Al-Albani | |
|---|---|
| Title | Al-Muhaddith al-'Alami |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Ebu Abdurrahman Muhamed bin el-Haxh Nuh bin Nexhati bin Adem Shkodrrani Arnauti 1914 |
| Died | 2 October 1999(1999-10-02) (aged 85) |
| Nationality | Albanian |
| Parent | Nuh Najati |
| Era | Modern |
| Main interest(s) | |
| Notable work(s) | Silsalat al-Hadith as-Sahiha |
| Occupation | |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Jurisprudence | Ahl al-Hadith |
| Creed | Athari |
| Movement | Salafi |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced by
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Influenced
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Muhammad Nasir al-Din[a] (1914 – 2 October 1999), commonly known asal-Albani,[b] was an Albanian Islamic scholar. A leading figure ofSalafism, he is commemorated for his works on revaluation ofhadith studies.
Born in Shkodër, al-Albani began his journey inSyria, where his family had moved prior and where he was educated as a child. Al-Albani had emphasised that in some cases, Islam allows obedience to the government of the country that a Muslim resides in. His profession was as awatchmaker. In his free time, he studied Islam. He became an expert in Hadith. He then lectured widely in theMiddle East, Spain and the United Kingdom on the Salafi movement consequently.
Muhammad Nasir al-Din was born in 1914 inShkodër,Albania.[1] His father, Nuh Najati, was a jurist of the Hanafi school ofjurisprudence ofSunni Islam who had been trained inIstanbul.[2] Fearing the rise of secularism during the rule of Zog I, Najati separated his son from school in Albania.[3] At the age of nine in 1923, al-Albani and his family moved toDamascus, then found himself under French-occupied Syria.
In Damascus, he was taught theQur'an and other topics by his father and several localshaykhs.[2] He learned theArabic language from al-Is'af, a non-profit civil school where he was to be known as al-Albani ("the Albanian") just after he dropped out of school and began to write.[4] Afterwards, he studied the renowned Hanafi book,Maraqi al-Falah of al-Shurunbulali (d. 1659) with his teacher, Sa'id al-Burhani.[5]
He studied the bookMukhtasar al-Quduri, which his native Syrian teachers helped to accomplish .[6]: 63 In the meantime, he earned a modest living as acarpenter before joining his father as awatchmaker.[citation needed][7]
Despite his father's discouragement against hadith studies, al-Albani became interested in the Hadith, learning it at about twenty years of age, influenced byMuhammad Rashid Rida. Al-Albani's other teachers were Muhammad Bahjat al-Baytar, 'Izz al din al tanoukhi,Shaykh Sa'id al-Burhani,Ibn al Baghi etc.[6]: 63 [8]: 119 [9] who collectively led him to comment onAbd al-Rahim ibn al-Husain al-'Iraqi'sAl-Mughnee 'an-hamlil-Asfar fil-Asfar fee takhrej maa fil-lhyaa min al-Akhbar. Following this, he wrote a series of lectures and books, and published as well articles in theal-Manar magazine.[7] This work was the beginning of his career as a scholar, and for this book, he became known among the scholarly circles of Damascus. After a while, he began teaching two lessons per week about doctrine, Fiqh and Hadith, which were attended by students and university professors. Additionally, he began organizing advocacy trips to various cities of Syria andJordan. Then, he obtained a leave from Muhammad Rabegh Al Tabakh, to profess Hadith inIslamic University of Madinah from 1381 until 1383AH, subsequently returning to Damascus.
In 1963, al-Albani left Saudi Arabia due to the hostility he felt and returned to his studies and work in theAz-Zahiriyah library in Syria. He left his watch shop in the hands of one of his brothers.
