The Albaani Site

Translation from the Works of the Reviver of this Century

Tag: albaanee

March 20, 2011

Did the Angels Harut and Marut Teach Magic?


 

Questioner: “What is the explanation of the Aayah, ‘They followed what the devils gave out (falsely of the magic) in the lifetime of Sulaiman. Sulaiman did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things that came down at Babylon to the two angels, Harut and Marut …?’” Baqarah 2:102

Al-Albaani: “There is no doubt that there is a difference of opinion concerning the aayah among the scholars of quranic exegesis [tafsir]. But that which I personally hold to be the stronger opinion is that the word maa [ما] in His Saying, “… and such things that came down at Babylon to the two angels …” is not the maa of negation[1] but rather a relative pronoun, i.e., that Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, sent down the two angels to teach magic to the people, since magic was widespread at that time and [as a result there was] confusion [in differentiating] between it and miracles which some of the Prophets would bring. Like the story of the magicians and Musa, عليه الصلاة والسلام, where Pharaoh, through the magicians, had wanted to misguide his people from the call of Musa to the Truth. Since what Pharaoh had come with was nothing but magic. Then, as we know, Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, eradicated the magic of the sorcerers who then became Muslims, believing in Allaah, the Lord of all Creation. So their knowledge of magic was the reason which enabled them to distinguish between that which was mere slight of vision and magic and between reality, “Then Musa threw his stick, and behold, it swallowed up all the falsehoods which they showed!” Ash-Shu’araa 26:45.

The magicians believed in this reality before all of the other people since through their knowledge of magic they knew that it was nothing but concealment, disguising and deception which had no reality to it. Thus when they were overcome and dumbfounded by the miracle of Musa, عليه الصلاة والسلام, the difference between reality and magic became manifest to them [so they fell down prostrate], “Saying, “We believe in the Lord of all Creation.” Ash-Shu’araa 26:47.

So it was through Allaah’s Wisdom that He sent down two angels, Harut and Marut, so that they would teach the people magic not for the sake of magic but rather to enable them to recognise that magic which many of the imposters/fraudsters [dajjaals] used at that time to deceive and enslave the people. As occurs in the story of the boy and the sorcerer, and maybe you remember that story.

Its summary, and [it being so important] a summary of it must be mentioned, is that the [tyrannical] king of that time, who is the companion of the Trench mentioned in the Quraan [See Surah no. 85, Burooj], would use a magician in order to enslave the people. When this magician saw that he had grown old, become white haired and frail, he said to the king, ‘Chose a boy from the people for me who [I can teach such that he] will be able to help you after I am gone.’ Why? So that this king could continue to enslave his people through magic. This is how the kings of old were, taking advantage of the people through magic.

So Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, sent the two angels to teach all of the people–not like what the king’s magician, the king of the Trench, did, since this magician had said to the king, ‘Chose a boy for me …’ since it did not suit him that the knowledge of magic become widespread among all of the people since then they would come to realize that the king was misguiding them through magic, something which then they would have come to know.

So Allaah through His Wisdom saw fit to send two Angels to teach magic to the people so that they would be able to distinguish between magic and a miracle. Because magic, without a shadow of a doubt, is a means of spreading corruption: Allaah said in the same aayah, “… but neither of these two (angels) taught anyone (such things) until they had said, ‘We are only for trial so disbelieve not (by practicing this magic).’ And from these (angels) people learn that by which they cause separation between man and his wife …”

So they came to teach magic for a purpose, but this teaching could lead to a trial, and thus they learn that which harms them and does not benefit them[2] and that which causes separation between a man and his wife.

This is what I understand regarding the explanation of this aayah.

And Allaah knows best.”

Al-Fataawaa al-Kuwaitiyyah, pp. 49-51.

[1] [The compiler of the book, Amr Abdul-Mun’im Saleem has a footnote here where he says, “Ibn Jarir has mentioned the difference of opinion in the explanation of this aayah (2/419), so from them are some who say the Arabic word maa [ما] here means ‘did not’ [لم], i.e., that magic was not sent down to the two angels, and this saying has been reported from Ibn Abbaas and Rabee’ ibn Anas but with weak chains of narrations. And there are others who explained that maa here means ‘that which’ [الذي] as Shaikh al-Albaani said here, and this saying has been reported from Abdullaah ibn Mas’ood with a chain of narration which has some disconnection in it, it is also reported from Qataadah, Ibn Zaid and others–and this opinion is also the one preferred by Ibn Jarir at-Tabari.

It has been reported from Qataadah, with an authentic chain of narration (2/421), that he said, “Magic is of two types: magic taught by the devils, and magic taught by Harut and Marut.”

And Ibn Jarir at-Tabari clarified the wisdom behind the reasoning as to why Allaah sent down magic, and whether it was permissible for His Angels to teach the people magic, so he said, ‘If someone were to say to us, ‘And is it permissible [to say] that Allaah would send down magic or is it permissible for His Angels to teach the people magic?’ We would say to him, ‘Indeed Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, [is the One who] has sent down good and bad, all of it, and He clarified all of that to His servants, revealing as such to His Prophets ordering them to teach His Creation and to make known to them what is permissible for them from that which is forbidden, such as fornication, stealing, and all of the other sins that He made known to them and forbade them from committing.

So magic is another one of those sins which He told them about and forbade them from practising. Having knowledge about magic is not a sin, just as there is no sin in [actually] knowing how to produce alcohol, or how to carve out an idol, a lute, or other types of [forbidden] amusement–rather the sin is in practising it and preparing such things. Likewise, there is no sin in having knowledge about magic, the sin is only in practising it and using it to harm people it is not permissible to harm.

So there is no wrongdoing in the fact that Allaah sent it down to His Angels and neither in the fact that His Angels taught it to whoever they taught it to from the people, since their teaching of that to whoever they taught it to was with the Permission of Allaah after they informed [whoever they would teach it to] that they were a trial and test and after they would forbid them from practising it and from disbelief. So the sin was only on whoever learnt it from them and then practised it, since Allaah, Lofty is His Mention, has stated that He had forbidden them learning and then practising it …”­­­­

[2] The compiler, Amr Abdul-Mun’im Saleem, said here, “And the complete aayah pointsto what Ibn Jarir mentioned, i.e., that the two Angels would teach the knowledge of magic but would never order that it be practised–rather that they would forbid it in the extreme, warning against it severely.”

7 Comments
March 19, 2011

Progressing in Calling to Allaah …


 

“How can the Muslim progress and ascend in the field of calling to Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic?”


Shaikh al-Albaani said, “In reality when I was giving that brief word about beneficial knowledge and righteous actions I had felt like saying something that was connected to [the topic of] calling to Allaah, now this question has come along which has opened up the way for me to talk about that which I had thought of but did not do.

So as for how a person advances himself or progresses in the path of calling to Allaah, then that, without doubt, requires two things in my opinion.

The first: That his ties with the people of knowledge are persistent, whether with those of them who are alive through their books or those who are alive and are calling to Allaah.  Namely, that he should have a connection to the highest degree with the books of the people of knowledge who are known for their correctness in affairs of creed [aqeedah], such that he never cuts off from referring back to, reading, and taking more and more from their knowledge since that will help him to ascend and proceed in his calling to Allaah, the Blessed and Most High.

The second: That he should increase in his connection to the people of knowledge who are alive, especially those among them who are known to have correct aqeedah and gracious, pleasant manners,  Since we know that a good example has an enormous affect on the people who follow them.  When a man, or a scholar or a Shaikh who is followed has some form of deviation, whether it is ideological or in his manners, then it will not be far fetched to find that this person or Shaikh has an [adverse] affect on those people who contact him or who take knowledge from him.

And there are many well-known hadiths from the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, encouraging one to accompany and associate with righteous people, like his, صلى الله عليه وسلم, saying, “Do not accompany except a believer, and let none but someone who fears Allaah eat your food.” [Reported by Ahmad and others, Shaikh Al-Albaani declared it to be hasan].

So the Prophet’s, صلى الله عليه وسلم, counsel in this hadith is that we accompany the Muslim who fears Allaah and this is only because the affect of a righteous person is contagious such that the one who accompanies him will receive some of that good.  This is why in Sahih Bukhari the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “The example of the righteous companion is like the perfume seller.  He will either give you some perfume, sell you some, or at least you will smell a pleasant fragrance from him.  And the example of the evil companion is like the blacksmith.   He will either burn your clothes or you will smell a wretched smell from him.”

