The Albaani Site

Translation from the Works of the Reviver of this Century
May 8, 2011

Dreams People saw about Shaikh al-Albaani


 

Shaikh Muhammad Moosaa Nasr said, “I saw a dream in which there was a group of people who had swarmed together before some steps which led up to a balcony in front of which there was a door. No one was climbing up the steps, they only looked at the balcony and the door.

So I said to them, “Who are you looking for? And what are you looking at?” So they said, “The Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم).”

So I broke through the rows and went up the stairs until I came to the terrace before the door so that I could have the honour of seeing the Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And the people were below the steps looking towards the door. Then the door opened and Shaikh al-Albaani came out, may Allaah have mercy on him.

So I interpreted it to mean that he is [someone] who has the greatest share of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), for standing up for his Sunnah and acutely following his guidance (صلى الله عليه وسلم). And I told the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy upon him, about this dream. And it is as though the dream is saying that whoever wants the way of the Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) then he should pay heed to the one coming out of the balcony door who will guide him to the methodology of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

[Shaikh Moosaa continued] another dream was seen by an Algerian sister who is a reader of the Asaalah magazine [which this piece was taken from], and from those who held the Shaikh and his methodology in great esteem. [This sister] told me in a letter which she had sent to Asaalah that she saw Abu Ubaidah Aamir ibn al-Jarraah, may Allaah be pleased with him, the venerable Companion and the trustee of this Ummah in a dream she had before daybreak, and he was saying to her, “Convey my salaam to Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani.” Then she woke up and was crying out of joy saying, “I’m not worthy of that. I’m not worthy of that.”

So I interpreted it to mean that the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy upon him, was a trustee over this Ummah, for the scholars are the trustees of the Sharee’ah, and our Shaikh al-Albaani was from those few who were trustees of Allaah’s Religion, advising His Servants, this is what we think, and Allaah knows best.”

As-Sadlaan said, “And the noble Shaikh Ihsaan al-Utaibi said, “And the last time I met him I told him about a dream a brother of ours had seen. And it was that this brother saw the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and asked him, “When I find something difficult [to understand] in hadith who should I ask?” So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “Ask Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani.” And I hardly finished telling him the dream when he started to cry profusely, and was saying [the supplication of Abu Bakr, may Allaah be pleased with him], “O Allaah!  Do not hold me to account for what they say.  And make me better than what they think.  And forgive me that which they do not know.””

And Shaikh Muhammad Ibrahim Shaqrah, may Allaah protect him, said, “One of our good brothers here in Syria saw a dream a short while before the death of Shaikh Ibn Baaz in which there were two stars in the sky which had started to head towards the earth with force. One of them reached the earth and the other remained close to the earth [but did not actually reach it].

But the one that did caused a terrifying boom which horrified the people and made them ask what the news was. Then this person [who saw the dream] woke up and asked someone who interpreted dreams about it and he replied, “This is something which will shake society when it happens and will have a drastic effect [on it]. Then a similar event will follow it, and that is the second star.”

So this person who told me the dream said, “So hardly a few days had passed when the news of the death of Shaikh Ibn Baaz came, may Allah have mercy on him, and then Shaikh al-Albaani died a short while after him, may Allaah have mercy on him, and that is the interpretation of the second star which fell a short while after the first.””

And Abu Muhammad Abdullaah ibn Rasheed al-Inazi who is the Imaam of the Hishaam ibn al-Aas mosque in Hafr al-Baatin told me in a fax he sent to me that he saw a dream in which there were four snow-white birds in the sky flying in from the north, i.e., from the direction of Syria, carrying a body. When they passed by over our heads we saw that it was the body of Imaam al-Albaani, may Allaah have mercy on him. Abu Muhammad said, “By Him besides whom there is none worthy of worship, I saw him covered in a very modest shroud the closest thing it resembled being the gauze used to cover wounds, such that I saw through it [seeing that] he had placed his right hand on his left and had raised his right index finger to the sky.  Then the birds took him in the direction of the horizon until he disappeared from our sight.

This dream occurred after Asr prayer, and then after maghrib one of the brothers called me and informed me that Shaikh al-Albaani had passed away, so I said, ‘Truly, to Allaah we belong and truly, to Him shall we return.’”

And in tape number five hundred an Algerian sister phoned the Shaikh and mentioned a dream in which she saw the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) on a path. Then a Shaikh came asking about the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and so he was shown which way he went. Then she said that her friend who was on the balcony of the house [in the dream] asked her, “Who is this Shaikh that is walking behind the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)?” So I said to her, “This is Shaikh al-Albaani.” So the Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy on him, was overcome and started to cry.”

And you can hear this audio clip here:

Al-Imaam, al-Mujaddid, al-Allaamah, al-Muhaddith, Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, of Umar Abu Bakr, pp. 67-68, [Al-Asaalah, 32/26] and Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, p. 293-295, with slight editing.

2 Comments
May 3, 2011

Al-Albaani when told about a visit to Spain …


Translated by Ahmed Abu Turaab

As-Sadhaan mentioned that, “Shaikh Esaam Haadi, may Allaah the Most High protect him, said, ‘When I came back from Spain I spoke to the Shaikh about the condition of the Muslims there. And from the things that I told him about was the justice the Muslims receive in the lands of kufr in terms of freedom in their worship and [the freedom] to gather. Such that, for example, they can make a request to the municipality to [allow them to] pray the Eed prayer in an open place outside [musalla], [as a result of which] the municipality will prepare a place for them and send a patrol officer to facilitate their parking and passing safely, and things such as this.

So the Shaikh started crying and said, “Allaahu Akbar. The Muslims receive justice and freedom in the lands of kufr which they don’t even get in the lands of Islaam! So Allaah’s Aid is sought, and there is neither movement or power except by the Will of Allaah.”

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, p. 138.

4 Comments
May 1, 2011

Al-Albaani on Ahmed Deedat


 

With regard to Shaikh Ahmed Deedat, some people say, and we asked about his methodology, and, inshaa Allaah naturally it will be from the good methodologies, so some people say, the methodology is not important, the important thing is that he is a Muslim … so if you could clarify this for us O Shaikh, and may Allaah reward you with good.

Shaikh al-Albaani: We truly hope that Shaikh Ahmed is on the Salafi methodology of old, who believe in Allaah and worship Him as He truly ought to be worshipped.

But we need to always remember [generally] that just because a person believes in the presence of a creator of this universe this does not mean that he has become a believer. Two fundamental conditions must be met:

The first: that he bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah.
The second: that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah.

The first condition, that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah does not only mean that the Creator of the universe is One, because it is possible that faith and disbelief come together in one person, faith and disbelief may come together in one person. The one who says, ‘None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah,’ [then] naturally this saying has prerequisites, these prerequisites being connected to these two testimonies.

So if we were to picture a person who bears witness that, ‘None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah,’ but [at the same time] he says that the Quraan is deficient … if we were to picture a person who bears witness that, ‘None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah,’ but [at the same time] he says that the Quraan is deficient, then the testimony of Laa ilaaha illallaah has not benefitted this person, because it is like honey poured on to something bitter, ruining it.

And in the same way belief and disbelief gathers in a person, for this reason He, the Most High, said about the early polytheists, “And most of them believe not in Allah except that they attribute partners unto Him.” [Yusuf 12:106]. This aayah shows us that these people are believers but that at the same time they are polytheists, and most of them believe not in Allaah except that their condition is this, that they are polytheists.

So, faith and disbelief can be present in a person, I gave you an example of a person who testifies that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah but [he says], “The Quraan is deficient,” this is shirk, but [the person who said this] believes in Allaah and believes in the Messenger of Allaah, so His Saying, the Most High, applies to him, “And most of them believe not in Allah except that they attribute partners unto Him.”

To be precise in this topic, i.e., that it is possible that faith and disbelief be present in a person, faith and tawheed and shirk, the Saying of our Lord, “And most of them believe not in Allah except that they attribute partners unto Him,” applies to most of the people even in this time [of ours].

Let us take a look at the reality, those Muslims who pray, fast, perform Hajj and give charity, they go to a certain place, or to a grave of the Allies of Allaah [Awliyaa], to seek intercession from them, to seek well-being from them, these people [are from those to whom the Saying of Allaah applies], “And most of them believe not in Allah except that they attribute partners unto Him.”

They know that Allaah exists, but they worshipped others along with Him, whereas Allaah had said [in the Quraan], “You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything),” [Al-Faatihah 1:5], so they sought the aid of other than Him, the Most High.

For this reason, the verifying scholars categorised tawhid into three types:

1 Tawhid ar-Ruboobiyyah (Maintaining the Unity of Lordship)
2 Tawhid al-Uluhiyyah (Singling out Allaah with worship)
3 Tawhid al-Asmaa was-Sifaat (Maintaining the Unity of Allaah’s Names and Attributes)

Namely that Allaah is One in His Essence, One in the fact that He is the only One who deserves to be worshipped, none other than Him is to be worshipped, and that He is One in His Attributes, “There is nothing like unto Him,” [Ash-Shuraa 42:11]. This does not mean that Allaah exists and that’s it! No, [but rather that] Allaah exists and nothing from His Creation resembles Him.

So for example, in their celebrations the Christians spread these pictures, you will see pictures of their lord, an old Shaikh, with a long white beard, is that the Lord of all Creation whom nothing resembles?

The Jews and the Christians believe that this universe has a creator, so they believe in the first type of tawhid, what is it called? Tawhid ar-Ruboobiyyah (Maintaining the Unity of Lordship), i.e., that this universe has a creator.

Questioner: Is the one who says this an atheist?

Shaikh al-Albaani: They differ from the atheists or naturalists, those who say there is no creator and no creation, the Jews and the Christians say that Allaah is the One who created the universe so they are monotheists in Tawhid ar-Ruboobiyyah, but when it comes to tawhid al-uluhiyyah, the tawhid of worship, then the Jews worshipped Uzair and the Christians worshipped Jesus.

These people disbelieved in the tawhid of worship, so they do not say, ‘None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah,’ and if they have said it, then it is either out of hypocrisy or ignorance as to its true meaning, for if not, if they said it believing in it, they would not have worshipped Jesus, nor would they have submitted to him, or prostrated to him and so on, nor would they have placed his image and that of his mother Maryam in the churches.

These people are believers from one angle, and disbelievers from another since they are not like the atheists who say there is no god, no, they do say that Allaah exists, but look what is the benefit of that saying when they liken Allaah to His Creation?

Questioner: Or when they worship others alongside Him?

Shaikh al-Albaani: Or when they worship others alongside Him, ah, here is the [main] point from [all of] this talk–many of the Muslims, and I do not only mean their general masses, but many of their scholars or students of knowledge too, say, ‘None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah,’ but they worship other than Allaah, and they disbelieve in Him as regards His Attributes.

Now for example, we know that many of them other than those we just pointed to, [we know that] they call on the dead and the righteous, submitting to them, praying by them and so on, they say that Allaah exists in all places, [but indeed] Allaah is greater than all things, and He was in existence when there was nothing other than Him, so what/how is it that you went and put Him and the universe together [as one]? To such an extent that some of them said, “And Allaah in relation to these Shaikhs …  is but as a snowflake in water.”

Can you differentiate between snow and water? This is Allaah in the eyes of these people, this is disbelief.  In the Noble Quraan it says that Allaah is Self-sufficent and in no need whatsoever of His Creation, [but] these [people] have gathered Him [in the same category as] the creation like a silkworm which harms itself, it digs itself in and becomes strangulated and dies–[but the reality is that] Allaah is in no need of the worlds whatsoever, so these people have believed from one angle and disbelieved from the other.

For this reason, and in reality it matters to us that Shaikh Ahmed [Deedat], may Allaah reward him with good, has fulfilled a great obligatory action, but this undertaking and this exertion [jihaad] will only benefit him if he believes in Allaah as one Lord, as [the only] One who is worshipped, [i.e., fulfilling all requirements of tawhid like all Muslims should] and what is not meant by [this saying], ‘that He is the only One worshipped,’ [is to restrict it to only mean] that he prays just to Him, no, for if he called upon Khidr in a time of need then he would not have worshipped Allaah alone, since supplication is part of worship, he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “Du’aa is worship.”

So we hope that he [i.e., Deedat] has studied the correct tawhid in his land so that he is a muwahhid [monotheist, who] singles Allaah out solely in His Essence, in His worship, a muwahhid of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, in relation to His Attributes, [i.e., the] three [categories of tawhid], and then his jihaad would be something about which we could say that he has performed an obligatory duty that all of the [other] Shaikhs did not carry out.

Questioner: Allaahu Akbar.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes, by Allaah.  May Allaah reward him with good.

Questioner: May Allaah bless you, our Shaikh, may Allaah bless us by [allowing us to benefit from] your life, inshaa Allaah.

Shaikh al-Albaani: May Allaah protect you.

Questioner: Please carry on, our Shaikh.

Shaikh al-Albaani: What is meant byTawheed ar-Rububiyyah is that the Muslim decisively believes that the Creator of this universe and all that it contains is one in His Essence, having no equal/opponent, no partner.

The Magians believe that there are two gods, a god of evil and a god of good, they committed shirk in [the first category] Tawhid ar-Rububiyyah, do you understand?

So if the Muslim, Allaah forbid, were to believe that there are Allies of Allaah [Awliyaa] and righteous people who can harm and benefit along with Allaah, and who can give life and death, and who can feed and give provisions, [then] he would have disbelieved in tawhid, tawhid ar-Rububiyyah, and would have associated partners with Him, because [through this belief of his] he would have held there to be two creators: [he would have held that] Allaah creates the good and evil and that likewise the Allies of Allaah [Awliyaa] and the righteous people give provisions, give life and death, and for this reason he [such a Muslim] goes to them, seeking blessings from them.

Question: There are many women who cannot get pregnant who take themselves and go to a tree under which there is the grave of a wali and so she will tie things above [the grave on the tree] and so on, yes.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Allaahu Akbar, this is shirk in rububiyyah. Shirk in Lordship [uluhiyyah] is shirk in worship, and it is that someone worships other than Allaah while believing that Allaah is One in His Essence but [at the same time] he slaughters for such and such wali, this is shirk in worship, he calls upon so and so the wali, [even though] that wali has become dust in his grave, a man from mankind, [but this Muslim] believes that he can hear and save him, and harm and benefit, this would then have become shirk in worship.”

Mawsoo’atul-Allaamah, al-Imaam, Mujaddidil-Asr, Muhammad Naasirid-Deen al-Albaani, of Shaikh Shady Noaman, vol.2, pp. 59-64.

22 Comments
April 30, 2011

On Hizbut-Tahrir | 2


“… As for the first discussion then by it I am referring to the Islamic callers whom it is assumed are not blind followers, from those who give precedence to the sayings of the Imaams who are not infallible over and above the sayings of Allaah and His Prophet who is infallible.

So when the affair, therefore, goes back to creed, and creed is taken from the Book and the Sunnah and what the Salaf were upon, because these Salaf are what is referred to in the first aayah, “And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the Believers …,” ‘and follows other than the way of the Believers,’ Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, did not mention this sentence in the middle of this aayah in mere jest or in vain, but rather to firmly establish a principle by it, and to lay down a foundation through it, which is: that in understanding the Book of our Lord and the Sunnah of our Prophet it is not permissible for us to rely on our intellects which are [intellects] that have come later in time [than the Salaf] and which differ in their understanding.

The Muslims will only be following the Book and the Sunnah, both in principle and [upon a firm] foundation, when they add to the Book and the Sunnah: “… and what the Pious Predecessors were upon.”  Because the text of this aayah includes [the fact that] it is obligatory upon us not to oppose the Messenger, not to contradict and oppose the Messenger, just as it includes [the fact that] we should not oppose and follow a path other than that of the Believers.

So both the first and second restrictions mentioned in this aayah mean that it is obligatory on us to follow the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and to abandon contradicting and opposing him, just as it is obligatory on us to follow the path of the Believers and not to oppose it.

Based upon this we say, based upon this firstly we say: it is upon every sect or Islamic group to correct the root of its starting point and [that is done by]: relying on the Book, and the Sunnah, and upon what the Pious Predecessors were upon. Hizb at-Tahrir do not adopt this condition/restriction as [part of their] thought nor do the Muslim Brotherhood and nor those like them from the many sects. And we only refer to the Islamic sects [when we say this], as for those that have openly declared war against Islaam like the Ba’athists or the Communists, then we are not talking about them now.

So the point [being established here] is this third principle: following the path of the Believers–Hizb at-Tahrir do not adopt it, nor do all the other sects.

When the affair is as such, then it befits every Muslim male or female to know that when a path is bent or crooked from the top then every time it moves forward it will increase in its deviation or digression and distance from the path that is straight and about which the Lord of all the worlds said in the Noble Quraan, “And verily, this is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His Path.” [Al-An’aan 6:153].

This aayah is explicit and unequivocal in its meaning as Hizb at-Tahrir, from amongst all of the other Islamic Islamic groups, constantly love to say in their call, their books, their lectures, ‘This is unequivocal in its meaning.’ That is because the aayah says that the path which leads to Allaah is one and that the other paths are the ones which will distance the Muslims from the Path of Allaah, “And verily, this is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His Path.”

And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) further explained and clarified this aayah, as is his way (صلى الله عليه وسلم) always and forever, as Allaah the Mighty and Majestic, mentioned in the Noble Quraan when he addressed His Messenger saying, “And We sent down unto you the Reminder [i.e., the Quraan] that you may explain clearly to the people what was sent down to them,” [Nahl 16:44]. So the Sunnah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is the complete explanation of the Quraan.

The Quraan is the root/foundation, it is the constitution of Islaam, as for the Sunnah, then it is [that which] explains and consolidates it.  And without comparing and only by way of clarifying [what I mean]: the Quraan in relation to the system of the earth is like a constitution, and the Sunnah is like the Law which explains the constitution.

For this reason it was agreed upon by all of the Muslims without exception that it is not possible to understand the Quraan except with the explanation of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), this is something unanimous.

But the thing in which the Muslims differed, [the thing] in which their footsteps differed, is that all of the misguided groups of the past did not pay any heed to this third principle, which is, “… following the Pious Predecessors,” and by doing so they opposed the aayah which I just mentioned over and over again. Thereafter they opposed the Path of Allaah, because the Path of Allaah is one, and it is that which is mentioned in the previous aayah, “And verily, this is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His Path.”

I say: indeed the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) made this aayah even clearer through that which one of his (صلى الله عليه وسلم) Companions reported from him who was well known for his understanding, Adbullaah ibn Mas’ood, may Allaah the Most High be pleased with him, where he said, “The Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) drew a straight line one day upon the earth, then he drew small lines around this straight oen, then he pointed his noble finger to the straight line and recited the aayah, “And verily, this is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His Path.” He (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, while passing his finger over the straight line, “This is the Path of Allaah.” Then he pointed to the short lines around it and said, “And these are [other] paths, at the head of each one is a devil calling the people to it.” So this hadith also explains another one [which I will mention now], and this other one along with the hadith of the straight line are regarded as those which explain the aayah about the Path of the Believers.

[And it is] that hadith which the companions of the Sunan reported, like Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi and their likes from the Imaams of Hadith by way of a number of people from a group of the Companions, may Allaah be pleased with all of them, like Abu Hurairah, Mu’aawiyah, Anas ibn Maalik and other than them, that the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “The Jews split into seventy one sects. And the Christians split into seventy two sects. And my nation will split into seventy three sects. All of them are in the Fire except for one.” They said, “Who are they, O Messenger of Allaah?” He said, “It is that which I and my Companions are upon.”

This hadith clarifies the aforementioned Path of the Believers in the ayah for us. Who are the Believers [being referred to] in it? They are those which the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) mentioned in the hadith of the sects when asked about the Saved Sect, its methodology, its characteristics, its starting point. So he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “It is that which I and my Companions are upon,” “It is that which I and my Companions are upon,” so I would like you to pay attention, because the answer of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) if it isn’t revelation from Allaah, then it is an explanation from the Prophet of Allaah regarding ‘the Path of the Believers’ mentioned in the Saying of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, which I quoted to you many times just now.

Whereby Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, mentioned the Messenger in the aayah and [also] mentioned the Path of the Believers. In the same way the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) made the [distinguishing] sign of the Saved Sect which is not from the seventy-two misguided ones, he made its sign: that it will be upon what the Prophet and his Companions were upon.

So we find in this hadith the same thing we found in the aayah. Just as the aayah did not restrict itself to making mention of the Prophet alone, then in the same way the hadith did not restrict itself to mentioning the Prophet alone–rather the aayah mentioned the Path of the Believers and likewise the hadith mentioned the Companions of the Noble Prophet, so the hadith came together [perfectly] with the Quraan. This is why he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “I have left two things among you. You will never go astray so long as you hold on to them: the Book of Allaah and my Sunnah. And they will never split until they return to me at the Lake.”

