Muhammad Nasir ud-Din al-Albani

My Meeting with Shaykh Al-Albani by Nabil Abu Gharbieh

In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise be to Allah, and may His prayers and blessings be upon our Messenger Muhammad.

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmutullahi wa barakatu,

I pray Allah blesses my intentions and accepts from me efforts and I pray that others may benefit from this e-mail.

Getting to the point, a week ago I just came back from a 3-month visit to Jordan. I can say that Allah has blessed me in many ways with this trip. Once I was at Shaykh Ali Al-Timimi's house for dinner and he advised me to travel. Brother Ali told me that scholars agree that travelling to different parts of the world really matures a human being and that he felt it was something I needed to do at my stage in life. I took it as sincere advise (nasihah) but wasn't really serious about doing it. It turned out that Allah has blessed me with the opportunity to go to Jordan as well as Saudi and Palestine. I can now honestly say for these three short months I have benefited in my life in many ways. I learned what I wanted in life, how serious of a Muslim I was or wasn't, how SINCERE I was or wasn't, and much much more.

But since this is not about me, this is the 2 cents I wanted to put in, in hopes others may benefit as well.

The part I really wanted to talk about is that I was blessed to meet Shaykh Nasr ud-Din al-Albani. I had heard about him plenty of times before I meet him and had a general idea of who he was. I even had a physical characteristic in mind of how he might look. The brother, may Allah preserve him, is over 90 years old. When I went to go meet him, I meet his sons and grandsons at the mosque (masjid) and they took me to their house. When I walked in the room he was in my heart pounded because in front of me was a full-blown scholar of Prophetic narrations (ahadith), and I was in the same room. He put his pen down and looked up at me and it was like pure light (nur) (my uncle said the same thing). He is medium height man with a white complexion and had blue eyes and a long greying (more white than anything) beard. He was skinny and didn't really look like he was sick as brothers told me he was. After he talked for a while you can tell that he was getting very tired however, and that's when it began to show.

It took me a second to stop saying to myself, "Wow, that's Shaykh Al-Albani," and start focusing on what he said. He sat in a desk kind of like in High School where the desk is attached to the chair and the desk is tilted a little, except this was a little bigger. Around him were many books at hand reach.

I was given only a five-minute appointment with him, as he doesn't take students of knowledge anymore. He focuses on finishing off as many books as possible before he dies, may Allah preserve him and accept his deeds, amin. The appointment went out to about 20 minutes from the mercy of Allah.

He called his son to bring us water and we drank it. It was Zamzam water. The first thing I told him was that I loved him for the sake of Allah and who I was. I told him that Shaykh Ja'far Idris and brother Ali Al-Timimi had led me to him and that they loved him for the sake of Allah, and he recognised both and returned his love and made supplication (du'a) for them both. (I think it was through these brothers that I was able to have an appointment with him). I then mentioned Dr. Salah as-Sawai and he did the same for him as well.

I told him the situation in America (from the Islamic perspective) as that communities were growing and he was pleased and made du'a for all the Muslims who were involved in it's work. He made du'a that Allah will accept our sitting and that we all benefit (or something to that extent). He then said that the reason for this was because of a narration (hadith) that Muhammad, peace be upon him, said, "This affair (i.e., Al-Islam) will reach wherever night and day reaches."

He then said that there is another hadith that says when people apply Islamic Law (Ash-Shari'ah), Muslims will conquer and when Muslims let go of Ash-Shari'ah the non-Muslims will conquer Muslims.

I asked him what is the easiest path to start gaining knowledge. He said that one should pick a particular school of thought (madhhab) and learn it's rulings. If you do not have access to that knowledge then pick the sunnah (as in pick up any book of ahadith or any access to ahadith and apply what you can).

Then he advised me to move back to a Muslim country and leave a non-Muslim ruled country. He said for one to go to America or any non-Muslim country for propagating Islam (da'wah) he should posess the following:

1. Having the correct knowledge and a good amount of it in Islam
2. He should be married
3. His children were raised according to Islamic manners (adab) and from a Muslim surrounding (more likely a Muslim country)

And when one does this he should have the intention of leaving as soon as it is possible or when his task or project is completed. One should not have the intention of residing or investing on living there for many years to come or for the rest of their lives. These points are important because you don't want to go to a non-Muslim society to give da'wah and it is you and your family that now needs the da'wah.

