The Shaikh’s Biography | The Albaani Site

March 2, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 6

The Shaikh of Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah and al-Albaani
in the same prison

“It was decreed that I was imprisoned in 1389 Hijri, which corresponds to 1969, along with a number of scholars for no other crime than calling to Islaam and teaching it to the people. So I was taken to the fort prison[1] and others in Damascus, and then I was freed after a while, only to be taken back a second time and then exiled to the Island to spend a number of months in the prison there, something which I regard to be in the Way of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.

Allaah so decreed it that there was nothing with me [when I was put in prison] except my treasured book, Sahih Muslim, a pencil and an eraser. It was there that I engrossed myself in fulfilling my dream of summarising and abridging it [i.e., Sahih Muslim], something which I completed in three months, toiling day and night, without feeling any weariness or boredom. And so as a result that which the enemies of the Ummah had intended to be a punishment for me was turned on its head and became a blessing for us, with students of knowledge from the Muslims benefitting from it all round the world.

So all praise is for Allaah through whose blessings righteous actions are completed.

House Arrest

Allaah, the Most High, facilitated the completion of many knowledge based works for me. I would not have had the opportunity to have given them the required time if my life had continued on the path it was on. [And this was] because some of the successive governments had prevented me from going out to the cities of Syria for my monthly lectures where I would call to the Quraan and the Sunnah, and this is what is more commonly known as ‘house arrest.’

Likewise during these successive periods I had also been prevented from giving any of the many knowledge based lectures that I used to deliver, the preparation for which used to consume a large portion of my time. This took away a lot of the work that I was doing and came between myself and meeting lots of people who used to take a great amount of my time.”[2]

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 14-15.

[1] [Transl. note] And this is the same prison that the Shaikh of Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah was imprisoned in many hundreds of years earlier! See the Arabic article here: http://www.alalbany.net/albany_serah.php

[2] i.e., all of this gave the Shaikh extra time to get busy with his research and writings, may Allaah have mercy upon him.

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March 2, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 5

Some of the Contention Faced by the Shaikh

“The first of these was when a group of Shaikhs, among them one whom it was thought would have been a help to the Salafi da’wah, set up a petition claiming therein that I was spreading a Wahhaabi da’wah to cause trouble amongst the Muslims. So they started collecting signatures for the petition from the people and then submitted it to the Mufti of Syria. He, in turn, passed it on to the chief of police who summoned me in and questioned me about the affair, until in the end it came to nothing.

One day a friend of mine who I used to study with asked me about a certain hadith concerning the reward of fasting, so I explained to him that [this particular] hadith was weak. This friend had heard the hadith from the Imaam giving the Jumu’ah sermon quoting it as a proof on the pulpit and he could not help but go back to this Shaikh who had given the sermon to mention what he had come to know about the weakness of the hadith and the reference where that could be checked. So as a result, the next Jumu’ah sermon of this Imaam was an attack on the way of the Salaf and he started to accuse those who followed it as being Wahhaabis, characterising this way as misguidance, warning the people from approaching them and calling on them to protect their children from its callers. The people listening to this [second] sermon were not all equal in accepting or rejecting what he said, and as a result there was a lot of disorder and confusion.

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 13-14.

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March 1, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani in an overturned car …

“Shaikh Ali Khashhaan, may Allaah protect him, in a piece he wrote entitled, ‘The Aider of the Hadith and the Reviver of the Sunnah, Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani’, said, “So by Allaah! My eyes have never seen–as far as I know-anyone who cared more about the Sunnah and aided it with greater vigour or followed it more than al-Albaani. One time between Jeddah and Medinah an-Nabawiyyah [he had an accident] and his car overturned and the people present rushed to him saying, “O Sattaar! O Sattaar! يا ستار! ياستار [i.e., O Concealer, meaning Allaah].” So the Aider of the Hadith, Shaikh al-Albaani says to them while he is under the overturned car, “Say, ‘O Sitteer [يا ستير]’ and don’t say, ‘O Sattaar [يا ستار], because al-Sattaar is not one of His Names, the Most High!”

