Opened a Facebook page for both blogs, feeds to the posts will be posted there automatically so you can stay up to date with the latest articles from either one.
This is the only Facebook page for the Albaani Blog and Gifts of Knowledge sites, please spread the word so as many people as possible can benefit.
Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/TheAlbaaniSite.
The Imaam said, “… as for the person who clings to the Sunnah, new doubts [that arise] don’t affect him.”
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 6.
Questioner: Up until when is ishaa time?
Al-Albaani: Up until half of the night [has passed], since that has been clearly stated in Sahih Muslim, from the hadith of ’Abdullah ibn ’Amr ibn al-’Aas, who said, “Allaah’s Prophet ﷺ said, ‘And the time for al-Ishaa is until half the night has passed.’”
[It’s time] is not until the true fajr appears for there is no proof for that even if some of the Imaams say so, because that goes against this authentic hadith, “And the time for al-Ishaa is until half the night has passed.”
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 97.
Questioner: In Leningrad there are about four months where the night is very long, it goes to about twenty hours, and the day is about four hours long, and vice versa, so how is the prayer [to be performed]?
Al-Albaani: They estimate the prayer times in accordance with the closest city/country to them in which the sun rises and sets in a normal manner.
But I will say something [to clarify the above]: the answer [I just gave] is for a country where it’s not possible for the five [prayer] times to be expected to be seen even if they are close—if these five prayer times cannot be realised then the answer is as I mentioned just now, they estimate the five times in accordance with the closest city/country to them in which the five times are [clearly] present.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 57.
“It was narrated that Talhah bin Musarrif said, ‘I asked ’Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa, ‘Did the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ leave a will?’ He said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Why is making a will prescribed for the Muslims, or why are they commanded to make wills?’ He said, ‘His final will was to adhere to the Book of Allaah.’’” [Muslim, The Book of Wills, no. 4227]
“I [i.e., al-Albaani] say: i.e., to act according to what is in it and to judge by it when disputes occur, and this great will has become virtually nullified amongst the masses of Muslims today—as for their rulers, then they have turned away from acting according to it and have followed the laws laid down by the disbelievers, and as for their public, then they refuse to judge according to it in disputed issues and have [instead] taken to the opinions of men and their madhhabs, becoming content with reciting it in their houses and over the graves of their deceased, for blessing.
So to Allaah we complain and from Him do we seek aid.”
Mukhtasar Saheeh Muslim, p. 259.
Questioner: A brother says, I missed the ’asr prayer and maghrib time started, which of the two should I pray? Ya’ni, he went to the mosque and they were about to pray maghrib?
Al-Albaani: If he missed ’asr because of one of the two legislated reasons, i.e., sleep or having forgotten, then he prays ’asr before maghrib. As for if he missed ’asr without one of these two excuses, then there is no place for him to pray it, neither before maghrib or after it.
Questioner: But what’s meant, O Shaikh, ya’nee, that he prays maghrib [with the Jamaa’ah] with the intention of ’asr?
Al-Albaani: What else? I’ve already answered you, may Allaah bless you, he prays it before maghrib. When I say: he prays it before maghrib it’s obvious that [I meant that] he prays ’asr, but with the condition that he had forgotten to pray it or overslept—as for if he was preoccupied with his business and merchandise, or [absorbed in] play and amusement and so on, then he has missed the prayer and there is no chance for him to repeat it, neither before maghrib or after it.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 259.
Questioner: A father who doesn’t pray, he wants to force his daughter who is practicing to marry a guy who doesn’t pray, so the daughter went ahead and disobeyed her father and left the home and married a practising man with the agreement of, ‘the person charged with authority over the affairs of the Muslims [‘Walee Amr al-Muslimeen’],’ in that area, so what is the ruling about that marriage?
Al-Albaani: How is, ‘the person charged with authority over the affairs of the Muslims [‘Walee Amr al-Muslimeen’],’ her walee? Is it possible for you to explain the picture further?
