | Did he help his Family or Neglect them due to his Teaching?
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.
July 20, 2011
A Conversation with the Wife of Shaikh Al-Albaani | 1
“Could you tell us your name and place of birth?”
Yusraa Abdur-Rahmaan Aabideen, Umm al-Fadl.
Place of birth: Salt [Jordan], and on the birth certificate it mentions Jerusalem, 1929.
“O Khaalah [lit: maternal aunt/aunty], could you tell us about your upbringing up until the time you married the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him?”
I grew up in Jerusalem, in the area of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. My father worked as a trader, but I never knew him, for he died when I was still young. So I was raised by my brother, Nadhmee, may Allaah have mercy on him.
I remained in Jerusalem until 1948, after which I moved for good to Jordan. The Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, proposed to me in 1981. I used to live in North Marca, so he took me to South Marca, a place I had wanted to get to know more about, so the Shaikh caused me to settle there, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him.
The Shaikh married his first wife, Umm Abdur-Rahmaan in Damascus, she was Yugoslavian. And she gave birth to Abdur-Rahmaan, Abdul-Lateef and Abdur-Razzaaq, and others [too] who Allaah caused to pass away. Then she too passed away.
The Shaikh then married his second wife, Naajiyah, she was also Yugoslavian. He had nine children with her, four boys and five girls. The boys were: Abdul-Musowwir, Abdul-A’laa, Muhammad and Abdul-Muhaimin. The girls: Aneesah, Aasiyah, Salaamah, Hassaanah and Sukainah.
He married the third while he had been married to the second for about two years. Her name is Khadijah al-Qaadiri and she is Syrian. She is the sister of Dr. Muhammad Ameen al-Misri’s wife, may Allaah have mercy on him, the well-known teacher at the Islamic University of Madinah, and a friend of the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on them both.
The Shaikh had one daughter from his wife Khadijah, Hibatullaah. And he divorced his second wife who he used to live with in the Yarmouk Camp in Damascus.
Then he migrated with Khadijah to Jordan in 1980 and settled in South Marca, Amman, close to Shaikh Ahmad Atiyah who was from the closest of people to the Shaikh. [But] then Ahmad Atiyah separated himself from Shaikh al-Albaani and his methodology, and became a Sufi, and then he embraced Baha’ism. We ask Allaah for well-being.
His third wife, Khadijah only stayed in Amman for a short while after which she moved to Damascus and refused to reside in Amman. After approximately six months, the Shaikh sent divorce papers to her and she returned their joint-passport which was with her to him.
Ahmad Atiyah, along with his cousin, Shaikh Jameel, came to South Marca to my brother’s shop and asked him for my hand in marriage [on behalf of the Shaikh] in 1981.
We finalised the marriage contract [i.e., the nikaah], in my cousin’s house in Marca. The Shaikh stipulated the dowry himself! For he informed us that this was the legislated [thing to do]–i.e., that the one proposing marriage stipulates that which he sees fit so that the dowry for his wife will be within his means, so he gave me two hundred dinaars at that time. And he did not stipulate a delayed dowry, for that is not from the Sunnah.
I went with him to the market and we bought some non-circular gold with the dowry, since he did not hold it to be permissible to wear circular gold.
We agreed to get married [i.e., that she would go and live with him] after about two months after the Shaikh would finish building his new house in South Marca. We got married half way through the blessed month of Ramadaan.
See here for part two.
June 2, 2011
His dislike of fame
Translated by Ahmed Abu Turaab
One time a man saw the Shaikh while he, may Allaah have mercy on him, was sitting in his car, so the man rushed to him and said, ‘You’re Shaikh al-Albaani?’
So the Shaikh started to cry.
When he, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him, was asked why he started to cry he replied, ‘It befits a person to strive against his own soul and not to become deceived by the people pointing to him.”
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, p. 126.
May 29, 2011
Al-Albaani wishing he was a millionaire …
“A man who was sick and whose treatment was by way of injections came [to the Shaikh], one of these injections would cost twenty dinars and he needed fifteen of them. So the Shaikh asked me [Muhammad al-Khateeb] to go to his house and confirm the veracity of what he had said. When we came to know that what he had said was true, the Shaikh gave me some money and we bought the injections for him.
When I had intended to build a house I needed [to borrow] some money. So I knocked many doors [i.e., asked a lot of people], but I did not come across anything. Then I remembered a rich man who the Shaikh knew so I said to the Shaikh’s wife, ‘Maybe you could ask the Shaikh to intercede on my behalf with the man so that he might lend me [what I need].’