Many of the sects of the past and [also] modern day ones do not pay attention to the restriction mentioned in the aayah and in this hadith, the hadith about the seventy-three sects, where he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) made the characteristic of the Saved Sect, indeed the [distinguishing] sign of the Saved Sect, that it will be upon what the Messenger and his Companions were upon.

Similar to this hadith somewhat is the hadith of al-Irbaad ibn Saariyah, and he is from the Companions of the Prophet, from the People of the Saff, who were poor and would always stick to the mosque, always being present at the gatherings of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), and he took knowledge from the Book of Allaah and the mouth of the Prophet fresh and new. Al-Irbaad said, “The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) gave us an admonition which caused the hearts to fear and the eyes to shed tears, so we said, “Advise us, O Messenger of Allaah.” So he said, “I advise you to fear Allaah, and to hear and obey, even if an Abyssinian slave is placed in authority over you. And whoever lives long from amongst you will see great controversy. So stick to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the orthodox, rightly-guided caliphs after me, cling to that with your molar teeth, and beware of the newly-invented matters, for every newly-invented matter is an innovation and every innovation is misguidance …”

The proof [taken from] this hadith is that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did not restrict [his answer] to encouraging the Muslims when they differ … he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “Indeed whoever lives from you will see great conflict.”

For this reason the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) answered in a wise manner, and who is wiser or more just than him after the Most Just of all judges? No one from mankind is wiser than the Messenger of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) for this reason when he said, “Indeed whoever lives from you will see great conflict…” he answered the mandatory question [which follows such a statement] … [i.e.,] so what should we do, O Messenger of Allaah, he said, “So upon you is [to follow] my Sunnah …” but he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did not suffice with ordering those who live in the time of differences like this era of ours, he did not suffice with his saying, “So upon you is [to follow] my Sunnah …” only, rather he increased upon that, saying, “And the Sunnah [way] of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.”

Thus, let the Muslim who is sincere to himself add this [condition] to his creed that it is obligatory to return to the Book, the Sunnah and to the Path of the Believers [this being based upon] the proof taken from the aayah, the hadith about the [seventy-three] sects and the hadith of al-Irbaad ibn Saariyah …”

3 Comments
April 27, 2011

On Hizbut-Tahrir | 1


The­­­ following is the translation of a lecture by the Shaikh.  I’ll be posting it in parts, and the PDF will follow at the end, inshaa Allaah.

باب كلمة حول مصادر الاستدلال عند أهل السنة، مع بيان التعرض لبيان موقع العقل من هذه المصادر، وبيان خطأ تقسيم الأحاديث إلى ظنية

ويقينية وما يترتب على ذلك

Chapter A Talk Concerning the Sources which the Ahlus-Sunnah Derive Proofs from, along with an Examination of the Position of the Intellect in Relation to these Sources, and an Explanation of the Incorrectness of Categorising the Sayings of the Prophet into Hypothetical and Absolute and what that Entails

The Imaam said, “All Praise is due to Allaah, we praise Him, and seek His help and forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allaah, the Most High, from the evils of our own selves and from our wicked deeds. Whomsoever has been guided by Allaah, none can misguide him, and whomsoever has been misguided by Allaah, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no true god worthy of being worshipped except Allaah, Alone, without partner or associate. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His true slave and Messenger.

O you who believe! Fear Allaah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islaam (as Muslims with complete submission to Allaah). Aali Imraan 3:102

O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam) and from him He created his wife, and from them both He created many men and women, and fear Allaah through Whom you demand your mutual (rights) and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allaah is ever an All-Watcher over you. An-Nisaa 4:1

O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allaah and fear Him, and speak (always) the Truth, He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allaah and His Messenger, he has indeed achieved a great success. Al-Ahzaab 33: 70-71

As for what follows:

Then the best of speech is the Speech of Allaah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم). The worst of affairs are the newly-invented matters, and every newly-invented matter is an innovation and every innovation is misguidance and all misguidance is in the Fire.

In front of me are two questions which both centre around one point, which is: a question about Hizb at-Tahrir.

The first question says: I have read a lot about Hizb at-Tahrir and many of their ideas appeal to me. So I would like that you explain or that you give us a synopsis of Hizb at-Tahrir.

The second question is talking about the same topic but he wants an explanation and says: We would like an extensive explanation from you about Hizb at-Tahrir, its goals, its ideas, their mistakes, and whether their mistakes have permeated and caused corruption in the matters of creed?

In answering these two questions, I say: any sect–and I do not only mean Hizb at-Tahrir to the exclusion of the other Islamic groups, or the [other] Islamic fronts, or the [other] Islamic factions–any one of these groups whose sect or group is not established on the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Prophet of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم), and in addition to the[se] two sources I say: the methodology of the Pious Predecessors … any group which is not established on the Book, the Sunnah and the methodology of the Pious Predecessors then without doubt the outcome of its affair will be loss.

And that no matter how sincere it is in its call … and my research and answer is only concerning these Islamic groups which it is assumed are sincere to the Religion of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, and [sincere] in their advice to the ummah, as occurs in the authentic hadith, which indeed is his saying (صلى الله عليه وسلم), “The religion is sincere advice. The religion is sincere advice. The religion is sincere advice.” They said, “To whom, O Prophet of Allaah?” He said, “To Allaah, His Book, and the leaders of the Muslims and their general masses.” [Muslim, no. 205].

So when the call of any one of these groups is not based upon the Book, the Sunnah and the methodology of the Pious Predecessors, then it will not reap anything except loss from its call. This is because the affair is as our Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, has said in the Noble Quran, “And those who strive for Us, We will surely guide them to Our Ways.” [Ankaboot 29:69].

So whoever’s striving is for Allaah, and is upon the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Prophet of Allaah, upon the methodology of the Pious Predecessors, then these are the ones to whom the saying of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, applies, “If you help [in the cause of] Allaah, He will help you.” [Muhammad 47:7]. I repeat this great principle to you which every Muslim group has to base its call upon: the Book, the Sunnah, upon the methodology of the Pious Predecessors.

So when the affair is as such, then I say based upon my acquaintance with all of the groups and sects established on the face of the Islamic earth today, that all of them, except for one group, and I do not say, ‘[except for] one ‘sect,’’ because this [one] group does not split into sects, and does not form a coalition, nor show partisanship or bigotry, except towards the previous principle we just mentioned, which is: the Book of Allaah, the Sunnah of the Prophet of Allaah, and the methodology of the Pious Predecessors …

I know very well that no one apart from this group calls to this principle which we have just clarified and which I have repeated many times, over and over again, to you. Rather they recourse back to the Book and the Sunnah only, and do not join our previous saying, i.e., ‘… on the methodology of the Pious Predecessors,’ to the Book and the Sunnah.

At that moment the importance of this third principle, ‘… on the methodology of the Pious Predecessors,’ will become clear to you, it will become clear to you through the reality of the [situation of the] Islamic groups, rather the Islamic sects, from the day they first raised their heads, or showed their horns, amongst the first Islamic groups: i.e., from the day the Khawaarij revolted against Ali ibn Abi Taalib, and from the day of Ja’d who called with the call of the Mu’tazilah, and those who came after him, following him in his I’tizaal, to other than those groups whose names were well-known in the past, and which are reviving their ideas in recent times using new names.

These groups, all of them, the old and the new, no group can be found among them that says and [openly] declares, “We are not on the Book and the Sunnah.” All of these sects, bearing in mind the differences between them, whether these differences are in creed, fundamentals, or whether in [matters of] rulings or subsidiary issues, all of these who are split in their religion say, as we do, “The Book and the Sunnah,” but they split away from us for they do not utter our saying, which is the completion of our call, ‘… on the methodology of the Pious Predecessors.’

So, what is it that judges between these groups when all of them, at least verbally and in their call, affiliate themselves to the Book and the Sunnah? What is the determining judge between [all of] these who say the same thing?

The answer is, ‘… on the methodology of the Pious Predecessors.’

Here, as they say nowadays, a question presents itself with regard to some people, and it is: where did we get this addition from, i.e., ‘… on the methodology of the Pious Predecessors?’

We got it from the Book of Allaah and from the hadith of the Prophet of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and what the Imaams of the Pious Predecessors and the masses of the Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah, as they say nowadays, traversed upon.

The first of that is His Saying, the Blessed and Most High, “And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the Believers we shall keep him in the path he has chosen and burn him in Hell–and evil it is as a destination.” [Nisaa 4:115].

So you hear His Saying, the Mighty and Majestic, in this aayah, “And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger…” so if Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, had not mentioned, “…and follows other than the way of the Believers …,” if the aayah had been: “And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him, we shall keep him in the path he has chosen and burn him in Hell–and evil it is as a destination,” [then] according to the call of those groups of the past and the modern ones … they would not have lost out on anything if this good sentence was not part of the aayah, i.e., His Saying, the Most High, “…and follows other than the way of the Believers …,” because they say, “We are on the Book and the Sunnah.” It is obligatory, firstly, to implement this saying by following the Book and the Sunnah completely and secondly by implementing it practically.

For example, His Saying, the Mighty and Majestic, which is well-known amongst the scholars, “And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger, if you believe in Allaah and the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination.” [An-Nisaa 4:59]. The blind followers from all of the Islamic world when called to Allaah and His Messenger, [when called] to the Book of Allaah and the hadith of His Prophet, they say, “No, we follow our madhhab,” this one says, “My madhhab is Hanafi,” and this one, “My madhhab is Shaafi’ee,” and so on.

So have these [people] who have established their blind-following of the Imaams in place of following the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Prophet of Allaah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) implemented this noble aayah which I mentioned lastly, “And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger …?”

The answer is that they have not done anything from that, [and] thus their saying, “We are on the Book and the Sunnah,” did not benefit them because they do not practically implement the Book and the Sunnah. This is an example by which I wanted to make clear the topic [at hand] firstly, because I am referring to the blind followers through this example …”

Mawsoo’atul-Allaamah, al-Imaam, Mujaddidil-Asr, Muhammad Naasirid-Deen al-Albaani, of Shaikh Shady Noaman, vol. 1, pp. 230-234.

4 Comments
April 25, 2011

Following the Understanding of the Salaf


The following is the translation of a lecture given by the Shaikh.  The PDF version can be found here: The Understanding of the Salaf

باب مصادر الاستدلال عند أهل السنة
الكتاب، السنة، فهم سلف الأمة، وبيان أثر التنكب
عن منهج فهم السلف في أبواب العقيدة

Chapter
Being a Discussion of the Sources which the Ahlus-Sunnah Derive Proofs from: The Book, The Sunnah, and The Understanding of the Pious Predecessors of the Ummah And a Clarification of the Effect of Deviating from the Methodology of the Pious Predecessors in the Affairs of Creed

“In the Name of Allaah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful, all praise is for Allaah, and may the peace and praise of Allaah be upon the Messenger of Allaah, may the prayers of Allaah, the Most High, be upon him, his family, and his Companions. As for what follows:

Then verily Allaah, the Most High, has favoured us with the blessing of faith, and has favoured the ummah with the scholars, the ones whom He, the Most High, honoured through the knowledge He gave them so that they could illuminate the path to Allaah and to the worship of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, for the people. And they are the inheritors of the Prophets without doubt. The reason for our coming here [today], [a reason] which will remain, inshaa Allaah, is [to seek] the Pleasure of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, and to seek [that] knowledge which leads to it, inshaa Allaah.

And by Allaah, this is certainly an excellent hour that we are able to meet our Shaikh, our scholar and our great teacher, the Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, in the name of the residents of this district firstly, the Shuwaikah district, we welcome our excellent Shaikh wholeheartedly, and [we welcome him] in the name of the residents of Al-Mafraq, and especially [in the name of] its students of knowledge, who all welcome [him] too and who have been eager to meet our noble teacher today–and there is no harm in that because all of us are eager to hear the pearls of knowledge and wisdom that he possesses inshaa Allaah.

So let us listen to Read the rest of this entry »

11 Comments
April 23, 2011

The Definition of Creed [Aqeedah] and the Importance of Calling to it


[1] Chapter: The Definition of Creed [Aqeedah]

The Imaam said, “Creed is everything that is connected to the world of the Unseen to which a ruling regarding actions is not connected.”

[2] Chapter: The Importance of Calling to Creed

“My opinion is that we must talk about creed in all of the Islamic world, and [talk about] the failure of the entire Islamic world in turning away from [the affairs of] creed and from clarifying it to the people.  The greatest proof is that the well-known Islamic sects, [which have] large numbers and have been around rallying for a long time, hold that busying oneself with calling to Allaah and correcting [people’s] views is a mistake.

And we have had many unfortunate experiences [in this matter].  More than thirty years ago when I was in Madeenah, we were sitting in a gathering exactly like this one, but we were sitting as they do in an Arabic gathering, on the floor, and I was sitting in the place where this brother Maneer is sitting, i.e., [I was] the last one.

A man entered who was an eloquent orator [khateeb] and the head of an Islamic group which was well-known in some lands.  So he gave salaam and started to shake [everyone’s] hand.  I noticed his facial features started to change [i.e., he was upset and started to frown] as occurs in the hadith.  And the reason was that nobody stood up for him, and there is no doubt that this is something which is not common in such gatherings, [especially] for someone entering [who is] of his standing in society.

[He carried on] until he reached me and I was the last one sitting there, right next to the door, so I said [trying] to [console] him, “O Ustaadh! As we say in Syria, ‘[You are] honourable without [anyone even having to] stand up,’” [I said this] because I felt that he felt something in himself due to these people not having stood up for him.  He had hardly heard these words when he exploded and said, “O Ustaadh! We now want to busy ourselves with such details and such and such …” and he was boiling as they say in the Arabic language [yahdur]: boiling … and he was a khateeb, [and he was saying], “And we have to be united, and we are living with the Ba’athists and the Shi’ites and …” and so on.

So I left him until he finished and then said, “O Ustaadh! Does it suffice me to say based upon what I have heard from you that it suffices us to unite upon [the declaration of faith], ‘None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah,’ without understanding?” He said, “[Yes], even without understanding.”

What do you think?  The head of an Islamic group!

And I know that these sects live on this principle.  They are satisfied that the generality of the Muslims say, ‘None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah,’ even if they have not understood that this declaration of faith or that these good words demand disbelieving in the false objects of worship [taaghoot].  But not [just] disbelieving in the false objects of worship which only refer to the present day meaning, because this too is from the present-day calamities–[that] many of the Muslim youth nowadays [hold that] the false object of worship [taaghoot] is the ruler who does not judge by what Allaah has revealed, whereas [the reality is that] there are many different types of false objects of worship … these vows and oaths and supplications directed to other than Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, these negate the declaration [that], ‘None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah …’ in the eyes of the one who understands [that], ‘None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah,’ means tawhid al-uluhiyyah and tawhid al-ibaadah.

The Islamic world lives like this, for this reason it is upon the callers to Islaam to truly gather, not only on good technique, which their talk is always centred on, but rather [to gather on] correct knowledge from the Book and the Sunnah along with that, this is what the Islamic world is in need of …”

Mawsoo’atul-Allaamah, al-Imaam, Mujaddidil-Asr, Muhammad Naasirid-Deen al-Albaani,  of Shaikh Shady Noaman, vol. 1, p. 169-170.

1 Comment
April 22, 2011

His Illness and Death


 

His son Abdul-Lateef said, “One time he was speaking in his sleep so I came close to him to listen to what he was saying. So he opened his eyes all of a sudden and said, “You spying on me?” and then laughed. He used to join his prayers at the end of his life, in the last two months. And his shop is still there in Damascus, ‘Al-Albaani Watches.’

We used to feel sympathy for him for not sleeping, he would stay awake all night to author [works] and check and verify. He would go to sleep at 11 at night, then I could tell that at 1 in the morning he would get up and stay awake until Fajr. He would sleep for two hours during the day, so he would be busy for twenty hours and sleep for four.

And I make special mention of the fact that during his washing [after he passed away] we noticed the marks/effects on his back of all that [long] sitting.” Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, p. 268, with editing.

Dr. Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullaah as-Sadhaan said, “During the last three years of his life, he, may Allaah have mercy on him, used to suffer from a number of ailments, yet along with all of this he was patient and hoped for Allaah’s reward. He had lost a lot of weight and I saw that myself a month before his death. Some of the ailments he suffered from were anaemia, and problems with his liver and one of his kidneys.

And so after a life full of knowledge and action, calling to Allaah and patience, he, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him, passed away after asr time, on Saturday, 22nd Jumaada al-Aakhirah 1420 [October 1999], may Allaah make Firdous his abode.

And his funeral was prepared quickly on the same day as per his will. And the bier was carried on the shoulders from his house to the grave.” Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, p. 292.

Shaikh Muhammad Moosaa Nasr said, “And he was buried in a small graveyard … as he wanted. For one day he passed by the Hamlaan graveyard with the brother Muhammad al-Khateeb, as Ustaadh Muhammad Shaqrah, may Allaah protect him, told me, and so the Shaikh said to him, “I hope to be buried in this graveyard.” And it was the closest graveyard to his house. And Allaah fulfilled his wish and he was buried there, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him.” Al-Imaam al-Mujaddid, wal-Allaamatul-Muhaddith, Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, p. 65.

3 Comments
April 20, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Will


Here is the Shaikh’s will in his own handwriting:

You can find a translation here.

2 Comments
April 18, 2011

The Scholar’s Praise of Al-Albaani


 

فَمَا عَسَى أَنْ يَقُولَ الشِّعْرُ فِي رَجُلٍ
يَدْعُوهُ حَتَّى عِدَاهُ نَاصِرَ الدِّينِ
وأَيُّ ضَيْرٍ إِذَا فَرْدٌ تَجَاهَلَهُ
وَقَدْ فَشَا فَضْلُهُ بَيْنَ الْمَلايِيْنِ

So what can poetry say about a man,
Whose enemies even call him ‘The Aider of the Religion!’ [Naasirud-Deen]
And what harm is there if an individual ignores him,
When his excellence has spread amongst the millions!

Al-Majdhoob

What They Said

“The Allaamah, the Shaikh, the Faqih, Abdul-Aziz ibn Baaz, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him, said about Shaikh al-Albaani, ‘I have not seen under the surface of the sky a scholar of hadith in this time of ours like the Allaamah, Muhammad Naaasirud-Deen al-Albaani.’

And his eminence was asked about the saying of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلمم, “Indeed, for this nation, at the beginning of every one hundred years, Allaah sends someone who will revive its religion for it.” [Abu Dawud, Shaikh Al-Abaani declared it to be authentic]. So he asked, “Who is the reviver [mujaddid] of this century?” So he, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said, “Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, he is the reviver of this time in my opinion, and Allaah knows best.”

And he said in his Fatwas (25/71), “Shaikh Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani is from our very special and trustworthy brothers, well-known for his knowledge, excellence, and his care in checking the noble hadiths to see which are authentic and weak.”

And he said, “Shaikh Al-Albaani is well-known as being from the Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah and from the helpers of the Sunnah, and from the callers to the Sunnah, and from those who strive greatly [mujaahids] in the path of preserving the Sunnah.”

And he said about him in a letter which he wrote and sent on 2/5/1377ah [24/11/1957ce] to Shaikh Abdul-Fattaah al-Imaam, “I’d like that you pass on my greeting of salaam to those around you from the eminent Shaikhs and brothers, and I specifically mention from them our noble brother, and the one we love for the sake of Allaah, the Shaikh, the Allaamah, Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani.”

And he said, “The Shaikh is well-known with us for having sound creed [aqidah] and [a sound] biography, and for his continuation in calling to Allaah, the One free of all defects, along with the commendable efforts which he expends in [giving] care and attention to the noble hadiths, clarifying the authentic from the weak and fabricated, and all that he has written concerning that in his wide ranging works; [all of this] is work which is laudable and beneficial to the Muslims. We ask Allaah that He multiples his reward and aids him to continue progressing on this path, and that he couples his efforts with success from Him and prosperity.”

And he said, “And Shaikh al-Albaani, may Allaah grant him success, is well-known with us for having a sound creed and good biography, and aiding the madhhab of the Pious Predecessors and embracing it.”

And he said, “From our trustworthy, well-known brothers, from our good brothers, our companion and our brother, the Allaamah, the Shaikh, Muhammad Naasirud-Deen–and he is from the revivers [mujaddideen].”