Al-Albani visited various countries for preaching and lectures – amongst themQatar,Egypt,Kuwait, theUnited Arab Emirates, Spain, and the United Kingdom. He moved a number of times between Syria and a couple of cities in Jordan. He also lived in the UAE.[citation needed] After Bin Baz's intervention with Saudi educational management, al-Albani was invited to Saudi Arabia a second time in order to serve as the head of higher education inIslamic law inMecca.[6]: 67
Al-Albani returned to Syria, and sometime later moved to Jordan, living there for the remainder of his time. He died in 1999 at the age of 85.[7] Al-Albani's wife was Umm al-Fadl.[10]
Al-Albani was a proponent of Salafism, and is considered one of the movement's primary figureheads in the 20th century. Al-Albani criticized the four mainstream legal schools, Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi'i, and rejected the traditional Sunni view that Muslims should automatically turn to amadhhab forfiqh (jurisprudence).[11][12] Instead, he spent much of his life critically re-evaluatinghadith literature and felt that numerous previously accepted hadiths were unsound.[12] This led him to produce rulings that were at odds with the Islamic majority.[12] al-Albani praised Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, though criticized him for imitating the Hanbali school.[6]: 68 [8]: 220
Al-Albani was amongst some leading Salafi scholars who were preaching for decades against what they considered the warped literalism of extremists. They believed that Muslims should focus on purifying their beliefs and practice and that, in time, "God would bring victory over the forces of falsehood and unbelief."[13]
Al-Albani openly criticizedSayyid Qutb. He claimed that Qutb had deviated in creed and held the belief ofOneness of Being. Further, al-Albani accusedHassan al-Banna, the leader of theMuslim Brotherhood, of not being a religious scholar and holding "positions contrary to theSunna".[8]: 86
Al-Albani wrote a book in which he redefined the proper gestures and formula that constitute the Muslim prayer ritual abiding by the prophet Muhammad's teachings. These were contrary to the prescriptions of all established schools of jurisprudence.[14]As he argued that several details of the concrete prayer that have been taught from generation to generation were based on dubious hadith, his book caused considerable controversy.[9]
Al-Albani held a number of controversial views that ran counter to the wider Islamic consensus.[14]These include his view thatmihrabs werebid'ah (innovation),[14] that it is prohibited for women to wear gold bracelets,[15] that it is permissible to pray in a mosque with shoes,[14] and most prominently, his call for Palestinians to leave the occupied territories since, according to him, they were unable to practice their faith there as they should.[8]: 87 [14] This latter view was also controversial within the Salafi movement.[16]
Al-Albani's critics amongst the clerical and intellectual classes consisted of various theological and political opponents. These included:
The SyrianAsh'ari scholarMuhammad Said Ramadan al-Bouti, took issue with al-Albani's well-known call for all Palestinians to leaveIsrael, theWest Bank, andGaza.[19] He wrote two rebuttals of al-Albani entitledAnti-Madhabism: the dangers of an innovation that threaten the Sharia andSalafiyya: a blessed historical period, not a school of fiqh.[20]Indeed, I have concluded that his methods disagree with those of the jurists and hadith scholars, and that his methods are creating great disarray and evident disruption in the proofs of jurisprudence both generally and specifically. He lacks trust in the Imams of law and hadith, as well as in the rich hadith and law tradition handed down to us, in which theumma has taken great pride.[18]
Emad Hamdeh has described al-Albani as a "prolific scholar". He was the author of 217 books on various topics; such ashadith,fiqh, andcreed.[22]
| Title | Volumes | Description |
|---|---|---|
| At-Targhib wa't-Tarhib | Volumes 1–4 | |
| At-Tasfiyah wa't-Tarbiyah | ||
| At-Tawassulu: Anwa'uhu wa Ahkamuhu | Tawassul: Its Types & Its Rulings)(link to english translation) | |
| Irwa al-Ghalil | Volumes 1–9 | |
| Talkhis Ahkam al-Jana'iz | ||
| Sahih wa Da'ifSunan Abu Dawood | Volumes 1–4 | |
| Sahih wa Da'ifSunan at-Tirmidhi | Volumes 1–4 | |
| Sahih wa Da'ifSunan Ibn Majah | Volumes 1–4 | |
| Al-Aqidah at-Tahawiyyah Sharh wa Ta'liq | ||
| Sifatu Salati An-Nabiyy | (link to English translation) | |
| Silsalat al-Hadith ad-Da'ifah | Volumes 1–14 | |
| Silsalat al-Hadith as-Sahiha | Volumes 1–11 | |
| Salat ut-Tarawih | Later an abridgment of this book was published by al-Albani –Qiyamu Ramadhan |
In this way he became a self-taught expert on Islam, learning from the books rather than the ulema. One of his biographers even states that al-Albani was distinguished in religious circles by how fewijazats (certificates) he possessed.
A prolific scholar, he authored 217 books on various topics such as ḥadīth,fiqh, and creed.
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