And in the hadith there occurs, “إن الله ستير يحب الستر – Allaah is characterised by modesty and concealment [sitteer] and loves that people conceal themselves.”[1]

Have you seen anyone who aids the Sunnah and the Hadith in a situation such as this in this time of ours?! Never! Except for what has been related from the likes of Umar ibn al-Khattaab, may Allaah be pleased with him, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and others from the Pious Predecessors of this nation.””

Taken from Juhoodul-Imaamil-Albaani, of Ahmad Saalih Hussain al-Jabboori, pp. 7-8

[1] An authentic hadith reported by Abu Dawud (4012), an-Nisaaee (1/70), al-Baihaqi (1/198), by way of Zuhair from Abdul-Malik from Abu Sulaymaan al-Azrami from Ataa from Ya’laa, who said, “The Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, saw a man taking a shower in the bazaar without his lower garment on. So the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, mounted the pulpit, praised Allaah and extolled him and then said, “Indeed Allaah is characterised by modesty and concealment, and He loves modesty and concealment. So when one of you takes a shower let him conceal himself.” See Irwaaul-Ghaleel, no. 2335.

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March 1, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 4

Calling to Allaah, the Most High

“Communication began between acquaintances, friends and their friends and I made a place in the shop where we could gather and I would teach. Then we saw it fit to move to the house of one of the brothers and then again to another bigger one until we had to rent out the floor of a building for this teaching. The people attending increased in number until the space became congested and the vigour and activity to read hadith, its explanations and chains of narrations reached a high level.

We continued like this until the efforts of those who oppose us were directed at us and so matters became restricted until the lessons were cancelled and the sessions were disbanded.

And here we are, even now, [still] not free of these restrictions, so we gather whenever it is possible and when something comes between us and being able to meet I turn to writing and verifying instead, two things which I can never cut off from.

The Spread of Da’wah outside Damascus

From the results of this positive turn which the da’wah received was that we arranged a program to visit different places, like Aleppo, Latakia, Idlib, Salamiyah, Homs, Hama and ar-Raqqah, and despite the limited time that I had allocated for these cities, the journeys met with tangible success. Since a large number of those who were keen to study the science of hadith would gather at lectures which resembled seminars, books of the Sunnah would be read, questions asked and beneficial debate would flare up.

Except for the fact that this travelling [to spread da’wah] doubled the intensity of the wrath from others [directed at us]. So they doubled their efforts to [cause trouble] before those in places of authority and as a result we were in the centre of one problem after another.”

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 12-13.

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March 1, 2011

“Carpenter, change the side the door opens on …”

Shaikh Ali Hasan said, “The Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy upon him, called a carpenter to his house and requested that he change the side from which the door of his library opens from one side to the other!

So the carpenter responded, “From one side …” looking stunned, “… to the other?” Trying to ascertain what use and benefit there would be in doing that.

So our Shaikh answered him saying, “When the door opens towards the left side then this increases the distance to my library by a number of steps! And I go to the mosque [to pray] five times a day along with having to go out once or twice for household chores or for personal matters. So how much of my time is wasted, when accumulated, as a result of all those extra steps which could be eliminated or reduced?

So when the opening of the door is changed from this side to that we can benefit from all of this lost time since it is so priceless and infinitely important.””

Su’aalaat of Ali Hasan al-Halabi, vol. 1, p. 38-39.

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February 28, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 3

The Beginning of his Work

“And the truth is that this affair [i.e., praying salaah at the graves of the righteous] was from the very first reasons that led me to part from the majority of Shaikhs, since in this matter they were on the way of my father. Thus from the early things that I began which resembled knowledge-based research was that I followed up this topic in some fiqh and hadith reference books which could be found in my father’s library. I wrote a few pages in which I took the opinion of such prayer being disliked to such an extent that it is prohibited in those areas. Especially prayer in those mosques that were built on top of the graves of the Prophets and Friends of Allaah, using as proof the sayings of the scholars that I had come across in those references.

