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==Contemporary Evaluation== ==Contemporary Evaluation==
Al-Albani is considered by ]s as being perhaps the greatest Islamic scholar of the ]. Shaykh 'Abd-ul-'Aziz ] said:<ref>ad-Dustoor, 10 August 1999</ref> <ref name=muttaqoon>http://almuttaqoon.com/index.php?showtopic=294</ref> Al-Albani is considered by various scholars as being perhaps the greatest Islamic scholar of the ]. Shaykh 'Abd-ul-'Aziz ] said:<ref>ad-Dustoor, 10 August 1999</ref> <ref name=muttaqoon>http://almuttaqoon.com/index.php?showtopic=294</ref>
{{cquote|I have not seen under the surface of the sky a person knowledgeable of the Hadith in our current time the likes of the great scholar, Muhammad Nasiruddin Al-Albani.}} {{cquote|I have not seen under the surface of the sky a person knowledgeable of the Hadith in our current time the likes of the great scholar, Muhammad Nasiruddin Al-Albani.}}


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In addition, the first Volume of the original contains 250 hadiths, in which al-Albani had said 'Sahih' (an authentic Hadith) in one of his books and then contradicted himself by saying Da'if (a weak Hadith) in another of his books.<ref>Tanaqudat al-Albani al-Wadihat and Vol.2, pp. 63-64</ref> In addition, the first Volume of the original contains 250 hadiths, in which al-Albani had said 'Sahih' (an authentic Hadith) in one of his books and then contradicted himself by saying Da'if (a weak Hadith) in another of his books.<ref>Tanaqudat al-Albani al-Wadihat and Vol.2, pp. 63-64</ref>

Some Salafis also strongly criticized his such as the Saudi hadith scholar Isma`il ibn Muhammad al-Ansar who wrote Ta`aqqubat `ala "Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da`ifa wa al-Mawdu`a" li al-Albani ("Critique of al-Albani's Book on Weak and Forged Hadiths"), Tashih Salat al-Tarawih `Ishrina Rak`atan wa al-Radd `ala al-Albani fi Tad`ifih ("Establishing as Correct the Tarawih Salat in Twenty Rak`as and the Refutation of Its Weakening by al-Albani"), and Ibahat al-Tahalli bi al-Dhahab al-Muhallaq li al-Nisa' wa al-Radd `ala al-Albani fi Tahrimih ("The Licitness of Wearing Gold Jewelry for Women Contrary to al-Albani's Prohibition of it").


==Refutation of criticism== ==Refutation of criticism==

Revision as of 14:37, 9 September 2007

See Albani for other uses of that name.
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Template:Muslim scholars Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, Arabic, محمد ناصر الدين الألباني (also al-Albani, Albani and other variants) (1914 - 1999) was an important and influential Islamic scholar of the 20th Century; he specialised in the fields of hadith and fiqh and was a prodigious writer and speaker.

Life

Al-Albani was born into a poor family in the city of Shkodra, the then capital of Albania. His father, Haaj Nuh Najati al-Albani, had completed Sharia studies in Istanbul and returned to Albania as one of the major Hanafi scholars of the country. During the reign of secularist Ahmet Zogu, al-Albani's family disagreed with the Western-influenced views of the government and migrated to Damascus. In Damascus, he completed his early education, and was taught the Quran, tajwid, Arabic linguistic sciences, Hanafi fiqh and further branches of the religion by a number of Islamic scholars as well as friends of his father.

Al-Albani also learned clock and watch repair from his father, and became highly skilled in the trade. By the age of twenty, he began specializing in the field of Hadith (narrations of Muhammad) and its related sciences, becoming influenced by articles in Al-Manaar magazine. He began work in this field by transcribing Hafiz al-Iraqi's monumental Al-­Mughnee 'an-hamlil-Asfar fil-Asfar fee takhrej maa fil-lhyaa minal-Akhbar'.

Al-Albani delved further into the Hadith sciences despite discourage­ment from his father, who hoped he'd pursue easier fields of study. Unable to afford many of the required books, he often borrowed them from the famous Az-Zahiriyah library in Damascus. He became engrossed with his studies to the extent that he sometimes closed his shop and remained in the library for up to twelve hours - breaking only for prayer - not even leaving to eat, preferring to instead take light snacks with him. Eventually the library authorities granted him a special room for his studies, and his own key for access to the library before normal opening time. Often he would remain at work from early morning until after 'Isha prayers in the evening. During this time he produced many useful works - many of which have yet to be printed.