And Shaikh Ibn Baaz along with his brothers, the Shaikhs from the The Standing Committee for Scholarly Research and Issuing Religious Verdicts, and they are the eminent shaikhs: Abdullaah ibn Qu’ood, Abdullaah ibn Ghudayaan, Abdur-Razzaaq al-Afeefi, said, “The man is well-known with us for knowledge, excellence, venerating the Sunnah and serving it, aiding the madhhab of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah in warning against bigotry and blind following, and his books are beneficial.” This occurs in the 12th volume from the Fatwas of The Standing Committee for Scholarly Research and Issuing Religious Verdicts, p. 224.

The Standing Committee for Scholarly Research and Issuing Religious Verdicts said, “As for the book Silsilah al-Ahadith ad-Da’eefah wal-Mawdoo’ah, then its author [i.e., Shaikh Albaani] is well-versed/read in hadith, strong in its critique and in passing judgement concerning its authenticity or weakness, and at times he has mistakes.”

And in one of Shaikh Ibn Baaz’s lessons, Shaikh al-Albaani’s checking of a hadith from his book Irwaa ul-Ghaleel was read to him, so when the person who was reading it out aloud finished, Shaikh Ibn Baaz, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “If hadith checking [takhrij] is not like this, then there is none.”

The Allaamah, the one having expansive and abundant knowledge [al-bahr], the Shaikh, Muhammad al-Ameen ash-Shanqeetee, may Allaah have mercy upon him, the one who had no comparison in his time in the field of tafseer and language–used to honour and revere Shaikh al-Albaani to a very great extent such that as soon as he would see Shaikh al-Albaani passing by while he was giving his lesson in the Prophet’s Mosque in Medinah, Shaikh ash-Shanqeetee would cut off his lesson and get up and give salaam to the Shaikh, out of respect for him.

The Allaamah, the Shaikh, Muhibbud-Deen al-Khateeb, may Allaah have mercy on him, said about Shaikh al-Albaani, “From the callers to the Sunnah and those who gave their life working to revive it, and he is our distant brother, the Shaikh, Abu Abdur-Rahmaan Muhammad Naasirud-Deen Nooh Najaati al-Albaani.”

The Allaamah, the Shaikh, Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Aal ash-Shaikh [the Mufti of Saudi Arabia before Shaikh Ibn Baaz] may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “And he is a companion of the Sunnah, an advocate for the truth, battling against the people of falsehood.”

The Allaamah, the Faqeeh, the Shaikh, Muhammad Ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said, “That which I know about the Shaikh through the times I met him, and they were few, is that he was extremely eager to act upon the Sunnah, and to fight innovations, whether they were in matters of creed or action.”

He also said, “I came to know this about him through what I read from his works, and that he has a copious amount of knowledge in hadith, their chains of narrations and the understanding taken from them, and that Allaah has benefitted many people through what he has written, as regards knowledge, methodology and turning to the science of hadith, and this is a great benefit for the Muslims, and all praise is due to Allaah.”

And he said, “As for verifying and checking, then how excellent he is [for you to recourse to].”

And one time he saw a cassette on which was written, “By the Muhaddith of Syria Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani.” So he said, “Rather the muhaddith of this age.”

And Shaikh Abdus-Samad Sharafud-Deen, one of the major scholars of India and the Shaikh of the Ahlul-Hadith there, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him, said in a letter he wrote to him, “… and an inquiry has reached Shaikh Ubaidullaah ar-Rahmaani, the Shaikh of the Islamic University, i.e., the Salafi University in Banaras [India], from the Scientific Research and Religious Edicts Committee [Daar Al-Iftaa] in Riyaad from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, about a hadith unusual in its wording and meaning, having a close connection to this age of ours–so the opinion of those present here from the scholars was united that the greatest scholar of the prophetic sayings in this time be referred to, and indeed that is Shaikh al-Albaani, the learned scholar [rabbaani, i.e., pious scholars who practice what they preach].”

The Allaamah, the Muhaddith, Hammaad al-Ansaaree, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him described him as, “… possessing expansive knowledge in the science of hadith.” And in the year 1400ah [1979ce] the King Faisal Foundation wrote to Hammaad al-Ansaaree asking him who he nominates for the King Faisal Award for the Science of Hadith and its fields. So Shaikh Hammaad wrote to them saying that he nominates the Shaikh, the Allaamah, Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani. His son, Abdul-Awwal, mentioned this in Al-Majmoo fee tarjumah Waalidihi (2/598), and in it there also occurs, “My father said, ‘Al-Albaani used to be a hanafi, then he entered in to the [study of] the science of hadith until he reached its peak …”

And he said, “Shaikh al-Albaani studied knowledge fully.”

The Allaamah, the Shaikh, the Specialist [in many fields], Bakr Abu Zaid, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him said in At-Tahdheer min Mukhtasaraat as-Saabooni fit-Tafsir, p. 41, “The manifestation of the knowledge of al-Albaani in the eyes of the people of knowledge, his aiding the Sunnah and the creed of the Pious Predecessors is an affair which none except an ignorant enemy disputes.”

And one time Shaikh Ahmad Shaakir and Shaikh al-Albaani were mentioned so he said about them, “The two venerable Shaikhs.”

And Shaikh Zaid ibn Abdul-Aziz al-Fayyaad, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani is from the distinguished, eminent authorities of this time, who devoted his attention to the sayings of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم [hadith], and their paths of narration and narrators, and their grading in terms of authenticity or weakness–and this is lofty work, from the best of what hours are spent on and effort expended for. And he is like the other scholars in that they are correct and [also] make mistakes, but it is befitting that his excellence be known due to his devotion to this great [branch of] knowledge, and that he be thanked for his concern and care for it, and I ask Allaah to grant us and him success, and [to also grant it] to the scholars of the Muslims and [all the] Muslims in general.”

The Allaamah, the Muhaddith, our Shaikh Abdul-Muhsin al-Abbaad, may Allaah, the Most High, protect him and allow us to enjoy his company [his knowledge etc., by giving him a long life], said, “And al-Albaani is a magnificent scholar who served the Sunnah, and his creed [aqidah] is good and defaming him is not allowed.”

And he said, “Indeed he is the one all will miss, the great, famous scholar, the Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, may Allaah have mercy on him and forgive him. He has colossal efforts in serving the Sunnah, and in giving attention to the sayings of the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, clarifying the sources of those sayings and the books they are mentioned in, [also] clarifying their grade as to whether they are authentic or weak. His service to the Sunnah is well-known and he defended the creed of the Pious Predecessors and their methodology vigorously, no student of knowledge can suffice himself without referring back to his books and written works, for indeed they contain ample good, and in them is abundant knowledge, his written works are numerous and great, and most libraries will not be devoid of his books, or will at least have some of them, and he paid great attention to researching, writing, and referring back to the speech of the scholars and benefitting from them, and the passing away of scholars such as this is, in all reality, [the cause of] a great deficiency in the Muslims, and a calamity and a breach in the [affairs of the] religion.”

And he said, “Indeed these two scholars, i.e., Ibn Baaz and al-Albaani, are from the great scholars, [both] experts and verifiers, who paid exceptional care [to the affairs of religion] and who had very high aims. Each one of them had major efforts in aqidah, great good came about at their hands, and great benefit came to Islaam and the Muslims because of them, so may Allaah reward them with the best of rewards, and forgive them both, and overlook their faults.”

And he said, “So indeed he, in truth, is from the unrivalled scholars of this time, and [is from those] who expended great efforts in serving the Sunnah of al-Mustafaa, صلى الله عليه وسلم.”

And the Shaikh, the Allaamah, the Aider of the Sunnah, Humood ibn Abdullaah at-Tuwaijiri, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him, said, “Al-Albaani now is an eminent authority on the Sunnah, slandering him is helping to slander the Sunnah.”

And when the King Faisal Award for Service to Islaam was mentioned to Shaikh Humood, he said, “Indeed Shaikh Naasir is the most deserving of those who receive it, due to his service for the Sunnah.”

And the Shaikh, the Allaamah, Abdul-Aziz Aal ash-Shaikh, the Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, may Allaah protect him, described him saying, “He aided the Sunnah in this age.” Shaikh Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan described him in the same way.

And the noble Shaikh, the Allaamah, Saalih ibn Abdul-Aziz Aal ash-Shaikh, may Allaah protect him said, “There is no doubt that the loss of the Allaamah Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani is a calamity, for he was one of the eminent authorities of the Ummah, and one of its hadith scholars [muhaddith], and through them, Allaah, the Majestic and Most High, protects this religion and spreads the Sunnah.”

And he also said, “Indeed the late Shaikh has huge achievements in aiding the Salafi creed and the methodology of the people of hadith, along with major, numerous works in serving the Sunnah, distinguishing the authentic sayings of the Prophet from the weak, صلى الله عليه وسلم. And his effect on the Islamic world has been enormous and he is regarded as one of the scholars of the Ummah due to his great and illustrious achievements.”

The Allaamah, the Muhaddith, the Shaikh, Ahmad Mu’abbad Abdul-Kareem, may Allaah the Most High protect him: I [i.e., Shaikh Mashhoor] heard him saying in the house of Shaikh Faalih as-Sagheer in Riyad after midday prayer on Monday 13/11/1327 which corresponds to 4/12/2007, “When I was in secondary school in 1958 I used to follow what the Shaikh, the Allaamah, al-Albaani would say about weak hadith in Al-Wa’ee al-Islaami al-Kuwaytiyyah. And at that time no one else had raised their head with this knowledge except for al-Albaani and Ahmad Shaakir.” And on the same day but in another sitting he said, “When I went to Jordan with Shaikh Mahmood al-Meerah we wanted to meet [Shaikh al-Albaani], in fact we requested that we visit Shaikh al-Albaani, but we were prevented from doing so.” And he said, “I was waiting for Shaikh al-Albaani to come to Riyad to get some treatment. So that I would get to meet the Shaikh, I was in constant contact with Shaikh Waleed ar-Rashoodee, the one who obtained the order for Shaikh al-Albaani to be allowed to receive treatment. But [in the end] the Shaikh never came!”

And the noble Shaikh Abdullaah ibn Abdur-Rahmaan al-Bassaam, a teacher at the Haram Mosque in Makkah and a member of the Committee of Major Scholars, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “Today he is from the Imaams of this time. He exerted himself, his efforts and [spent] his wealth in service of the Sunnah.”

And the Shaikh of the Hanbalees, the Allaamah, Abdullaah ibn Abdul-Aziz ibn Aqeel said in Fathul-Jaleel, pp. 155-156, about Shaikh al-Albaani, “Al-Albaani is our Shaikh and teacher …”

And he was asked which books of today’s scholars should be read, so he mentioned a group of them and said, “And the books of Shaikh al-Albaani, and we hold that he is from the Imaams of the Sunnah, and from the major scholars of hadith [muhaddith], and he served hadith in a major way through his [written] works.” And then he was asked, “Some of them say, ‘Hadith can be taken from him but not fiqh.’” So he said, “It does not harm Shaikh al-Albaani if they say this, [it does not harm him if] one, two, ten or a hundred [people say this]. Shaikh al-Albaani is a scholar and his legacy is present and printed, mistakes do not harm him, is there anyone who doesn’t make a mistake? Is there anyone who doesn’t have mistakes and faults or errors? Perfection is for Allaah, the Blessed and Most High, and the just one is he who takes the good deeds of a person and the bad into consideration. How many books did he author? They come to a hundred.”

And when I [i.e., Shaikh Mashhoor] met Shaikh Ibn Aqeel in Ramadaan in 1428ah [September 2007ce] in Makkah al-Mukarramah I asked him about those who accuse Shaikh al-Albaani of having Irjaa, so he emphatically rejected that and said, “These people have no source and nothing to rely upon for what they say.” And in another sitting he said, “What is wrong with them that they accuse Shaikh al-Albaani of having Irjaa, here he is openly declaring that actions are part of eemaan!”

And Shaikh Abdullaah ibn Sulaimaan al-Manee, the head of the Court of Cassation in Makkah and a member of the Committee of Major Scholars said, “The Muslims have been stricken with the loss of a great scholar from the Salafees, who played a strong role fighting innovations and misguidance and refuting its people with the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. Let alone the prudent checkings and verifications his excellence had [written] in the path of purifying the Sunnah and making clear its authentic from its weak.”

And the noble Muhaddith, the explainer of Sunan an-Nisaa’ee, Shaikh Muhammad Ali Aadam, the Ethiopian [who is in Makkah now] said about al-Albaani, “And he has great authority in being acquainted with hadiths, the authentic from the weak, as his priceless books bear witness to, few are the ones who can come close to him in this time, [a time] in which ignorance about this noble branch of knowledge has become predominant.”

And I [i.e., Shaikh Mashhoor] heard Shaikh Fadl Ilaahi Dhaheer [Ihsaan Ilaahi Dhaheer’s brother] say in Riyad on the 13/11/1427ah [December 2006ce], “I saw light on the face of Shaikh al-Albaani.”

Shaikh Ahmad bin Yahyaa an-Najmee, said, “Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, the great hadith scholar [muhaddith], the famous scholar, author of beneficial works and valuable checkings, who settled in Syria, was Salafi in creed, and expended great efforts in checking and verifying [hadiths] which none can match, so may Allaah reward him with good.”

And Shaikh Muhammad ibn Lutfee as-Sabbaagh, may Allaah protect him said, “The Allaamah, the great scholar of hadith [muhaddith], the greatest scholar of hadith in this time, he devoted his life to serving the pure Sunnah, teaching, writing, checking and verifying.”

Shaikh Abdul-Kareem Zaidaan, may Allaah protect him said, “The muhaddith of this time, the Ustaadh, Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani.”

Shaikh Muhammad Haamid al-Faqee said, “The Salafi brother, the great researcher, the Shaikh, Naasirud-Deen.”

And Shaikh Muqbil ibn Haadi al-Waadi’ee said, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “As for what follows: then I have been asked time and again about Shaikh Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, may Allaah protect him, so I say, as many of the Salaf would say when asked about someone who is greater in worth than the one asked, “I should not be asked about so and so! He should be asked about me …” Indeed no match can be found for Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, may Allaah the Most High, protect him, in [the field of] the science of hadith. And through his knowledge and books Allaah has [caused the Muslims to] benefit many, many times more than what those [people] zealous for Islaam have done upon [their] ignorance, the people of revolutions and [the people who want to] overthrow [governments]. And that which I believe and which I hold to be religion before Allaah is that the Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, may Allaah protect him, is from the revivers which the [following] saying of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, applies to, “Indeed, for this nation, at the beginning of every one hundred years, Allaah sends someone who will revive its religion for it.” Reported by Abu Dawud and al-Iraaqi and others declared it to be authentic. [So] when you come to know that the Shaikh, may Allaah protect him, has no match in the knowledge of the Sunnah, what then do you think his rank is in understanding the texts? That which I know about him is that his understanding of the texts is like that of our major scholars of today, nevertheless I say as Imaam Maalik, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “Everyone has their saying accepted and rejected, except for the companion of this grave,” i.e., the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم.”

Dr. Ameen al-Misree, may Allaah have mercy on him, past head of postgraduate studies at the Islamic University, said, “From the irritable things of this world is that the likes of us, those with doctorates, should be chosen to teach [the science of] hadith at the university when there is someone more worthy of that than us, someone whose students we are not even worthy of being in this knowledge, but [alas] such is the system and convention.” And Dr. Ameen al-Misree, may Allaah have mercy on him, used to always declare that Shaikh al-Albaani had more right and was more deserving of that position than him, and he would regard himself as a student of his.

And the Shaikh, the historian, the genealogist, Hamad al-Jaasir, may Allaah the Most High have mercy on him, said, “And I have come to know, in the city of Damascus, a number of great [people], those concerned with verifying the [Islamic] heritage … just as I knew Shaikh Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani through the many times I frequented the Dhaahiriyyah Library, for he was always there, and had written many of its indexes, and had excavated its rare manuscripts, and at the same time he used to work repairing watches, he had a small shop close to the door of the Amawi Mosque.”

And Shaikh Muhammad Tayyib Awkeej al-Yawsenri, teacher of tafseer, hadith and fiqh at the College of Theology at Ankara University in Turkey, and in the Higher Islamic Institute in the city of Konya , wrote a number of letters to the Shaikh in which he showed his admiration of the Shaikh and to ask him some questions. From them was a letter he wrote on the 7th Sha’baan , 1389ah [19th October 1969ce], saying, “His honourable eminence, the Allaamah, the great researcher, the eminent teacher, the respected Abu Abdur-Rahmaan Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, may Allaah protect him from all adversity, and benefit us with his knowledge, my esteemed teacher … I congratulate you on this great success of yours in the field of knowledge, may Allaah increase the likes of you in the Islamic world, I would love to be able to attain all of your priceless works, so if you could please ask your publishers to send them to me at my address, with thanks in advance.”

And Shaikh Ahmad Madhhar, head of At-Tamuddan al-Islaami in Damascus, was impressed by Shaikh al-Albaani’s knowledge and opened up the avenue to spread many of his calm, critical, articles in the magazine, not caring about the desire of many people who were against that, and he said, “Damascus recognised its greatest scholar of hadith in the Allaamah Badarud-Deen al-Husaini, then when Allaah caused him to die, the land was left void of an Imaam to whom attention could be turned in the science of hadith–except for an Arnaa’ooti youth, raised upon knowledge and piety, and who [indeed] was true to his name [i.e., Naasirud-Deen, ‘Aider of the Religion’], the Ustaadh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, known among the youths for his service to hadith and its sciences, and they gathered around him and he became well-known among them, and through his eloquence and his Arabic tongue, and the charm of his speech and the quality of his debates, he was able to appropriate an elite group [of people] to take from him and study with him.”

And the Shaikh, the Faqeeh, Muhammad al-Ameen, BuKhubzah, al-Hasani, al-Maghribi, said, “… I bear witness with the utmost truth and impartiality, and Allaah is the witness to what I say, that I have not seen amongst those of the scholars who I have met, and they are many, and from whom I took, anyone like Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen ibn Nooh Najaati al-Albaani al-Arnaa’ooti, in terms of his knowledge, his sincerity, his research in the sciences of hadith and its intricate details, his fairness in his research and debates, in addition to his behaviour which is similar to that of the Pious Predecessors [Salaf as-Saalih], I say this and I do not ascribe piety to anyone over and above what Allaah knows [about his true reality].”

Shaikh Muhammad Amaan ibn Alee al-Jaamee, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “I have mentioned a number of times that I love Shaikh Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani and I hold him in high esteem, and truly, I ask Allaah to bear witness and then I ask all of you who are present to bear witness that I love his eminence, Shaikh Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani and I hold him in great esteem, and [that I hold] that he is from the people of knowledge and from the major scholars of hadith. So it is obligatory that we love the people of hadith and the people of knowledge, the people of excellence, we love and respect them.”

And Shaikh Saalih ibn Abdullaah ibn Humayyid [Imaam of the Haram] wrote to him saying, “The venerable father, the Muhaddith of Syria, in fact, the Muhaddith of the world in his time …”

And Shaikh Abu Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Aqeel adh-Dhaahiri wrote to him saying, “Our father, the Shaikh Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, the one who is revered due to his knowledge and his firmness …”

And Shaikh As-Sayyid Saabiq wrote to him saying, “The scholar, the one who acts upon his knowledge, the scholar of hadith [muhaddith], the teacher …”

Here is a scan of the certificate of the King Faisal International Prize awarded to Shaikh al-Albaani in 1999:

Compiled from Juhood al-Imaam al-Albaani, Naasirus-Sunnah wad-Deen, fee Biyaani Aqeedatis-Salaf as-Saaliheen fil-Eemaani billaahi Rabbil-Aalameen, of Ahmad Saalih Hussain al-Jabboori, with an introduction by Shaikh Mashhoor ibn Hasan Aal Salmaan, pp. 18-25, and Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, pp. 217-228.

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April 17, 2011

Shaikh Al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers | E-Book


الحمد لله الذي بنعمته تتم الصالحات

11 Comments
April 16, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … The End



His Imprisonment

Then al-Huwaini asked the Shaikh about the circumstances surrounding his imprisonment in Damascus two times?

Al-Albaani: One of those times was when Jewish planes struck Damascus, so what seems apparent is that the state feared that the Shaikhs might start a revolution, so as a precautionary measure they arrested all the Shaikhs.

Then Shaikh al-Albaani said while he was laughing, “And I don’t know how they regarded me to be from among the Shaikhs this time.”

The second time was when the secret service called me in and said, “What is your opinion about the rulers of today?” So I said to them, “I don’t know them.” They said, “What is your opinion about the system of the ruler, do you support it?” I said, “No.” They said, “Why?” I said, “Because it is against Islaam.”

