Al-Albani

See Albani for other uses of that name.

Muhammad Naasiruddeen al-Albaanee
Born	1914 Shkodra, Albania
Died	October 2, 1999 Amman, Jordan
Era	Modern era
Region	Muslim scholar
School	Salafi, originally Hanafi

Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani (Template:Lang-ar) (1914 – October 2, 1999) was an influential Islamic scholar of the 20th Century; he specialised in the fields of hadith and fiqh and was a prodigious writer and speaker. He was lauded by admirers as Muhaddith al-asr--the "hadith specialist of the era."

Biography

Early 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 originally ascribed to the Hanafi Madh'hab as he stated in some of his early books. For example, in al-Thamr al-Mustatab, written before 1960, he said, "I say, this is the position of our Hanafi scholars."

Beginning of hadith studies

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 prophet Muhammad) and its related sciences, becoming influenced by articles in Al-Manaar magazine. He began work in this field by transcribing Abd al-Rahim ibn al-Husain 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.

Scholastic career

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 al-Tabbaakh, a historian and hadith scholar, authorized him with an Ijazah (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, 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 Amman, Jordan. It is also well-know that he has memorized hundred thousand hadith.

Students

His students were numerous and include many Sheikhs of the present day, including:

• Shaykh Rabee' Ibn Haadee 'Umayr al-Madkhalee
• Sheikh Hamdi 'Abdul-Majed as-Salafi
• Sheikh Muhammad 'Eed 'Abbasi
• Dr. Umar Sulayman al-Ashqar
• Sheikh Muhammad lbrahim Shaqrah
• Sheikh Muqbil bin Haadi al-Waadi'ee
• Sheikh 'Ali Khushan
• Sheikh Muhammad bin Jamil Zeno
• Sheikh 'Abdur-Rahman Abdus-Samad
• Sheikh Salim al-Hilali
• Sheikh Mashhur Hasan Al-Salman
• Sheikh Muhammad Musa Nasr
• Sheikh Basim al-Jawabirah

Contemporary Evaluation

Positive Views and Admirers

The scholar 'Abdul-Azeez Bin Baaz said:

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

Ash-Sheikh Muhammad bin Ibrahim Aalus Ash-Sheikh said about Sheikh Albani: He is the possessor (companion) of Sunnah great helper of truth (Islam) and veracious opposer of falsehood.

The eminent faqeeh Ash-Sheikh Muhammad bin Salih Al-Uthaymeen said about Ash-Sheikh Al-Albani: That which I know of Ash-Sheikh Albani from the few times I've met him, is that he is very keen on acting according to the Sunnah and warring against Bidah be it in matters of aqeedah (belief) or aamal (deeds).

Further on he considered him the mujaddid of his period. Other scholars have stated the following:

The scholar 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 scholar and 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.

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 dissertation deals with the life and contribution of the Shaikh to hadith literature at length. The last chapter of the work is exclusively based on the evaluation of the criticism written against Albani and attempts to deal with the issue in a balanced manner.

Criticism by Traditional Sunni Scholars

Al-Albanee is not considered to be a scholar of any rank by traditional Sunni scholars who are wholly against what they perceive to be "Wahhabism". Notable critics include Shaykh Gibrael Haddad and Tahir-ul-Qadri . Shaykh Haddad has said " Nasir al-Albani is the arch-innovator of the Wahhabis and "Salafis" in our time. A watch repairman by trade, al-Albani is a self-taught claimant to hadith scholarship who has no known teacher in any of the Islamic sciences and has admitted not to have memorized the Book of Allah nor any book of hadith, fiqh, `aqîda, usûl, or grammar. He achieved fame by attacking the great scholars of Ahl al-Sunna and reviling the science of fiqh with especial malice towards the school of his father who was a Hanafi jurist. A rabid reviler of the Friends of Allah and the Sufis, he was expelled from Syria then Saudi Arabia and lived in Amman, Jordan under house arrest until his death in 1999" Other famous scholars include Syrian scholar Muhammad Sa`id Ramadan al-Buti and Shaykh Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari .

Shaykh Tahir-ul-Qadri criticism can be found in video across Youtube and Facebook.

It should be noted that while Salafi responses to such criticism can be found online , typical responses have included accusations of slander (which are baseless in context) and deletion of this section from this page (See history),

Works

His works, mainly in the field of Hadith and its sciences, number over 100 and include:

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. al-Aqidah at-Tahawiyyah Sharh wa T`aliq
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)

See also

• Ibn Taymiyyah
• Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya
• Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Baaz
• Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen
• Salafism

External links

• Jewels of Guidance (selected words and incidents from the life of Shaykh al-Albani)
• Comprehensive collection of al-Albani articles and books in English
• Al-Albani website (Arabic language)
• Refutation of the book 'Al-Albani Unveiled'
• An Albanian fervent scholar of Prophetic Tradition