I then presented my research to my Shaikh al-Burhaani at the end of Ramadaan and he promised to answer it after Eed. When I came to him [after Eed] he smiled and said, “You have not done anything. Since the places that you take from do not exceed Haashiya Ibn Aabideen and Maraaqi al-Falaah, and these are not references of fiqh.”

I was shocked at this answer and knew that the Shaikh had not grasped all that I had written, since I had in fact quoted from Umdatul-Qaari, Mirqaah al-Mafaateeh, Mubaaraq al-Azhaar and Haashaiyah at-Tahtaawee, and they are references that are respected by the people of knowledge.

It was due to this that I saw fit to follow up the issue with wider research. In this way I continued to scour and research until the point was completed with proofs from the Book, the Sunnah and the sayings of the Scholars. And so the result of this research was my book known as, “Tahdheer as-Saajid minint-Tikhaadhil-Qubooril-Masaajid – [literally: A Warning to the One who Prostrates from taking the Graves as Places of Worship.”

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 11-12.

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February 26, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 2

The Beginning of his Quest for Knowledge

“The first thing that I had a passion to read were Arabic stories, like those of Dhaahir [Baybars] and Antara [ibn Shaddaad a famous Arab poet], King Saif [ibn Dhi Yazan] and their like, then translated crime or detective novels like Arséne Luprin and others. After which I found an inclination towards reading books about history.

Then one day at one of the booksellers, I noticed an issue from a magazine called Al-Manaar amongst the books for sale so I bought it. In it I came across a piece of research written by as-Sayyid Rasheed [Rida] in which he was describing the book Al-Ihyaa by al-Ghazaali, pointing out its strengths and weaknesses.

So for the first time I across this type of knowledge-based critique and that drew me to reading the entire issue. I continued following the subject of Al-Ihyaa in the [book] Al-Ihyaa itself, with the version which contained the hadith verification of al-Haafidh al-Iraaqi, and I found myself having to borrow it since I did not have the money to purchase it.

As a result I started to read [the entire] book since that detailed verification fascinated me such that I resolved to copy out the book or summarise it after I had laid down a mental picture of copying out the [hadith] verification which was printed in the footnotes of Al-Ihyaa. I started to write out the hadith, “Indeed praise for a servant can spread as far and as wide as that which is between the east and the west and yet he is not equal to the weight of a mosquito before Allaah …” this is how it was written in Al-Ihyaa.

Al-Haafidh al-Iraaqi said, “And I have quoted it from him but have not been able to find it with such wording. In the two Sahihs from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah there occurs, “Indeed a huge fat man will come on the Day of Resurrection and he will not weigh the weight of the wing of a mosquito in Allaah’s Sight.”

But what did I do? I wrote down a hyphen and completed the hadith as it is found in the two Sahihs and I continued upon this so as not to attribute to Al-Haafidh al-Iraaqi something that he did not say, and I also placed the addition which I was writing from the original and to which he attributed the hadith, between two hyphens [=]. In those days I was new to researching and if I knew then what I know now I would have used brackets like the ones I used in my books thereafter instead of the two hyphens.

I started to copy and then got half way through the first volume, when an idea occurred to me which was that during my work on the hadiths parts of them would come by me whose words I did not understand and as a result the intending meaning of the hadith would not be clear to me. So I said to myself, ‘Why don’t I explain all of these words in the margins which would be a revision for me and an aid to understanding the hadith?” So after I had gotten half way through the first volume I left it and started copying all over again based upon this new idea.

Every time I came across a hadith which had a word I couldn’t fathom I would use Ibn al-Athir’s book Ghareeb al-Hadith [a book explaining rare and difficult words found in hadiths] and dictionaries and then I would write the meaning in the margin, until the notes that I would write for myself turned out to be more than the actual text, and I carried on like this until I finished the book. I strived like this until a good method was established which helped to make concrete all those new points.