Thus, whoever wants to progress and ascend in the path of calling to Allaah has to safeguard these two matters:

1) That he is well-connected with the books of the people of knowledge of the past who were known for their beneficial knowledge and correct aqeedah.

2) And that if it is easy for him to get in touch with the people of knowledge and righteousness in the community in which he lives then he should contact them whenever he is able to, so that he can be influenced by their way, and benefit from their manners and conduct.

This is what appears to me to be the answer to this question.”

Al-Fataawaa al-Kuwaitiyyah, pp. 11-13.

Leave a comment
March 18, 2011

Taking Graves as Mosques … 2


The Shaikh continued, “Yet despite the fact that I did not repay their transgressions and lies in kind, the treatise, as far as academic style was concerned, was a direct refutation of them. As such there may be some sternness and harshness in its manner in the opinion of some who make apparent their resentment of refuting the opposers and liars, wishing that they be left alone without being called to account about their ignorance and their accusations against innocent people, under the false impression that being silent about them is the tolerance mentioned in the Most High’s saying, “… and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they reply back with mild words of gentleness.” [Furqaan 25:63]. And they forget, or they choose purposefully to forget, that such an approach is what aids such people in their continuance upon [their own] misguidance and their misguidance of others, and Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, says, “… but do not help one another in sin and transgression …” [al-Maa’idah 5:2].

Which sin and transgression is worse than accusing a Muslim of something which is not true about him rather something which is in total opposition to what he is upon?! Indeed if some of these who make apparent what we have mentioned were afflicted with enmity less than what was thrown at us, they would have rushed to refute, so it is as though they seem to say,

“Nay, let no-one behave ignorantly towards us!
For then we will behave ignorantly over and above
the level of the ignorant ones.”

Yet despite this I say: there is not much benefit in reprinting this book based upon its first edition; as such there are points that had to be removed along with a slight change in some forms of expression which would refine its style and suit its second edition without taking away from its academic value and its key research.

In the introduction to the first edition I had written that the subject of the book centres around two very important matters:

The first: the ruling concerning building mosques on top of graves.
The second: the ruling concerning praying in these mosques.

I chose to research these two topics since some people had delved into them without any knowledge, saying that which no scholar before them had uttered. Especially when most people have no knowledge of this matter whatsoever, being under a cover of heedlessness, ignorant of the truth, being supported in that by the silence of the scholars–except for the ones whom Allaah wills to speak out, and how few they are–being afraid of the masses or just wanting to pay lip service to them in order to preserve their honour and standing among them, pretending to have forgotten the saying of Allaah, the Blessed and Most High, “Verily, those who conceal the clear proofs, evidences and the guidance, which We have sent down, after We have made it clear for the people in the Book, they are the ones cursed by Allah and cursed by the cursers,” [Al-Baqarah 2:159] and his, صلى الله عليه وسلم, saying, “Whoever conceals knowledge will be bridled by Allaah with reins of fire on the Day of Resurrection.” [A hasan hadith, reported by Ibn Hibbaan in his Saheeh, no. 296 and al-Haakim (1/102) and he declared it to be authentic and adh-Dhahabi agreed with him.]

The result of this silence and that ignorance was that many from the masses ended up committing that which Allaah, the Most High, forbade and the perpetrator of which He cursed, a mention of this will follow later–and if only the problem ended there! Rather some of them started to seek closeness to Allaah, the Most High, through that! So you will see lots of those who love good and are in charge of maintaining the mosques spending huge amounts of money to build a mosque for the sake of Allaah–but at the same time he prepares a grave inside it, stating in his will that he be buried in it after he passes away!

Another example I know of this, and maybe it will be the last, if Allaah so wills, is that mosque which is at the top of Baghdad Street at the western side in Damascus, known as, “The Mosque of the Donkey,”–the grave of the donkey is inside it. It had reached us that the Ministry of Religious Endowments had initially forbidden its burial in it, but we do not know the true reasons that came between it and the forbiddance it had wanted and so ‘a donkey’ was buried in it, indeed in the direction of prayer! So to Allaah we belong and to Him we shall return and His Aid is sought to rid us of these abominations and their like!

A few days ago a mufti from the Shaafi’ees passed away and his relatives wanted to have him buried in one of the old mosques in the eastern part of Damascus but the Ministry of Religious Endowments prevented them from doing so and thus he was not buried there. And we thank the Ministry of Religious Endowments for this praiseworthy stance and its eagerness to prevent burials inside the mosques, hoping from Allaah, the Blessed and Most High, that what leads them to prevent such things is a desire to seek the Pleasure of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, and to follow His Legislation and that it is not due to political, social or other such considerations. [Also hoping that] this is a promising start from it on the road towards purifying the mosques from the innovations and detestable affairs that have swarmed them! Especially when the minister of Religious Endowments, his eminence Shaikh al-Baquri has made honourable stances in fighting against many of these detestable matters especially concerning building mosques over graves. In this regard he has some beneficial words which will be related in the appropriate place if Allaah, the Most High, wills.

That which is truly upsetting for every believer is that many mosques in Syria and other than it are not free from the presence of one grave or more, as though Allaah, the Blessed and Most High, ordered it and did not curse the ones who do such an act! How good an act it would be if, with wisdom, the Ministry tried to cleanse the mosques from such graves. I do not doubt that it is not from wisdom at all to shock general opinion whilst doing that, but rather that before everything else it has to make known the fact that, ‘… graves and mosques do not go together in the religion of Islaam …’ as some of the illustrious scholars have said and a mention of which will follow, and that if they do gather together then it negates making tawhid and worship purely and sincerely for Allaah, the Blessed and Most High, alone–that sincerity in pursuit of which mosques are built [in the first place], as the Most High said, “And the mosques are for Allah (Alone), so invoke not anyone along with Allah.” Al-Jinn 72:18.

I believe that making this declaration is obligatory and something which cannot be avoided, and maybe I have been given the success by Allaah to carry it out through this book. For in it I have gathered mutawaatir hadith showing the prohibition of this act, followed by a mention of the schools of thought of the scholars and their established sayings concerning this topic and that they prove such a prohibition. While at the same time bearing witness to the fact that the Imaams, may Allaah be pleased with them, were the most compliant and eager of people to follow the Sunnah and in calling the people to follow it, and warning them against opposing it. But [alas] Allaah, the Most Great, spoke the Truth when He said, “Then, there has succeeded them a posterity who have given up the prayers and have followed lusts–so they will be thrown into Hell.” Maryam 19:59.

Here are the chapters of the book:

Chapter One: A Mention of the Sayings of the Prophet which prohibit taking graves as mosques.
Chapter Two: The Meaning of taking a grave as a mosque.
Chapter Three: That taking graves as mosques is regarded as a major sin.
Chapter Four: Doubts and their clarifications.
Chapter Five: The wisdom behind prohibiting the building of mosques over graves.
Chapter Six: The hatred of praying in mosques which are built on graves.
Chapter Seven: That the previous ruling [mentioned in Chapter Six] applies to all mosques except that of the Prophet’s Mosque [in Medinah].

In the footnotes there are other important sub-chapters which contain important benefits, if Allaah, the Most High, wills.

And I have named it, “Warning the One who Prostrates from Taking Graves as Mosques.”

That is what I had written in the introduction to the first edition.

And I ask Allaah, the Blessed and Most High, to benefit the Muslims with this edition more than its previous one, and that He accepts it from me along with all of my righteous actions with a goodly acceptance and that He reward the one who published it well.

Damascus
23rd of Jumaada al-Oolaa, 1392
[Wednesday 5th July 1972ce]

Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani.”

2 Comments
March 17, 2011

Taking Graves as Mosques … 1


One of the first books that Shaikh al-Albaani, may Allaah have mercy upon him, penned down was the work which I have decided to try and translate with the help and aid of Allaah and His Blessing.  In Arabic it is called تحذير الساجد من اتخاذ القبور المساجد literally, ‘Warning the One who Prostrates from Taking the Graves as Mosques.’  If you haven’t read the short post on the story behind this book, you can read it here.

I request that you ask Allaah to aid me in this project and that you spread these posts to whoever you are able to so that as many people as possible can benefit.  And since you guys come to the blog to hear the Shaikh speak and not me rambling on … here’s the first post from the beginning of the book …

 

“The Introduction to the Second Edition

In the Name of Allaah, the Entirely Merciful,
the Especially Merciful

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:

At the end of 1377ah [1958ce] I had had a treatise printed entitled, “Warning the One who Prostrates from Taking the Graves as Places of Worship.” My personal copy of this edition has been at hand with me all this time. Every time I came across an extra benefit that was related to its topic I would add it to it, hoping that it would be inserted whenever an updated and revised edition would be printed. The result was that I ended up having many important additions.