Questioner: It’s about Britain, O Shaikh of Ours.
Al-Albaani: The, ‘Walee Amr al-Muslimeen,’ in Britain.
Questioner: There are people in authority [umaraa], O Shaikh of Ours, in different areas in the UK, they undertake the supervision of the affairs of the Muslims as regards Islamic centres and marriage contracts and affairs such as these, so she got married through this man and refused to marry through her father who doesn’t pray to someone who doesn’t pray.
Al-Albaani: We like this refusal and hold it to be incumbent—but the other problem is [still] there, which is for her to marry without the permission of her walee when the Prophet ﷺ said, “And if there is any dispute then the ruler is the guardian of the one who does not have a guardian.”
So I want to see the, ‘Walee al-Muslimeen,’ [of Britain] as you termed him—and [when you said that] the mind wandered off thinking, ‘Where is this Walee al-Muslimeen and in which country?’
And lo [and behold] he is in Britain.
So these people who are there, who have propped themselves up as those in authority [umaraa]—in your opinion are they scholars?
Questioner: Students of knowledge, O Shaikh.
Al-Albaani: In this situation I say that a Muslim girl must ask someone whose knowledge she trusts, presenting her story to that scholar, whether he [i.e., that scholar] is in the east or the west, [asking], ‘What is the solution that you have? My father wants me to marry a non-Muslim man or someone who is a faasiq at the very least, and a religious, practicing person has proposed to me …’ and so on, ‘What should I do?’
So this scholar who [really] is a scholar and who is from those people who are in authority according to the text of the Noble Quran [see Surah Nisaa 4:59], it is possible that he can permit her to marry—[but] I fear about those who you initially referred to with that inflated statement [of yours, i.e., when he called them, ‘the person charged with authority over the affairs of the Muslims [‘Walee Amr al-Muslimeen’]] and then you brought it down a little by saying they were ‘those in authority’ … and these ones ‘in authority’ have propped themselves up, no one put them there—and such a situation results in many evils and much fitnah.
And I am virtually certain that they speak about many issues which they come across there without knowledge—because they, as you said, are students of knowledge—and what knowledge have they acquired? Maybe he has a degree or a doctorate in some sciences—and then he goes and sits in those alien lands and lands of disbelief, expanding what he knows a little.
So what is important is that this issue needs caution and restraint and that it is not rushed, such that we get rid of one problem only to fall into another, ‘We were in the rain and then ended up under the drain,’ as they say—the father orders her to marry a disbeliever or a faasiq, it isn’t allowed for her to obey him but it also isn’t allowed for her to marry herself off. She must take her case to a Muslim ruler/judge [haakim], and it is this haakim who will marry her off—and these people [you mentioned] are not haakims.
Questioner: If they got someone to write to you, O Shaikh of ours, if they wrote to you, so that you could write an answer for them, inshaa Allaah.
Al-Albaani: No. I’m not from them, they write to the one who judges and passes judgement between the people—I can give a fatwa but I do not adjudicate.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 542.
Questioner: A person who doesn’t pray walks past you and says, ‘As-Salaamu ’alaikum,’ do you reply to his salaam?
Al-Albaani: Yes, you give salaam back, but when you accompany him you admonish him.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 97.
Questioner: I have a brother who doesn’t pray, is it allowed for me to eat and drink with him?
Al-Albaani: Is he older than you or younger?
Questioner: Older.
Al-Albaani: Has he reached the age where he is held responsible for his actions?
Questioner: Yes.
Al-Albaani: If you don’t eat and drink with him, where will you eat and drink from?
Questioner: From the food which he eats from …
Al-Albaani: If I were to say to you, ‘Don’t eat or drink with him,’ where will you then eat and drink from since he is older than you?
Questioner: I will eat, ya’ni, alone.
Al-Albaani: Alone, outside or inside the house?
Questioner: Inside.
Al-Albaani: Is your father alive? [Lit: do you have a father?]