They took me in a car transferring me from place to place and then put me in police headquarters in order to transfer me–to where, I did not know. A person from my people, an Arnaa’ooti, passed by me and asked why I was present there so I told him about the situation, and he left. He went and asked about the place to which I was about to be transferred and then came back to me and said, “They have decided to expel you to al-Hasakah,” i.e., [an area in the] north-east [corner of] Syria.

So I asked him to go to my son in the shop and tell him to bring my bag to me in which he should place a copy of Sahih Muslim, a sharpener, a pencil, an eraser etc., and that he should meet me here, and that if he does not, then he should meet me at the place where the cars leave for Aleppo.

So the man went to my son who then hurriedly came and brought everything that I had asked for and met me at the place where the vehicles depart just as it was reversing getting ready to go. He climbed on heading towards me and gave me salaam, hugged me and bid me farewell, and then it left with us for Aleppo, and from Aleppo to al-Hasakah.

There is a new, very large and towering prison in al-Hasakah. They placed me in an area which was very long and full of Muslims from Hizb at-Tahrir, the head of them used to attend my lessons in Aleppo, i.e., he was a Salafi and then he turned towards Hizb at-Tahrir. I said to myself, “Many a calamity is beneficial,” [for] I was in constant debate with this group, day and night–but I had brought my provisions with me and wanted to start work but the lamp [where I was] was attached to the ceiling which was very high, so I did not benefit from its light whatsoever.

So I spoke to this companion of ours who used to be a Salafi, his name was Shaikh Mustafaa, and, unfortunately, he had spent about two years in the prison. Due to him having spent such a long time there, some companionship had developed between him and the warden, and it seemed as though the prison warden had some [positive] natural disposition [in character], even though he was a Ba’athist. He indeed used to respond positively to Shaikh Mustafaa and with this group of Muslims and would help them as much as he was able to. They would eat together, sharing their food, and I did so with them too.

The point is that I needed some electricity [i.e., a way of getting more light to be able to read], so Shaikh Mustafaa spoke to the prison warden saying to him, “Shaikh al-Albaani is a student of knowledge and wants to study, because he brought his books with him.” So the warden said to him, “We will bring him what he needs but on his account.” So I told them this was fine and good, he would bring what I needed and I would pay.

So [as a result] the lamp was brought down from the top of the ceiling to the top of my head, totally above it–so I never felt any loneliness in the prison whatsoever, just as Ibn Taymiyyah said, “My imprisonment is my solitude.”

Then al-Huwaini asked the Shaikh about his works which he had finished and those he was still working on and about his methodology in authoring some of those works and he finally asked him to give him some knowledge-based advice so the Shaikh gave him some and encouraged him to fear Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, and finished off by saying:

“I hope that you are given even more tawfeeq [from Allaah].”

The End

Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.

And the translation was finished after Ishaa on the 11th of Jumaada 1 which corresponds to the 15th April, 2011. And all praise is due to Allaah through whose Blessing righteous actions are completed.

14 Comments
April 15, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 13



His Migration to Jordan and the Secret Service

Al-Huwaini: In some of your books you mentioned in general terms your entrance into Amman, Jordan and then your return to Syria once again due to some powerful circumstances. We’d like to know about this situation.

Al-Albaani: I used to live there in a small, modest house, and was searching for [a piece of] land upon which to build a house, so I chose this piece and started to build. Our brothers were very eager for me to start giving them a lesson, as had been the case before I had settled here. I used to come [to Jordan from Syria] every month, or every other month or every third month–depending on my circumstances, and would give them lessons in the house of Shaikh Ahmad Atiyyah. I would also visit Zarqa and give some lessons there. This was my habit before I settled here.

When I [actually] moved there I became busy with building a house … we [finally] did finish building it and moved in, and all praise is due to Allaah. We used to hold the lesson on the roof of Shaikh Ahmad’s house here not the previous one in which I would give the lesson. The roof filled up with people even though it was large, and the lessons were on Riyaad as-Saaliheen [and would last] for about three quarters of an hour and then questions and answers.

The third lesson had hardly come when the secret service turned up behind me. I had prayed dhuhr in Noor Mosque along with my older brother whose name is Muhammad Naaji Abu Ahmad and that day my son, Abdul-Musowwir, was also with me. I was going up the stairs and my brother was behind me and then my son when someone said to my brother, “Are you so and so?” So I turned around and said, “I am so and so.” So he said, “We need you for a while.”

They took me to the secret service and asked me for my ID and asked me about my work and so on. Then someone else came in and it seemed as though he was senior in rank and said to me, “O Shaikh, your presence in this city here is not wanted.”

So I said to him, “Why? For I have been living here for one year now, and not only this, but in fact I bought a piece of land with the permission of the state, and not only this, but I built a home on it with the permission of the state, and not only this, but I got married to one of its women [too].”

So the senior one among them consulted with another and then left.

They then transferred me to another room and questioned me again. After which they took me downstairs with a soldier and put me in a military car and started to take me from place to place until they took me somewhere where there was a group of people, and judging by their faces most of them were base people, i.e., criminals, and they had their belongings with them. Close to them was an army vehicle so I realised that they were about to be transported, and in one of the centres which they had taken me to, one of the people there had said, “They now want to expel you to Syria.”

Then the sergeant came and said, “Come on them, O Youth, get on.” I was the last of them and refused to get on saying to the sergeant, “I do not want to go to Syria,” even though my exit from Syria was totally normal [i.e. the Shaikh had not fled Syria for doing something wrong etc.], and this is a point which many people are ignorant of, because a few months after I had left, the Syrian Revolution had taken place. After I had settled here [i.e., in Jordan] I didn’t think it a good idea to go back to Syria.

So the sergeant lied to me and said, “We will not take you to Syria, we’re taking you to Erbil instead.” Then they took us in the car to the Jordanian-Syrian border and handed me over to a Jordanian officer, who then permitted me to go to the Syrian border and [once] in Syria they questioned me and so I mentioned the story to them. They gave me a piece of paper which had a note [written] on it, saying, “You must report to the Syrian Secret Service after three days.”

When I went to my brother’s house there and stayed there for two nights I consulted with my brothers: should I go to the Syrian Secret Service or should I leave Syria? So all opinions were unanimous in that I should not go to the Secret Service. They said, “Because you do not know what they [might] do to you.” So based upon this I made my decision and travelled to Lebanon.

I remained there for six months approximately and then one of our brothers from the Emirates came and he had a pass to allow me entry into the Emirates and [so] I spent a few months there.

Then one of our brothers here like Abu Maalik [Muhammad Ibrahim Shaqrah] and others made an effort and got in touch with those in authority [in Jordan] until they were able to take the matter to the King [telling him] that the Shaikh is not a revolutionary and nor is he a political person–he is only a person of knowledge. And they presented two boxes full of [my] books to the Chief Minister and said to him, “This is the Shaikh.” And so those in authority allowed me to enter.

So this is how it was, this is the story you asked about.

Al-Huwaini asked the Shaikh about his reason for leaving Syria [to go to Jordan in the first place] and how it happened?

Al-Albaani: Leaving Syria was a natural matter, a plan for the future, i.e., I had made a plan for myself, saying, “I must withdraw myself from the people in whatever remains from my life, and dedicate what remains from it to complete my projects,” or some of my projects at least. Because as you know in Syria I used to travel widely: from Damascus to Homs, to Hama, to Aleppo, to Idlib, to Latakia. So I didn’t want to become busy with the people such that I would not be able to complete my knowledge-based projects.

So I said [to myself], “I will go to a country where I am not well-known.”  But the reality turned out to be the total opposite, and this is as it is said in some of the Israaeeliyyat narrations [i.e., narrations from the People of the Book], “My servant wants [something], and I want something, and nothing will happen except that which I want,” and this is true without doubt.

So I came for this purpose so that I could live far away from being referred back to and [from being asked] questions and so on, and to devote myself to knowledge, so my departure [from Syria] was totally normal.

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 23-25.

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April 14, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 12


 

The following post is from the same book we are going through but occurs later and is not part of the questions and answers section but is connected to the previous post about the Shaikh’s time at Medinah, so I thought I would add it here.

 

“In their biographies of Shaikh al-Albaani, the two Shaikhs, Eed Abbaasi and Ali Khashaan said, ‘Due to that continued effort and the tawfiq that Allaah, the Most High, gave him, many beneficial works [authored by the Shaikh] in the fields of hadith, fiqh, creed and others came to light which show the people of knowledge and excellence what Allaah had bestowed upon him from correct understanding, abundant knowledge, exceptional expertise in the field of hadith and its sciences and narrators, along with a sound knowledge-based methodology making the Book and the Sunnah the judge and scale for everything, taking guidance from the understanding of the Pious Predecessors and their way in understanding and deriving rulings.

That [same] methodology which many researchers and verifiers from the people of knowledge [before him] tread upon, especially the Shaikh of Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah, his students, and whoever followed them in that.

All of this made the Shaikh a distinguished and renowned authority that the people of knowledge would refer back to. People supervising institutes of knowledge appreciated his worth, something which made those in charge of the Islamic University in Medinah al-Munawwarah when it was established–and at the head of them the Shaikh, the Allaamah, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Aali-Shaikh, the Principal of the Islamic University and the Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at that time–choose Shaikh al-Albaani to take up the teaching of hadith and it sciences, during which he was an example of earnestness and hard work, to the extent that he would sit with the students on the sand during the breaks between lectures and some teachers would pass by him while he was sitting on the sand and would say, “This is the real lesson–not the one you just came of it or the one you will go back to [inside].”

The Shaikh would do that whereas the other teachers would head to the staff room and have some dates or tea and coffee, and this is from the Grace of Allaah which He gives to whoever He pleases.

And maybe this habit of his and his sincerity was something which led some people to become jealous of him, amongst whom were some of the people of knowledge, due to the affection and love the students had for him and how they would present themselves to him at the university and outside it during the trips which the university would supervise.

The Shaikh’s relationship with the students was that of friend with a friend, without formality, and not like [the relationship] between a teacher and his student, for he wiped out formality which would [normally] prolong matters and replaced it with trust and brotherhood.

He said, “In my car I would take with me whichever students I happened to meet on the way to the university and also back to Medinah.  So at all times, my car would be full of them, going and coming.”

The desire of the students to be with the Shaikh and their love for him and the fact that they felt as though there was no difference between them and their teacher reached such an extent that one day after having given his lectures the Shaikh went to the [university’s] administration and left his car outside the building and entered. Then it so happened that Ustaadh Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhaab al-Bannaa wanted to go to the city, so he came out [of the building] with Shaikh Al-Albaani heading to Shaikh Al-Albaani’s car so that he could take him with him–only to find that Shaikh al-Albaani’s car was [already] full of students! So when the students saw Shaikh al-Bannaa, one of them was compelled to get out for him, and this is how it was.

And when he would enter the university in the morning you would hardly be able to see his car due to the multitude of students gathered around it, giving the Shaikh salaam, asking him questions and benefitting from him.

The Plans of the Malicious and Spiteful Ones

All of these things which we just mentioned when put together stirred up those teachers at the university who were malicious and spiteful, so they plotted against him and reported him to the university administration fabricating false accusations against him, bearing false witness against him and slander, conspiring and machinating against him. And they forgot Allaah, the Most High, and the [fact that all will have to] stand before Him, on the Day when nothing will be hidden from Him, the Most High.

So the administration terminated his contract.

The Shaikh bore the accusations and slander against him, saying, “Sufficient for us is Allaah, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs,” and Allaah wills and chooses, and none can repel His Will, the One free and far removed from all defects.

So the Shaikh was satisfied with Allaah’s Decree with a believing and truthful soul, in fact he was happy because Allaah had blessed him to be able to understand complex issues and Islamic problems such that he returned [to Syria] with an even greater fervour to research and investigate those things which would be of benefit to the Muslims in many different fields of knowledge from the pure Sharee’ah, which he had been kept away from while he had to teach at the university.

[When all of this happened] Shaikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Baaz said some important words to Shaikh al-Albaani, consoling him, he said, “Wherever you are, you will fulfil the obligatory duties of calling to Allaah, there is no difference to you [whether you are here or there].” And that is because he knew of the strength of Shaikh al-Albaani’s faith in Allaah, the Most Great, his vast knowledge and his patience in the face of calamities.

And maybe this explains why Shaikh al-Albaani would so often repeat the supplication of Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq, may Allaah be pleased with him, “O Allaah! Do not hold me to account for what they say, and make me better than what they think, and forgive me concerning those things they do not know about.”

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 115-117.

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April 12, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 11


 

How was Al-Albaani chosen to teach at Medinah University?

Al-Huwaini: How were you chosen to teach at the Islamic University of Medinah? Because the norm is that one needs a doctorate to teach academic study [at university]?

Al-Albaani: This is the first time that I’ve been asked this question. What I recall now are two things. The first is that the university was new to university level teaching [only recently having been established], especially in Saudi, this is the first reason.

The second is the reputation of some of the books [that I authored] and the satisfaction of the people [i.e., scholars etc.,] with them, and [also], from what seems apparent to me, their appreciation of the books as they deserved to be appreciated–this is what caused them to send for me.

I didn’t ask and I wouldn’t ask–and I [have] Iived like this, and all praise is due to Allaah, not requesting any job, for since childhood I would earn my daily sustenance through the labour of my own hands and the sweat of my own forehead.

At this time a request came to me from Shaikh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim who was then the Mufti of the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia, i.e.,the Mufti before Ibn Baaz], and he was the Principal of the university, asking me to agree to teach hadith sciences at Medinah University which would soon open its doors.

I took the counsel of some of my brothers there whose understanding and knowledge I trusted, so one of them said to me, “Try it for a year, if you enjoy teaching [there] you can carry on with them for as long as it’s written for you.” And the reality was that when I went there I found a truly wonderful climate, that was ready and willing to, firstly, accept the call and, secondly, the academic methodology which I was naturally predisposed to and continued upon.

How would Al-Albaani interact with his Students at
Medinah University?

My story at the university, in my opinion, was something that happened rarely with someone who was a teacher of a subject there–for I was with the students as though I was one of them, and there are [different] situations which may make this reality clearer for you.

For example, when my class would finish and it was break time, the [normal] habit of the lecturers was to go to the staff room and sit there for the length of the break, drinking tea or coffee and talking about different things.

As for me, I would turn away from all of that, and would leave the lesson [heading to] to the courtyard and I would sit there on the sand–and the students who I had been teaching only a few minutes earlier would gather [around me], and students from all [other] years [too], because this sitting was in the open.

I would give them some guidance and advice and answer some questions. This was how I spent all of the years I taught at the university.

And I recall very well that someone who in university language was called an assistant professor, passed by me [while I was sitting outside] one day and said, “As-Salaamu alaikum.” So I replied, “Wa alaikum salaam.”

He then said, “You know, O Shaikh, the real lesson–this is it.”

Because the students were free [and open] in this sitting, as for the official lesson [in class], even though it is true that I was very liberal with them, yet even then there have to be limits and restrictions. This was a way that was unique to Al-Albaani from amongst all of the other teachers at the university.

There were other good results too, for example, when Al-Albaani would enter the university a few minutes before the lesson, the students would gather round the car, until it would be lost among them and couldn’t be seen, every one of them would try to beat his brother in order to direct a question to me. And when I would leave [at the end of the day], they would again compete to sit in the car with me in order to seize the opportunity.

This was my habit when coming or going–I would never stop anyone from sitting in my car, so it was always full of students, coming and going.

This situation produced an amazing and great deal of love in the hearts of the students for Al-Albaani, add to that the fact that something came to them which they had not heard before: a teacher of tafseer, fiqh, usool relating hadith to them which was relevant to their lessons so the [other] teachers themselves started to hear a new language, “O teacher, who narrated this hadith? Is its chain of narration authentic?”

And I remember an event that occurred very well, the teacher of usool, i.e., usool al-fiqh, quoted the hadith of Mu’aadh ibn Jabal, “O Muaadh! With what will you judge …” he brought this hadith to the students using it as a proof for qiyaas, this occurred in the lesson of our brother Abdur-Rahmaan Abdul-Khaaliq, he was in the third year, so he said to him, “O teacher, is this hadith authentic?” He replied, “Yes.” He said, “We heard Shaikh al-Albaani say that it is a munkar hadith.” I do not know what his answer was but he was not pleased with what this student had said.

After a few days this Shaikh, the teacher of usoolal-fiqh, came to my house and said to me, “It has reached me that you say that this hadith is munkar [i.e., not authentic]?” I replied, “Yes.” He said, “Have you written anything about this hadith?” I said, “Yes, in ‘Silsilah al-Ahadith ad-Da’eefah,’ in the second volume,” and it had not been printed in those days. He said, “Can I have a look at it?” So I showed it to him, and [in it] I had mentioned all of its paths of narration and had clarified its baseless defects.

Then lo and behold in another lesson [of his] he reconfirmed [what he had first said] to the students that the hadith was authentic and that Shaikh al-Albaani himself had brought different paths of narration for it which strengthened it–whereas those paths of narration did nothing except add invalidity to invalidity.

So situations like this, and this very uncommon display at the university where the students would gather around me stirred up the wrath of the teachers so they wrote directly to the Mufti, and Allaah knows best, or to the King, and made it seem to them that I was setting up a faction or group and that it was feared that I might do something.

The third year ended and so I returned to Damascus to spend the summer vacation there. In those days Shaikh Ibn Baaz, may Allaah reward him with good, was the Assistant Principal. A week or two before I returned to Medinah he wrote to me, and I remember very well that one of my children, Abdul-Lateef, had to complete one of his courses so I sent him ahead of me so that he could take his exam. And he was then shocked by the letter from Shaikh Ibn Baaz which stated that he [i.e., Ibn Baaz] had received a letter from the Mufti that there was no need to renew the contract with Shaikh al-Albaani this year.

For this reason my connection with the university ended, and Shaikh Ibn Baaz, may Allaah reward with him good, wrote a good word to me, saying, “The likes of you, whichever situation he is in, will fulfil what is obligatory upon him.”

In summary, I was requested to teach there, it seems as though this was because they were not strictly applying the rules of universities and because they needed a person whose knowledge and creed they could trust at one and the same time. So for this [reason] and that, they appointed me to teach …

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 30-33.

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April 11, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 10


Translated by Ahmed Abu Turaab

Al-Huwaini: You mentioned before that that you rented a house in Damascus to give lessons in. What was the methodology that you followed at that time? Would you read through a book or were they general lessons?

Al-Albaani: I remember that the first thing that I taught the students was from Ibn al-Qayyim’s Zaad al-Ma’aad fee Hadyi Khairil-Ibaad. I would read a part of the book to them and then comment on it [from memory] based upon some previous knowledge that I had [concerning it] or from notes that I would prepare before I would give the lesson. In those days the lesson was from three quarters of an hour to an hour long, then after that there would be half an hour to answer questions.

After I finished the first volume of Zaad al-Ma’aad, I think, and Allaah knows best, if I have not forgotten, they requested that I teach them the book Ar-Rawdah an-Nadiyyah Sharh Ad-Durar al-Bahiyyah, because the reality is that [Ibn al-Qayyim’s book] Zaad al-Ma’aad is a knowledge-based book–not all students can handle it, whereas Ar-Rawdah an-Nadiyyah’s subject matter is condensed. So I did teach them the entire book, from its start to its end.

Later, I think, came the turn of At-Targheeb wat-Tarheeb, and there was an academic exertion behind these lessons: the principle regarding them would be preparation, from the results of which was [the commentary on Zaad al-Ma’aaad called] At-Ta’leeqaat al-Jiyaad alaa Zaad al-Ma’aad, the first volume, and At-Ta’leeq ar-Ragheeb ’alat-Targheeb wat-Tarheeb. For it was from my nature not to teach them a hadith until I had ascertained its authenticity and made sure of the understanding [fiqh] or meaning intended by it. This is how I would give lessons there …

Someone at the gathering asked: O Shaikh! Through your constant visits to the Dhaahiriyyah Library, who do you know from the students of knowledge at that time who were serious and striving from your contemporaries?

Shaikh al-Albaani: I, unfortunately, never used to see anyone constantly visiting the Dhaahiriyyah Library, not from the students, neither from the Shaikhs, nor any doctors [i.e., those holding PhDs]. But Shaikh Abdul-Qaadir al-Arnaa’oot would be there, he was ok …

Al-Huwaini: Regarding [Ibn Taymiyyah’s] book, Iqtidaa as-Siraat al-Mustaqeem, did you teach it?

Al-Albaani: I taught parts of it, not all of it.

Al-Huwaini asked Shaikh al-Albaani about Shaikh Muhammad Bahjatul-Baitaar: was he from your ranks or from those who came before you?

Al-Albaani: He was from those who came before [me].

Al-Huwaini: Did you take any knowledge from him?