When one of the publishers asked me to give them this copy [which was full of the additions] so that it could be reprinted again, I found that it was missing and could not locate it. When I [finally] gave up hope of finding it, I sent them another one that I borrowed from a friend so that it could [at least] be reprinted as it was [in the first edition], basing this upon the principle that, “That which cannot be gained in its totality, [then at least] its bulk [which you can gain] should not be abandoned.”

It was while the publisher was preparing the book for printing that I found the copy [that had all my notes in it], through the Bounty and Grace of Allaah, the Most High, so I quickly sent it to them, after correcting it and preparing it for the second printing.

Since the treatise in question had specific circumstances and conditions that it was printed under, wisdom dictated that its style was different to the pure academic style which I have followed in all of my books, from composed research and deduction. That was because it was a refutation of people who did not like our call to the Book and the Sunnah upon the methodology of the Pious Predecessors and the path of the four Imaams and other than them who followed them in righteousness.

So they took the first step in writing and refuting, and would that it had been a composed, academic refutation, for then we would have responded with that which was better than it, but it was not, unfortunately. Rather it was devoid of any academic research and was full of abuse, insults and inventions of accusations which had not been heard before.

It was for this reason that we saw that it was not wise to remain silent about them and to leave them to distribute their books among the people without there being a written work removing the mask from the ignorance and the insults that their books contained, “… so that those who were to be destroyed might be destroyed after a clear evidence, and those who were to live might live after a clear evidence …” [Anfaal 8:42], thus there had been no choice but to refute them by name.

 

2 Comments
March 14, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in His Own Words | E-Book


الحمد لله الذي بنعمته تتم الصالحات

16 Comments
March 13, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … The End


 

A Final Summary

The compiler of the book, Esaam Moosaa Haadi, said, “I came across a summary of the biography of our Shaikh al-Albaani, may Allaah have mercy upon him, which he penned down with his own hand in as-Saheehah, no. 3203 of the manuscript [it was a manuscript at the time Esaam Haadi wrote these words, Trans. note], so I wanted to finish this small book by quoting it here.

The Shaikh, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said, “And concerning this it is fitting that I say for the record and as thanks to my father, may Allaah the Most High, have mercy upon him:

And likewise in the hadith [Esaam Haadi’s footnote: i.e., the hadith, “There will be migration after migration.  So the best of the people of the earth are the ones who stick to the place Ibrahim migrated to.” Reported by Abu Daawud, no. 2482] there are glad-tidings for us, my father’s family, [since he] migrated with his family from Ashkodera which was the then capital of Albania; fleeing with his religion from the uprising of Ahmed Zogu, whose heart Allaah caused to go astray, who had started to do to the Muslims of Albania the same thing his predecessor Ataturk had done in Turkey.

Due to this migration of his to Damascus in Syria, I reaped [such blessings], by the Grace and Mercy of Allaah, that I cannot thank my Lord such as is rightly due to Him even if I were to live as long as Noah, عليه السلام.  For it was there that I firstly learned the Syrian Arabic dialect and after that classical Arabic which was what enabled me to know correct monotheism [tawhid] which most of the Arabs around me were ignorant of, let alone my family and people, except for a few of them.

Then Allaah granted me the ability, through His Favour and Blessings without the direction of anyone else, to study hadith and the Sunnah, its principles and fiqh [understanding] this was after having finished school and after having studied parts of Hanafi fiqh along with the tools for study such as grammar, morphology and rhetoric with my father and some other Shaikhs.

Then I started to call my brothers and friends to the correction of the creed, and then abandonment of bigotry towards the schools of thought [madhhabs], warning them against weak and fabricated hadith, encouraging them to revive the authentic Sunnah which the elite among them had killed off.  A result of that was the establishment of the two eed prayers in the musallaa in Damascus, then our brothers in Aleppo revived it, then [it was also revived] in other cities in Syria and this sunnah continued to spread until some of our brothers in Amman in Jordan revived it there too. [Transl. note: the English translation of Shaikh al-Albaani’s book on praying the Eed prayer in the musallaa can be found here: Eed prayer in the Musallaa].

I also warned the people from building mosques on graves and then praying in them, and authored my book concerning that, entitled, ‘A Warning to the One who Prostrates from taking Graves as Mosques.’ And I shocked the people of my nation and new home with that which they had not heard before: I stopped praying in the Amawi mosque at a time when some of my relatives used to go to it specifically believing that the grave of Yahyaa was in it!  In the course of that I met with, from both relatives and others, that which every caller to the Truth meets with, not fearing for Allaah’s sake the blame of the blamers.

I authored some works about some of the bigoted ignoramuses and was imprisoned two times due to the slander that they spread to the nationalistic, Ba’athist rulers and because I had proclaimed when asked, “I do not support the current rule since it opposes Islaam …’ and that turned out to be good for me and for the spreading of my call.

And Allaah has made it easy for me to go out to many Syrian and Arab cities calling to tawhid and the Sunnah, and then [also] to European cities.  While focusing on the fact that there is no way for salvation for the Muslims from the colonialisation, humiliation and ignominy that has afflicted them, that there is no benefit in the Islamic groups and political sects–except by clinging to the authentic Sunnah upon the methodology of the Pious Predecessors, may Allaah be pleased with them all.  Not by following what the people today are upon whether in matters of creed, fiqh or outlook.

So Allaah caused to benefit from that whatever and whoever from His righteous servants that He wanted to.  This became manifestly apparent in their creed, worship, the way they would build their mosques, their appearance and clothes–something which every just scholar will bear witness to and none will dispute except a spiteful one or a charlatan.

For this I hope that Allaah will forgive me all of my sins and that He will write the reward for that for my father and mother, and all praise is due to Allaah through whose blessings righteous actions are completed.

“My Lord!  Inspire and bestow upon me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your Favours which You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds that will please You, and admit me by Your Mercy among Your righteous slaves.” Lord, “… make my off-spring good. Truly, I have turned to You in repentance, and truly, I am one of the Muslims (submitting to Your Will).”

Translators Note: There follow five pages where the compiler lists the books the Shaikh authored, I have left that out here and maybe we can mention a more updated list in the future since some of the books listed have been printed whereas they were in manuscript form at the time the book was put together.  After listing the books, the compiler, Esaam Moosaa Haadi says:

“And this is the last of what I was able to gather about his biography.  O Allaah!  Send your Prayers upon Muhammad and his family and all of his Companions.

Written by:
Esaam Moosaa Haadi
Amman, Jordan
Wednesday, 1st Jumaadi al-Aakhirah, 1421 which corresponds to 30th August 2000 ce.”

And the translation was finished on Sunday, 13th March, 2011.

I hope whoever read this was able to benefit from it and grasped an understanding, a glimpse, of how much the Shaikh loved the Sunnah and how hard he tried to study and propagate it.

2 Comments
March 11, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 17


Al-Albaani and Abdul-Fattaah Abu Ghuddah

“I first met Shaikh Abdul-Fattaah Abu Ghuddah in his city, Aleppo, more than twenty years ago approximately.  I realised that he was a man who was bigoted towards the Hanafi madhhab such that he blindly followed it when in his mosque in Aleppo he agreed to the permissibility of treating someone with alcohol under the supervision of a skilled, Muslim doctor.

So I said to him, “This is not enough.  The doctor must also be well-acquainted with the Sunnah.  For in the Sunnah, for example, alcohol has been described as being a disease and not a cure.  So how can a Muslim doctor who knows the Sharee’ah prescribe a cure which the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, described as being a disease?!”

So he said, “Perhaps the hadith is weak or not authentic!”  I replied, “How can it be when it is in Sahih Muslim?”  So he said, “We will go back and check it to make sure.”

So one of the people who was present and he was a friend to both parties in the debate said, “So when you do check and find out that it is authentic, will you act upon it or what the madhhab says?”

So he replied, “The madhhab!”

Al-Albaani and the Preacher [Khateeb]

An incident regarding a khateeb is funny and yet will make one cry at the same time, it is befitting that it is mentioned due to the lesson that can be learnt from it.

A few years ago one of the khateebs from a mosque in Damascus came to me, and he was an exhorter and preacher who would travel to different places [to admonish and remind the people].  He mentioned to me that he had written a book in which he had gathered hadiths that he had taken from the books of the Sunnah and that he had requested an affluent brother to assist him in getting the book printed.  That brother said to him “If Ustaadh Naasirud-Deen al-Albaani agrees that the book should be printed then I will help you.”  Then this preacher asked for my agreement but I refused saying I would not do so until I had a taken look at the book.  So he sent the book to me.