Questioner: Yes.
Al-Albaani: Is your mother alive? [Lit: do you have a mother?]
Questioner: Yes.
Al-Albaani: They pray, inshaa Allaah?
Questioner: Yes.
Al-Albaani: Do you eat with them?
Questioner: Yes.
Al-Albaani: And your brother who doesn’t pray, doesn’t he eat with them [too]?
Questioner: He eats with us.
Al-Albaani: If you leave your brother that means that you will leave your father and mother, thus in this situation it is not allowed for you to say that you will leave your brother, because if you do you will leave your father and mother.
If you have some knowledge and can give some advice and direct your brother in a good way, especially since he is older than you, then do that in a manner that is best—not with harshness or coarseness.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 93.
The Imaam said, “Every Muslim must be sincerely devoted in following his Prophet ﷺ just as he is sincerely devoted in worshipping his Lord, for that reason on an occasion such as this I say—and this is terminology which goes without saying, especially when what is intended by using it is to remind the people about what they are heedless of, so I say—there are two tawheeds … terminology, just now you heard that the tawheed of Allaah is split into three categories, ruboobiyyah, al-’uboodiyyah and tawheed as-sifaat.
Now I say: there are two tawheeds, one of them is to do with Allaah [i.e., the three categories just mentioned above] and the other is to do with Allaah’s Messenger, you know the detailed elaboration of the tawheed of Allaah عزوجل—as for the tawheed of the Prophet, [then it is] singling him out to be followed such that no one but him is followed, you don’t take anyone else along with the Messenger as someone who is followed, so there is no Prophet after the Prophet of Allaah ﷺ, emphasising this meaning he ﷺ said in a long hadith [and] the part from it which demonstrates [the point I’m making] is his saying, ‘If Moses were alive, he would have no choice but to follow me,’ Moses is the one Allaah spoke to directly, if he were alive he would not add anything to what the Prophet ﷺ did—so what is wrong with us Muslims today who don’t care about singling the Prophet out as the only one who is followed?
We now follow our desires, our customs, our fathers and fore-fathers and so on …”
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 744.
Read these articles here about Al-Albaani’s criticism of those who go to extremes and his warning against worshipping personalities.
Questioner: Is it allowed to talk about worldly things in-between the adhaan and the iqaamah in the mosque?
Al-Albaani: There’s some elaboration to the answer—it’s allowed and not allowed. If it is incidental, for example, a person enters the mosque and sees a friend of his who he hasn’t seen in a long time, ‘As-Salaamu alaikum,’ ‘Wa alaikum salaam, how are you, akhi? How is your family?’ and so on, this is worldly, naturally, and it is allowed. But for them to sit in the mosque and have a sitting where they discuss currency rates and the prices of goods and so on, then, as the Prophet ﷺ said concerning a different incident, ‘The mosques have not been built for this.’
So, if it is normal speech then there is no objection, but as for talk about the transient things of the world, then that is not allowed.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 54.
Questioner: A person catches one rak’ah of Fajr prayer, but he forgetfully gives salaam along with the Imaam, should the prostrations for forgetfulness be done before or after the salaam?
Al-Albaani: [Firstly] he doesn’t prostrate for forgetfulness until he has separated from the Imaam. When he forgets if he wants to he can prostrate before the salaam or after it, the well-known elaboration that if he added something to the prayer then it is … after and vice-versa, some of the hadiths serve as evidence for this elaboration but when all of them are brought together it becomes clear that the person who is forgetful in his prayer has the option of either giving salaam [and then prostrating] and that is better outright, or if he wants to he can give salaam after he finishes the prostrations for forgetfulness.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 259.
Questioner: O Shaikh of ours! Actually I don’t remember (maybe it’s in) the hadith about, ‘The One who Prayed Badly,’ that in some of its paths of narration, he ﷺ said, “When you stand to pray, then give the call to prayer, then stand, then say, ‘Allaahu Akbar.’”