The next day while I was sitting at my desk the Shaikh said to me, ‘O Muhammad! You want me to intercede on your behalf with so and so to lend you some money?’
So I said, ‘Yes.’
He said, ‘I am closer to you than him. I will give you what you want.’ So I cried and said, ‘Our Shaikh! May Allaah reward you with good.’ But, by Allaah, it never occurred to me that I would get what I needed from the Shaikh …
Then when he gave the money he said, ‘This is a gift of a thousand dinars which are not included [in the loan].’ So I cried a second time, may Allaah reward him with abundant good and may He, the Most High, have mercy on him.
Another story that occurred recently was when the Shaikh was in hospital and a woman came to him complaining about the fact that she had fallen prey to the banks. She had borrowed nine thousand dinars from one of them and then the amount she owed began to multiply due to interest. She came to the Shaikh appealing to him to help rid herself of this problem.
So the Shaikh, as was usual, asked me to verify the facts. After I did so and was sure of the truthfulness of the woman he agreed to loan her seven thousand dinars.
The lady came along with her children and the Shaikh said, ‘Here is a thousand dinars as a gift, and here is the other amount that you requested.’ So the lady was delighted as were her children and they supplicated for the Shaikh and I did too. The lady asked Allaah to reward the Shaikh with good.
Then the Shaikh looked at us and said, ‘O brothers, by Allaah, truly I wish that I become a millionaire so that I can take thousands more women like this one out of the shackles of interest.’”
Al-Imaam, al-Mujaddid, al-Allaamah, al-Muhaddith, Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, pp. 62-63.
May 28, 2011
Shaikh al-Albaani’s independence from the rulers …
Shaikh Muhammad Musa Nasr said, “We do not know from the life of our Shaikh and through the times we accompanied him which spanned over twenty years that he ever entered upon a ruler, or those in authority or a judge, or ever fawned on one, or was ever appointed in a religious position under one, or ever ate at the table of one: which was the thing that made him independent in the stances he took; and his religious verdicts were not issued due to political or religious pressure …
So his religious verdicts were never to please Zaid or Amr. Allaah had made him free of having a need of the people, and provided for him through what his own hands earned where he worked repairing watches for many long years, “The best of what a man eats is that which his own hands have earned …”
And I took his hand one day and said to him, “Our Shaikh! Have you ever shaken hands with any of the tyrants of this world?”
He replied, “No.”
I said to him, “And have you ever eaten at their tables or entered upon them?”
He said, “No.”
So I took his hand to kiss it and he prevented me from doing so, but I overcame him and kissed it. After which he severely reprimanded me, so I said, “And why shouldn’t I kiss a hand that has never shaken that of a tyrant? And which has served the Sunnah of the Messenger صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ for more than half a century?”
And the Shaikh would reprimand me many times for my exaggeration in the love and honour for him, and in my view this was less than what he deserved.
But this did not prevent us from opposing him, sometimes, in some of the independent judgements [ijtihaad] he would come to, may Allaah have mercy on him. For everyone’s saying is accepted and rejected except for the companion of this grave [i.e., the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ] as Imaam Maalik, may Allaah have mercy on him, said …”
Al-Imaam, al-Mujaddid, al-Allaamah, al-Muhaddith, Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, pp. 63-64.
May 27, 2011
Al-Albaani’s Finances: Writing Ad-Da’eefah on Gift Paper and Red Paper Bags Used to Weigh Rice and Sugar In
Shaikh Mashoor Hasan said, “Our Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, charged me with reviewing some of the volumes of As-Silsilah ad-Da’eefah before it was printed … he gave me the fifth volume of Ad-Da’eefah. So I took the volume from him [which was written] in his own handwriting before it was printed.
When I took it out of the bag [it was in] and saw it I started to cry.
The Shaikh asked me, “What is wrong with you?”
So I didn’t say anything, and the Shaikh saw the tears in my eyes—the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, had written the fifth volume of Ad-Da’eefah on gift paper, and on the paper bags used for sugar and rice, the red [paper] bags which the people would weigh sugar and rice in.
So the Shaikh said to me, “I used to have thread which I would place in ink. Then I would place this thread on the paper and so the paper would become lined.” And he said, “I didn’t have any money to buy paper with.””
Transl. note: The fifth volume of Ad-Da’eefah which is printed is 524 pages long.