When I went through it I found things in it that were strange and deplorable.  From this was that he attributed the saying of Eesaa, عليه السلام, which Maalik mentioned to Sahih Muslim saying it was from the narrations of Abu Hurairah attributed back to the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, that he, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “Eesaa said …”!

When I saw this I was extremely astonished since I was sure that no such hadith even existed in the Sahih of Imaam Muslim nor in any of the other six books–except for the first sentence from it which is reported in Sunan at-Tirmidhee from the hadith of Ibn Umar with a weak chain of narration, as I have clarified in Silsilah al-Ahaadith ad-Da’eefah, no. 924 or after that.

So I phoned him and told him my opinion about the book and the criticisms and faults that were in it, the strongest being the attribution of the narration of Eesaa, عليه السلام, to the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم.  Then I asked him, “Where did you get this from?”  So he went quiet for a moment and then said, “Wait for a second until I bring the book.”  Then he said to me, and how shocking and alarming what he said was, “Imaam Maalik is the one who attributed the hadith to Sahih Muslim in the book of Virtue and Maintaining Ties of Kinship …” and so on.  So I said to him, “What is this O Shaikh!  Don’t you know that there is a huge gap between Muslim and Maalik, that Muslim came after Maalik; that from the Shaikhs of Muslim is Imaam Ahmad, and from the Shaikhs of Imaam Ahmad is Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee and from the Shaikhs of ash-Shaafi’ee is Maalik?  So how can Maalik attribute this hadith to Muslim when he passed away years before him?!”

So he went quiet in bewilderment and said some words from which I understood that he was saying that Maalik made this statement in his book Al-Muwatta!  I said, “This is impossible and I will study the issue and clarify the reality to you, if Allaah, the Most High, so wills.”

So I went to Al-Maktabah adh-Dhaahiriyyah and reviewed [Imaam Maalik’s book] Al-Muwatta with the checking of Muhammad Fu’aad Abdul-Baaqi and it was then that the reason for this foul mistake was uncovered which bred a mistake worse than it!  Due to the ignorance of people regarding hadith and their lack of diligence and caution concerning it even in the schools and colleges of Sharee’ah.

Al-Albaani and Those Envious of Him

So there is nothing for me but to seek refuge from their evil just as our Lord has ordered us in His Book, “Say: ‘I seek refuge with the Lord of the daybreak.  From the evil of what He has created.  And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its darkness; (or the moon as it sets or goes away).  And from the evil of the blowers in knots [i.e., those who practice magic].  And from the evil of the envier when he envies.’”  And I hope for my reward from Allaah for this calamity which these transgressing oppressors brought my way.  Allaah’s Aid is sought, and there is neither might nor power except with the Permission of Allaah, Allah Alone is Sufficient for me, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs..

His Lack of Concern at what the People say if he knew the Truth was on his side

The obligation of transmitting knowledge and the forbiddance of hiding it is what leads me not to care whether the people are pleased or outraged.

The Harm he came across in Amman

My house was raided by the secret services and searched extensively for seven hours or more.  They seized approximately sixty letters that were from different Islamic countries and others.  They also seized a number of cassettes of mine and of other students of knowledge on the grounds that they were looking for weapons and explosives!  And Allaah’s Aid is sought.

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 38-41.

1 Comment
March 10, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 16


 

The Story of the Lost Paper

“I had been suffering from a mild eye ailment for over twelve years so an eye specialist advised me to give them some rest and stop reading, writing and working (repairing watches) for six months.

I heeded his advice initially, leaving all of those things for two weeks approximately–then my soul started to entice me, pushing me to do something during this tedious recess, something which would not, in my opinion, go against what the doctor had advised.  I recalled a manuscript I had seen in the library entitled Dhammul-Malaahee of Ibn Abid-Dunyaa which according to my knowledge had not been printed at that time.  So I said to myself, ‘What harm is there in getting someone to copy it out for me?  And by the time the manuscript would be copied out and the time to check this copy against the original would come round, a reasonable amount of time would have passed for my eyes to have rested.  And this would not demand an amount of effort which would compromise my health situation, and then I could check it at my own pace after that, verifying its hadiths and then we could print it, all in stages so that I would not overburden myself!’

When the person assigned to copy out the manuscript had reached half way he informed me that there was a missing part.  I told him to continue copying it out until he finishes it, and then we would compare it to the original.  [When he had finished] I checked and ascertained that there indeed was a missing part like he had indicated.  I estimated it to be about four pages long.

I began to ponder over it and how I could come by it? This manuscript was kept in one volume amongst many which were stored in the library in the section entitle Majaamee.  Each of these volumes on the whole had numerous treatises and books within it, with differing hand-writing, topics and paper different in both colour and size.  So I said to myself, ‘Maybe the manuscript compiler accidentally bound it in one of these other volumes.’  Thus I flung myself into searching for it in sequence with untold enthusiasm and energy.

And I forgot–or I made myself forget–the ailment in my eyes!  So whenever I remembered it I was never short of justifications to continue, like saying that this research would not adversely affect [the eye rest] since there was no writing or strenuous reading involved!

I had gone through only a few manuscripts when my attention was drawn to the titles of some of the treatises and works by famous scholars and well-known preservers of hadith.  So I would stop at them, search them, study them, wishing that they would be copied out and checked and then printed.  But most times I would find them to be missing parts and chapters, so I would find the second and not the first for example, and would thus not record them in my index.  I continued searching for the lost paper, but in vain, until finally I completed going through all of the volumes that were in the Majaamee section and which totalled 152.

Moreover, during this search I had started to pen down the titles of some of the books that had appealed to me and what encouraged me in that was the fact that during the search I had come across some of the missing parts of manuscripts that I had not recorded before [due to them having been deficient, and now that the missing parts had been found and the manuscript was complete he could record their names].

Since I could not find the lost paper among the aforementioned volumes, I said to myself, ‘Perhaps it was wrongly placed in one of the volumes of the books of hadith collections, stacked in the library under the hadith section!’  Thus I started to go through this section, volume by volume, until I went through them all without finding the lost paper.  Yet I recorded [in my index] as many names of treatises and books as Allaah, the Most High, willed.

In this way I continued to justify and entice myself by saying that I would come across the lost paper.  So in the search for it I would go from looking in the volumes and treatises of one branch of knowledge to the next—until I had gone through all of the manuscripts kept at the library, which numbered approximately ten thousand—but still I never found the lost paper.

Yet I never despaired.

For there was a section in the library where stacks and piles of papers and various scrapbooks were kept, the origins of which were not known–so I started to go through them, carefully and precisely, but [again] without success.

It was then that I began to believe that I may not be able to find the lost paper.

Yet after thinking about this situation I found that because of it Allaah, the Blessed and Most High, had opened a towering gateway of knowledge for me, which I had been ignorant of just as others like me had.  [And this was the fact that] the Dhaahiryyah Library [in Damascus] contains a treasure of books and treatises in various branches of beneficial knowledge which our forefathers, may Allaah, the Most High, have mercy on them, left for us, and that it has rare manuscripts which most likely cannot be found in other libraries across the world and which have still not been printed to this day.

So when this [reality of the value of material in the library] became clear to me and was established in my heart, I resumed the study of all of the library’s manuscripts, from the first to the last.  For the second time.

[This time round I did so] in light of the experience I had gained from my previous search where I had [only] recorded selections [that I had chosen] from the books–now I started to record every single thing that [I came across which] was associated with the knowledge of the science of hadith.  Not coming upon the minutest detail except that I recorded it, even if it came from one [stray] piece of paper from a book or volume whose origin was not known.

It was as though Allaah, the Blessed and Most High, was preparing me through all of this for the third and final stage which was the actual study of these books, a detailed study, [so that I could] pull out from them the Prophetic sayings along with their chains of narration and paths, and [any] other benefits.

This index was the result of individual effort, a personal drive, from someone who was not employed at the library or assigned to it, and as such the necessary aids to review the manuscripts, study them and search the parts of them that were unknown were not available as would have been the case for someone who was employed by the library or assigned to do such a job by the administration.

So it was only natural that I face some hardship during that research–and there were days that came by me where I would have to perch up a ladder, and then climb up it and stay there for hours on end in that very spot to study it [as] quickly [as was possible].  So when I would choose something from it which I would want to study and scrutinise deeply, I would ask the librarian to take it down for me to the desk …”

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 34-37.