And I think this effort which I put into that study is what encouraged me and endeared to me the desire to continue upon this path, since I found myself seeking the aid of many different works on the Arabic language, figurative speech [بلاغة], and works explaining the rare and difficult words found in hadiths so that the text could be understood alongside its verification.

And this is what benefitted me greatly, and in reality I say: I am amazed at Allaah’s Kindness to His servants, and I feel that Allaah was moving me from one step to the next. Now I reap the benefits of what I used to write and make copies of, [at that time] I did not know what was behind that writing or that copying, now I reap the benefits of some of that work. I will find writings from my early knowledge-based research that is profuse and abundant and that was due to the persistent desire to follow such research and because I found the narrations of hadith to be something beautiful. And I still continue, and all praise is for Allaah, to have the vigour and desire to research, but old age has its rights.”

His Children

“Indeed from the blessings of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, upon me is that he inspired me to name all of my sons as servants of His, and they are: Abdur-Rahmaan, Abdul-Lateef, Abdur-Razzaaq from my first wife, may Allaah have mercy on her; and Abdul-Musowwir, Abdul-Muhaimin and Abdul-A’laa from my other wife, and I don’t think anyone has beaten me to naming their son Abdul-Musowwir since with all of the names of narrators that I have come across in the books of the men of hadith and its conveyors [I never found this name]. And I ask Allaah, the Most High, to increase me in success and that He bless me in my family, “”Our Lord! Bestow on us from our wives and our offspring those who will be the comfort of our eyes, and make us leaders for the pious.” [Furqaan 25:74]

Then in 1383AH [1963CE] while I was in Medina, Allaah blessed me with a son whom I named Muhammad, as a reminder of his, صلى الله عليه وسلم, city and in fulfilment of his saying, “Name yourselves with my name, but do not use my kunyaa.””
[Bukhaari and Muslim]

Giving Precedence to the Truth over the Heritage of the Forefathers

“I continued to follow in the footsteps of my father in this direction, until Allaah guided me to the Sunnah, so I left much of what I had studied with him which he regarded as being a means of getting closer to Allaah and worship.”

Al-Albaani and His Father

“I had proceeded to study the Sunnah with great longing and adoration, and so when my father saw that in me he began to warn me and said, “The science of hadith is the profession of the bankrupt!” But despite what that differing put between us in terms of ideological outlook, near the end of his life we become very close, as he used to say at the end of every debate, ‘I do not deny that you brought me some knowledge based benefits concerning matters about which I was not on clear proof beforehand, like it not being legislated to intend to go to pray salaah at the graves of the righteous.’”

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 5-10.

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February 26, 2011

A month before he died …

“In Dubai Ali ibn Hasan al-Halabi told us, “A month before his death, the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy upon him, spent three days researching one hadith. And he dictated eighteen pages to his grandson, Ubaadah, while I was watching.””

Safahaat Baidaa min Hayaatil-Imaam Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, rahimahullaahu ta’aala, of Abu Asmaa Atiyyah ibn Sidqee Ali Saalim, p. 94.

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February 25, 2011

He stood up and turned to the people …

“At Jumu’ah prayer the Imaam giving the sermon mentioned amongst other things the hadith, “The believer to the believer is like a [solid] building, some [parts of it] support others …” [Bukhaari and Muslim] adding the word, ‘… solid …’ [which is not part of the narration]. So after the jumu’ah prayer ended Shaikh al-Albaani stood up and turned to the people and made clear the absence of the word ‘solid’ in the narration of the hadith and urged that the hadiths be narrated as they came without any additions.

So, by Allaah, his critique was better than the sermon itself.”

Muhaddithul-Asr, Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani of Samir ibn Amin al-Zahraani, pp. 31-32.

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February 25, 2011

“Why does he not give salaam …?”

“One day we were in a lecture being held at someone’s house. Whenever the owner of the house would come in or leave he would not give salaam assuming that by doing so he would be disturbing the lesson. So the Shaikh turned to him and asked, “Why does he not give salaam when he enters and leaves?” And so the lesson changed topic and ended up being about the manners concerning giving salaam when entering and leaving and the manners of seeking permission and so on.”