Al-Albaani: No, but there used to be lessons on literature which the great and well-known authors of that time in Damascus would attend, members of the Arabic Scientific Academy in Damascus, from them for example was Ustaadh Izzud-Deen at-Tanookhi, may Allaah have mercy on him, and others like Mustafaa ash-Shihaab.

They would gather and study the book al-Himaasah of Abu Tamaam. The specialist among them, like at-Tanookhi, was the one who would give the commentary, explanation and clarification. So I and a friend of mine who has passed away to the Mercy of Allaah, his name was Munir Abu Abdullaah, we would go to this sitting successively in order to strengthen [our] Arabic, and to learn something of its ethics.

From the members of this sitting was Shaikh Bahjatul-Baitaar, but I did not [sit with him specifically and] learn anything from him..

Al-Huwaini: Did you meet al-Kawthari?

Al-Albaani: No. I do not know him except from what he left behind.

Al-Huwaini: He was a contemporary of yours?

Al-Albaani: Yes but he was in Egypt and I was in Damascus. I did go to Egypt and he was alive …

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 28-30.

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April 10, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 9


Translated by Ahmed Abu Turaab

The Special Room that Al-Albaani was Given at
the Dhaahiriyyah Library

Al-Huwaini: One of the things that I read about you in your books is that you were allocated a special room in the Dhaahiriyyah Library. How did you get to that level, bearing in mind that such a thing can be quite difficult [to obtain] in Islamic countries?

Al-Albaani: I don’t recall very well now [the reason], it was either because the administration at the Dhaahiriyyah Library felt that I was a person in love with knowledge for I used to sit in the general [reading] area and say to Abu Mahdi, “Give me, and of course he would, such and such book,” i.e., the manuscript, and I would hardly have finished with it when I would request a second book and a third and a fourth …

At times I would have a [whole] pile of manuscripts on the table. This table was for four people, two [to sit] on one side and two on the other. Due to this, no student would be able to sit down at the table along with me. And without doubt there was some objection from the students [due to this], especially at exam times.

So it was as though the administration found a solution to the problem. They had a dark room [there] which was not good enough to place firewood in, so they suggested it to me … and put me in this room, placing in it whatever books I needed for reference so that I would not overburden the employees there [by saying], “Bring such and such book … take this book [back] …” They even left some manuscripts with me [in the room].

This is the first possibility [as to why they gave me the room], and it is the most likely in my opinion, since this was a long time ago.

Al-Albaani Alone Being Allowed to enter the Dhaahiriyyah Library at any time of the Day or Night

The second possibility was that the College of Sharee’ah at the Syrian University held a number of meetings in which they decided to establish the core for a hadith encyclopaedia. And with sadness I say: they couldn’t find anyone amongst their doctors who could undertake this task. So they sent for me to confer on the topic. I met with them at the university and they presented their idea to me and requested that I work on this curriculum that they had drawn up.

After exchanging views on the topic I agreed with them that I would work four hours a day for them and the remaining hours would be for my personal work–on the condition that I be given permission to enter the Dhaahiriyyah Library at whatever time of day or night I wanted. So I said to them, “If the administration at the library agrees to that, I will give you four hours every day.” They replied saying that they would speak to the person in charge there.

So one day Mustafaa as-Subaa’ee or Muhammad al-Mubaarak came, I don’t recall exactly, and they went up to see the manager and spoke to him about the topic and then sent for me and said, “We have come to an agreement with the manager and he will order the caretaker that every time you come he will open the gate for you.”

In this way I gave them four hours a day, so I would work on a project on the hadiths of trading.

The point is that at this time I cannot be totally sure either way, as to whether they made this room available to me for this reason or before that … what I think is more probable is that they gave me the special permission to enter whenever I wanted, at any time of day or night …

So this is the story of the room which I alone was given to the exclusion of all the other people who would come there.

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 26-29.

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April 9, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 8


 

The Story of the Lost Paper

Al-Huwaini asked the Shaikh about the Story of the Lost Paper?

Al-Albaani: The reality is that I got an ailment in my eyes, when I would look at a white wall it would be as though I could see flies moving. When I took myself to the optician he said, “This is what we call the flying fly,” and this was an expression he used referring to a very fine blood vessel which had deteriorated and from which an extremely fine drop of blood had come out onto the eye–and that was what I could see coming and going.

The doctor asked me, “What work do you do?”

I told him, “I’m a watch repairer.”

He said, “This is due to exhausting [yourself].”

I explained my situation to him, that I was a watch repairer and that I would [also] research a lot, so he asked me to take a six month break. I went back to my shop and started to sit there: not doing anything, not in my job, nor reading or researching.

A week or two passed by and boredom started to set in, so I started to entice myself and justify to myself using many different reasons [as to what I could do]. Then an idea came to mind which was that there were a group of different treatises in the Dhaahiriyyah Library, one of which was The Dispraise of Idle Amusement [Dhamm al-Malaahi] by Ibn Abid-Dunyaa, so I thought to myself that I could ask the transcribers there to copy out this manuscript, and that by the time they finish copying, I, maybe, would have gathered up and regained some of the health of my eyes and the rest [they required].

So I went to the Dhaahiriyyah Library and requested the copyist transcribe the treatise, and so he started. When he got half way through he came to me saying that there was a gap in the manuscript, that there was something lacking.  I went to the library and had a look at the manuscript and there was indeed something missing, so I told him, “Carry on as you are doing … and Allaah creates that which you do not know.” He finished copying out the manuscript, and it was as they say … my unconscious mind was working day and night [trying to figure out] where this missing part could be. So I hypothesised that when [all the different individual] manuscript treatises were gathered together to be put into this volume, maybe a page or two from this [particular] treatise fell out and were then later added to a different volume [of manuscript treatises].

And so there would be no path [to find it] except by searching through the collection present in the Dhaahiriyyah Library.

The manuscripts in the Dhaahiriyyah Library were arranged according to subject as is the general [classification] system [used in libraries] … except that there were about one hundred and fifty volumes entitled Majaamee [collections], and it was a befitting title, because every volume contained a number of [different] books, differing in the way they had been arranged and in their classification and topic, for this reason they had been put under the title majaamee [collections].

So I said to myself that I would start with these majaamee, and so I did.

One of the things which made the search easier was that just as these volumes differed in their topics and authors they also differed in the type of paper [they were written on]. So you would find some large [pieces] and some small, some white and others gray, and at times [you would find some that were] blue, and so on. All of this made the way to search easier for me, so I started with the first volume, then the second and third, I don’t remember exactly. Then all of a sudden I came across the title of the book [that I was looking for, The Dispraise of Idle Amusement]—and by Allaah, it is an important book—but it was the second part that I found, if it had been the first the matter would have been over. So when I would find the second or third parts I would leave them and carry on, after [going through] a number of volumes I came across the first part of one of those [other] treatises [that I had come across in earlier volumes], so I lamented myself and was regretful, saying, “Would that I had written down the title and number [showing exactly where I had found] the second part and this first part.” I learnt a lesson and began to record anything that interested me, even if it was not complete.

And you will note here that I was [initially] doing one thing when I began to do something else: I was searching for the lost paper whereas now I had started to record the titles of what can be regarded as treasures, even if they [i.e., the manuscripts] were incomplete. What is important is that I finished going through the one hundred and fifty volumes but I did not come across the lost paper in the volumes [of the books of] hadith, but I left with huge benefit in terms of knowledge. So I said to myself, “You must complete this journey you are upon and that search for the lost paper.”

The number of volumes of hadith books with us in the Dhaahiriyyah Library are more than five hundred so I began to search, and here the search for the lost paper was much easier, because the majaamee were small in size as for the [books of] hadith they were bigger, and the lost paper was small [so it would be easier to find], but [in reality] I had [now] entered into searching for something different, which was the acquisition of the important topics from these priceless books.

So I started to take down the titles, even if the book was a large volume, recording it on my scratch paper—and I finished going through five hundred volumes without coming across the lost paper.

And as they say here in Syria, “Without [giving you] a long biography …” i.e., in short I went through every single manuscript in the Dhaahiriyyah Library, and I was hoping that it might be in [the section of books on] such and such topics, maybe, since it was a mistake that had occurred in a volume [somewhere in the library], so I started to look through the books of biographies [seerah], the books of history, literature, books on Sufism, i.e., every branch of knowledge that had manuscripts [I looked through]. And Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, facilitated this search for me, [whereas it would] normally not have been easy except for someone officially employed [by the library] and specially assigned to the task.

He facilitated it to such an extent that I would put a ladder up to the treasures, because there were shelves there that were high and could not be reached by hand, so I would stand on the ladder. The shelf was about a metre in width, I would take a book from here [i.e., this end] and finish there [at the other end], all while I was on the ladder. When I would find something precious I would come down and record it, and then continue on my journey. In this way I went through the entire library without finding the lost paper. But I felt that it was I who was the winner: I gained hundreds of names and book titles from those priceless works. In the end, I knew that they had something that was called ‘Disht’, and that was a term for stacked up papers which no one [ever] went to or stretched their hands toward. So I said to the specialist librarian—and he was someone whom Allaah had facilitated to help me in my knowledge-based matters and was someone who would respond positively to me—“O Abu Mahdi! Where can the ‘disht’ [collections] be found?” So he showed me the two or three collections. So I started to search through these jumbled up papers and did not find anything, but I did find treasures: among them [the fact that] with us in the Dhaahiriyyah Library are two copies of the Musnad of ash-Shihaab of al-Qudaa’ee, both of which had parts missing. One of these copies was the eastern one and the other the western copy. The script in the western copy was very beautiful and had been given careful attention by some of the preservers of hadith [huffaadh], the people of hadith, and written next to many of these hadiths if not all were [things like: a] weak [hadith], [a] fabricated [hadith] and so on, but the first fascicle of it was missing. All of a sudden, while going through this disht I was taken aback to find the missing part of the western copy [of the Musnad of ash-Shihaab], and with that a priceless manuscript was completed. So I took it with great delight and exhilaration and went to the manager responsible for the manuscripts and said to him, “This part is from the disht and this is the book which you have written down with you in the index as being from an unknown source, its author is unknown and nor is it known what the book is about. [Now] here is the book and this is the author …” but he paid no attention to that, because he, as they say here in Syria, “Everyone sings about his own Layla …” [i.e., each to his own]: this research was of importance to me but not him. Then days and years went by and our brother Abdul-Majid as-Salafi printed the book from this self-same manuscript. And so that you know the [differing] nature of people … the Musnad of ash-Shihaab by al-Qudaa’ee was published by the printers in which Shu’ayb [al-Arnaa’oot] worked, i.e., Mu’assasah ar-Risaalah and on this manuscript for history I had written, “Drawn out from the disht collection by Naasir,” [i.e., Al-Albaani himself] I only wrote ‘Naasir,’ but what did he do? He put a piece of paper on it and covered this fact and now you can find a copy of this main title page from this book in the manuscript copy of the Musnad of ash-Shihaab which our brother Hamdi checked but this knowledge-based reality is wiped out [i.e., that Shaikh al-Albaani was the one who found it after all that hard work]. What makes him do that? You know the answer.

The point is that these are the priceless things that I gained through this research, in the end I gave up hope of finding the lost paper, but I never regretted it, since what I acquired was more than I could have imagined. What is important is that later I went back to the names that I had written down of those works and their authors and so wrote them out again on cards, arranging them in order of the names of the authors, listing every work that the author had written.

Then after I finished listing the names of the authors I arranged the works in alphabetical order, and from that came the index of the chosen manuscripts from the Dhaahiriyyah Library.

Then the final stage came and it was the blessed fruition of that initial effort: I started to read these manuscripts, extracting the hadith benefits from them with their chains of narration [something] which I have with me now, and it is what helps to provide me with [what I need] for my knowledge-based projects in about forty volumes, in it are the hadiths which I took from these manuscripts with their chains of narrations, arranged in alphabetical order to make them easier to refer back to. So this is a summary of the story of the lost paper.

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 22-26.

Here is the other version of the same story translated in an earlier post: http://www.shaikhalbaani.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/the-shaikhs-life-in-his-own-words-16/

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April 8, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 7


 

Shaikh al-Albaani when he got Married

Someone at the gathering asked the Shaikh whether his father gave him any financial assistance after that or any other type of assistance?

So Shaikh Al-Albaani replied: I got married through my own efforts, I got married and my father did not get involved, nor did he visit me, nor congratulate me, nor ask Allaah to bless me. He would only come to the shop sometimes—but he would not enter.

But maybe he said something later which may be an expiation for the madhhab-based enmity which he showed to me. He said to me one time, “I do not deny that I have benefited from you,” and I was his youngest son, and I know this very well about him, that he did [indeed] benefit. Because he, like the other Shaikhs, used to go to the mosques in which there were graves and I used to say to him, “This, O my father, is not allowed, and in this is such and such …” Likewise [he benefitted] as regards which hadiths were authentic and weak. So he did indeed benefit but his age and his social standing in the Arnaa’ooti community … it didn’t give him the chance to be pleased with his son who was regarded as a deviant in front of the masses. So this is something from the story of the beginning of my seeking knowledge, and then my independence in it.

The point is that the Al-Manaar magazine was the thing that opened the path for me to become engaged in the science of hadith.

Al-Huwaini: But the first thing you actually authored was Ar-Rawd an-Nadeer?

Al-Albaani: Yes, that was the first thing I authored, because what I had copied from al-Mughnee and the commentary I wrote on it is not something which can be called the first thing I authored.

Then al-Huwaini asked the Shaikh about his method in compiling Ar-Rawd an-Nadeer?

So Shaikh Al-Albaani replied: My method was that I gathered the hadiths of every Companion under his name, just like [the way it is done] in musnads. But I increased in that which is common in the musnad collections by arranging the hadiths of every Companion in alphabetical order and so here it took on a new quality. Then after I finished, I added all of the hadiths together and made a general index in alphabetical order. This is how I arranged it.

Was al-Albaani disobedient to his Father?

Al-Huwaini: As regards your father, did he carry on with this alienation towards you until the end of his life?

Al-Albaani: I said to you: he would come to me in the shop and give salaam but would not enter it.

Al-Huwaini: But, our Shaikh, isn’t this regarded as disobedience [towards the parents]?

Shaikh al-Albaani started to laugh and then said: Some prejudiced people may think that, in fact, they openly say it, but, without doubt, it is not possible for a scholar in the world to say, “Preferring the Sunnah in opposition to the school of thought of the father is regarded as disobedience of the parents.” Because in the eyes of the scholars disobedience of the parents is opposing the father … opposing his orders and rebelling against him without there being any ijtihaad behind that opposition, without the ijtihaad being the incentive to follow the Book and the Sunnah. So I do not think that any fair individual will regard this has disobedience [of the parents] for if not, then Ibrahim, عليه السلام, would be [regarded] as having been disobedient to his father. Of course, someone may say: that was [an issue] of disbelief and monotheism [tawhid]. So I say: yes, but this too was [a matter] of the Sunnah or blind-following, so it is not permissible.

Then al-Huwaini asked the Shaikh how he would gather between his job and seeking knowledge?

Al-Albaani: This is something, and all praise is due to Allaah, which Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, granted success in and gave me the ability to do.

As I said: when I would be with my father in the shop I would take advantage of any free time, when there would be no work in his shop, [so] I would go to the market, to that Egyptian to scour through whatever books he had. Later, I became totally free when I got my own shop. And it seems as though our Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, instilled in me a natural inclination towards being satisfied [with little/or whatever Allaah gives you], especially when I set up my own shop and built my own house, and so I was free from having to pay the rent for the shop and house.

And I said to you just now: that when I left my father[’s house] and became independent in my own shop and work, ‘And the Generous One [i.e., Allaah, al-Kareem] said, ‘Take …’” my customers increased in number, and so due to that [such funds became available that] I was able to buy a piece of land … a modest house so I became free from having to pay rent. Then some more [finance] became available and some of them borrowed me a goodly loan and so I bought a piece of land … and was content and nothing remained except that with which I could support/feed myself, my wife and then my children.

How many a hours a day would he work in his Shop?

For this reason when I got this independence, I would work in the shop for one or two hours, up to eight or nine o’clock [in the morning] when the Dhaahiriyyah Library would open its doors. So I would close the door [to my shop] and make my way to the Library, [and spend] three hours at the very least [there] before Dhuhr. Then I would pray dhuhr in it in congregation with some of the other people who would visit the library. So when it would close its doors, I would go to my shop and work there for about half an hour or an hour until it was lunch time and then I would go home.

I had bought a bicycle and would ride it [home], and for history I say: it was the first time that the people of Damascus saw a Shaikh in a white turban riding a bicycle …

In those days I used to wear a turban based upon the previous line of thinking of the madhhabs, and some of the weak or rather fabricated hadiths such as, “Praying with a turban is seventy times better than praying without one.” I also used to wear a jubba, but with time I came to know that Allaah had not sent down any authority for these customs, so away went the jubba and the turban, and I started to wear what the people would wear.

The point is: I would be content with a little amount of work, spending all of my time in the Dhaahiriyyah Library. Then one time when working in the shop a Palestinian man who had emigrated to Damascus got to know me, and he suggested that his son work with me so that he could learn the profession. So this also aided me … a bit more time became available for me through that. In this manner, I gave a lot of time to study knowledge and to study [whatever was in] the Dhaahiriyyah Library.

Likewise, from the things that Allaah made easy for me were some of the bookshops which would sell books to the public … they would lend me [those books] that I did not have, I would take a book or two or more than that from the[se] bookshops and would keep them with me in the shop, until when the person who had loaned me the book would have no more remaining copies [in his shop] and somebody had come who wanted to buy the copy that I had, he would send news to me and so I would send the book to him.

[At times] a book would remain with me for years, no one would ask for it, especially [the books on] the science of hadith, as you know, it was an abandoned subject. So the Dhaahiriyyah Library, the Al-Qusaybaati Library and the Arabic Haashimi Library, were also from the reasons which Allaah made subservient for me until I benefitted from their books as if I owned them.

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 19-22, with editing.

3 Comments
April 6, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 6


 

 

Al-Albaani and his father

Al-Huwaini: Did you secretly confide in your father?

Al-Albaani: No, [I confided] in al-Burhaani. [So] he said, “Write down the things that you have come across.” So I wrote them down and presented them to him, they came to about three or four pages. The time then, as far as I can remember, was the month of Ramadaan, so when I gave him the papers he said to me, “Inshaa Allaah, I’ll give you the answer after Eed.”

Then [when the time came] after Eed, he said to me, “All of this that you have written and gathered has no value.” Astonished, I replied, “Why?” He said, “Because these books which you quoted from are books which are not reliable in our view. The books which are reliable with us are Maraaqi al-Falaah and Haashiyah Ibn Aabideen only.”

I had quoted to him from Mubaarik al-Azhaar Sharh Mashaariq al-Anwaar of Ibn Malik and he was a Hanafi, and from Mirqaah al-Mafaatih Sharh Mishkaah al-Masaabih of Mulla Ali al-Qaari, and he [too] was a Hanafi, and other texts along with them, but he cast them aside as you would a date-stone, and said, “These have no value.” Even though I had gathered hadiths for him but he didn’t bother with them and paid them no mind, and said, “Our reference in the religion are only the books of fiqh and not the books of hadith,” and my father’s stance was the same and so that was the nucleus which led [me to write] my book Warning the One who Prostrates from Taking the Graves as Mosques. [This is the book we are going through on the blog]

And I do not want my actions to oppose what I say, so as long as it had become clear to me that prayer in mosques built upon graves was not correct, then for sure I would not go with my father to the Bani Umayyah mosque again, and this, naturally, irritated and angered him, but he kept it to himself.

The Issue of the Second Congregational Prayer in the Mosque

Another issue came up in which I opposed the people and it was concerning performing a second congregational prayer in the mosque. The mosque which my father lived next to was called Jaami at-Tawbah and Shaikh Burhaani was the Imaam there. Since my father lived next to it, whenever Shaikh Sa’eed [i.e., Burhaani] would be absent he would appoint my father to lead [the prayer] on his behalf. There were two prayer niches [mihraabs] and two Imaams [in this mosque], a Hanafi Imaam who was Burhaani, and a Shaafi’ee Imaam who would [often] be absent.

Al-Huwaini: Two congregational prayers at the same time?

Al-Albaani: No. I wanted to say to you that during the [time of the] Ottoman Empire, the Hanafi Imaam would lead the prayer before the Shaafi’ee Imaam whether it was in the biggest mosque, i.e., the Amawi Mosque, or in any other mosque, like the Tawbah mosque and other than it.