Then he asked if the Muslims were all on the sunnah or were they deviated sects. I told that a lot of the sunni were there but there is a number of the sufiyyah, shi'ah, and others. He didn't comment but I asked him what should a person do to deal with the sects and he said, don't pay attention to them - they have a hujjah - a big propaganda to calling to their way. He said to refute them you need knowledge ('ilm) and a big tongue because they only argue a lot. So he said just leave it to the scholars and knowledgeable brothers to deal with.

We then closed off with some small topics and then he made du'a and said this is all I know and Allah knows best. His sons and grandsons stood up and I took that as it's time to go. I kissed him on the head and made du'a for him and left.

There is so much I wish I could share as far as other experiences I even had the chance to meet some of his students all over Jordan. These brothers were on point. When we prayed an out loud prayer, nobody said "amin" out loud until they heard the Shaykh say "amin". In other words the Imam would say Al-Fatihah and when he got to "wa la'dh-dhallin," nobody said anything for two seconds, then the Imam would say amin and the rest would follow. This shows how detailed and organized they were in their Islam. But I think this is what I feel was important to get out to the brothers and sisters. So I'll just end here.

I pray Allah blesses the Shaykh with the highest ranks of Paradise (Jannat ul-Firdaws). I pray Allah accepts what I have wrote, and that he forgives me and lets others by his Mercy benefit, and allows us to apply what we have learned. I pray Allah perseveres and increases Shaykh Ja'far, Ali Al-Timimi, Dr. Salah as-Sawai and other brothers who are helping teach the Muslims of America, and ANYTHING I have said that is wrong or not-beneficial is from the Devil (Ash-Shaytan) and anything beneficial, and beautiful is from the All-Merciful, the Compassionate, the one who never dies.

Amin.

And Allah knows best.

Emails Received at the Sad News of Shaykh Al-Albani's Death Rahimahullah

Email One

As salamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatahu

My brothers and sisters of Al-Islam,

What can be said? The heart, torn by the death of its teacher, Imam 'Abdul-'Aziz ibn 'Abdullah ibn Baz, was beginning to slowly heal. Life was beginning to come to terms without being with my father, the noble Imam ibn Baz. Then, struck upon it was another pain. A pain that had me stunned, motionless and speechless. Unable to think clearly or motivate myself. The death of our Shaykh Muhammad Nasir ud-Din al-Albani was not unexpected, but it was a shock and a great loss.

The loss I felt at the death of Imam Ibn Baz had come to me again, in such a short period of time. Truly, we are now without two of our teachers, guiders and revivers of the Qur'an and Sunnah. What a loss of Al-Islam, for us, the Ummah!

But solace is found in the Word of Allah and the Sirah. For truly many of the Companions lived through a mightier and greater person's death, the death of our leader, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessing be upon him). There pain must have been immense and we have tasted only a portion of it with the death of these scholars (may Allah have mercy upon them) but they went on and were successful.

And Allah has told us:

"Every soul shall taste death."

So let us know that Allah has promised death and to all of us it will come. Let us learn from the legacy of the Shaykhs and strive be be like them, upon their path and their methodology.

I pray that Allah give to us that which is better than what we have lost and guide us all to the Paradise.

Email Two (Islam-QA.com)

The happiest people in the hereafter are the people of Hadith, their Imam (leader) is Prophet Mohammed (Peace and Blessings of Allah upon him). Allah Almighty has said (translation of the interpretation): "One day we shall call together all human beings with their (respective) Imams (leaders)."

People of Hadith, they are the people of the Messenger, and even if they don't accompany him alive, they accompany his words and inspirations.

Every Din (Religion) has its warriors and the warriors of this Din are the people of Al-Asanid (authority and authentication of source).

Praise be to Allah, the Ever-Living, Who does not die, and Peace and Blessings upon our Prophet Mohammed and upon all his family and companions.

We have barely come out of the painful grieve of losing the Scholar and Imam 'Abdul-'Aziz ibn 'Abdullah ibn Baz to be distressed by the news of the death of the late narrator of Hadith and the mujaddid (renewer) of the science and scholarship of the prophet's Hadith the scholar Shaykh Muhammad Nasir ud-Din al-Albani who has met his lord today, Saturday 22 Jamadi Akhirah 1420H (10/2/1999) in the afternoon. His burrial was completed after performing Salatul-Janazah on him (prayer for the dead) tonight around 10:00pm (in Makkah's time zone) which was in accordance to his will in which he indicated a quick burial as has been narrated in the example of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings of Allah upon Him). The Shaykh (may the mercy of Allah be upon him) had been stricken during the last part of his life by cirrhosis of the liver and stoppage of white blood cell production, in addition, to his senility. He used to experience unconsciousness most of the time during his last days and had entered into a coma the last night before his death until he met his fate and passed away in the city of Amman, Jordan and was buried there tonight.

Oh Allah, grant forgiveness to Abi 'Abdur-Rahman and raise his status among the guided and above many of Your creation on the Day of Judgement. Forgive us and him, O Lord of the Worlds. Make his grave wide and fill it with light, for You are the All-Hearing Who answers prayers and You are Ever Near.

Email Three (Abu Yusuf Tawfique Chowdhury)

BISMILLAHIR-RAHMANIR-RAHIM

Hijri date: Saturday 22 Jumada ath-THany 1420H

Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 11:57:33 -0700

As salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

We have just been informed by the scholars here in Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah that Imam Al-Albani hafidahullah died! Today is 22 Jumada ath-Thani, Yawm as-Sabt, 1420H corresponding to October 2nd, Saturday of the year 1999CE. He died after 'Asr time, rahimahullah. I am lost for words to say any further ... He left behind a legacy of decades of cleansing the sunnah from the falsehoods. He was to the sunnah and hadith as Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abdul-Wahab was to Tawhid, a mujaddid. May Allah forgive him and reward him from the choicest of rewards in Jannah and join him with the companions of the highest order.

Some of the salaf used to say: "When I hear of the death of a person of the sunnah, it is as if I have lost a part of my body." [Reported by Al-Lalika'i in Sharh Usul I'tiqad Ahlus-Sunnah wa'l-Jama'ah]

Your brother,

Abu Yusuf Tawfique Chowdhury

Islamic University of Madinah

11:16PM

Email Four

BISMILLAHIR-RAHMANIR-RAHIM

Hijri date: Saturday 22 Jumada ath-THany 1420H

INNA LILLAHI WA INNA ILAYHI RAJI'UN

Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 12:45:31 EDT

As salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah

Indeed this is a sad year, I just recieved a call confirming that the Muhaddith of Ahlus-Sunnah, Shaykh Nasir ud-Din al-Albani, died about one hour ago in Jordan. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.

Email Five

BISMILLAHIR-RAHMANIR-RAHIM

As-Salamu 'alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

Hijri date: Saturday 22 Jumada ath-THany 1420H

As salaamu alaykum wa rahmatulahi wa barakatuhu,

Shaykh, Al-Muhaddith, Muhammad Nasir ud-Din al-Albani, died about four hours ago in Amman, Jordan.

A believer should, at the death of a relative or a friend, invoke Allah and say: "Verily we belong to Allah, and truly to Him shall we return" [Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un].

May Allah have mercy on his soul and grant him Jannah al-Firdaws - the highest level of Paradise. And may He have mercy upon us all.

Abu Hurayrah narrates:

Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established (1) till two big groups fight each other whereupon there will be a great number of casualties on both sides and they will be following one and the same religious doctrine, (2) till about thirty Dajjals (liars) appear, and each one of them will claim that he is Allah's Apostle, (3) till the religious knowledge is taken away (by the death of religious scholars) (4) earthquakes will increase in number (5) time will pass quickly, (6) afflictions will appear, (7) Al-Harj, (i.e., killing) will increase, (8) till wealth will be in abundance--so abundant that a wealthy person will worry lest nobody should accept his Zakat, and whenever he will present it to someone, that person (to whom it will be offered) will say, 'I am not in need of it,' (9) till the people compete with one another in constructing high buildings, (10) till a man when passing by a grave of someone will say, 'Would that I were in his place,' (11) and till the sun rises from the West. So when the sun will rise and the people will see it (rising from the West) they will all believe (embrace Islam) but that will be the time when: (As Allah said,) 'No good will it do to a soul to believe then, if it believed not before, nor earned good (by deeds of righteousness) through its Faith.' 'No good will it do to a soul to believe then, if it believed not before, nor earned good (by deeds of righteousness) through its Faith.' [Al-Qur'an 6:158] And the Hour will be established while two men spreading a garment in front of them but they will not be able to sell it, nor fold it up; and the Hour will be established when a man has milked his she-camel and has taken away the milk but he will not be able to drink it; and the Hour will be established before a man repairing a tank (for his livestock) is able to water (his animals) in it; and the Hour will be established when a person has raised a morsel (of food) to his mouth but will not be able to eat it." [Bukhari 9/237]

1. This has happened many times, but whether the hadith refers to the past or future, Allah knows best
2. This is happening today, take a look for example at the sect of Islam known as Ahmadi, may Allah guide the misguided, amin
3. This is happening now as well, we have just lost one of our great scholars, may Allah have mercy upon us all, amin
4. This is happeneing now e.g. Tiawan, may Allah have mercy upon us all, amin
5. This is happening right now, in the past few days I had become so busy I missed a friend's wedding, may she forgive me, and may Allah have mercy upon us all, amin
6. This is happening today, with many trials and afflictions from the corrupt rulers, to the double standards, to those who act in the name of Islam but are nothing more than scum of the earth, those who mistreat others, those who fall victim to temptation, may Allah have mercy upon us all, amin
7. This is happening today recent example East Timor, Kosova etc, may Allah have mercy upon us all, amin
8. We have yet to see this HOWEVER there are the (authentic) reported instances of homeless people (in the UK) who have REFUSED shelter, etc, may Allah have mercy upon us all, amin
9. This is fairly eveident in any large city, may Allah have mercy upon us all, amin
10. This has happened, I am witness to one such occassion, may Allah have mercy upon us all, amin
11. We await this matter to occur, may Allah have mercy upon us all, amin

Look how close we are to the day of reckoning, or at the very least the end of the world as we know it. This one last hadith, 11 points had been mentioned. Out of the 11, 9 are concrete in having already occured, with two left (1) - uncertain which war it refers to, and (11).

"Lord, on the Day of Judgment, forgive me and my parents and all the believers."

"Do they just wait for the final fulfillment of the event? On the day the event is finally fulfilled those who disregarded it before will say: 'The apostles of our Lord did indeed bring true (tidings). Have we no intercessors now to intercede on our behalf? Or could we be sent back? Then should we behave differently from our behavior in the past.' In fact they will have lost their souls and the things they invented will leave them in the lurch."

"If My servant likes to meet Me, I like to meet him; and if he dislikes to meet Me, I dislike to meet him." Prophetic explanation of this Sacred Hadith: He who likes to meet Allah, Allah likes to meet him; and he who dislikes to meet Allah, Allah dislikes to meet him. 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: O Prophet of Allah, is it because of the dislike of death, for all of us dislike death? The Prophet said: "It is not so, but rather it is that when the believer is given news of Allah's mercy, His approval and His Paradise, he likes to meet Allah and Allah likes to meet him; but when the unbeliever is given news of Allah's punishment and His displeasure, he dislikes to meet Allah and Allah dislikes to meet him."

I dare not suggest we drop everything, and spend our time in prayers, for part of Islam is an element of responsibility. The responsibility to safeguard our food, water, health, education, and the like. Granted what good is any of this if the last day is to be tomorrow? But none of us know when the last day is, and thus we must endeavour to ensure suficient means of survival until such a time.

"Closer and closer to mankind comes their Reckoning: yet they heed not and they turn away."

May Allah forgive us all our weaknesses and guide us to authentic Islam as practised by the Prophet and the companions free of innovation, extremism, and laxity, amin. The example of Islam is that of ease and moderation (Bukhari 7/577) and we are told that Allah makes it easy to follow the straight path (Qur'an 87:8). What is wrong with us?

Without wishing to sound to much like a freak, the last day could be just around the corner. When we pray we SHOULD pray as it is our last day. And the advice in the following hadith goes without doubt ...

Mujahid narrates:

'Abdullah ibn 'Umar said, "Allah's Apostle took hold of my shoulder and said, 'Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler.' " The sub-narrator added: Ibn 'Umar used to say, "If you survive till the evening, do not expect to be alive in the morning, and if you survive till the morning, do not expect to be alive in the evening, and take from your health for your sickness, and (take) from your life for your death." [Bukhari 8/425]

"And call thy Lord to mind when thou forgettest and say 'I hope that my Lord will guide me ever closer (even) than this to the right road.'"