Al-Albaani: Yes, this is in Sunan Abu Dawud, authenticated.
Questioner: And it is authentic?
Al-Albaani: Yes.
Questioner: And this is something which confirms that the adhaan is prescribed for the person who prays alone and the one who doesn’t [pray alone but prays in a Jamaa’ah]?
Al-Albaani: Yes.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 179.
The Imaam said, “The people nowadays, unfortunately, follow [any- and] everyone who shouts out, they don’t think about Sharee’ah rulings at all.”
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 220.
Questioner: When one gives the adhaan must he be facing the Qiblah completely?
Al-Albaani: Yes.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 135.
Questioner: O Shaikh! You said concerning the hadith about giving the adhaan in the ear of a newborn child that its chain of narration is weak?
Al-Albaani: Yes.
Questioner: You said that its chain of narration is weak, is that statement correct, O Shaikh?
Al-Albaani: Yes, yes, correct.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 594.
Also refer to this post.
Questioner: Our Shaikh, the question is: is the hadith about giving the adhaan in the ear of a newborn child established? I heard that it’s da’eef, should we act on it?
Al-Albaani: No.
Questioner: What do you advise us to do?
Al-Albaani: My advice: [and] this is a clarification for the people, I used to hold that the adhaan in the ear of a newborn child was legislated, aware of the fact that the hadith which states that it is a Sunnah to do so in the ear of a newborn child was reported in Sunan at-Tirmidhi with a weak chain of narration, but I follow the path of strengthening weak hadiths with supporting narrations.
I had found a supporting narration for this hadith in Ibn al-Qayyim’s book well-known as, ‘Tuhfatul-Mawdood bi-Ahkaam al-Mawlood,’ where he had ascribed this supporting narration to al-Baihaqi’s Shu’ab al-Eemaan, and even though he had stated that its chain of narration was weak, I regarded this statement of his to mean that the chain of narration was not severely weak [but just weak]. Based upon that, I considered it to be a supporting narration for the hadith of at-Tirmidhi which is from the narrations of Abu Raafi’.
In those days Shu’ab al-Eemaan was not available, not in manuscript form or as a printed book, [and] as many of you know despite my presence in the Dhaahiriyyah Library which has thousands of hadith manuscripts, this book, Shu’ab al-Eemaan of al-Haafidh al-Baihaqi, was not present in it, in fact it was not present in most of the world’s libraries.
Nowadays it has been published and added to the Islamic libraries, it is an extremely valuable book which has many hadiths which are not found in the six books [of hadith] or, in fact, others too. From these hadiths is the one which I had relied upon Ibn al-Qayyim about, in terms of it being a supporting narration for Abu Raafi’s hadith in Sunan at-Tirmidhi.
[When I read it] all of a sudden [I found that] Imaam al-Baihaqi reported this [supporting] hadith in his book Shu’ab with a chain of narration which had two narrators accused of being liars—so at that point it became clear to me that Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allaah have mercy om him, was lax/lenient when he stated that the hadith’s chain of narration was only weak—what is correct is that it is very weak.
In this situation it is not allowed for someone who works in the science of hadith to take something which is very weak as a supporting narration for something which is not very weak.
At that point I had no choice but to retract the declaration that the hadith of Abu Raafi’ found in Sunan at-Tirmidhi was strengthened by the hadith in Shu’ab al-Eemaan, due to it being severely weak, so [the end result is that] Abu Raafi’s hadith stayed weak.
And I, according to what Allaah has guided me towards in terms of the impermissibility of acting on a weak hadith, went back to the stance that: so long as the chain of narration of Abu Raafi’s hadith is weak and its supporting narration is even weaker than it, then [the end result is that] the weak hadith stays weak as it is, and I retracted my previous stance of the adhaan in the ear of a newborn child being a Sunnah or something legislated.
This is the answer to the question.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 562.
Also refer to this post.