Then when Shaikh Taajud-Deen took leadership of the [religious affairs of the] Syrian Republic, and he was the son of Shaikh Badrud-Deen al-Husaini who was well-known for being a scholar of hadith, he–since he followed the Shaafi’ee school of thought–issued an order that the Shaafi’ee Imaam should pray before the Hanafi Imaam. And so this order was executed, as is the natural course of events, by the ruler as they say, he executed it in every mosque, included amongst them was Masjid at-Tawbah, and so the Shaafi’ee Imaam would pray before Burhaani, who was Hanafi.

So when I had gained some understanding and had come to know that the second congregational prayer has no basis in the Sunnah, I began to pray behind the Shaafi’ee Imaam, [who was] the first Imaam, and this opposition caused the most severe tension on the part of my father. Firstly, because it opposed his school of thought [madhhab] and secondly, because it opposed his actions, because he would delay his prayer so that he could pray with the Hanafi Imaam, Burhaani. But he was going his way, and I was going mine.

Then Burhaani travelled for Hajj or Umrah, I don’t recall exactly, and so appointed my father to pray in his place–but I would not pray behind him, because there was no difference in my eyes between Burhaani and my father since both of them would delay [the time of] the first congregational prayer [jamaa’ah]. So I would leave my father to pray the second prayer, and I would pray with the first Imaam.

Al-Albaani’s Father Giving Him the Choice to Stay or Leave

Then later the time came where [there was], as they say, calamity upon calamity.  It so happened that my father had to be away for a day or two and so he requested that I [lead] the prayer on his behalf, i.e., the second congregational prayer, so I refused and said to him, “You know my opinion in the matter, and it is very difficult for me to change my opinion.” A number of issues came up which ignited his fury against me.

So one day while we were having dinner he said to me in a clear Arabic tongue, after he spoke about the situation that he and I were living in as regards my opposition to him, he said, “Either there is agreement or separation.” So I said to him, “Give me three days to think about the situation.” He replied, “You have that.”

So I came with the answer, i.e., that since you have given me the choice, then I choose to live far from you so that I do not trouble or upset you because of my opposition to your school of thought.

And so it was.

I left him and I did not own a single dinar or dirham [i.e., not a penny]. And I remember very well that he gave me twenty-five Syrian liras only when I left his house.

But during all this time I had established a nucleus of Salafi brothers. One of them had a store where he would sell grain, wheat, barley and beans and so on, and it was in the same place where I had rented my shop, so he borrowed me two hundred Syrian liras so that I could rent it.

My father used to have some old [watch repairing] equipment which he would not use and had no need of so he gave it to me. So I started to work independently and from the Favours of Allaah upon me was that I was very precise in my work and honest in it and so the number of customers increased, and, as they say in Syria, “And the Generous One said, ‘Take.’”

Al-Huwaini: So our Shaikh, you were about twenty-three years old when this happened?

Al-Albaani: Yes, I was over twenty, because I have a book with me which I refer to sometimes called, Ar-Rawd an-Nadeer fee Tarteeb wa Takhrij Mu’jam at-Tabaraani as-Saghir, my age when I finished it was about twenty-one or twenty-two.

So what is meant is that I became independent in my work and thinking there, and we would hold lessons in the night with some of the brothers. Later, when the scope of da’wah increased we rented out a place, and would give lessons in hadith there: about the understanding [fiqh] of hadith, hadith terminology, and so on.

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 16-19.

2 Comments
April 5, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 5


 

Al-Albaani and his father debating while they worked
in his father’s shop

Al-Huwaini: Did your father notice that you had turned to [the study of] the science of hadith and its like?

Al-Albaani: Naturally, he had a very negative effect, but Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, made me stand firm. What used to happen in reality, and thanks are for Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, for the sittings He decreed for me in his shop and for [the fact that I] learnt my father’s profession such that he and I would work and debate [at the same time]–me [debating] with what would appear to me [to be the truth] from the Sunnah and the hadith, and him with what he had studied in Istanbul and other places, study in which he had spent a long time.

So when we would debate I would do so with the hadith and the Sunnah and he would say [i.e., debate with], ‘The madhhab.’ And when such research would become unbearable–and I had a lot of endurance for it, add to that the fact that I was a youth and he was middle-aged, an old man [shaikh] rather–he would say, “The science of hadith is the profession of the bankrupt!” May Allaah have mercy on him and forgive us and him.

Most of our time in the shop was like this, [spent] debating. And by continuing to study the Sunnah and the hadith the common mistakes of the people and the Shaikhs of the time became clear to me.

From all of my brothers I was the one son who would always go with his father to the mosque.

And from his habits, may Allaah have mercy upon him, was to go and pray in the Bani Umayyah mosque, and he was influenced by some of the sayings and narrations in the books of the Hanafis regarding the excellence of prayer in the Bani Umayyah mosque. From them, for example, is what occurs in the last book from the books which the Hanafis rely upon, Haashiyah Ibn Aabideen, in it he mentioned [a narration] from Sufyaan ath-Thawri that prayer in the Bani Umayyah mosque is equivalent to seventy thousand prayers.

I could not conceive of such excellence for a mosque such as it which was made after the Prophet, عليه الصلاة والسلام, and I was, instinctively, not prepared to accept this exaggeration regarding its excellence.

Then days turned into years, and my research and study led me to study the biggest known [collection] on Islamic history, ‘The History of Damascus,’ by Ibn Asaakir, and this narration is present in, ‘The Commentary of Ibn Aabideen,’ in [the section about] the excellence of the Amawi mosque attributed back to Ibn Asaakir, and this is how the learned people of the end of time are, it satisfies them that the hadith is just attributed [to someone], even Ibn Asaakir, so that the narration can become, as the masses say, ‘An established hadith.’

So when I became sure of this, and naturally, this was years later [and by then] the time had come when I was studying all of the manuscripts in the Dhaahiriyyah library. And when, through my research and study I came to [the book], ‘The History of Damascus’ of Ibn Asaakir, I read all of it[1]—and that which was present from it in the library was seventeen volumes, each one was huge, I came across this narration [i.e., regarding the excellence of the mosque of Bani Umayyah], and behold, its chain of narration was darkness upon darkness.

So I said [to myself]: Subhaanallaah, how these scholars of fiqh, due to their negligence of studying hadith, report a narration, which, firstly, if attributing to him is correct then [still] in the science of hadith it is a mu’adal[2] narration. So what is the case when attributing the narration back to him is darkness upon darkness, so for this reason they do bad whereas they intend to do good.

Then I had a look at the story of the burial of Yahya, عليه والسلام, or the presumed grave of Yahya, عليه السلام, in the Bani Umayyah mosque, I read that in the history of Ibn Asaakir too. The important thing is that the research led me to the conclusion that praying in the Bani Umayyah mosque was not allowed.

So I wanted to get the opinion of some of the Shaikhs, from them my father and Shaikh al-Burhaani, so one day I [think] maybe [it was ] Dhuhr I prayed with him and Allaah knows best, I secretly confided in him that it had become clear to me that praying in a mosque in which there is a grave was not correct …

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 14-16.

[1] Bayyoomi’s footnote: And this shows the very high resolve of Shaikh al-Albaani, may Allaah have mercy upon him, for this history of Ibn Asaakir has now been printed in seventy-four volumes, and it is well known that reading through a manuscript is much, much harder than reading a printed book.

[2] Trans. note: A mu’adal narration is one in which two or more people in a row are missing from the chain of narration.

4 Comments
April 4, 2011

How Do You Advise Someone Who Claims Prophethood?


Questioner: With us in Zarqa [a city in Jordan] now, O Shaikh, I had mentioned to you some time ago that there is an imbecile who claims that he is the one who will get al-waseelah. [Trans. Note: The Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, told us to ask for al-Waseelah for him in the supplication that is said after the call to prayer as mentioned in Bukhaari and Muslim, he, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “… 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.). Look how the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “ … ask Allaah to grant me al-waseelah…” and “I hope to be the one …” and here is this claimant to prophethood saying with all surety that he is the one who will get al-waseelah!]

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

Questioner: Now a new one has come out.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

Questioner: He says, “Indeed I am a Prophet.”

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

Questioner: And some brothers told me that now, in this mosque which he prays in, lots of tribulation [fitnah] is happening.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

Questioner: And many people have leaned towards what he says.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

Questioner: [He says that] that Muhammad, صلى الله عليه وسلم, gave him his share [of Prophethod].

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

Questioner: And Abu Bakr gave him his share [of knowledge/excellence etc.,] but he gave it away and distributed it amongst his friends and companions.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yaa Salaam!

Questioner: And Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him, also gave his share to one of the friends of this claimant to prophethood.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

Questioner: So some of the people came to us, and from these people, O Shaikh, namely from those who, namely, lean towards his saying [they came and said], “My brother, everything he says is, ‘Allaah said …’ and ‘The Prophet said …’ what’s wrong with that?”

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

Questioner: Yes, so they said, “We want Shaikh Ali and you to come and sit with this brother,” so I said, “By Allaah, I’ve heard more than one time that with such people we shouldn’t, namely, shouldn’t waste our time with them.”

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes, by Allaah.

Questioner: I wanted to … by Allaah … our Shaikh I wanted to seek your opinion, because now this matter has become common in Zarqa.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

Questioner: Yes, and this man, we sat with him three years ago.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

Questioner: Maybe I mentioned him to you, O Shaikh, he used to … namely, he used to say that he has underground tunnels which he passes through. And one time I went to Kuwait so I mentioned to him, “What did you find in Kuwait? And where did you go?” He said, “I went to the roundabout,” namely, the roundabout that cars go round.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

Questioner: “And what did you see there?” He said, “I saw a woman wearing a short skirt.”

That’s all he saw.

So we want some advice from you, namely, that you advise us [whether we should] go to him and clarify this man’s deception to the people with clear proof and if not [i.e., if you advise against it] then we won’t, or [maybe you advise] something else [that] we sit with him and some other people, because now he speaks openly and generally, O Shaikh, in front of the common folk and in front of the students of knowledge from the brothers. [In front] of people from [Hizb] atTahrir and the Salafi youth. So what is your advice? He speaks in front of these people.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

Questioner: Yes, namely, not only in front of the common folk but even in front of some of the students of knowledge, but what is apparent is that he hasn’t tried to talk to any of these.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

Questioner: Yes.

Shaikh al-Albaani: By Allaah, what comes to mind is that people such as these stupid ones, nothing will suit them except someone who is Abu Sayyaah.

Questioner: Yes.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Do you know what I mean by Abu Sayyaah?

Questioner: Yes, of course, Shaikh.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes, I advise that you go to your new companion [i.e., this claimant to prophethood].

Questioner: Yes, understood.

Shaikh al-Albaani: And in one voice overpower/vanquish him.

Questioner: By Allaah, excellent, O Shaikh. Yes, but Shaikh, he is not here now, he’s in France.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

Questioner: Yes.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Okay, by Allaah, my brother, let me ask you, every Prophet has a miracle, [say to him], “You, what is your miracle?”

Questioner: [He says that] he is the reviver of this century, O Shaikh.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Never mind that, that is [nothing but] a claim. [Ask him], “What is your miracle?”

Questioner: Yes.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Do you know him from before?

Questioner: Yes, I know him, O Shaikh.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Is he educated or not?

Questioner: It seems as though he has some education.

Shaikh al-Albaani: He has some education. How old is he?

Questioner: Round about forty.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes, say to him, “Every Prophet was sent when he was forty.”

Questioner: Yes.

Shaikh al-Albaani: So you ask him firstly, “You, how old are you?” If he says to you that he hasn’t reached forty yet then say to him, “So you haven’t become a Prophet [then].”

Questioner: Yes.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Secondly, [ask him], “What are the signs of your prophethood? Do you have a miracle or clear proof?”

Questioner: Yes.

Shaikh al-Albaani: The Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, came with a clear proof and the Quraan and it is the miracle of all time. [Ask him], “You, what is your miracle?”

O my brother, this [man] needs someone to mock/ridicule him.

Questioner: Yes, by Allaah, O Shaikh.

Shaikh al-Albaani: So don’t tire yourself out …

Mawsoo’atul-Allaamah, vol. 8, pp. 339-344.

6 Comments
April 2, 2011

Taking Graves as Mosques … 3


Here is the first chapter of Shaikh al-Albaani’s book Tahdheer as-Saajid. There are a number of footnotes and some of them are quite lengthy, many of them are the references showing where the narrations are recorded and some are direct explanations of the text.  So I decided to put the notes which explain the text immediately after the word or phrase being explained, as part of the main text, although you can still tell it’s a footnote since it’s in purple, and those notes which may not immediately be needed, I’ve left at the bottom.  This way you guys can read the whole chapter without having to scroll up and down to understand any explanations of the main body of text. All footnotes are Shaikh al-Albaani’s, may Allaah have mercy on him.

 

Chapter One
Being a Mention of those Sayings of the Prophet
that Prohibit taking the Graves as Mosques

1)  From Aaishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, who said, “Allaah’s Messenger, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, ‘May Allaah curse the Jews and the Christians! They took the graves of their Prophets as mosques.’ She said, ‘Were it not for that, his grave would have been in an open place[1], but he feared that it would be taken as a place of worship.’”[2]

[1] i.e., his grave would have been uncovered, صلى الله عليه وسلم, and a barrier would not have been put around it; and what is meant is being buried outside his home, this is mentioned in Fathul-Baari.

A point of benefit: This saying of Aaishah clearly proves the reason that led the Companions to bury the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, in his home–which was to cut off the means for anyone who may have [otherwise] built a mosque on it. This being the case it is not then permissible to take the above as a proof to bury anyone other than him, صلى الله عليه وسلم, in his home. This is also strengthened by the fact that doing so would be against the established principle regarding burial, since the Sunnah is that burial takes place in the graveyards. For this reason Ibn Urwah said in Al-Kawaakib ad-Daraari (manuscript page 77/tafsir 538), “And burial in the graveyards of the Muslims was more liked by Abu Abdullaah (i.e., Imaam Ahmad) than burial in the houses, for in doing so there is less harm to those still living from the deceased’s family, and it resembles the home of the Hereafter more, and will result in a greater amount of supplication and a greater amount of people asking for Allaah’s Mercy for him. And the Companions, those who followed them and those who came after them, never ceased burying people in the deserts. So if it is said, ‘The Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, was buried in his home and the graves of his two Companions are there with him?’ We say, ‘Aaishah said, ‘That was only done so that his grave would not be taken as a place of worship,’ and likewise because the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, used to bury his Companions at­­­ Baqee–and the action of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, takes precedence over the actions of those other than him [along with the fact that] his Companions held that this was unique to him, صلى الله عليه وسلم, and because it has been reported that, “The Prophets are buried at the place they die,” and to protect them from great multitudes of people, and to distinguish them from those who were not Prophets.”

A saying similar to this one of Aaishah has also been reported from her father, may Allaah be pleased with them both. Ibn Zanjawaih reported in his book that Umar, the freed-slave of Ghafrah, said, “When they were discussing the burial of the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, someone said, ‘We will bury him in the spot he used to pray in!’ So Abu Bakr said, “I seek refuge in Allaah (or Allaah forbid!) that we make him an idol that is worshipped.” Others from them said, “We will bury him in Baqee where his brothers from the Muhaajirs are buried.” Abu Bakr said, “Indeed we dislike that the grave of the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, should be taken out to Baqee such that the people [start to] seek refuge with it in that which [only] Allaah has a right in, and the right of Allaah is above the right of the Messenger of Allaah. And if we break the covenant of Allaah (in the original there occurs: if we delay it) we would have caused the right of Allaah to be lost. So if we do break the covenant of Allaah we would have also have broken the covenant concerning the grave of the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم.” They said, “So what do you yourself think, O Abu Bakr?” He said, “I heard the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, say, ‘Allaah never once took the soul of a Messenger except that he was buried where his soul was taken.’” They said, “So you, by Allaah, have pleased and convinced us.” Then they drew a line around the bed and Ali, Abbaas, al-Fadl and his family picked it up and the companions started to dig, digging where the bed had been.”[3]

2) From Abu Hurairah, may Allaah be pleased with him, who said, “The Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, ‘May Allaah’s curse be on the Jews! They took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship.’”[4]

3-4) From Aaishah and Ibn Abbaas, that when the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, was on his deathbed, he put the edge of a woolen blanket[5] on his face and when he felt hot and short of breath he took it off and said, “May the Curse of Allaah be upon the Jews and the Christians! They took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship.” Aishah said, “He, صلى الله عليه وسلم, was warning [the Muslims] from doing the same as what they had done.”[6]

[5] [The word used in the narration, i.e.,] ‘khameesah’ [خَمِيْصَةٌ] has been explained to be a silk [khazz/خَزّ] or woollen, marked blanket, as is mentioned in the book An-Nihaayah. I [al-Albaani] say: and the second one is intended here since ‘khazz’ [خَزّ] is silk as is well-known now and it is forbidden for men as is established in the Sunnah in contrast to what those who make it permissible from those people who give no weight to the Sunnah say.

Al-Haafidh Ibn Hajr said, “And it is as though he, صلى الله عليه وسلم, knew that he was going to leave [this world] due to that illness. So he feared that his grave would be glorified as those who had gone before had done [to the graves of their Prophets], thus he cursed the Jews and the Christians, indicating [his] censure of whoever does the same as what they did.” I say: i.e., from this ummah and in hadith number six which will follow there is an open declaration forbidding them from that, so take heed.

5) From Aishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, who said, “During the Prophet’s, صلى الله عليه وسلم, [final] illness some of his wives mentioned a church in Ethiopia called Maariyah–and Umm Salamah and Umm Habeebah had been to Ethiopia–so they mentioned its beauty and the images therein.” She said, “[So the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, raised his head] and said, ‘Those people–if there was a righteous man among them and he died–would build a place of worship [Masjid] over his grave and paint those images in it. They will be the most evil of mankind before Allaah [on the Day of Resurrection].’”[7]

Al-Haafidh Ibn Hajr said in Fath al-Baari, “This hadith proves the forbiddance of building mosques [ masaajid/the word masaajid is the plural of masjid, i.e., mosque [Trans. note] ] on top of the graves of the righteous, and drawing images of them inside them as the Christians did. And there is no doubt that each of these things taken individually is forbidden–so drawing images of humans is forbidden, and building graves in mosques is forbidden as other texts have proven and a mention of some of which will follow. He said, “And the images in the church which Umm Habeebah and Umm Salamah mentioned were on the walls [of the church] and their like, they had no shadow, so drawing images in the likeness of the Prophets and the righteous people to take blessing and cure from them is something forbidden in the religion of Islaam and is pure idol worship. And the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, informed us that the people who make such images are those who will be the worst of the creation before Allaah on the Day of Resurrection.

Drawing images [of living things] to seek solace from looking at them or for enjoyment or pleasure from them is forbidden and from the major sins and the one who does that will be from those who have the severest torment on the Day of Resurrection. For he is an oppressor, trying to imitate the actions of Allaah which none other than He can do, and there is none like unto Him, the Most High, not in His Essence or His Characteristics, nor His Actions–how free and far removed from all defects He is, the Most High.” He mentioned this in al-Kawaakib ad-Daraari (vol., 2/28/65).

I say: And there is no difference between images drawn by hand and devices used to make pictures or photographic images. Rather, differentiating between them is present day stubbornness and literalism, as I have clarified in my book Aadaabuz-Zafaaf (pp. 106-116 of the second edition).

6) From Jundub ibn Abdullaah al-Bajalee that he heard the Messenger, صلى الله عليه وسلم, saying five days before he passed away, “Indeed I had brothers and friends among you. [But] verily I free myself before Allaah that I should have a close friend [khaleel] from among you. Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, has taken me as a close friend just as He took Ibrahim as a close friend. And if I were to take a close friend from my nation, I would have taken Abu Bakr as a close friend. Indeed those before you [used to] take the graves of their Messengers and righteous peoples as places of worship. Verily, do not take the graves as places of worships [masaajid]. I forbid you from doing that.”[8]

7) From al-Haarith an-Najraani who said, “I heard the Messenger, صلى الله عليه وسلم, five days before his death saying, “And indeed those before you would take the graves of their Messengers and righteous people as places of worship [masaajid]. So indeed do not take the graves as places of worship. I forbid you from that.”[9]

8) From Usaamah ibn Zaid that the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said during the illness from which he died, “Tell my Companions to come to me.” So they entered [the room] where he was and he was covered in a Yemeni Mu’aafari garment.[10] [So he uncovered his face] and said, “May Allaah’s curse be upon the Jews [and the Christians]! They took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship [masaajid].”[11]

[10] The garment was from Yemen and it was called mu’aafari after the Mu’aafar tribe it was associated with. Nihaayah.