Taken from this lecture of Shaikh Mashhoor in Arabic, at the 67th minute:
May 27, 2011
Shaikh al-Albaani when he was beaten
Translated by Ahmed Abu Turaab
As-Sadhaan said, “Shaikh Muhammad Ziyaad at-Tuklah, may Allaah reward him, wrote to me stating that Shaikh Abdullah Aloosh said, ‘One time we came along with Shaikh Naasir to pray in one of the Jaami mosques in the Maidaat district, and the Imaam was ‘so and so’ (one of the bigots and he named him for us). So when the Imaam turned around and was about to say Allaahu Akbar to start the prayer, he saw Shaikh al-Albaani and so in a loud voice in front of all the people he said, “Come on! Get out! Get out! Get out!’”
And he also wrote to me narrating from one of the students of Shaikh al-Albaani that Shaikh Naasir was once assaulted in Damascus by being beaten in a street by a fool who had been paid to do so.”
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullah as-Sadhaan, p. 47.
May 20, 2011
Examples of Shaikh al-Albaani’s handwriting …
Click on an image to see a larger version
A line of poetry
Example of his hadith checking from the book Hidaayatur-Ruwaah
Another example of his hadith checking from the same book
The following are examples of some of the Shaikh’s commentary, corrections and checking on one of the prints of Ibn Hibbaan …
May 20, 2011
Shaikh Ibn Baaz: Shaikh al-Albaani was not Infallible but that Does Not Mean He Can be Slandered …
As-Sadhaan said, “In one of the lessons of our Shaikh, Abdullah ibn Humayyid, a person brought a book in which there was some repugnant slander concerning the status of Shaikh al-Albaani. So while the person was reading the book out aloud–and I was present in the lesson–his eminence, Shaikh Ibn Humayyid cut him off and signs of annoyance and displeasure were visible on him, then he said words to the effect of, “This is disgraceful speech and its like is not permissible–and refuting the people of knowledge should be done with manners.”
Then Shaikh Ibn Humayyid mentioned the status of Shaikh al-Albaani and his aid and service to the Sunnah and then said, “Shaikh al-Albaani had [certain] opinions that we do not agree with him on, but slandering him is not allowed.”
And at that very time news reached me that a short while before, Shaikh Ibn Baaz had summoned the author of that book which was being read out aloud and advised him and [admonished him by] reminding him of Allaah, but when the author insisted on [his views of] his book, Shaikh Ibn Baaz spoke to King Faisal, may Allaah have mercy on him, or Khaalid, may Allaah have mercy on him, to ban the book, and so the King issued a directive for it to be banned.
And His Eminence Shaikh Ibn Baaz was asked in his tent in Minaa [during Hajj] after fajr on Friday 13/12/1418ah [April 1998ce] about some speech about Al-Albaani which slandered him, so part of his answer was, “Al-Albaani is well-known to be from Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah and from the helpers of the Sunnah, and those who speak against him have erred and are mistaken. He is from our good brothers and from the helpers of the Sunnah, and he has blessed efforts in regards to the Sunnah–and he is not infallible. Everyone makes mistakes and errs.
Imaam Maalik, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “There is none among us except that he rejects and has his speech rejected, except for the person of this grave, i.e., the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).”
Every scholar has mistakes: ash-Shaafi’ee, Maalik, Abu Hanifah, Ahmad, ath-Thawri, al-Awzaa’ee, and those after them right up to this day of ours–not a single one is safe from making mistakes. All of the children of Aadam err.
But what is important is that he is well-known as being from the helpers of the Sunnah [Ansaarus-Sunnah], and from the callers to the Sunnah, and from the preservers of the Sunnah, and from the mujaahids striving to preserve the Sunnah. May Allaah grant him success and increase his good.””
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, pp. 243-244.
May 17, 2011
Why Al-Albaani almost felt like wishing for death …
As-Sadhaan said, quoting from Saheeh Mawaarid adh-Dham’aan, “And he, may Allaah have mercy on him, said concerning the hadith, “The life spans of my Ummah are between sixty and seventy. Few of them pass that,” Ibn Arafah said, “And I am from those few.”
So Shaikh al-Albaani said commenting on the saying of Ibn Arafah, “And I too am from those few. For I have passed eighty-four years in age, all the while asking the Protector [mawlaa], far removed be He from all defects, that I be from those whose lives are prolonged and whose actions get better.
And yet along with that I almost wish for death due to the deviation from the religion that has afflicted the Muslims.