Those of you subscribed to the blog will have to click the title of the post in the email you receive to be able to listen to the audio:
In the audio below, Shaikh al-Albaani is teaching some brothers how to correctly perform the adhaan, at about 10:38 in to it, he recommends Mahmood Khaleel al-Husari’s recitaiton:
Here is Shaikh Mahmood Khaleel al-Husari’s recitation of Surah Rahmaan:
More of al-Husari’s recitation here.
Questioner: Ustaadh, a man enters the mosque while the mu’adhin is giving the adhaan, does he pray the tahiyyatul-masjid or stand in order to repeat what the mu’adhin says?
Al-Albaani: I think your question is wanting, it is a general question, I think you mean on Fridays?
Questioner: No, in general, O Ustaadh.
Al-Albaani: That’s easier [then], it’s easier if you mean in general.
Questioner: Yes.
Al-Albaani: No, he answers the mu’adhin [i.e., repeats after him], and then afterwards reads the tahiyyatul-masjid.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 234.
Questioner: Regarding the du’aa for the adhaan, is it also legislated for the iqaamah?
Al-Albaani: That is what is apparent from his statement ﷺ, “When you hear the mu’adhin, then say the same as him …” and in a hadith whose authenticity is well-known he made the iqaamah an adhaan, “Between every two adhaans there is a prayer for whoever wants to [pray it],” so the iqaamah is an adhaan, the rulings of the adhaan apply to it from which is answering the mu’adhin [i.e., saying the same as him] and asking for the Waseelah for the Prophet ﷺ and sending salaah upon him ﷺ.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 79.
Questioner: Salaatul-Haajah [The prayer for a need], is there anything reported about it, O Shaikh?
Al-Albaani: No, nothing authentic, there are reports but they are not authentic.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 528.
Questioner: Regarding newspapers which we eat on, is it allowed to eat on newspapers?
Al-Albaani: It’s not allowed to use them like that, because they have Allaah’s Name in them, or Muhammad ibn Abdullaah’s ﷺ name, maybe an aayah or a hadith and so on.
Questioner: Is it allowed to pray on a newspaper?
Al-Albaani: Standing on it?
Questioner: No, ya’ni, prostrating on it.
Al-Albaani: It’s not allowed to use them in such a manner.
Questioner: Absolutely not?
Al-Albaani: Absolutely.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 52.
Questioner: In some of your tapes we heard that moving the [index] finger in the tashahhud is not done by raising and lowering it, i.e., [but should be done by moving it] from the right to the left, so we implement this, walhamdulillaah, but the people ask us what the proof for that is?
Al-Albaani: How do you implement it?
Questioner: Ya’ni, I move my finger from the right to the left.
Al-Albaani: Who told you that?
Questioner: One of your tapes, O Shaikh.
Al-Abaani: No, you’re mistaken.
Questioner: What is the correct way?
Al-Albaani: The correct way is that you move it in its place, not to the right and left, in other words, you raise it and lower it but in a manner that can hardly be seen, understand?
Questioner: Understood, O Shaikh, understood.
Al-Albaani: As for moving it the right and left then this has crept in among you from your old madhhab, or from the madhhab of some of you in Algeria and Morocco and those countries on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, i.e., the Maaliki madhhab, they are the ones who do what you mentioned …
Questioner: In [your book] Sifatus-Salaatin-Nabee, you mentioned that when Imaam Ahmad was asked whether he pointed with his finger in the prayer he said, ‘Yes, intensely.’ Intensely, what does intensely mean here? The speed or what?
Al-Albaani: That is it, ya’ni, a lot.
Questioner: A lot?
Al-Albaani: Yes.
Questioner: Alhamdulillaah.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 564.
Also read this post.
Al-Albaani: I say that many of the callers to prayer turn their chests away from the Qiblah, they turn away from the Qiblah with their chests when they give the call to prayer and announce the Iqaamah—and this is in opposition to the Sunnah.