9) From Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarraah who said, “The last thing that the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said was, ‘Expel the Jews of the land of the Hijaaz and of the people of Najraan from the Arabian peninsula. And know that the worst of the people are those who took [and in a narration there occurs: ‘… who take …’][12] the graves of their Prophets as places of worship [masaajid].”[13]

[12] And the difference in meaning between the two wordings is very clear. Since the first narration is referring to people who have passed on, and they are the Jews and the Christians, as occurs in the hadiths that have preceded. And the second wording is referring to those from this nation who follow their path, and hadiths numbers six, seven and twelve support this.

10) From Zaid ibn Thaabit that Allaah’s Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “May Allaah curse (and in a narration there occurs: ‘… may Allaah ruin/destroy …’) the Jews–they took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship [masaajid].”[14]

11) From Abu Hurairah who said, “The Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, ‘O Allaah! Do not make my grave an idol[15] that is worshipped! May Allaah curse [those] people who took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship.”[16]

[15] Ibn Abdul-Barr said, “[The Arabic term used in the hadith] wathan [وَثَنٌ] means an idol. He said, “Do not make my grave an idol/statue towards which people pray and prostrate and worship, for the anger of Allaah is most severe against the one who does that. And the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, used to warn his Companions and his entire nation from the evil that nations before them had done who would pray to the graves of their Prophets, taking them as a direction to pray to [qiblah] and [taking them as] places of worship [masaajid], as the idol worshippers did with the idols which they would prostrate to and glorify–and this is major shirk. The Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, would inform them of the Wrath and Anger of Allaah at those actions and that it was something which He is not pleased with, fearing that they would follow their way, and he, صلى الله عليه وسلم, would love to differ from the People of the Book and all of the disbelievers, and he used to fear that his nation would follow them. Have you not seen how he, صلى الله عليه وسلم, [said the following] in a reproachful, scolding manner, “Indeed, you will surely follow the ways of those who came before you, step by step such that if one of them were to enter a lizard’s hole, you too would enter it.” Fathul-Baari of Ibn Rajab (25/90/2), from al-Kawaakib.

12) From Abdullaah ibn Mas’ood who said, “I heard the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, saying, ‘Indeed from the most evil of people are those who will be alive when the Hour is established, and those who take the graves as places of worship [masaajid].’”[17]

13) From Ali ibn Abi Taalib who said, “Al-Abbaas met me and said, ‘O Ali! Let us go to the Messenger, صلى الله عليه وسلم, [and] then [see] if there is something for us in this affair [i.e., the khilaafah] and if not then he may advise the people concerning us.’ So we entered upon him and he was unconscious. Then he raised his head and said, ‘May Allaah curse the Jews! They took the graves of their Messengers as places of worship [masaajid].’” In another narration there occurs, “He said it three times.” “Then when we saw the condition he was in, we left and did not ask him anything.”[18]

14) From the mothers of the Believers that the Companions of the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “How shall we build the grave of the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم? Shall we make it a masjid?” So Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq said, “I heard the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, saying, “May Allaah curse the Jews and the Christians! They took the graves of their Messengers as places of worship [masaajid].”[19]

[2] Reported by Bukhaari (3/156, 198 and 8/114), Muslim, (2/28), Abu Awaanah (1/399), Ahmad (6/80, 121, 255) and as-Sarraaj in his Musnad (3/48/2), from Urwah from Aishah. Also reported by Ahmad (6/146, 252) and al-Baghawi in Sharhus-Sunnah (part 1, page 415) from Sa’eed ibn al-Musayyib from Aishah and its chain of narration is authentic according to the standard of the two Shaikhs [i.e., Bukhaari and Muslim].

[3] Ibn Kathir said, “And this narration is disconnected in this form, since Umar the freed-slave of Ghafrah, along with his weakness as a narrator, did not reach the time of Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq.” This has been reported in al-Jaami as-Sagheer of as-Suyooti, (3/137/1-2).

[4] Reported by Bukhari (Eng. Transl. vol. 1, p. 280, no. 437), Muslim, Abu Awaanah, Abu Dawud (2/71), Ahmad (2/284, 366, 396, 453 and 518), Abu Ya’laa in his Musnad (1/278), as-Sarraaj, As-Sahmi in Taarikh Jurjaan (349), Ibn Asaakir (2/367/14) from Sa’eed ibn al-Musayyib from him, and in Sahih Muslim also from Yazeed ibn al-Asamm from him. Abdur-Razzaaq reported it in his Musannaf (1/406/1589) in the first form but he declared it to be a mowqoof narration.

[6] Reported by Bukhari (1/422, 6/386 and 8/116), Muslim (2/27), Abu Awaanah (1/399), an-Nisaa’ee (1/115), ad-Daarimi (1/326), Ahmed (1/218, 6/34, 229 and 275) and Ibn Sa’d in at-Tabaqaat (2/258). And Abdur-Razzaaq reported it in his Musannaf (1/406/1588) from Ibn Abbaas alone.

[7] Reported by Bukhari (1/416, 422), Muslim, (2/66), an-Nisaa’ee (1/115), Ibn Abi Shaibah in al-Musannaf (4/140 the Indian edition), Ahmad (6/51), Abu Awaanah in his Saheeh (1/400-401) and the wording is his, Ibn Sa’d in at-Tabaqaat (2/240-241), as-Sarraaj in his Musnad (2/48), Abu Ya’laa in his Musnad (manuscript page 2, 220), al-Baihaqi (4/80) and al-Baghawi (2/415, 416).

[8] Reported by Muslim (2/27-28), Abu Uwaanah (1/401) and the wording is his, at-Tabaraani in al-Kabir (1/48/2) and Ibn Sa’d (2/240) reported it in summarised form without a mention of the brotherhood and the references to taking a khaleel. And he has another narration (2/241) from the hadith of Abu Umaamah, and a second supporting narration that at-Tabaraani mentioned from Ka’b ibn Maalik with a chain of narration that has no problem with it as Ibn Hajr al-Haitami said in Majma’uz-Zawaa’id (9/45).

[9] Reported by Ibn Abee Shaibah (Q2/2/83, and T2/376) with an authentic chain of narration which is upon the standard of Muslim.

[11] Reported by at-Tayaalisee in his Musnad (2/113), Ahmad (5/204), at-Tabaraanee in Al-Kabir (part 1, manuscript page 1, 22), and its chain of narration is hasan when all the supporting narrations are taken into consideration. Ash-Shawkaani said in Nailul-Awtaar (2/114), “And its chain of narration is good.”! And al-Haithami said in Majma’uz-Zawaa’id (2/27), “Its narrators are trustworthy.”

[13] Reported by Ahmad (nos., 1691 and 1694), at-Tahaawi in Mushkilul-Aathaar (4/13), Abu Ya’laa (1/57), Ibn Asaakir (8/327/2) with an authentic chain of narration. And al-Haithami said in al-Majma’ (5/325), “[Imaam] Ahmad reported it with [different] chains of narration (in the original it says, ‘ … two chains of narration …’), the narrators of two of these chains of narration are trustworthy, having connected chains of narration, and it is reported by Abu Ya’laa.” I say: and this saying of his is clearly debatable. Since all three chains of narration which he pointed to centre on Ibrahim ibn Maimoon from Sa’d ibn Samurah except that in the third chain of narration some of the narrators added Ishaaq ibn Sa’d ibn Samurah between Ibrahim and Sa’d which is a mistake on the part of those narrators as al-Haafidh has clarified in at-Ta’jeel, also the wording, “… And know that the worst of the people …” is not in it. Al-Haithami mentioned the hadith in another place (2/28) and said, “Bazzaar narrated it and its narrators are trustworthy.” There is a mursal hadith reported from Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz in marfoo form which supports this narration and it is reported by Ibn Sa’d (2/254).

[14] Reported by Ahmad (5/184 and 186) and its narrators are trustworthy except for Uqbah ibn Abdur-Rahmaan who is Ibn Abu Ma’mar and is unknown as a narrator as is mentioned in at-Taqreeb and do not be deceived by the saying of al-Haithami (2/27), “It is reported by at-Tabaraani in al-Kabir and its narrators are muwatthaqoon,” as Shawkaani was [into thinking that all of the narrators are trustworthy] for he said (2/114), “And its chain of narration is good,” and this was because [al-Haithami’s] saying, “…muwatthaqoon …” [in terms of rating the ranks of narrators] is less [in level] than [those about whom it is said, “ thiqaat, trustworthy.” For when they say muwatthaqoon it is an indication from them to show that some of the narrators do not have a strong declaration of trustworthiness, so it is as though al-Haithami is trying to indicate that some of the narrators do not have a strong declaration of trustworthiness, as though al-Haithami is trying to show that Ibn Hibbaan was the only one who declared Uqbah to be trustworthy and that Ibn Hibbaan’s declaration of trustworthiness is not relied upon, and Allaah knows best.

The fact that Ibn Hibbaan’s declaration of a narrator to be trustworthy is not relied upon is something which no one who has delved into this noble branch of knowledge will have any doubt about. I have explained this in detail in my refutation of the book called at-Ta’qeeb al-Hatheeth of Shaikh Abdullaah al-Habashee which was printed in At-Tamadan al-Islaami in consecutive articles and was then printed in an independent treatise entitled, Ar-Radd alaa at-Ta’qeeb al-Hatheeth, so refer back to it, pp. 18-21.

Along with the fact that it should be noted that the saying, “… the narrators of a certain hadith are trustworthy …” does not mean that its chain of narration is authentic as I have clarified in other places, refer to, for example, Sahih at-Targheeb wat-Tarheeb, (manuscript part 1, p. 70, Maktabah al-Ma’aarif’s print). But the hadith in question is authentic due to its supporting narrations.

[16] Reported by Ahmad (no. 7352), Ibn Sa’d (2/241-242), al-Mufaddal al-Jundee in Fadaa’ilul-Madeenah (1/66), Abu Ya’laa in his Musnad (1/312), al-Humaidee (1025) and Aboo Nu’aym in Al-Hilyah (6/283 and 7/317) with an authentic chain of narration. And it has a supporting mursal chain of narration which Abdur-Razzaaq reported in al-Musannaf (1/406/1587) and also Ibn Abee Shaibah (4/141) from Zaid ibn Aslam and the chain of narration of this supporting narration is strong. There is also another [supporting narration] which Maalik reported in al-Muwatta (1/185) and Ibn Sa’d from Maalik (2/240-241) from Ataa ibn Yaasir in marfoo form and its chain of narration is authentic. And al-Bazzaar has reported it in a connected form from Ataa ibn Yaasir from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree, and Ibn Abdul-Barr declared both the mursal and mawsool forms to be authentic, saying, “So this hadith is authentic in the eyes of those who hold that the mursal narrations of trustworthy narrators [are to be accepted] and likewise with those who say the same about musnad narrations due to the chain of Umar ibn Muhammad for this hadith, and he is from those whose additions have been accepted.” Refer to, Tanweerul-Hawaalik of as-Suyootee.” And there is some debate concerning that which Ibn Abdul-Barr said about Umar, since al-Haafidh Ibn Rajab said in Al-Fath, “Al-Bazzaar reported by way of him, and the Umar he is referring to is Ibn Sahbaan, and the tribe he is from has been mentioned in some of the copies of al-Bazzaar; and Ibn Abdul-Barr thought he was Umar ibn Muhammad al-Umaree, and it seems that this was a mistake on his part, since [a narration] similar to it has been reported from the hadith of Abu Salamah from Abu Hurairah with a chain of narration in which there is some fault.”

[17] Reported by Ibn Khuzaimah in his Saheeh (1/92/2), Ibn Hibbaan (340, 341), Ibn Abee Shaibah in his Musannaf (4/140, the Indian edition), Ahmad (no. 3844 and 4143), at-Tabaraani in al-Mu’jam al-Kabir (1/77/3), Abu Ya’laa in his Musnad (1/257), Abu Nuaym in Akhbaar Asbahaan (1/142) with a hasan chain of narration and Ahmad also (no. 4342) with a different chain of narration which is hasan along with the one before it. After taking into consideration all of the different paths of narration the hadith is authentic. And the Shaikh of Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said in Minhaaj as-Sunnah (1311) and in al-Iqtidaa (p. 158), “And its chain of narration is good.” And al-Haithmee said (2/27), “Reported by at-Tabaraani in al-Kabir and its chain of narration is hasan.” And he made a clear mistake in attributing the narration to at-Tabaraani alone, since it occurs in the Musnad in three places as we have just pointed out! And the first part of the hadith has been reported by Bukhaari in his Saheeh (13/15) in mu’allaq form.

[18] Reported by Ibn Sa’d (4/28), Ibn Asaakir (12/172/2) from two paths of narration from Uthmaan ibn al-Yamaan who said that Abu Bakr ibn Abi Awn narrated to him that he heard Abdullaah ibn Eesaa ibn Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Abi Laylaa from his father from his grandfather or he said from his father or from his grandfather that he said, “I heard Ali ibn Abi Taalib saying …” I say: This chain of narration is hasan if it were not for the fact that I do not know this Abu Bakr, and nobody but ad-Dawlaabi and Abu Ahmad al-Haakim in al-Kunaa brought it.

[19] Reported by Ibn Zanjawaih in Fadaa’il as-Siddeeq as occurs in al-Jaami’ul Kabir (3/147/1).

5 Comments
April 1, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 4


Translated by Ahmed Abu Turaab

What was Al-Albaani doing in his teens?

Al-Huwaini: What year was this, when you started to read the magazine, Al-Manaar?

Al-Albaani: Less than twenty, it is possible that [I was] seventeen or eighteen or the like. So I started to write until I had arranged [part of] the first volume when I had an idea which was that I was a beginner in seeking knowledge, secondly I was a foreigner, an Albanian–[and so] many times I would come across sayings of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, which I would not understand or some Arabic words which would be obscure and vague to me–words which I later came to realise were from [that special category of word] which occur in hadiths and are problematic/difficult to understand [i.e., gharibul-hadith].

So I said [to myself]: why don’t I use some of the books which are in my possession or in my father’s library to explain these words which I find difficult to understand? So I did that but I had just begun to make some notes when I started to blame myself and regard what I had done as something disagreeable. Because now the first volume seemed to be unorganised: the first part of it had no [such] commentary but the second part did, and this disparity did not please me. So I cancelled what I did and started all over again, commenting and explaining from the beginning of the book when the need arose.

In this manner the first volume was completed and then I started the second. [Until in the end] the difference in commentary between the first volume and the last volumes was clearly apparent. For in the first volume you will see that most pages only have a little commentary but after that the complete opposite is true: you could see one line [of main text] at the top and below it would be [nothing but] footnotes, written in a very fine script.

In Syria we had two types of writing pen: that which was for writing Arabic and the other for writing French, they would call the latter ‘the French pen’ because it had a very fine nib. So I would write the commentary in Arabic with the French pen to distinguish it from the main text, so you would find all of the page full of this minute writing and at the top [you would see] a line or two [of the main text for which the commentary was written] with the Arabian pen and so on.

Bearing in mind that I felt that I benefitted greatly from this revision in making up for this deficiency which I used to feel due to, firstly, being a beginner in seeking knowledge, and secondly, due to my foreignness.

So I benefitted from this work greatly, greatly indeed, and it is present with me, and all praise is due to Allaah, as a remnant of that work.[1]

[1] Shaikh Muhammad al-Majdhoob said, “And the Shaikh showed me the work he did on that copy. And behold I came face to face with three volumes [which contained] four parts and whose pages reached two thousand and twelve in number, made up of two different types of handwriting. The first was normal whereas the second was fine, [and is] the one he used to write his commentary or corrections in the footnotes area. By Allaah, it is an effort which the people of high resolve from the people of knowledge today would lack the strength for, let alone the university graduates who have no firm will to give them the patience to check, verify and pursue [such matters].

Then what is the case when you add to that the fact that the Shaikh was not more than twenty years old? So there is no doubt that this colossal effort in writing those volumes, while using all those means of verification which were available to this youth at that time, had the greatest effect on him becoming accustomed to this kind of academic endeavour. For it, even though he was [still] not entirely satisfied with it in its complete form, had opened up the way for him to progress to a higher level in this field.

So through such a life and that development, and those problems that he faced, it seems to me [that the presence of] other hidden factors also steadily directed this youth to that path. To make him, in the end, one of the great aiders of the pure Sunnah in the lands of Syria.” Ulamaa wa mufikkiroon (1/292).

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 12-14.

4 Comments
April 1, 2011

The Signs of the Hour … 2


Trials only increased after The False Prophet

Shaikh al-Albaani continued, “As for the prophet of Qadiyan, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, then he came and the trials and tribulations continued to increase after him, and the humiliation of the Muslims increased day after day. So where is the peace and security of Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, and the rule of Islaam such that all people become rich, no poverty-stricken person found among them? Especially [among] the people of India among whom this false claimant to prophethood resided, they are from the poorest of the people on the earth. So the reality of the call of Ghulam Ahmad al-Qadiyani gives the lie to his claim of prophethood and [to the delivery of a] message, putting aside the fact that he contradicted that which is fundamentally and necessarily known about the religion: that there is no Prophet after Muhammad, عليه الصلاة والسلام. He, عليه الصلاة والسلام, said, “Prophethood and the [delivery of any new] message have ceased. There is no prophet and no messenger after me.” So everyone who claims prophethood … even if he philosophises about it as the Qadiani did [saying] that prophethood is of two types: prophethood of revelation and prophethood of legislation. So the Qadiani claimed that the prophethood which had ceased was that which legislates and that only that of revelation, which does not necessitate the prophethood of legislation, is the one that will remain until the end of time.

And this is a lie.

Rather it is disbelief due to its opposing the texts of the Book and the Sunnah and opposing the consensus of the Ummah, since it is united [upon the fact] that there is no prophet after the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, so there is no difficulty for anyone [to accept] the descent of Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, because Jesus will not come with a new prophethood nor a new Legislation [Sharee’ah] nor new revelation.

He will instead come and judge with the Book and the Sunnah.

This is Jesus for whose [descent] at the end of time [i.e., at end of this worldly life] Allaah would have prepared the way through a man from the family of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم. And indeed [that man] is Muhammad the son of Abdullaah the Mahdi. This is the Mahdi which you hear much about, some of what you hear is correct and some things are not so.

And maybe you have heard from many people that there are those who reject the coming of the Mahdi. There is a book written by the famous author Ahmad Ameen called The Mahdi and The Mahdaawees, in it he denies the coming of the Mahdi, and this equates to being a rejection of the authentic sayings of the Prophet reported in the books of the Sunnah: that Muhammad the son of Abdullaah the Mahdi will come before the descent of Jesus as the one who paves the way for Jesus.

From the sayings of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, which speak about the Mahdi who will come before Jesus and meet him, is his saying, عليه الصلاة والسلام, “The world will not end until Allaah sends a man whose name is the same as my name and whose father’s name is the same as my father’s name. He will fill the world with justice and fairness just as it had been filled with injustice and oppression.”[1] And from these hadiths is the hadith, “The Mahdi is from us, the people of the house [i.e., of the Prophet, from the family of the Prophet]. Allaah will prepare him in one night.”[2]

Where will Jesus, peace be upon him, descend?

And they think that Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, will come down at that minaret and they interpret that previous hadith, “He will descend by the white minaret, [in the] east[ern part] of Damascus …” they explain this hadith [by saying that it is referring to] the minaret which is present today east of the Amawi mosque–and this is an incorrect explanation. That is because the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “He will descend by the white minaret …” and not from the [actual] minaret, and there is a big difference [between the two]. They say, “He will descend in the minaret, then he will come down to the mosque from the minaret,” and the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, says, “He will descend by the white minaret …” Neither did he say, “East of the mosque …” but rather, “… [in the] east[ern part] of Damascus …” it is obligatory upon us not to add to the sayings of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, that which is not from it.

So the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, spoke the truth: “Jesus will descend by the white minaret, [in the] east[ern part] of Damascus …” And this differs with the passage of time: east Damascus at the time Damascus was conquered was close to the Amawi mosque, and you know that part of Damascus was taken peacefully and the other part through force. So the eastern gate which was east of the Amawi mosque was the end of [the city limit of] Damascus in those days. As for today, then as you can see in all cities that which was east is now west due to the spread of buildings and [only] Allaah knows where east Damascus will have spread to.

The point of proof here is that Jesus will descend and the prayer will have been established, the morning [fajr] prayer for Muhammad ibn Abdullaah [Imaam] Mahdi [to lead], so when he sees Jesus, Imaam Mahdi will recognise him and ask him to go forward [to lead the prayer] but he will reply that no, I will not go forward.”

Al-Fataawaa al-Muhimmah lil-Allaamah Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, of Salaahud-Deen Mahmood as-Sa’eed, pp. 290-291.