But far be it that I wish for death when the hadith of Anas has been before me since childhood, so it is not for me but to say as my Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) ordered me to, “O Allaah, give me life as long as life is better for me. And take my soul if death is better for me,’” [also] supplicating with that which he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) taught me, “O Allaah! Let us enjoy our hearing and vision and strength for as long as You grant us life and make it our legacy.”
And He, the One free of all defects, has favoured me and responded, allowing me to enjoy all of that. So here I am still researching and verifying, still writing actively the like of which is rarely seen, and I pray the optional prayers standing, and I drive my car for long distances by myself, and at a speed which some of those dear to me advise me to reduce, and I have an elaboration for that which some of them know!
And I say all of this by way of, “And as for the favour of your Lord, then proclaim [it] …” [Ad-Duhaa 93:11], hoping that the Protector, free is He from all defects and the Most High, increases the Bounty He has bestowed upon me, and that He makes all of it my legacy. And that He takes my soul as a Muslim upon the Sunnah which I dedicated my life to, calling to it and writing about it. And that He gathers me with the martyrs and the righteous, and what an excellent company that is. Indeed He is the All-Hearer, the One who answers supplications.””
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, pp. 286-287.
May 14, 2011
Al-Albaani Debating with Takfeeri Youths for Three Nights and What Happened to Some of Them Later …
As-Sadhaan said, “Shaikh Baasim Faisal al-Jawaabirah, may Allaah the Most High protect him, said, ‘… I was a student at secondary school, and in those days I was part of a group of youths who would declare the Muslims to be disbelievers and would not pray in their mosques arguing that they were [from] a society of ignorance!
The people who would oppose us in Jordan would always threaten us with Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, [saying] that he was the only one who would be able to debate with us and convince us [of the Truth] and bring us back to the Straight Path. When Shaikh Naasir came to Jordan from Damascus he was told about a group of youths who declare the Muslims to be disbelievers and so he wanted to meet us. So he sent his son in law, Nidhaam Sakkajhaa, to us who informed us of the Shaikh’s desire to meet us.
We replied, ‘Whoever wants to meet us, then let him come to us, we won’t go to him!’ But [the person who was] our Shaikh in declaring people to be disbelievers [takfeer] told us that Shaikh Naasir was from the scholars of the Muslims who had excellence due to his knowledge and old age and that we had to go to him.
So we went to him in the house of his son in law, Nidhaam, just before ishaa prayer. One of us made the call to prayer and then we stood to pray and Shaikh Naasir said, ‘Shall we pray behind you or will you pray behind us?’ So our takfeeri Shaikh said, ‘We believe that you are a disbeliever!’ So Shaikh Naasir said, ‘As for me, then I hold that you have faith [i.e., that you are Muslims].’ Then our [takfeeri] Shaikh led us all in prayer [including Shaikh al-Albaani].
Then Shaikh Naasir sat down debating with us continually until late at night, most of it being with our Shaikh. As for us youth, we would stand and then sit, stretch out our legs and then lie down on our sides, as for Shaikh Naasir, he sat in the same position from the start of the gathering until its end, never once changing. Always debating with this [person], and this [person] and then that [person], I was amazed at his patience and fortitude. Then [when it ended] we promised to meet the next day. We went back to our houses gathering the evidences which, so we believed, proved [our stance] in declaring Muslims to be disbelievers [takfeer].
On the second day Shaikh Naasir came to the house of one of our brothers, and we had prepared the books and replies to his proofs. The debate continued from after ishaa [prayer] until morning prayer [fajr]. Then [when it ended] we promised to go to his house [the next day], and so we went there after ishaa on [this] the third day.
The discussion continued until the mu’addhin made the call to prayer for fajr, and we were continually debating mentioning many aayahs [from the Quraan] which apparently proved [our stance of] declaring Muslims to be disbelievers [takfeer], and likewise we would mention hadiths which [again], apparently, proved [the stance we had taken of] declaring those people who had committed major sins to be disbelievers. And Shaikh Naasir was like a towering mountain answering this proof, and [explaining] the objective of other proofs, and reconciling between those which on the surface seemed to be contradictory, quoting the sayings of the Salaf and Imaams who are relied upon from Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah.
And then after the call to prayer for fajr nearly all of us went with Shaikh Naasirud-Deen to the mosque to perform the morning prayer, after Shaikh Naasir had convinced us of the error and deviation from the [correct] methodology that we had been continuing upon.
We turned back from our takfeeri thinking, and all praise is due to Allaah.
Except for a small group [of us]—who ended up apostatising from Islaam a few years after that.
We ask Allaah for well-being.’”
Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, pp. 157-158.
The Albaani Site 