The Albaani Site

Translation from the Works of the Reviver of this Century

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April 4, 2011

How Do You Advise Someone Who Claims Prophethood?


Questioner: With us in Zarqa [a city in Jordan] now, O Shaikh, I had mentioned to you some time ago that there is an imbecile who claims that he is the one who will get al-waseelah. [Trans. Note: The Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, told us to ask for al-Waseelah for him in the supplication that is said after the call to prayer as mentioned in Bukhaari and Muslim, he, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “… then ask Allaah to grant me Al-Waseelah, for it is a station in Paradise which only one of the slaves of Allaah will attain, and I hope to be the one. Whoever asks for al-Waseelah for me, (my) intercession will be permissible for him.” Bukhaari and Muslim (Eng. trans. vol., 1, p. 488, no. 849.). Look how the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “ … ask Allaah to grant me al-waseelah…” and “I hope to be the one …” and here is this claimant to prophethood saying with all surety that he is the one who will get al-waseelah!]

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

Questioner: Now a new one has come out.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yaa Salaam!

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes, by Allaah.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

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

That’s all he saw.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Yes.

Questioner: Yes.

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

Questioner: Yes.

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

Questioner: Yes, of course, Shaikh.

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

Questioner: Yes, understood.

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

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

Shaikh al-Albaani: Maa shaa Allaah.

Questioner: Yes.

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

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

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

Questioner: Yes.

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

Questioner: Yes, I know him, O Shaikh.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Is he educated or not?

Questioner: It seems as though he has some education.

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

Questioner: Round about forty.

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

Questioner: Yes.

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

Questioner: Yes.

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

Questioner: Yes.

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

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

Questioner: Yes, by Allaah, O Shaikh.

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

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

6 Comments
April 2, 2011

Taking Graves as Mosques … 3


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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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April 1, 2011

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


Translated by Ahmed Abu Turaab

What was Al-Albaani doing in his teens?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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April 1, 2011

The Signs of the Hour … 2


Trials only increased after The False Prophet

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

And this is a lie.

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

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

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

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

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

Where will Jesus, peace be upon him, descend?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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March 28, 2011

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


Learning from his Father

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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March 27, 2011

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


 

Al-Albaani the Carpenter

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

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

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

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

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

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

I replied, “Yes, no work.”

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

I said to him, “As you wish.”

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

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

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March 26, 2011

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


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

 

His Birth and Migration

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Learning Arabic as a Child

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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March 25, 2011

Is Du’aa obligatory [waajib]?


 

“Is du’aa obligatory [waajib]?”

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

2 Comments
March 22, 2011

Seeking Help from the Jinn


What is the ruling concerning asking the jinn
about matters of the Unseen?

Shaikh al-Albaani said, “We do not hold that one should turn to the Jinn concerning questions about matters of the Unseen since that is one of the causes for the misguidance of mankind. In the Noble Quran, Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, mentioned some of the misguidance of the polytheists of the past. So the Lord of all Creation, the Blessed and Most High, said, narrating the story of the Jinn who came to the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم, and believed in him, part of what those Jinn said was, “And verily, there were men among mankind those who sought refuge with the masculine among the jinns, but they (i.e., the jinns only) increased them in sin and disbelief.” Jinn 72:6

Seeking the help of the Jinn in order to gain knowledge of the Unseen is, as some of the people of the past said when disapproving of people seeking help from one another, “… like a prisoner calling for help from another prisoner.” So mankind seeking help from the Jinn to gain knowledge of the Unseen is just like a man seeking the help of another man since both categories, man and jinn, share in the fact that neither of them has knowledge of the Unseen.

As for when by Unseen a matter is intended which actually occurred but is absent from mankind due to the fact that their strength and power is limited and the strength of the Jinn is greater, then likewise we say: it is [still] not befitting [to ask the Jinn]. Since if they are continually called upon the matter will expand just as a hole in a garment keeps increasing until it cannot be patched up[1], and thus the people will fall into associating partners in worship with Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, [shirk], committing shirk in the Attributes of Allaah. Since as you all know Allaah is one in His dhaat [essence], one in the fact that He Alone is worshipped–so none of His Creation whatsoever can share with Him in knowing the Unseen. As He, the Blessed and Most High, said, “(He Alone is) the All-Knower of the Unseen, and He reveals to none His [knowledge of the] Unseen. Except to a Messenger (from mankind) whom He has chosen …” Jinn 72:26-27

So the Prophets and the Messengers themselves did not know the Unseen but Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, taught them some of the matters of the Unseen through revelation.

And there is no Prophet after our Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Thus, the path to acquiring knowledge of the Unseen is blocked, whether it is concerning knowledge of those things from the Unseen which have not yet occurred or those things of the Unseen which have occurred but which mankind does not have the strength or ability to acquire [even though they have taken place]. So seeking the aid of the Jinn in this type, without doubt, is humiliating and [nothing but] misguidance, which can lead, as I have just said, to associating partners with Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.

Perhaps from the modern day proofs of this is what has reached us about your country in particular, Kuwait. That there is a person there who claims to have knowledge of the Unseen such that he ordered his followers to migrate from Kuwait to here, Jordan, and that there would be snow and it would be very cold in Jordan so he ordered them to buy some blankets and other such things to keep themselves warm with and that on the contrary in Kuwait, Allaah forbid, there would be a blazing fire along with other false and futile claims that he made–do you have any knowledge about that?

Questioner: We received some news, O Shaikh, that he is in Syria and there is another in Egypt, from the Sufis.

Shaikh al-Albaani: But there followers here [in Jordan] say that their Shaikh is in Kuwait.

Questioner: This is correct. They have followers dispersed [in different places, some of whom] went to Kuwait. Last Sunday they made an announcement in the newspaper that they were waiting for everybody. And the Shaikh was present in Syria and another in Egypt, and they announced to their followers that the Day of Resurrection was about to be established. So they left the schools, and this is true, and some of them sold their land and left.

Shaikh al-Albaani: Many of them came here.

Someone in the gathering said: The abode of the Shaikh of this tariqah [Sufi way] in Kuwait is that of Fareed Hamdaan. And his son and brother are here [in Jordan].

Questioner: Last Sunday and Monday many of the newspapers announced that one of their Shaikhs was in Syria and the other in Egypt.

Shaikh al-Albaani: It is possible, whatever the case, that there is movement [of these people or Shaikhs] and [people] preferring [one to another]

The proof here is that opening the door to communicating with the Jinn leads man to fall into misguidance which has been forbidden.”

Al-Fataawaa al-Kuwaitiyyah, pp. 38-40.

[1] Shaikh al-Albaani used an old Arabic example here, saying:

اتَّسَعَ الْخَرْقُ عَلَى الرَّاقِعِ

The literal translation would be as I have put in the post, i.e., a hole in a garment is patched up but keeps increasing such that the patch cannot cover the hole anymore and the meaning is as Abu Hilaal al-Askari explained  in Jumhuratul-Amthaal (1/160), “And it means: The problem/corruption increases such that it cannot be rectified or contained.”

6 Comments
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 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 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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]

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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.


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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.”

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March 2, 2011

The Shaikh’s Life in his Own Words … 6


 

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

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

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

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

House Arrest

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

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

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

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

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

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