[1] An authentic hadith. Reported by Abu Dawud (4282) and at-Tirmidhee (2230) who said, “Hasan Saheeh.”

[2] An authentic hadith. Reported by Ahmad (1/84), and Ahmad Shaakir (645) said, “Its chain of narration is authentic.” Also reported by Ibn Maajah (4075) and al-Albaani declared it to be hasan in As-Saheehah (2371).

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March 29, 2011

The Signs of the Hour … 1


 

The Signs of the Hour and
the False Prophet Mirza Ghulam Ahmad al-Qadiyani

Question: As regards the establishment of the Hour, there are lesser signs and major signs and especially Gog and Magog?

Shaikh al-Albaani: Dividing the signs [of the Day of Judgement] into minor and major is a technical division [used] amongst the scholars and it is not something which has been reported from the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم–but when such terminology does not go against the Book nor the Sunnah then there is no problem [in using it]. No doubt the brother’s question that what is said should be about the major signs of the Hour is by way of starting with the most important thing first and then the most important after that in knowledge.

There are many major signs but from the most important of them which the respected questioner made special reference to is the descent of Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, at the end of time, his killing of the major Dajjaal, and then Gog and Magog after that. These are three of the major signs of the Hour: the descent of Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, the appearance of Dajjaal, Jesus’, عليه الصلاة والسلام, killing him, and the appearance of Gog and Magog.

As for Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, then his descent near the end of time is an Islamic belief which it is incumbent upon every Muslim to take as religion before Allaah, and to worship Him through it, having faith and attesting to [the truth of] the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, by way of the numerous hadiths which have been reported from him in the two Sahihs and other than them [regarding him]. From these is the Prophet’s, صلى الله عليه وسلم, saying, “Verily, Jesus the son of Mary will descend among you as a just judge. And so [he] will break the cross and kill the pigs, and wealth will become so abundant that no one will accept it. And a [single] prostration that day will be more beloved to a believer than the world and everything in it.” [Bukhaari and Muslim]. This is one of the many hadiths in which the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, openly declared the descent of Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, at the end of time, so it is obligatory that we know that the descent of Jesus at the end of time does not negate the end of prophethood or the end of the message.

For there is a group of people known as Qaadiyanis and they call themselves Ahmadis trying to [falsely] portray that they are followers of Muhammad ibn Abdullaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, the Prophet of Islaam. But in reality they associate themselves with their false prophet called Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. For this reason they misinterpret the descent of Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, by saying that it means the coming of someone who resembles Jesus and by that they are referring to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad al-Qadiyani. So it is obligatory upon us to know the characteristics which have been reported about Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, who will descend at the end of time and which were not fulfilled by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad al-Qadiyani and neither were they fulfilled by those other than him who claimed to be prophets or Imaam Mahdi.

Because one of the principal signs of Jesus is that he is Jesus the son of Mary not [just someone called] Jesus in general, rather he is the son of Mary, the Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, the Prophet of the Children of Israel–this is the one who will descend and when he does he will not do so with a new prophethood, nor with a new message. But he will descend and judge by the Sharee’ah of our Prophet Muhammad, صلى الله عليه وسلم, especially when Jesus descended after Moses, to complete some of the laws which [Allaah’s] Wisdom of legislating determined that he should come with, or which Allaah sent down to Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, after Moses, عليهما الصلاة والسلام.

And you all know that when the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, saw a page in the hand of Umar and asked him about it he replied that it was from the Torah so the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, questioned him about it and he replied, “A man from the Jews wrote it for me.” So he, عليه الصلاة والسلام, became angry and said, “Are you confused as the Jews and the Christians were confused?! By the One in Whose Hand is my soul! If Moses were alive he would not have any choice but to follow me.”[1] Likewise Jesus, عليه السلام, if he were alive on the face of the earth the day the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, was sent he would have had no choice but to follow the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم.

And it is known that Allaah, the Blessed and Most High, took the Covenant from all of the Messengers and Prophets that if He sent Muhammad, صلى الله عليه وسلم, amongst them they would follow and support him. For this reason the descent of Jesus at the end of time does not negate the fact that the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, was the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers as the Lord of all Creation said, “Muhammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allaah and Seal [i.e.,the last] of the Prophets …” [Al-Ahzaab 33:40]

He is the Seal of the Prophets before the descent of Jesus and after the descent of Jesus.

For Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, will descend and judge with the Book and the Sunnah, for this reason the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said in a hadith, “Verily, Jesus the son of Mary will descend among you as a just judge …” so he will judge with the Book and the Sunnah justly between the people not oppressing anyone. The proof for this is that he will break the cross which his followers have taken as [a means of] disbelief and tyranny, [something] Jesus did not order them with –far be it for him ever to do so–but after about one hundred years his followers deviated from the Law [Sharee’ah] of the Gospel [Injeel] and it, naturally, was Islaam, and there is no difference in Islaam as regards creed [aqidah]. For all of the Messengers, from the first to the last, from Adam, the first Prophet, to Muhammad, the last Prophet, عليهم الصلاة والسلام–all of them came with Islaam. The difference is only in some [specific] rulings.

So when Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, descends as a just judge he will break the cross to confirm and establish for his followers that they are [standing] upon nothing and that they are upon manifest misguidance, likewise he will kill the pigs, i.e., he will judge [with the ruling that] it is forbidden to eat their meat and he will judge that they be annihilated and eradicated, confirming to those who claim to follow him or who make the pig lawful [to eat] that it is not from him but rather from the monks who innovated laws for the people of their own accord.

So these [are the] matters [that] are from the characteristics of Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام, and from the most important of them is that peace and tranquillity will dominate and prevail over the people in those days such that all of the people will become affluent, satisfied with the rule of Islaam which Allaah will bring about of at the hands of Jesus, عليه الصلاة والسلام. For every single one of them would have acquired sustenance which pleases and satisfies him and by which his life in this world would be established–and not only to a moderate level, but rather to such an extent that a man, and all men will give zakaah, but he will not find a single person who will accept it from him. Because the people in his time will have become–by his judging with the Islaam of our Prophet Muhammad, صلى الله عليه وسلم–all of them will have become rich, no poverty-stricken person will be found among them.

Al-Fataawaa al-Muhimmah lil-Allaamah Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani, of Salaahud-Deen Mahmood as-Sa’eed, pp. 288-290.

[1] Hasan. Reported by Ahmad (3/387) and Ibn Abee Aasim in As-Sunnah (1/27).

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March 28, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 3


Learning from his Father

Al-Huwaini: I asked Shaikh Shu’aib al-Arnaa’oot about some things and then he ended up saying, “I used to go to Shaikh Nooh (i.e., Shaikh al-Albaani’s father) but Shaikh Naasir would not be present at our sittings.”

Al-Albaani: I never used to attend those lessons which he is referring to. But we used to have a private lesson with my father with two other Arnaa’ooti youths one of whose names was Abdur-Raheem Zainul-Aabideen and he is still alive, the other has passed away and we used to read Al-Qadoori in hanafi fiqh to him, likewise we read Al-Maraah in morphology to him and we finished reciting the Quraan to him.

So this does not mean that we did not read to him, for I would not attend at the time he was attending just as the opposite [conclusion] is not binding–for he never used to attend these particular lessons of ours with my father, [but this does not mean] that he never sat with my father, this is not binding.

Al-Albaani Leaving the Hanafi Madhhab to Study Hadith
and the time he was too poor to buy a Book

Al-Huwaini: There is a matter here which draws one’s attention: how did you turn to hadith and such, bearing in mind that some of what you have said and what Shaikh Shu’aib said [shows] that your father was a Hanafi, he would revere the Hanafi school of thought greatly?

Al-Albaani: That is from the blessings of Allaah. But as for the reason then it is as is said, “When Allaah intends a matter He facilitates the means for it.” So I truly was living in an atmosphere of bigoted Hanafism. My father, especially among the Arnaa’oots, was regarded as the most knowledgeable of them in Hanafi fiqh, he was the one they would recourse and refer back to.

When I finished elementary school and studied as I have previously detailed with some of the Shaikhs, I would have a very great desire to want to read as a hobby. But reading [those things]–as would seem to one looking in on it–that contained no benefit, indeed which could even have an adverse effect. But later on the effect of this reading became clear in my language for it had strengthened my oral skills. What is peculiar is that I was infatuated with reading modern day fiction works which were known as hiwaayaat [leisure reading/books that are read as a hobby], especially the stories of the American thief famous as Arsene Lupin. So I was truly infatuated with reading this type of story and narrative.

Then I found myself moving to the second stage which perhaps was better than the first, and it was studying Arabic stories, even though [most of them] were fiction. So for example I read A Thousand Arabian Nights, I read the story of Antar ibn Shaddaad, the story of Salaah ad-Deen al-Ayyoobi, a story of resoluteness and valiant champions, and so on. I was extremely captivated by such types of perusal and reading, and then from the perfectness of Allaah’s Plan and His Kindness to me was that when I changed my profession and accompanied my father I came across a lot of free time.

We would split the time [we’d sit] in the shop. So he would go [to it] in the morning and I would go with him [and he would stay there] until he prayed dhuhr, then after he had prayed it he would go home to relax and I would remain in the shop until he returned [which would be] after asr. We were both workers and sometimes I would come across a lot of spare time, there would be hours and I would not [have to] repair any watches, so I would ask his permission to go out … and to where? This was also from Allaah’s granting of success to me [that] I would go to the Amawi masjid and would give the people some general lessons, and I was influenced as regards ideology: some of it was correct, in what became apparent to me later, and some of it was incorrect.

That which was incorrect was connected to two points: blind following and Sufism. Then in this free time during which I would leave my father’s shop, Allaah ordained [that I meet] an Egyptian man who would buy books left by people who had passed away and then [sell them and] put them on display in front of a shop of his [which was] in the direction of the western door of the Amawi mosque. So I would pass by the stack of books which he would pile up outside his small shop, turning over the pages, and I would find whatever I wanted from those narrations, and I would loan the book from him for some money, read it and then return it and so on.

One day I found some issues of the magazine ‘Al-Mannar’ with him, and I remember very well that I read a chapter in it by as-Sayyid Rashid Rida, may Allaah have mercy upon him, speaking about the merits of al-Ghazaali’s book Al-Ihyaa and he [also] criticised it from some angles, likes its Sufism, for example, and the weak and baseless hadiths that were in it. In this regard he mentioned that Abul-Fadl Zainul-Aabidin al-Iraaqi had a book which he authored about Al-Ihyaa in which he checked its hadiths, distinguishing between its authentic and weak ones and he called it, Al-Mughni an Hamlil-Asfaar fil-Asfaar fee Takhrij maa fil-Ihyaa minal-Akhbaar.

So I began to greatly yearn for this book, I went to the market asking after it like someone infatuated and madly in love [aashiq] [saying], “Where is this book?” Until I found it with one of them and it was in four volumes, the print of al-Baabi al-Halabi, on soft, yellow paper.

But I was poor like my father and could not afford to buy a book such as it, so I came to an agreement with its owner that I would loan it from him, I don’t recall now [whether it was] for a year or less or more, so I did, I took the book and was almost about to fly out of joy. I went to the shop and I would take advantage of the time when my father was away so I could be alone with my book.  I made a plan to copy it out and so I started to do so. I bought some paper and got a ‘mistarah’–and this refers to cardboard that had parallel lines on it.

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 10-12.

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March 27, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 2


 

Al-Albaani the Carpenter

Al-Huwaini: After you finished your study why didn’t you go on to complete your academic education, i.e., secondary education and so on?

Al-Albaani: I didn’t increase upon my elementary education, and the reason for that goes back to my father. Perhaps this was a shot in the dark on his behalf [but a successful one at that], since what I witnessed later was that if I had continued in that line of education I wouldn’t have been able to do the study that I do. Since it is true that formal education makes it easy for someone who wants to progress in great strides in academic research, yet it is very rare to find this in those who do graduate.

My father, may Allaah have mercy upon him, had a bad opinion about the government schools, and he had a right to, since they would not teach anything from the Sharee’ah except its outline and not its reality [i.e., skim its surface]. For this reason he didn’t send me to a preparatory school, for example, which in those days was known as secondary school in Syria.

Due to that I started to study Hanafi fiqh and morphology [sarf] with my father; and with another Shaikh whose name was Shaikh Sa’eed Burhaani, and it became apparent to me later that he was a Sufi, a follower of a tariqah, I studied some Hanafi fiqh with this Shaikh, specifically [the book] Maraaqi al-Falaah Sharh Nurul-Eedaah. I also studied some books of Arabic grammar and modern day rhetoric with him using some books of contemporary writers.

I finished reading the Quran to my father with tajwid and at the same time I was pursuing work as a carpenter, that which these days is called Arabic carpentry. I finished learning [it] from two carpenters, one of them was my maternal uncle whose name was Ismaa’eel, may Allaah have mercy upon him, I worked with him for two years. The other was a Syrian known as Abu Muhammad who I also worked with for two years. Most of my work with them centred around repairing and restoring old houses, since old houses in Syria were made from wood and bricks. Over time and with rain, snow and such, parts of the floors would collapse and would require someone [specialising] in Arabic carpentry to come and fix them so I would go with them.

Most of the time in winter  we would not be able to do any work whatsoever, so I would pass by my father who was working as a watch repairer.  One day he said to me, when I had returned from my two [carpentry] instructors and he could tell that there was no work because it was an overcast and cloudy day, he said, “It looks as though there’s no work today.”

I replied, “Yes, no work.”

So he said, “What do you think, I feel that this profession [i.e., carpentry] isn’t easy nor is it a profession. What do you think about working with me?”

I said to him, “As you wish.”

He said, “Come on then, climb up!” His shop was raised off the ground since he used to fear that damp would set in, and so from that day I stuck to him until I learnt the profession from him and then opened up my own shop.

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 9-10.

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March 26, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani’s Life | Questions and Answers … 1


There is a book entitled, Imaam al-Albaani, His Life, His Call, and His Efforts in the Service of the Sunnah by Muhammad Bayyoomi.  In it he has transcribed five cassette recordings of questions that were put to Shaikh al-Albaani concerning his life.  Yes, you’ve guessed it, it was a bit too tempting not to go for translating this even though we finished the other ‘Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words.’  Bi idhnillaah wa
tawfeeqihi, I’ll try to post some translations from this book here along with the other ongoing project, Taking Graves as Mosques.  Here’s the first post.

 

His Birth and Migration

 

Al-Huwaini: O Shaikh, what is your date of birth?

Al-Albaani: I do not have in my possession that which can be relied upon as regards the date except what is known as a birth certificate, or ID or the passport–in it the year 1914ce is recorded.

Al-Huwaini: Were you born in Damascus or Albania?

Al-Albaani: I was born in Ashkodera [Shkodër] which in those days was the capital of Albania, [then] in the days of that revolutionary Ahmed Zogu the capital was moved to Tirana. I was born in Ashkodera, Albania.

Al-Huwaini: The story of your entry into Damascus, Syria with your father, was it because of some persecution, for example, or something else?

Al-Albaani: It was not because of any persecution but in al-Jawndhar there was the control of that Ahmed Zogu, [who was intent] on ruling the country. For no sooner had he settled into position than he started to impose European legislative laws on the populace. So he started to make things difficult on those women wearing the hijab, and made it obligatory for the police and the army to wear the hat–the thing which forebode evil in the opinion of my father, may Allaah have mercy on him. For this reason he decided to migrate with his family [in the general direction of] Syria, and Damascus specifically, because he had read many hadiths concerning the excellence of Syria in general and Damascus in particular. Even though it is known, or we came to know later, that the hadiths regarding the merits of Syria range from being authentic, hasan, weak and fabricated–but the general idea is true and had taken hold of him, may Allaah have mercy on him, and for this reason he decided to migrate when he came to that opinion . This was the reason for the migration, so there was no immediate pressure [which made us leave].

Al-Huwaini: How old were you when you migrated?

Al-Albaani: What I recall is that when I settled in Damascus I was nine years old.

 

Learning Arabic as a Child

Al-Huwaini: Did you speak Arabic at the time?

Al-Albaani: I never knew anything from the Arabic language, in fact I never even knew any of the letters of the Arabic alphabet since there was not much attention on the part of my father, may Allaah have mercy on him, to teach us [that], despite the fact that he was the Imaam of a mosque, and even the Shaikh of a madrassah.

When we came to Damascus, we didn’t know anything about reading or writing and as they say here in Syria, “We couldn’t tell the difference between the letter alif and the naftiyyah [even though both are straight].” The naftiyyah is a long stick which the Shaikh in the madrassah would reach out with and use if he wanted to hit the last boy who [was sitting at the end and] was playing around.

The madrassah there was a private one owned by a charitable organisation called the Charitable Relief Organisation and it was there that I started my education. And naturally, because I was mixing with the students there, my acquisition of the Arabic language or to be exact, the Syrian dialect, was stronger than those who were not students at the madrassah. And I remember well that, apparently, because I was older than the other elementary students in the madrassah I completed the first and second years in one year, and so [at the end] I obtained my elementary certificate in four years. And it seems as though Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, had instilled in me a natural love for the Arabic language. And it was this love that was the real reason, after the Grace of Allaah, that I was [a] distinguished [student] and that I surpassed my Syrian classmates in the Arabic language and such.

I also remember very well that when the grammar teacher would write a sentence or a line of poetry on the slate and would ask the students to grammatically parse the syntax [i’raab] of a sentence or line of poetry–the last person he would ask would be al-Albaani. In those days I was known as ‘al-Arnaa’oot.’ As for the word ‘al-Albaani’ then [I started to use it] when I graduated from the madrassah and began to author. For the word ‘al-Arnaa’oot’ is similar to the term ‘Arab,’ in that just as the Arabs are divided into tribes, there being among them the Egyptian, the Syrian, the Hijaazi … and so on, then in the same way the ‘al-Arnaa’oot’ are also divided into Albanians, Serbians from Yugoslavia, Bosniaks [Bosnians]. Thus, the words ‘al-Arnaa’oot’ and al-Albaani have generalities and specifics in meaning–al-Albaani is more specific than [the general term] al-Arnaa’oot.

So the grammar teacher would make me the very last student he would ask when all other students had failed to parse the sentence, he would call me [saying], “Yes, O Arnaa’oot, what do you say?” And I would hit the target with one word [or sentence] and so he would then start to shame the Syrians because of me saying, “Isn’t it a shame on you? This is an Arnaa’ootee [i.e, you are Arab speakers and he isn’t].”

So this was from Allaah’s Grace upon me.”

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Hayaatuhu, Da’watuhu, Juhooduhoo fee Khidmatis-Sunnah, of Muhammad Bayyoomi, pp. 7-9.

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March 25, 2011

Is Du’aa obligatory [waajib]?


 

“Is du’aa obligatory [waajib]?”

 

Shaikh al-Albaani said, “Du’aa in general is waajib[1].

And there are some supplications which are obligatory on certain [specific] occasions, like seeking refuge with Allaah from the four things [in the last tashhahud in the prayer]: from the punishment of Hell and the punishment of the grave, from the trials and tribulations of life and death and from the trial and temptation of Al-Maseeh Ad-Dajjaal, as occurs in the hadith of Bukhaari from Abu Hurairah, may Allaah be pleased with him, that he said, “The Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, ‘When one of you finishes the final tashahhud, then let him seek refuge with Allaah from four …’” So in this there is a clear order for the one who is praying to seek refuge from these four things at the end of his prayer.

For this reason it has been reported that Taawoos, the honourable taabi’ee, ordered the one who had not sought refuge with Allaah from these four things to repeat his prayer.””[2]

 

[1] The compiler Amr Abdul-Mun’im Saleem said, “That which proves this is his, صلى الله عليه وسلم saying, “Du’aa is worship,” and then he recited, “And your Lord said, ‘Call upon Me, I will respond to your (invocation).’” [Ghaafir 40:60] Reported by Ahmad and others from An-Nu’maan ibn Basheer, may Allaah be pleased with him, with an authentic chain of narration. And Ahmad (2/443, 477) and others reported a hadith with a hasan chain of narration from Abu Hurairah, may Allaah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “Allaah is angry with whoever does not invoke Him.”

[2] The compiler Amr Abdul-Mun’im Saleem said, “This narration is reported by Muslim (1/413) from the hadith of Ibn Abbaas, in it there occurs, “Muslim Ibn al-Hajjaaj said, ‘It has reached me that Taawoos said to his son, ‘Did you supplicate with it in your prayer?’ He replied, ‘No.’ So he said, ‘Repeat your prayer.’’”

Al-Masaa’il al-Ilmiyyah wal-Fataawaa ash-Shar’eeyah, pp. 166-167.

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