Muhaddithul-Asr, Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani of Samir ibn Amin al-Zahraani, p. 31.

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February 25, 2011

Enjoining the good and forbidding the evil …

“I saw him one time when he was sick, one of the nurses came in and he was clean shaven. After he had given the Shaikh his medicine and was about to leave, he said, “Pray to Allaah for me, O Shaikh.” So the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “May Allaah beautify you with that which he beautified men with.””

Muhaddithul-Asr, Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani of Samir ibn Amin al-Zahraani, p. 31.

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February 25, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 1

There’s a small book written by a person called Isaam Moosaa Haadi, entitled, “The Life of Allaamah al-Albaani, may Allaah have mercy upon him, in His Own Words.” I thought it would be a good idea to go through the book, a little at a time, so we could get a picture of the Shaikh’s life as he narrated it himself. Isaam Haadi basically went through the Shaikh’s works and gathered sections where the Shaikh spoke about himself and the result was this small but lovely work. Here’s the first post …

Migrating to Syria

Shaikh al-Albaani said, “Indeed the blessings of Allaah upon me are numerous and I cannot enumerate how many there are. And perhaps from the most important of them are the following two: the migration of my father to Syria and that he taught me his profession as a watch repairer [horologist].

The first [blessing] made learning arabic easy for me and if we had remained in Albania I do not believe that I would have learnt a letter from it, and there is no path to the Book of Allaah or the Sunnah of his Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, except by way of arabic.

Every son of a female …

“When I (Shaikh Ali Hasan al-Halabi), informed Shaikh Al-Albaani, may Allaah have mercy upon him, of the death of his Eminence Shaikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Baaz, may Allaah have mercy upon him, he could not stop himself from crying, his eyes were filled with flowing tears, and he spoke of him with compassionate, righteous words. So he, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, and I wrote this down from him:

‘To Allaah we belong and to Him we return. Oh Allaah! Recompense me for my affliction and replace it for me with something better. May Allaah have mercy upon him, a vast mercy. And may He reward him well on behalf of Islaam and the muslims.

Every son of a female, even if he is well for a long time
will, one day, be carried on a bier [to his grave]

Indeed Shaikh Abdul-Aziz Ibn Baaz, may Allaah have mercy on him, was from the elite of the scholars. We ask Allaah, the Most High, to make Paradise his dwelling. If this life were to last forever for anyone, it would have lasted as such for Mustafaa, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam.

May Allaah have mercy on him and may He cause us and him to be with the righteous.’”

Ma’a Shaikhinaa Naasirus-Sunnnah … of Shaikh Ali Hasan, p. 15.

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February 13, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani Talking While Asleep …

Shaikh al-Albani’s son, Abdul-Lateef, mentioned that his father:

“… used to say in his sleep, ‘Bring me the book entitled ‘Al-Ilal. Bring me the book entitled such and such. Bring me the book entitled such and such. Bring me the book entitled ‘Al-Jarh wat-Ta’deel.‘ And one time he said while he was asleep and while he was moving his hand as someone writing would, ‘Bring [the book] Sunan Abu Dawood and the problem will be solved.’

One time he said to me whilst he was asleep, ‘Bring the first volume of the book Al-Targheeb and Tarheeb.’ So I brought it. He then said to me, ‘Open it,’ and I did. He said, ‘Look at one, two, three ahadith. Are these approximately equal in length?’ So I said, ‘No. There is one amongst them which is long.’ He said, ‘Go …’—this is during sleep, he is talking whilst he is asleep. I then said to him, ‘This third hadith is long.’ So he asked, ‘Who narrated it?’ I replied, ‘So and so.’ Then he said, ‘Enough. Return the book.'”

All of this was when he was asleep!”

Al-Imaam al-Albani, Duroos wa Mawaaqif wa Ibar, pp. 65-66.

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Category: The Shaikh’s Biography