3 Comments
March 10, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 15


 

His Following the Book and the Sunnah and Abandoning Blind Following

“When I laid down this methodology for myself, i.e., holding fast to the authentic Sunnah, and implemented it in this and other books which will soon spread among the people, if Allaah so wills, I was upon certain knowledge that it would not please all groups and sects.  Rather that some if not most of them would direct their verbal attacks at me along with their written reproach.  And there is no problem in that, since I know that pleasing the people is an unattainable goal, and that, “Whoever pleases the people through the displeasure of Allaah will be left by Allaah in the trust of the people,” as the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said.  How excellent was the saying of the one who said, “And I will never be safe from the abusive saying, even if I were in a cave on a rugged mountain; and who is it that can escape from the people safe and sound, even if he disappeared between the wings of an eagle.”

So it is sufficient for me that I hold this to be the most upright path which Allaah, the Most High, ordered the believers with and which Muhammad, the Chief of the Prophets clarified, and which the Pious Predecessors from the Companions, their students and those who followed them, traversed upon.  Included among them are the four Imaams to whose schools of thought the majority of Muslims associate themselves today.  All of them were in agreement concerning the obligation of sticking to the Sunnah and returning to it and abandoning every statement that opposed it, no matter how great the one who made it was since his, صلى الله عليه وسلم. stature is greater, his path more upright.  Thus, I followed their guidance and their footsteps, implementing their orders to stick to the sayings of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم. even if the hadith opposed what they [themselves] said.  These orders had the greatest impact in my perusal of this straight way and my turning away from blind following.  So may Allaah, the Most High, reward them with good on my behalf [for the benefit I received from them].

His taking books as his company and companions

So I say: Never!  These judgements are not off-handed, but are the fruits of devoting myself to this noble branch of knowledge and specialising in it for more than half a century for the sake of Allaah, the Blessed and Most High–full of interest and desire and painstaking effort to acquire it, made successful by His permission, the Mighty and Majestic.  Toiling day and night, with a broad ranging, precise and rare pursuance of the texts of hadiths, their wordings and paths from numerous books where those hadiths are mentioned with their chains of narrations; such as books of Quranic exegesis [tafsir], biographies, history, heart softening narrations and abstinence from the world, not to mention the books which are specific to hadiths, whether manuscripts or in other forms.  And nothing proves this more than ‘the story of the lost paper’ which I mentioned in the introduction to my book, ‘The Index of Manuscripts of the Dhaahiriyyah Library,’ which the Arabic Academy of Damascus printed, so refer to it [for this story] (pp. 4-7), for in it is a testimony and a lesson for one who will take heed. [Translators note: this story will follow in the next post, inshaa Allaah].

Part of this is that Allaah gave me the opportunity, through His Grace and Bounty, to accompany hundreds, rather thousands of the people of knowledge and excellence in different fields; enjoying their company all those blessed years, such gatherings whose worth and pleasure none can know except those who have experienced it themselves.  And the one who said the following [lines of poetry] about them has spoken the truth:

“We have sitting companions whose speech we never tire of; wise, trustworthy whether they are present or not; benefitting us with their knowledge, knowledge of what has passed by; intellectual, disciplined and of sound opinion; without fear of any commotion  or evil companionship; not fearing from them an [evil] tongue or a [striking] hand; so if you said, ‘[They are] dead!’  You would not have lied; and if you said, ‘[They are] alive!’ You would not be disproved.”

I have not ceased to take from their knowledge and pick from their fruits–especially the people of hadith and narrations [Ahlul-Hadith wal-athar] from them such that, with Allaah’s Bounty and granting of success, I was able to gather thousands of hadith and narrations, [along with their] paths and chains of narration, weak and very weak chains, [and this was] something which was a great help in recognising their defects and differentiating between the authentic and the weak from them.  So the result of all this were those books I authored which I spent numerous years upon.”

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 31-34.

Leave a comment
March 9, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 14


 

 

His Advice to the Ummah

“I advise the Ummah to return to holding firm to its religion, the Book of its Lord, and the authentic Sunnah of it’s Prophet, acting upon it in all aspects of life, shrouding itself in its excellence and manners, and that it judges everything that it takes as religion against the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, holding firm to what agrees with them both and disregarding whatever opposes them.  Since the affair is as the great Imaam Maalik ibn Anas, the Imaam of the place of hijrah [i.e., Medinah] said, “Whoever introduces an innovation into Islaam believing it to be good, has assumed that Muhammad, صلى الله عليه وسلم, betrayed [his delivery of] the Message.  Read the saying of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, ‘This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islaam as your religion.’  And the latter part of this nation will not be rectified except by that which rectified its first part.

Al-Albaani was not the head of any Sect or Group

The article [an article written by a minister in one of the Emirates and which was then circulated in a number of newspapers like Al-Bayaan and which threw many accusations against the Salafis (compiler’s footnote)]  did not  suffice with this allegation [alone], but rather added another to it, which related to me personally and which was more manifest in its falsehood than its previous allegations, so it mentioned, “And a person by the name of Naassirud-Deen al-Albaani heads it.”

So this is a lie and total falsehood, and everyone who knows me personally bears witness to that.  For verily my  devotion to authoring written works and checking and verifying for more than half a century comes between me and this alleged headship.  And this would have been if my soul inclined towards that, then how can it be when it is in direct opposition to my natural disposition which inclines to a knowledge-based approach?!

The Musnad of Abu Ya’laa.

“… Then I completed reading it in its entirety.”

I found the second volume of it in the general library in Ribat, I read it and benefitted from it and that was during my first journey to Morocco at the end of the fourth month in the year 1396 [1976 ce].

Praying the Istikhaara Prayer when making a Judgement on a hadith

So [concerning the hadith in question] I prayed to Allaah, the Most High, for guidance [Istikhaarah] and then placed it here [i.e., in his book As-Saheehah] due to its being strengthened when all of its varying paths of narration are taken into consideration.”

 Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 28-30.

Leave a comment
March 8, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 13


His Perseverance and Fortitude in Seeking Knowledge

Indeed from the blessings of Allaah upon me is that since more than ten years ago I had gathered thousands of hadiths in more than forty volumes, all referenced to their numerous sources.  I wrote them down in my own handwriting from hundreds of preserved manuscripts in a number of different well-known libraries, such as the Maktabah adh-Dhaahiriyyah in Damascus, the Al-Awqaaf al-Islaamiyyah library in Aleppo, the Maktabah al-Mahmoodiyyah in the Prophet’s Mosque in Medinah, Aarif Hikmah’s library in Medinah al-Munawwarah, and other libraries which contained priceless books on hadith, on benefits, seerah, history, and biographies–things which have still not been printed to this day.  So every time that I would have to research the chain of narration of a hadith in the book Al-Jaami as-Sagheer or its additions, I would return to these volumes, which were organised alphabetically, and I would find the hadith in them with its chain of narration referenced back to the same source that Suyooti himself and other than him had sourced it to.

And it is from this that the secret becomes apparent to whoever among the scholars comes across some of my books in the various knowledge-based subjects–when they see that despite its size,  just one work such as the Prophet’s Prayer Described, صلى الله عليه وسلم, used scores of manuscripts of books that most people have not even been able to discover the names of, let alone read and become acquainted with the hadiths, the chains of narrations, wording, and supporting narrations that they contain!

In the same way Allaah made it easy for me to compile a detailed index, composed of everything that is in this well-established library, from the books of hadith in their varying forms, like the Musnads, the collections, selections, benefits, treatises of hadith collected by a specific scholar, biographies and others.

Pointing out therein that which has not been mentioned in the [official] index of the library to this day, and I arranged this index based upon the names of the authors, in alphabetical order.  I did the same with their actual works, arranging them in this order under the name of each author, writing a very brief biography mentioning in it the date of birth, death and whether he was trustworthy or weak as a narrator and so on.  Finally at the end I placed a general index including all of the books also arranged in alphabetical order.

The most important of the knowledge-based projects that I have is what I have called, ‘Bringing the Sunnah to the Ummah.’  I intended therein to gather all that I could that was authentic form the sayings of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, in one book, upon the methodology of the scholars of hadith and their knowledge-based principles in differentiating between those narrations that are authentic and weak.  I ask Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, that he makes its realisation easy for me.

For verily I spent my youth on it, as I did my middle years, and I am completing it, even now, during my old age, all the while asking Allaah, magnificent in His Loftiness, that I be from among those concerning whom the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, ‘The best of you are those who live long and who excel in good deeds,’ hoping from Him, the Majestic in His Glory, that I be granted a good ending, and death upon eemaan.