Remember Allah much and He will remember you.

fi amanAllah

as salamu alaykum, f

Email Six

BISMILLAHIR-RAHMANIR-RAHIM

As-Salamu 'alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

Hijri date: Sunday 23 Jumada ath-THany 1420H

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

As Salamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu

I have just verified the news that the Shaykh, Al-Muhaddith, Muhammad Nasir ud-Din al-Albani, died about four hours ago in Amman, Jordan.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.

May Allah have mercy on his soul, forgive him and reward him with Jannah. Amin.

Ma'a du'a

Ukhtuk fil Islam

'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn Al-'As narrates:

I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "Allah does not take away the knowledge, by taking it away from (the hearts of) the people, but takes it away by the death of the religious learned men till when none of the (religious learned men) remains, people will take as their leaders ignorant persons who when consulted will give their verdict without knowledge. So they will go astray and will lead the people astray." [Bukhari 1/100]

20 Points Regarding Shaykh Al-Albani by Abu Hudhayfah

As-salamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu ...

Shaykh Al-Albani has Ijaza in hadith from the late Allamah Shaykh Muhammad Raghib at-Tabagh with whom he studied hadith sciences, gaining authority to transmit from him. The Shaykh himself refers to this Ijaza in Mukhtasar al-Uluw (p. 72) and in Tahdir as-Sajid (p. 63). He has a further Ijaza from Shaykh Bahjatul Baytar (through whom his isnad stretches back to Imam Ahmad). These are mentioned in the book Hayat Al-Albani (the Life of Al-Albani) by Muhammad ash-Shaybani. This sort of Ijaza is given only to those who have excelled in hadith and can be trusted to accurately convey a hadith. A copy of the Ijaza is in the possession of his student, 'Ali Hasan al-Halabi. So it is not correct to say that the Shaykh is self-taught from books, without authority and without Ijaza.

Whilst we are on the subject, I think it would not be out of place here to mention a few snippets from Shaykh Al-Albani's life and career to further emphasise his great standing in the field of hadith science as well as the respect shown to him by other scholars. One cannot really do the subject justice in one or two brief emails, however, I hope the readers will find this information both encouraging and interesting:

1. Shaykh Al-Albani was born in 1914 in Ashkodera, the former capital of Albania.
2. His first shaykh was his father, Al-Hajj Nuh Najjati, who himself had completed Shari'ah studies in Istanbul, returning to Albania as one of its Hanafi scholars. Under his father's guidance, Shaykh Al-Albani studied Qur'an, tajwid, Arabic language as well as Hanafi fiqh.
3. He further studied Hanafi fiqh and Arabic language under Shaykh Sa'id al-Burhan.
4. He would attend the lectures of Imam 'Abdul-Fattah and Shaykh Tawfiq al-Barzah.
5. The Shaykh met the late hadith master, Ahmad Shakir, with whom he participated in knowledge based discussions on hadith and its research.
6. He met the late Indian hadith scholar, Shaykh 'Abdus-Samad Sharf ad-Din, who himself had referenced the hadith to the first volume of An-Nasa'i's Sunan al-Kubra as well as Al-Mizzi's monumental Tuhfatul-Ashraf, and they continued to exchange letters on matters of knowledge. In one such letter, Shaykh 'Abdus-Samad expressed his belief that Shaykh Al-Albani was the greatest hadith scholar of the time.
7. In recognition of his knowledge of hadith, he was commissioned as far back as 1955 by the Faculty of Shari'ah at Damascus University to carry out detailed analysis and research into hadith related to buying and selling and other business related transactions.
8. Shaykh Al-Albani began his formal work in the field of hadith by transcribing Al-Hafidh Al-Iraqi's monumental Al-Mughni 'an Haml'l-Asfar, being a study of the various hadith and narrations contained in Al-Ghazali's famous Ihya Ulum ad-Din. This work alone contains some 5000 hadith.
9. The Shaykh was famous for attending the Zahiriyyah library in Damascus, and was eventually given his own set of keys due to his frequent and lengthy study there. On one such occasion, an important folio was missing from a manuscript in use by the Shaykh and this led Shaykh Al-Albani to painstakingly catalogue all the hadith manuscripts in the library in an endeavour to locate the missing folio. Consequently, he gained in-depth knowledge of 1000s of hadith manuscripts, something that was attested to years later by Dr. Muhammad Mustafa Azami in the introduction to Studies in Early Hadith Literature where he said: "I wish to express my gratitude to Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Albani, who placed his extensive knowledge of rare manuscripts at my disposal."
10. Shaykh Al-Albani would sometimes mention his extreme poverty during his early life. He said he would be reduced to picking up scraps of paper from the street, often discarded wedding cards, and use them to write his hadith notes on. Often, he would purchase scrap paper in bulk from the rubbish dump and take it home to use.
11. He would correspond with numerous scholars, particularly those from India and Pakistan, discussing matters related to hadith and the religion in general, including Shaykh Muhammad Zamzami from Morocco and 'Ubaydullah Rahman, the author of Mirqat al-Mafatih Sharh Mushkila al-Masabih.
12. His skill in hadith is attested to by a host of qualified scholars, past and present, including Dr. Amin al-Misri, head of Islamic Studies at Madinah University who considered himself to be one of the Shaykh's students; also Dr. Subhi as-Salah, former head of Hadith Sciences at the University of Damascus; Dr. Ahmad al-Asal, head of Islamic Studies at Riyadh University; the late Pakistani hadith scholar, Allamah Badiuddin Shah as-Sindi; Shaykh Muhammad Tayyib Awkij, former head of Tafsir and Hadith at the University of Ankarah in Turkey; not to mention the likes of Shaykh Ibn Baz, Ibn al-'Uthaymin, Muqbil ibn Hadi and many others in later times.
13. After a number of his works appeared in print, the Shaykh was chosen to teach hadith at the new Islamic University of Madinah for three years from 1381 to 1383H where he was also a member of University board. After this he returned to his former studies and work in the Zahiriyyah library. His love for Madinah University is evidenced by the fact that he bequeathed his entire personal library to the University.
14. He would hold study circles twice a week whilst in Damascus which were attended by numerous students and university lecturers. In this way, the Shaykhcompleted instruction in the following classical and modern works:

    Fath ul-Majid of 'Abdur-Rahman ibn Husayn ibn Muhamamd ibn 'Abdul-Wahhab

    Rawdah an-Nadiyah of Siddiq Hasan Khan

    Minhaj al-Islamiyyah of Muhammad Asad

    Usul al-Fiqh of Al-Khallal

    Mustalah at-Tarikh of Asad Rustum

    Al-Halal wa'l-Haram fi'l-Islam of Yusuf al-Qardawi

    Fiqh as-Sunnah of Sayyid Sabiq

    Bath al-Hathith of Ahmad Shakir

    At-Targhib wa't-Tarhib of Al-Hafidh Al-Mundhiri

    Riyadh as-Salihin on Imam An-Nawawi

    Al-Imam fi Ahadith al-Ahqam of Ibn Daqiq al-'Eid

15. After carrying out an analysis of the hadith in Ibn Khuzaymah's Sahih, the Indian hadith scholar, Muhamamd Mustafa Azami (head of Hadith Science in Makkah), chose Shaykh Al-Albani to verify and re-check his analysis and the work is currently published in 4 volumes containing both their comments. This is an indication of the level of trust placed in Shaykh Al-Albani's hadith ability by other scholars.
16. In their edition of the well known hadith compilation, Mishkat al-Masabih, the Maktaba al-Islami publishing house requested Shaykh Al-Albani to edit the work before publication. The publisher wrote in the introduction: "We requested that the great hadith scholar, Shaykh Muhammad Nasir ad-Din al-Albani, should help us in the checking of Mishkat and take responsibility for adding footnotes for any ahadith needing them, and researching and reproducing their sources and authenticity where needed, and correcting any deficiences."
17. The Shaykh's printed works, mainly in the field of hadith and its sciences, number some 112 books. I personally have 17 of these books and these alone run into 45 volumes! He left behind him in manuscript form at least a further 70 works.
18. It is recorded on one occasion (and this incident is available on two tape cassettes - his students were in the habit of recording his teaching sessions), that a man visited Shaykh Al-Albani in his home in Jordan claiming to be a prophet! How would we have reacted when faced with such a situation? Shaykh Al-Albani sat the man down and discussed his claims at length (as I said, covering two tape cassettes) and in the end the visitor made tawba from his claim and all present, including the Shaykh, were overcome with tears. In fact, how often is Shaykh Al-Albani heard on tape bursting into tears when speaking about Allah, His Messenger and the affairs of the Muslims?
19. On another occasion (and I was told this by a Shaykh who was present in the gathering) he was visited by three men all claiming that Shaykh Al-Albani was a kafir. When it came time to pray they refused to pray behind him, saying it is not possible for a kafir to lead the prayer. The Shaykh accepted this, saying that in his eyes the three of them were Muslims so one of them should lead the prayer. Afterwards, they discussed their differences at length and when it came time for the following prayer, all three men insisted on praying behind Shaykh Al-Albani!
20. During the course of his life the Shaykh has researched and commented on over 30,000 individual chains of transmission (isnad) for countless hadith, having spent 60 years in the study of the books of the Sunnah and being in the company of, and in contact with, its scholars.

Abu Hudhayfah

Concerning Ijazah and the Shaykh

Abu Rumaysah

Sunday 18 Rajab 1419H

Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salatu Was Salam 'ala Rasulillah

Alhamdulillah was salatu was salamu ala nabiyyina wa habibina Muhammad

As salamu alaykum

And don't forget the stupid fatwa of the scholar-without-ijazah, Al-Albani

The issues of the fatawa aside, it is about time that this myth is cleared up ...

Shaykh Al-Albani DOES have ijaza from a number of scholars. From amongst the most famous of them Shaykh Raghib Tabbakh and Shaykh Bahjatul Baytar (through whom his isnad stretches back to Imam Ahmad). These are mentioned in the book 'Hayat Al-Albani' [the Life of Albani] by Muhammad ash-Shaybani and I also personally asked one of his students, Shaykh 'Ali Hasan, who mentioned to me the above names.

Furthermore Shaykh Al-Albani himself refers to these two as his shayukh in ijaza in his introductions to his 'Mukhtasar al-Uluw' and 'Tahdhir as-Sajid'.

Furthermore, I even remember reading from Hasan Saqqaf, one of the initiators of this lie, in his book of lies 'Qamus ash-Shata'im' a chapter heading that goes something like 'Albani refutes his own shayukh!' hence contradicting himself as is usual.

Was salam

Abu Rumaysah

Further clarification from Abu Rumaysah

Subject: Re: A Question

Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 19:23:02 -0000

Alhamdulillah was salatu was salamu alaa nabiyyina wa habibina Muhammad

As salamu alaykum

Jazakallahu khayran for your post.

On the salaf net I posted precise references to the places in which Al-Albani referred to Raghib Tabakh as his Shaykh in Ijazah, however I could not find the precise reference to Bahjatul Baytar although I remember reading it in Mukhtatsar al-Uluw, insha'Allah I shall consult the reference you give.

As for what ijazah it is then as I understand it is the specific ijazah that a muhaddith gets that allows him to include his name in the chain of narration. So for example Al-Albani could quote a hadith with an isnad through Bahjatul Baytar stretching back to Imam Ahmad and then through him to the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam.

This sort of ijazah is only given to those who have excelled in the usul al-hadith and can be trusted to accurately convey a hadith.

Allah knows best

Was salam

Abu Rumaysah

Clarification by Maaz Qureshi

Maaz: The reference I mentioned is found in Mukhtasir Al Uluww p. 72 in the last paragraph where Shaykh Al-Albani is refuting the allegations of attributing a makan (place) to Allah in the Salafi 'aqidah. Here he refers to both Shaykh Raghib at-Tabakh, and Bahjatul Baytar. Watch for a complete translation of the section called "Doubts And Their Answer" By Shaykh Al-Albani from Mukhtasir al-Uluw (in which he mentiones the two shayukh).

Further Clarification

As for the answer of Shaykh 'Ali then he gave that at the first JIMAS camp he attended when asked amongst a group of brothers.

Al-Albani refers to Raghib Tabakh as his Shaykh in Ijazah in 'Tahdhir as-Sajid' (p. 63 as part of a long footnote starting on p. 59).

He alse refers to him in this way in his intro to 'Mukhtasar al-Uluw' (p. 72).

Muhammad al-Jibaly

Conclusion from Shaykh Jibaly:

I hope this futile line stops for 2 reasons:

1. Al-Albani does have an Ijazah as referenced earlier. Al-Halabi assured me of this a few days ago, and he has a copy of it.
2. What is more important, assuming he had no ijazah from any teacher, what difference does it make? All of today's top scholars, including his opponents, acknowledge his knowledge and aptitude.