After some time he started giving two weekly classes attended by university students and professors, teaching various books of 'Aqidah, Fiqh, Usul and Hadith. He also began organizing monthly journeys for da'wah to various cities in Syria and Jordan.

Shaykh Muhammad Raaghib aAt-Tabbaakh, a historian and hadith scholar, authorized him with an Ijaazah (certification) to teach his collection of narrations on trustworthy reporters, called "Al-Anwaar Al-Jaliyyah fee Mukhtasar Al-Athbaat Al-Halabiyyah".

After a number of his works appeared in print the Al-Albani was chosen to teach Hadith at the Islamic University of Madinah, for three years (from 1381 to 1383H) where he was also a member of the University board. Later he would return to his studies and work in the Az-Zahiriyah library, leaving his shop in the hands of one of his brothers.

He visited various countries for preaching and lectures - amongst them Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Spain and the United Kingdom. He was forced to emigrate a number of times moving from Syria to Jordan, then Syria again, then Beirut, then the UAE, then again to 'Ammaan, Jordan. His works - mainly in the field of Hadith and its sciences number over 100. His students were numerous and include many Sheikhs of the present day, including: Sheikh Hamdi 'Abdul-Majed, Sheikh Muhammad 'Eed 'Abbasi, Dr. Umar Sulayman al-Ashqar, Sheikh Muhammad lbrahim Shaqrah, Sheikh Muqbil ibn Hadi al-Wadi'i, Sheikh 'Ali Khushan, Sheikh Muhammad Jamil Zaynu, Sheikh 'Abdur-Rahman Abdus-Samad, Sheikh 'Ali Hasan 'Abdul-Hamid al-Halabi, Sheikh Salim al-Hilali, Sheikh Mohamed Omran and Sheikh Abo Is-hak AL-Howayny

Albani was later expelled from Syria and lived in Amman, Jordan under house arrest until his death on October 2, 1999 (22 Jumada ath-Thaniyah 1420 AH) at 87 years of age.

Contemporary Evaluation

Al-Albani is considered by various scholars as being perhaps the greatest Islamic scholar of the twentieth century. Shaykh 'Abd-ul-'Aziz Ibn Baz said:

I have not seen under the surface of the sky a person knowledgeable of the Hadith in our current time the likes of the great scholar, Muhammad Nasiruddin Al-Albani.

Further on he considered him the mujaddid of his period.

The scholar, Shaykh Zayd Ibn Fayad said about him:

Indeed, Sheikh Muhammad Nasiruddin Al-Albani is from the most prominent and distinguished personalities of this era. He had great concern for the Hadith - its paths of transmission, its reporters and its levels of authenticity or weakness. This is an honorable task from the best things in which hours can be spent and efforts can be made. And he was like any other of the scholars - those who are correct in some matters and err in other matters. However, his devotion to this great science is from that which requires that his prestige be acknowledged and his endeavors in it be appreciated.

Another great scholar, the teacher, Muhibb-ud-Deen Al-Khatib said:

And from the callers to the Sunnah who devoted their lives to reviving it was our brother Muhammad Nasiruddin Nooh Najati Al-Albani.

Shaykh Wasi ullah al-‘Abbas, teacher at Umm al-Qura university, said about Albani:

It is almost as if Allaah created Imaam al-Albani to be in this era in order for him to take care of the sunnah of Muhammed (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) by authenticating narrations, classifying others to be weak, conducting much in the way of tahqiq (verification) of many issues and we do not know of anyone in this era other than Imaam al-Albani who spread the sunnah in these times as he did. Therefore, I do not think that it will be an exaggeration to say that he is the Mujaddid of the era, who revived the din for the people.

Criticism of al-Albani

However, some people, primarily Sufis, have a negative view of his contributions to Islam and consider him an innovator and not properly qualified as a scholar of hadith .

al-Albani has also been criticized for not having any authorization (ijaza) in Hadith from any recognised scholar of Hadith , and it has been said that al-Albani "taught" himself the science of Hadith by spending the many hours in the famous library of Damascus - al-Maktabah al-Zahiriyyah.