[Translators note: The following paragraph is a completion of the one above which was not included in the book we are going through: “And in conclusion [to the volume he was writing about[, it has not deluded me that I give my thanks and gratitude to my eldest daughter, Umm Abdullaah, who facilitated the proof reading of this volume, and drew ones attention to matters that any author can overlook, let alone one who has reached eighty years of age; things such as missing out a word or sentence, or drawing ones attention to places where hadith checking has been repeated, or where I did not complete a discussion concerning it and so on, so may Allaah reward her on my behalf with the best of rewards.  Likewise the brother Ali [Hasan] al-Halabi, I have benefitted form the notes he wrote on my handwritten original, and some of it he wrote scores of years ago, others he had written on the draft copy that he had had the opportunity to take a look at.  So he, and all others who played a part in getting this volume published under the supervision of my brother-in-law, Nidhaam Sakjahaa, the owner of Al-Maktabah al-Islaamiyah in Jordan, have my deepest gratitude and thanks.”]

His Goal in Life

In reality, my entire goal in this life–after [aiming to] fulfil the actions and rights that Allaah has made obligatory upon me–is nothing but trying to acquaint the Muslims by way of study, lectures and books that I write, with the authentic biography of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, [authentic] from every angle as much as I am able to do.  And to encourage them to take it as the singular example for them to follow as Allaah [Himself] encouraged them to do in His, the Most High’s, saying, “Indeed in the Messenger of Allaah you have a good example to follow for he who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much.”

And therein lies the key to their happiness in this life and the next.”

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 22-28.

2 Comments
March 7, 2011

Silsilah| The Authentic Collection| Nos. 8-10


اِتَّقُوا اللهَ وَصِلُوا أَرْحَامَكُم

From Abdullaah ibn Mas’ood, in marfoo’ form, “Fear Allaah and maintain your ties of kinship.”

As-Saheehah, no. 869.

أَثْقَلُ شَيْءٍ فِي الْمِيْزَانِ: اَلْخُلُقُ الْحَسَنُ

From Abud-Dardaa, from the Prophet, , صلى الله عليه وسلم, “The heaviest thing in the Scales is good manners.”

As-Saheehah, no. 876.

أَنَّ رَجُلاً قَالَ لِلْنَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: أَخْبِرْنِي بِكَلِمَاتٍ

أَعِيْشُ بِهِنَّ وَلَا تُكْثِرُ عَلَيَّ فَأَنْسَى، قَالَ: اِجْتَنِبِ الْغَضَبَ

ثُمَّ أَعَادَ عَلَيْهِ، فَقَالَ: اِجْتَنِبِ الْغَضَبَ

From a man among the Companions of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, that a man said to the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, “‘Give me some words which I can live by, and do not make them too many, in case I forget.’  He replied, ‘Refrain from anger.’ So the man repeated his request.  So he said, ‘Refrain from anger.’”

As-Saheehah, no. 884.

Leave a comment
March 7, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 11


His Justice and Fairness

So may Allaah have mercy on a servant who points out my mistake to me and guides me to my faults, since it is easy for me–with Allaah’s permission and his granting of success–to take back any mistake whose fault is made clear to me, and my books which are printed for the first time and the corrections that are made therein [in later editions]  are the greatest witness to that.

And would that the people who refute us inform us of such benefits [i.e., corrections] so that we could return to the correct opinion [in any matter where we are mistaken], whilst acknowledging their excellence and giving them thanks.  And the infallible one is the one who Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, grants infallibility to.

Al-Albaani’s Methodology Regarding Hadith Classification

It is befitting that I mention that I do not blindly follow anyone when giving a verdict about those hadiths.  Rather I follow the knowledge-based rules that the People of Hadith [Ahlul-Hadith] laid down, and which they traversed upon when issuing verdicts concerning hadith, as to whether they are authentic or weak.  And that was during a time when the Islamic way of life and knowledge was flourishing.  I hope from Allaah, the One free of all defects and the Most High, that I have been given the ability [tawfiq] to follow that way, and to show it, or even part of it, to the Muslims in a practical way, hoping that from the Muslim youth there will be those who renew implementation of these principles, principles which are from the most precise of what methodological, scientific thought has seen throughout the differing ages of mankind, as a group of orientalists and others like them from the opposition have borne witness to.  And of old it was said, “Excellence is what the enemy bears witness to.”

The Importance of time with Al-Albaani

I turned away from refuting it a second time, desiring to save time thereby.

His Methodology in Organising the Hadiths in his two Collections of Hadith Named As-Silsilah and Ad-Da’eefah

And I did not follow a specific order when compiling the hadiths, rather [I listed them] as I came across them.

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 21-22.

Leave a comment
March 6, 2011

Silsilah| The Authentic Collection| No. 7


عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ: سُئِلَ رَسُولُ اللهِ- صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ -: مَنْ أَكْرَمُ النَّاسِ؟ قَالَ:”أَتْقَاهُمْ لِلَّهِ “. قَالُوا: لَيْسَ عَنْ هَذَا نَسْأَلُكَ؟ قَالَ: “فَأَكْرَمُ النَّاسِ: يُوْسُفُ نَبِيُّ اللهِ ابْنُ نَبِيِّ اللهِ ابْنِ نَبِيِّ اللهِ ابْنِ خَلِيْلِ اللهِ “. قَالُوا: لَيْسَ عَنْ هَذَا نَسْأَلَكُ؟ قَالَ: “فَعَنْ مَعَادِنِ الْعَرَبِ تَسْأَلُوْنَنِيْ؟ اَلنَّاسُ مَعَادِنٌ؛ خِيَارُهُمْ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ: خِيَارُهُمْ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ؛ إِذَا فَقِهُوْا

From Abu Hurairah, may Allaah be pleased with him, who said, “The Prophet of Allaah, صلى الله عليه وسلم, was asked, ‘Who is the most honourable of people?’  He said, ‘The one who is the most pious and righteous [has the greatest taqwaa].’ They said, ‘It is not about this that we ask.’  He said, ‘Then the most honourable of the people is Yusuf, the Prophet of Allaah, son of the Prophet of Allaah, son of the Prophet of Allaah, son of the Khaleel [Friend] of Allaah [i.e., Ibraahim عليه السلام].’ They said, ‘It is not about this that we ask.’  He said, ‘Then is it about the tribes of the Arabs that you ask?  The people are of [differing] tribes.  The best of them in the Days of Ignorance [i.e., before Islaam] are [also] the best of them [when they embrace] Islaam–as long as they gain understanding of it.’”

As-Saheehah, no. 3996

Leave a comment
March 6, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 10


The Succession of Calamites that Befell the Shaikh
While in Lebanon

“Despite the fact that during that [i.e., checking the book Bidaayatus-Sool] I suddenly received the disturbing news of the death of my older brother, Naaji Abu Ahmad during the Hajj season, I continued the book’s completion while asking Allaah to have mercy upon him, seeking patience through its completion.  For he died and he was the best of my brothers, the most sincere to me, the one who responded with the most vigour to my call, had the most concern for it and enthusiasm in calling to it, so may Allaah be greatly merciful to him and grant us, all of my brothers, his children, grand-children and in-laws patience during this calamity that has befallen them, and may He make us good followers to an excellent predecessor, and raise us all with him under the banner of the Leader of the children of Aadam, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam, “But only one who comes to Allaah with a sound heart.” To Allaah we belong and to Him we shall return.  O Allaah!  Recompense me for this calamity and replace it with something better.  O Allaah!  Forgive Abu Ahmad and raise his ranks among those who are guided, make his offspring from the righteous, forgive us and him, O Lord of the Worlds, expand his grave for him and fill it with light!

[Our Shaikh said in his book Talkhees Ahkaam al-Janaa’iz p. 24, “My older brother Muhammad Naaji Abu Ahmad passed away during the Hajj season of last year (1401) upon a righteous action inshaa Allaah, at the Jamaraat while he was sitting with some of his friends who were also performing Hajj.  One of them later mentioned to me that someone sitting with him had offered him a cup of tea with his left hand, so he said to him, “My brother, give it to me with your right hand and do not oppose the Sunnah,” or words to that effect–and then he passed away straight after he said that.  May Allaah have mercy on him and gather us and him with, “… the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous, and how excellent are these as companions!””]

His Escape from being Killed in Beirut

Trials, tribulation and murder for no reason still continued (i.e., in Lebanon) until my family and I were almost about to become another of its casualties through bullets that some snipers had fired at us from war-torn buildings on the 2nd of Safar 1399 [January 1979 ce].  My car was struck in three places and the hits were on the verge of being fatal but Allaah kept us safe such that we did not receive a single wound to our bodies whatsoever, and all praise is due to Allaah through whose blessings righteous actions are completed.

Migrating from Beirut to the Emirates

Allaah decreed for me that I travel from Beirut to Sharjah to one of our brothers there, and he took me in as a guest in his home, may Allaah reward him with good.”

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 19-20.

Leave a comment
March 6, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 9


His Sudden Departure from Amman back to Damascus
and then to Lebanon

“It was while I was preparing for the third lesson that I was shocked to hear of that which forced me–in such a manner that I had no choice whatsoever–but to leave Amman and my dependents therein since it was no longer possible for me to stay there.  Thus I travelled back to my first place of migration, Damascus, and that was during a Wednesday afternoon, the 19th of the month of Shawwaal, 1401 [August 1981 ce].  I arrived there at night in an extremely bleak and sombre state, imploring and beseeching Allaah, the Most High, to avert the evil that has been decreed and also the plots of the enemies.

I remained there for two nights and in the third, after seeking counsel and praying for guidance [istikhaarah], I travelled to Beirut with great caution and fear due to what was known of the great trials and tribulations there and the wanton killings.  The route to Beirut was surrounded by danger but Allaah, the Blessed and Most High, saved me and made it easy.  I arrived at Beirut during the first third of the night, heading to the house of a dear brother of mine, a devoted, close friend who received me with his well-known kindness, manners and hospitality, and who who took me in as a respected and honoured guest, may Allaah reward him with good.

When I settled down in his house and my mind was no longer preoccupied with the difficulties of travelling, it was only natural that I [should] seize the opportunity of this sudden isolation, thus I turned all of my attention to studying and reading in his populous, rich library that was full of books and rare manuscripts, it contained most of the resources that I needed and many others that I did not have in my library in Damascus.

I asked him to show me the catalogue of the manuscripts and photocopied material that were in his hands and which he had written down on cards.  He responded to that with an open heart and righteous Islamic manners that were well-known about him.  May Allaah reward him with good.”

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 18-19.

[Translators note: It was as a result of this journey that the Shaikh completed his book, Raf’ul-Astaar]

Leave a comment
March 5, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 8


 

His Migration from Damascus to Amman, Jordan

“Indeed Allaah, through his wisdom, has made a reason for everything and an appointed term for every affair, and He has decreed everything in a most excellent way.  Part of which was that I migrated with my family from Damascus in Syria to Amman [in Jordan], at the beginning of Ramadaan in the year 1400 [1980 ce].  So I undertook the steps to building a house there which I could betake myself to for as long as I was alive and Allaah, through his great favour and grace, made its completion easy.  I began to live there after a lot of hard work and an illness affected me as a result of the effort I put in from purchasing the land, putting down the foundations and [finally] building the house, and I still suffer from it a little, and all praise is due to Allaah in every condition and all praise is due to Allaah through whose blessings righteous actions are completed.  So it was natural that this would divert me from what I was used to doing in Damascus [where I had been] devoting myself to knowledge both studying and teaching, writing and checking – especially since my personal library was still in Damascus for I had not been able to have it transferred to Amman due to well known difficulties and obstacles.  I would console myself daily and wish for it, saying [to myself] that very soon the water will return to its course, but how often the winds flow [in directions] opposite to that which the sailors long for.  For as soon as some of our brothers in Jordan realised that I had settled at home they started to request that I resume the lectures that I used to give them in the years gone by before I migrated to Amman–since I used to travel to it every month or two, giving them a lesson or two on each journey.  They persisted in their request and so even though I had not decided to give any lectures so that I could spend what remained of my energy and life to complete some of my knowledge-based projects–and how many there are–I saw that I had to fulfil their good [natured] request and desire.  So I promised good to them and told them that I would give them a lesson every Thursday after Maghrib prayer in the house of one of our noble brothers whose house was close to mine.

That was realised, by the Permission of Allaah, and I gave them the first and then the second lesson from the book Riyaad as-Saaliheen of Imaam an-Nawawee, and I answered some of their many questions after the lesson, questions which showed their extreme desire for knowledge and to become acquainted with the Sunnah.”

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 16-18.

Leave a comment
March 5, 2011

Silsilah| The Authentic Collection| No. 5


أَتَدْرُوْنَ مَا الْعَضْهُ؟ قَالُوا: اللهُ وَرَسُوْلُهُ أَعْلَمُ، قَالَ: نَقْلُ الْحَدِيْثِ
مِنْ بَعْضِ الْنَّاسِ إِلَى بَعْضِ لِيُفْسِدُوْا بَيْنَهُمْ

From Anas bin Maalik, may Allaah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “Do you know what calumny/slander is?” They replied, “Allaah and His Messenger know best.”  He said, “Telling people what other people have said in order to create dissension between them.”

As-Saheehah, no. 845

Leave a comment
March 5, 2011

Silsilah| The Authentic Collection| No. 4


أَبْغَضُ الرِّجَالِ إلى اللهِ: اَلْألدُّ الْخَصِمُ

From Aishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, that the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “The most hated of the people in the sight of Allaah is the most argumentative of the opponents.”

As-Saheehah, no. 3970

Leave a comment
March 4, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 7


 

Appointed as a Lecturer at Medinah University

“I was a lecturer in the Science of Hadith at the Islamic University [in Medinah], from 1381 [1961 ce] to the end of 1383 [1963 ce].

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.”

His Shaikhs Benefitting from Him

“As for our Shaikhs today, then they are heedless of this legislated ruling.  Many of them will intend to go and pray in mosques such as this [i.e., mosques with graves in them or built on graves etc.].  I used to go with some of them to pray with them at the grave of Shaikh Ibn Arabi – when I was young and when I had not yet understood the Sunnah! Then when I learnt of the prohibition of that I discussed it with this Shaikh [who I used to go with] many times until Allaah, the Most High, guided him and he refrained from praying there.  He would later acknowledge that and would thank me saying that I was a reason for him being guided.  May Allaah, the Most High, have mercy on him and forgive him.

And all praise is due to Allaah who guided us and we would not have been guided were it not for the fact that Allaah guided us.”

What he would say when Praised

He would repeat the supplication of Abu Bakr, the Truthful, “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.”

Hayaatul-Allaamah al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, bi qalamihi, pp. 15-16.

Leave a comment
March 4, 2011

Silsilah| The Authentic Collection| No. 3


أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ – صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وسَلَّمَ – فَقَدَ كَعْباً، فَسَأَلَ عَنْهُ؛ فَقَالُوا: مَرِيْضٌ، فَخَرَجَ يَمْشِي حَتَّى أَتَاهُ، فَلَمَّا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ قَالَ: أَبْشِرْ يَا كَعْبُ! فَقَالَتْ أُمُّهُ: هَنِيْئاً لَكَ الجنَّةُ يَا كَعْبُ! فَقَالَ: مَنْ هَذِهِ الْمُتَأَلِّيَةُ عَلَى اللهِ؟ ! قَالَ: هِيَ أُمِّي يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ! فَقَالَ: وَمَا يُدْرِيْكَ يَا أُمَّ كَعْبٍ؟ ! لَعَلَّ كَعْباً قَالَ مَا لاَ يَعْنِيْهِ، أَوْ مَنَعَ مَا لاَ يُغْنِيْهِ

From Ka’b ibn Ujrah, may Allaah be pleased with him, “That the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, missed Ka’b and so asked about him, they replied, “He is ill.”  So the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, left and walked until he came to him.  When he entered upon Ka’b, he said, “Receive the glad tidings, O Ka’b!” So his mother said, “O Ka’b, congratulations!  For you is Paradise!”  The Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “Who is the one who is taking an oath upon Allaah [that Ka’b has a place in Paradise]?”  Ka’b replied, “She is my mother, O Messenger of Allaah.”  So he, صلى الله عليه وسلم, replied, “And how do you know, O mother of Ka’b [that he is going to Paradise]?  Maybe Ka’b spoke about something which did not concern him or he withheld giving something which was insignificant?”[1]

As-Saheehah | no., 3103

[1] [i.e., would not have harmed him if he had given it, like wealth, knowledge, small kindnesses as mentioned in Surah Maa’oon, see Mullaa Ali Qaari’s explanation of the hadith of Anas (no. 4842) in Mishkaatul-Masaabih, والله أعلم] .

Note: Clarifications between square brackets [] and footnotes are those of the translator.


Leave a comment
March 3, 2011

Silsilah| The Authentic Collection| No. 1


 

Manners, Righteousness and
Keeping Ties of Kinship


آخَى – صلى الله عليه وسلم – بَينَ الزُّبَيرِ وبَينَ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ مَسْعود

From Anas, who said, “The Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, formed a pact of brotherhood between Ibn Mas’ood and az-Zubair.”

As-Saheehah, no., 3166 | authentic

Shaikh al-Albaani said, “Ibn Abdul-Barr said, ‘The pact of brotherhood occurred two times: once between the Muhaajirs specifically and that was in Makkah, and once between the Muhaajirs and the Ansaar.’  And from the proofs of this first pact of brotherhood is this authentic hadith, because az-Zubair and Ibn Mas’ood were both Muhaajirs as is well known.  It seems that Shaikhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allaah have mercy upon him, did not come across this hadith and others like it, since he denied this [first] brotherhood (11/99-100), al-Haafidh Ibn Hajr mentioned this and refuted that opinion based on this hadith and others.”

Leave a comment
March 2, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 6


 

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

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

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

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

House Arrest

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

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

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

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

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

2 Comments
March 2, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 5


 

Some of the Contention Faced by the Shaikh

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

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

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

Leave a comment
March 1, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani in an overturned car …


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

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

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

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

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

4 Comments
March 1, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 4


Calling to Allaah, the Most High

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

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

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

The Spread of Da’wah outside Damascus

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

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

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

Leave a comment
March 1, 2011

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


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

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

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

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

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

1 Comment
February 28, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 3


 

The Beginning of his Work

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

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

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

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

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

2 Comments
February 27, 2011

Shaikh al-Albaani on blind following


The First Question

Is it permissible for the student of knowledge to suffice with the declarations of the scholars of the past as to whether a saying of the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, is weak or authentic? For example, he reads the checking of Haafidh al-Iraaqi where he says, “This hadith is authentic.” So is it permissible for him to suffice with that and the same with Imaam Ahmad or other than him?


Shaikh al-Albaani: “This matter resembles blind following in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). It is sufficient for the student of knowledge to listen to and act upon an opinion of one of the Imaams who are followed, and by that I do not only mean the four [famous ones], since there are more, by the Grace of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.

We say: [This is so] since it is not possible for all students of knowledge to be on the same level of ability in discerning the truth in those matters where the people have differed. So it is enough for the student of knowledge to implement the aayah, “So ask those who know the Scripture if you know not.” [Surah an-Nahl (16): 43]

So if there are people of knowledge who are alive then he should ask them and embrace their answer, and if there is not a scholar who is alive for him to question, and he knows that a certain scholar from those who are followed has a certain opinion then he can follow him. And in this he is safe from any reproach or blame even if in reality the opinion that he followed is a mistake because he has implemented what was mentioned in the aayah as being obligatory upon him, “So ask those who know the Scripture if you know not.”

But this is based upon certain premises–there is one condition to this, which is that it is not evident to him that the opinion he is following is a mistake. And knowing whether the opinion he is following is incorrect or not can be done by the student doing some personal research if he has the capability of doing so, or it can become known by the direction of another scholar whom he trusts and in whose knowledge he trusts. What is important is that it is permissible for the student of knowledge to blindly follow a scholar if the mistake [in that opinion] is not clear to him and he himself is not capable of clarifying whether [the chosen opinion] is correct or incorrect …” [1]

[[1] Footnote here by Amr Abdul-Mun’im Salim the one who compiled and explained the book the question is taken from, he said, “In other words, that he should not take this blind following to be religion. Rather whenever the mistake of the scholar or the Imaam becomes clear to him, it is obligatory for him to shun the opinion in which he is mistaken, whether it is with regard to matters of rulings or the creed, or that which is particular to declaring hadiths to be authentic or weak. And Shaikh al-Albaani has another very important religious verdict [fatwaa] concerning this topic in the book, Fataawaa Madinah, no., 32 on pages 42-43 …”] [it has been translated and can be read below after this answer].

Shaikh al-Albaani continues, “Likewise, totally, is the answer regarding the student of knowledge, he finds an Imaam from the Imaams of the Muslims or a preserver of hadith who authenticates hadith and declares others to be weak, then it is sufficient for this student of knowledge to follow this verifier [who declares hadiths to be authentic or weak] as long as two conditions are met, just as we have mentioned regarding the issue of [blind following] in fiqh:

1) The first condition: That he does not know it to be a mistake, since what is intended by this condition–whether it is hadith or fiqh–is that he does not follow his desires and thus say, “So and so gave me this religious verdict and the matter is closed …” [even though while saying this in reality] he feels some uneasiness in his soul, and the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “Question your heart even if the mufti gives you his fatwa.” [2]

[[2] Footnote of Amr Abdul-Mun’im Salim, “Reported through different paths of narration the most authentic of which is the one reported by Imaam Ahmad (17922) with an authentic chain of narration from the hadith of Waabisah ibn Ma’bad, may Allaah be pleased with him, and the relevant part of that hadith is, “Righteousness is that which gives delight to your heart and sin is that which wavers in your heart, even if the people give you religious verdicts [fatwaas] concerning it.” ]

Shaikh al-Albaani continues, “This is the first condition, i.e., that he does not know that the opinion is a mistake–whether it is regarding the declaration of a hadith to be authentic or weak, or whether it is regarding the permissibility of something or its forbiddance.

2) the second condition: That he himself is not capable of verifying the authenticity or inauthenticity of the particular hadith in question, so this is something permissible–since we cannot burden all of the people [by saying that they must] become capable of reaching the level of ijtihaad or that they become scholars.” [3]

[[3] Footnote here by Amr Abdul-Mun’im Salim who said, “That is because if someone reaches the level of being capable of making ijtihaad and he acquires the tools of this knowledge, then it is not permissible for him to blindly follow anyone rather it is then obligatory upon him to make ijtihaad in the declaring of hadiths to be authentic or weak, but it is permissible for him to look at the rulings of the Imaams and the criticisers of hadith to pick from them that which is in accordance with the truth, so that he does not isolate himself with his opinion from their opinion.”]

 

The Second Question

“What is the proof concerning the forbiddance of blind following?”


Shaikh al-Albaani said, “I do not know of any proof that states that blind following is haraam, rather blind following is a necessity for the one who has no knowledge. And Allaah, the one free from all defects and the Most High, said, “So ask those who know the Scripture if you know not.” Therefore, this aayah placed the Muslims into two categories as regards knowledge:

i) the scholar and it made obligatory upon him to answer the questioner
ii) those who do not know, and it made asking the scholars obligatory upon them.

So if a person from the common folk came to a scholar and asked him about something and the scholar answered him, then this man has implemented the aayah.

And maybe what is intended is something other than what was mentioned in the question [directed to me] and that is the forbiddance of actively splitting into sects and groups; i.e., that a person take his religion from one of schools of thought that are followed and then he totally [refuses] to look at what the other schools of thought might say or at what the sayings of other scholars are–so it is this blind following of schools of thought which is then taken as religion that is not permitted because it opposes the proofs from the Book and the Sunnah.

And the people of knowledge place the people into three categories:

1) the mujtahid
2) the follower on clear proof and insight and
3) the blind follower, and it is this category that most of the people fall into.

As such we cannot say that, “Blind following is haraam,” [that] is only when blind following is taken as religion, as for blind following in general then it is not permissible to declare it to be forbidden.” [1]

[[1] Footnote here by Amr Abdul-Mun’im Salim who said, “And what has been said here is also said concerning taking the opinion of a scholar concerning the declaration of a hadith to be weak or authentic, with the condition that the status/rank of that scholar in relation to that knowledge be borne in mind. So such declarations of whether a hadith is authentic or weak are not taken from a scholar of fiqh who does not know [the science of] hadith criticism. Just as the declaration of whether a hadith is authentic cannot be relied upon when it comes from someone among the scholars of hadith or the hadith preservers who is known as being lenient; just as it is not possible to take the declaration that a hadith is weak from someone is known as being overly-strict. In fact this is a correct rule [established] by those known for their moderation and justice along with their knowledge of the principles of this profession and who are known for their practise of it which established their ability to exercise their judgement in arriving at a religious ruling [ijtihaad] concerning the criticism and chains of narration and their texts.”]

Taken from Al-Fataawaa al-Kuwaitiyyah, compiled by Amr Abdul-Mun’im Saleem, pp. 81-83.

3 Comments
February 26, 2011

A month before he died …


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

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

Leave a comment