Turning away during the adhaan and iqaamah is only done with the mouth, the face naturally, and not with the chest and shoulders, just as it should be when one leaves the prayer, i.e., when he gives salaam.
Yet despite this we see many of the people who pray fall into this mistake, when they pray they say, “As-Salaamu alaikum …” [here the Shaikh is physically demonstrating to those in front of him the incorrect way people give salaam at the end of the prayer by turning their chests and shoulders away from the Qiblah], this is incorrect.
The salaam is completed as he was, facing the Qiblah, the Prophet ﷺ used to only turn towards the right with his head such that the whiteness of his cheek could be seen by those behind him, and likewise to the left—so when giving salaam these two shoulders don’t move, the same goes for the adhaan.
So when he turns then it is like this and this, as occurs in Sahih al-Bukhari from the hadith of Abu Juhaifah as-Sawaa’i [may Allaah be pleased with him], that he saw Bilaal [may Allaah be pleased with him] giving the call to prayer and he saw him turning to the right and left with his mouth [i.e., his face]—thus we don’t move at all … [in the call to prayer you say], ‘Allaahu Akbar, Allaahu Akbar …’ we get to, ‘Come to prayer! Come to prayer!’—stay exactly as you are, don’t turn away from the Qiblah with your chest, because facing the Qiblah during the adhaan is part of the perfection of the Sunnah of the adhaan.
And this is a reminder, and reminders benefit the believers.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 532.
Al-Albaani: I want to remind my brothers who are here that I noticed when some of them are praying and they move their finger in tashahhud, they move it too much in a way that is not legislated.
There is no doubt that moving the finger in tashahhud is the Sunnah, but many times our brothers from Ahlus-Sunnah mix this movement [of the finger] up with another thing which is not from the Sunnah, and that is lowering and raising it.
I noticed in this mosque that the brother, the Imaam, may Allaah reward with him good, is active in spreading the Sunnah, for I saw some of the people in the mosque moving their fingers in tashahhud, and this is proof that the Imaam, walhamdulillaah, is carrying out the duty of calling to the Sunnah.
So I saw some of these people and [also] some of our brothers with us on this trip, [I noticed] that they add something to this movement which can be described as lowering and raising, i.e., this is lowering and raising—this has no basis in the Sunnah, all that has been mentioned in the Sunnah is that it is moved, i.e., there is a Sunnah that should be observed when moving [the finger], i.e., that the finger should be pointing towards the Qiblah, so when you point it towards the Qiblah and move it, don’t lower it, because if you do then you have made it point towards the ground, and the ground is not your Qiblah, the Qiblah is in front of you.
So here is your knee, and your palm is on your knee, so as soon as you sit you curl your fingers up and make a circle with your thumb and your middle finger, then you raise your index finger and move it—don’t raise and lower it—this has no basis in the Sunnah, rather you move it in its place.
This is what I wanted to remind you of and reminders benefit the believers.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 494.
Also refer to this post for further clarification.
The Imaam said, “… as will not be hidden from students of knowledge like us …”
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 341.
Questioner: What is the most correct opinion regarding the prostrations of forgetfulness? [Should they be done] before or after [the salaam]?
Al-Albaani: Both are allowed.
Questioner: And the hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “For each forgetfulness there are two prostrations after giving the salutation?” [Saheeh Abu Dawud, no. 954, Hasan]
Al-Albaani: There are other hadiths which permit the prostration before the salaam, and that is why I said both are allowed.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 338.
Questioner: The distance which a person walking in front of someone praying must leave, someone who hasn’t taken a sutrah?
Al-Albaani: After the [place of] prostration of the person praying.
Questioner: After the [place of] prostration, about three cubits [arm’s-lengths]?
Al-Albaani: Yes.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 322.
Questioner: The person who prays without a Sutrah, what is the ruling on his prayer?
Al-Albaani: The prayer is valid but he is sinful.
Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 184.
The Albaani Site 