He has also been criticized for the influence he had by articles in 'al-Manar' magazine, which was edited by Muhammad Rashid Rida (d.1935 CE).

In addition, the first Volume of the original contains 250 hadiths, in which al-Albani had said 'Sahih' (an authentic Hadith) in one of his books and then contradicted himself by saying Da'if (a weak Hadith) in another of his books.

Refutation of criticism

Shaikh Ali Hasan, a student of al-Albani, has refuted criticism found in Hasan Ali as-Saqqaaf's The Self-Contradictions of al-Albani.

Claims that al-Albani did not have an ijazah in hadith (permission to teach the subject) have been vehemently denied and go against the facts. al-Albani received documented ijazaat from the hadith scholars, Shaykh Muhammad Raaghib at-Tabbaagh and Shaykh Bahjatul-Baytaar (the chain of narration for this ijazah stretches back to Ahmad ibn Hanbal). The latter ijazah in particular is also given only to those who have excelled in hadith sciences and can be trusted to accurately convey hadith, the ijazah is mentioned in the book Hayaatul-Albani (the Life of al-Albani) by Muhammad ash-Shaybaani and a copy is in the possession of his student ’Ali Hasan al-Halabi.

Dr. Muied-uz-Zafar of Indian administrated Kashmir has recently been awarded PhD on the contributions of Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Albani by the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) India. Zafar's research speaks about many novel aspects of al-Albani and gives a detailed refutation of the allegations charged against him. The thesis deals with the life and contribution of the Shaikh to Hadith literature at length. The last chapter of the thesis is exclusively based on the evaluation of the criticism written against the Shaykh and attempts to deal with the issue in a balanced manner.

Notable Publications

  1. At-Targhib wa't-Tarhib (Volumes 1-4)
  2. At-Tasfiyyah wa't-Tarbiyya
  3. At-Tawsulu: Anwau'hu wa Ahkamuhu (link to english translation)
  4. Irwa al-Ghalil (Volumes 1-9)
  5. Talkhis Ahkam al-Janaez
  6. Sahih wa Da'if Sunan Abu Dawood (Volumes 1-4)
  7. Sahih wa Da'if Sunan at-Tirmidhi (Volumes 1-4)
  8. Sahih wa Da'if Sunan ibn Majah (Volumes 1-4)
  9. Sharh al-Aqidah at-Tahawiyyah
  10. Sifatu Salati An-Nabiyy (link to english translation)
  11. Silsalat al-Hadith ad-Da'ifa (Volumes 1-14)
  12. Silsalat al-Hadith as-Sahiha (Volumes 1-11)
  13. Salat ut-Tarawih (later an abridgement of this book was published by al-Albani - Qiyamu Ramadhan)

References

  1. ^ A Brief Biography of Ash-Shaikh Al-Muhaddith Abu 'Abdir-Rahmaan Muhammad Naasir-ud-Deen Al-Albaani by Dr. 'Aasim 'Abdullaah al-Qaryooti
  2. ad-Dustoor, 10 August 1999
  3. ^ http://almuttaqoon.com/index.php?showtopic=294
  4. ^ al-Asalaah, Issue #23, Pg. 76-77
  5. Biography of Shaikh Muhammad Naasiruddin al-Albaani by Shaykh 'Ali Hasan al-Halabi
  6. On The Issue of the Jordanian Mashaaykh, SalafiManhaj, August 20, 2006
  7. Tanaqudat al-Albani al-Wadihat and Vol.2, pp. 63-64
  8. A Response to the Book of Falsehood 'Al-Albani unveiled' and about Saqqaaf - Second Edition (English summary), Abû Rumaysah
  9. http://www.troid.org/articles/manhaj/innovation/indefenceoftheulamaa/alAlbani.htm Notes Concerning the Ijaazaat of Imaam al-Albani
  10. "Contribution of Shaykh Nasir al Din Albani to Hadith Literature",PhD thesis of Dr. Muied-uz-Zafar, Department of Islamic Studies, AMU, Aligarh, India, Supervisor: Professor Muhammad Mazhar Yasin Siddiqui, 2005)

See also

External links

Opposing views

Categories: