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Al-Albani

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Not to be confused with Al-Bani.

Muhammad Nasir al-Din (1914 – 2 October 1999) known by his nisba al-Albani (the Albanian), was an Albanian Islamic scholar known for being a leading hadith scholar in the 20th-century. A major figure of the Salafi methodology of Islam, he established his reputation in Syria, where his family had moved and where he was educated as a child.

Al-Albani
Personal
Born
Muhammad Nasir al-Din

1914
Shkodër, Albania
Died2 October 1999(1999-10-02) (aged 85)
Amman, Jordan
ReligionIslam
NationalityAlbanian
ParentNuh Najati
EraModern
JurisprudenceAhl al-Hadith
CreedAthari
MovementSalafi
Main interest(s)
Occupation
Muslim leader
Influenced by
Influenced
AwardsKing Faisal International Prize (in 1999)

Al-Albani did not advocate violence, preferring obedience to established governments. A watchmaker by trade, Al-Albani was active as a writer, publishing chiefly on hadith and its sciences. He also lectured widely in the Middle East, Spain and the United Kingdom on the Salafi movement.

Early life and education

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Muhammad Nasir al-Din was born in 1914 in Shkodër, Albania.[1] His father, Nuh Najati, was a learned scholar of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam who studied jurisprudence in Istanbul.[2] Fearing the rise of secularism during the rule of Ahmed Muhtar Zogu, Najati detached his son from school in Albania.[3] At the age of nine in 1923, al-Albani and his family moved to Damascus, then under French-occupied Syria.[1]

In Damascus, he was taught the Qur'an, the Hanafi fiqh, and other topics by his father and several local shaykhs.[2] He learned the Arabic language from al-Is'af, a non-profit civil school where he was known as the Arna'ut.[4][a] He became known by the nisba al-Albani ("the Albanian") only after he dropped out of school and began to write.[4] Afterward, he studied the renowned Hanafi book Maraqi al-Falah of al-Shurunbulali (d. 1659) with his teacher, Sa'id al-Burhani.[7]

He studied numerous books such as Mukhtasar al-Quduri, also helped by native Syrian scholars.[8]: 63  In the meantime, he earned a modest living as a carpenter before joining his father as a watchmaker.[citation needed][9]

Study

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Despite his father's discouragement against hadith studies, al-Albani became interested in the Hadith, therefore he learned the Hadith at about twenty years of age, influenced by the al-Manar magazine founded by Muhammad Rashid Rida. Though he was taught by Muhammad Bahjat al-Baytar, 'Izz al din al tanoukhi,Shaykh Sa'id al-Burhani,Ibn al Baghi etc.[8]: 63 [10]: 119 [11] he transcribed and commented on Abd al-Rahim ibn al-Husain al-'Iraqi's Al-Mughnee 'an-hamlil-Asfar fil-Asfar fee takhrej maa fil-lhyaa min al-Akhbar. He followed this writing a series of lectures and books, as well as publishing articles in the al-Manar magazine.[9] That work was the beginning of al-Albani's scholarly career, and for this book he became known in the scholarly circles of Damascus, and library allocated him a special room to carry out his research, and gave him a duplicate key of the library. After a while, he began teaching two lessons per week about doctrine, Fiqh and Hadith. His lessons were attended by students and university professors. He also began organizing advocacy trips to various cities of Syria and Jordan. Then, he obtained a leave from Muhammad Rabegh Al Tabakh, to profess Hadith in Islamic University of Madinah from 1381 until 1383 AH, and then he returned to Damascus to complete his studies, and to his work in the library, where he left his place for one of his brothers.[citation needed]

His teachers

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The most important teacher of al-Albani was his father. Moreover, he studied under Muhammad Saeed Al Burhani; where he studied a book named 'Maraqi Al Falah' on Hanafi Jurisprudence, and 'Shadoor Al Dhahab', a book on Arabic Grammar, and some other contemporary books on rhetoric. He also used to attend the lessons of Muhammad Bahjat Al Atar, scholar of levant. His other teachers were 'Izz al Din al Tanoukhi and Ibn al Baghi.

Later life and death

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Starting in 1954, al-Albani began delivering informal weekly lessons. By 1960, his popularity began to worry the government, and he was placed under surveillance. He was imprisoned twice in 1969.[12] He was placed under house arrest more than once in the 1970s by the Ba'ath regime of Hafiz al-Asad.[12][13] The Syrian government prisoned al-Albani of "promoting the Salafi da'wa, which distorted Islam and confused Muslims."[13][additional citation(s) needed]

At the foundation of the Islamic University of Madinah in 1961, al-Albani received an invitation to teach hadith either by Ibn Baz, the university's vice president, or by Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia.[14][3] Shortly upon his arrival, al-Albani angered the Hanbali Scholars in Saudi Arabia, who did not like his anti-traditionalist stances in Muslim jurisprudence. They were alarmed by al-Albani's intellectual challenges to the ruling Hanbali school of law but were unable to challenge him openly due to his popularity. Al-Albani wrote a book supporting his view that the niqab, or full face-veil, was not a binding obligation upon Muslim women.[8]: 66 

In 1963, al-Albani left Saudi Arabia and returned to his studies and work in the Az-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 them Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, the United 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 in Islamic law in Mecca.[8]: 67  This did not last due to controversy among the Saudi establishment regarding al-Albani's views.

Al-Albani returned to Syria, where he was briefly jailed again in 1979. He moved to Jordan, living there for the remainder of his time. He died in 1999 at the age of 85.[9] Al-Albani's wife was Umm al-Fadl.[15]

Views

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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 schools of Islamic law and rejected the traditional Sunni view that Muslims should automatically turn to a madhhab for fiqh (jurisprudence).[16][17] Instead, he spent much of his life critically re-evaluating hadith literature and felt that numerous previously accepted hadiths were unsound.[17] This led him to produce rulings that were at odds with the Islamic majority.[17] Although Salafism has frequently been associated with Wahhabism, al-Albani distinguished between the two movements, and he criticized the latter while supporting the former. He had a complex relationship with each movement.[8]: 68 [10]: 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."[18]

Al-Albani's own views on jurisprudence and dogma have been a matter of debate and discussion. During a 1989 visit to Saudi Arabia, Al-Albani was asked if he adhered to the lesser-known Zahiri school of Islamic law; he responded affirmatively.[19] Al-Albani's opponents among the mainstream have affirmed this as a point of criticism. A number of al-Albani's students have denied his association with any formal school of jurisprudence.[citation needed]

Al-Albani openly criticized Sayyid Qutb after the leader was executed. He claimed that Qutb had deviated in creed and held the belief of Oneness of Being. Further, al-Albani accused Hassan al-Banna, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, of not being a religious scholar and holding "positions contrary to the Sunna".[10]: 86 

Formula for Salah (Prayer)

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Al-Albani wrote a book in which he redefined the proper gestures and formula that constitute the Muslim prayer ritual "According to the Prophet's sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallams practice." These were contrary to the prescriptions of all established schools of jurisprudence.[20]

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.[11] Al-Albani's descriptions for the performance of the Tahajjud and Taraweeh prayers deviated considerably from established practice.[11]

Controversies

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Al-Albani held a number of controversial views that ran counter to the wider Islamic consensus, and more specifically to Hanbali jurisprudence.[20] These include:

  • his view that mihrabs – the niche found in mosques indicating the direction of Mecca – were bid'ah (innovation).[20]
  • his view that it was permissible to pray in a mosque with one's shoes.[20]
  • his call for Palestinians to leave the occupied territories since, according to him, they were unable to practice their faith there as they should.[10]: 87 [20] This view was also controversial within the Salafi movement.[21]
  • his view that it is prohibited for women to wear gold bracelets.[22]
  • his view that it was not necessary for women to cover their faces.[22] It was controversial specifically within the Salafi community. "However, wearing the Niqab is better". Sheikh Al-Albani said: "Whoever adheres to the obligation, it is good enough; and whoever does the recommendation, it is better." (Jilbab Ul-Mar’at Il-Muslimah, p. 28, which is a Preface to the 2nd Edition)[23]
  • his view that the Muslim ruler must be from the tribe of Quraysh.[24]

Assessment and legacy

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Al-Albani has been regarded as one of the leading Islamic scholars of the 20th-century.[25][26][27][28][29][30] Al-Albani's revaluation of the kutub al-sitta gained him criticism amongst a number of Sunni Muslim scholars. Al-Albani's critics amongst the clerical and intellectual classes consisted of various theological and political opponents. These included:

  • In the early 1970s, Syrian hadith scholar Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda (d. 1997) published a tract against al-Albani's revaluation of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.[31]
  • The Egyptian hadith scholar Mahmud Sa'id Mamduh, who studied with 'Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda and 'Abdallah b. al-Siddiq al-Ghumari. Mamduh has written at least four rebuttals of al-Albani's work on different subjects. In 1987, published a work entitled Alerting the Muslim to al-Albani's Transgression upon Sahih Muslim.[31] He stated that:[32]

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 the umma has taken great pride.[32]

  • The Syrian Ash'ari scholar Muhammad Said Ramadan al-Bouti, took issue with al-Albani's well-known call for all Palestinians to leave Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.[33] He wrote two rebuttals of al-Albani entitled Anti-Madhabism: the dangers of an innovation that threaten the Sharia and Salafiyya: a blessed historical period, not a school of fiqh.[34]
  • Syrian hadith scholar Nur al-Din 'Itr rebutted some of al-Albani's views.[34]
  • Lebanese Sufi scholar Gibril Fouad Haddad dubbed al-Albani "the chief innovator of our time" and accused him of bid'ah.[31]
  • The Jordanian theologian, Hasan b. 'Ali al-Saqqaf, composed a book entitled ("Dictionary of al-Albani's Slanderings").[35]
  • Some American critics of al-Albani include the Sufi figures Nuh Keller and Hisham Kabbani.[36]
  • The jihadist Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif considered al-Albani to be "wrapped in evil" and "not suitable to be a sheikh" for his alleged claim that Jihad is defined as forgiveness, education and prayer.[37]

Works

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Emad Hamdeh has described al-Albani as a "prolific scholar". He was the author of 217 books on various topics; such as hadith, fiqh, and creed.[38]

Al-Albani's works in Fields of hadith and its sciences
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'if Sunan Abu Dawood Volumes 1–4
Sahih wa Da'if Sunan at-Tirmidhi Volumes 1–4
Sahih wa Da'if Sunan 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

Notes

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  1. ^ The Arabic word Arna'ut usually refers to an Albanian, though the usage is sometimes extended to a Bosnian, Serbian, Yugoslavian,[5] and sometimes to Albanian communities that settled in the Levant during the Ottoman era onward, especially for those residing in Syria.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b Wagemakers 2016, p. 100.
  2. ^ a b Thurston 2016, p. 59.
  3. ^ a b Lav 2012, p. 108.
  4. ^ a b Hamdeh 2016, pp. 9–10.
  5. ^ Hamdeh 2016, p. 10.
  6. ^ Norris 1993, pp. 209–210.
  7. ^ Hamdeh 2016, pp. 10–11.
  8. ^ a b c d e Meijer, Roel (October 1, 2009). Global Salafism: Islam's new religious movement. New York, the USA: C. Hurst & Co., Columbia University Press. pp. 63–68. ISBN 9781850659792. 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 few ijazats (certificates) he possessed.
  9. ^ a b c Sheikh Mohammad Nasir Ad-Din Al-Albani, King Faisal International Prize official website. Accessed November 26, 2014.
  10. ^ a b c d Lacroix, Stephane; Holoch, George (August 15, 2011). Awakening Islam. Harvard University Press. pp. 68–220. ISBN 978-0-6740-6107-1.
  11. ^ a b c Bruinessen, Martin van; Allievi, Stefano (June 17, 2013). Producing Islamic Knowledge: Transmission and Dissemination in Western Europe. Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-1369-3286-1.
  12. ^ a b Olidort, Jacob (February 2015). "The Politics of "Quietist" Salafism". Analysis Paper. Brookings Institution. p. 14.
  13. ^ a b Abu Rumman, Mohammad; Abu Hanieh, Hassan (2011). Jordanian Salafism: A Strategy for the "Islamization of Society"and an Ambiguous Relationship with the State (PDF). Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-6740-4964-2.
  14. ^ Hegghammer & Lacroix 2007.
  15. ^ لقاء مع أم الفضل زوجة الشيخ الألباني رحمه الله [A Sitting with Umm al-Fadl, Wife of Shaikh al-Albaani (May Allaah have mercy on him)] (PDF). The Albaani Site. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 8, 2020.
  16. ^ Hamdeh, Emad (June 9, 2017). "Qurʾān and Sunna or the Madhhabs?: A Salafi Polemic Against Islamic Legal Tradition". Islamic Law and Society. 24 (3): 211–253. doi:10.1163/15685195-00240A01. ISSN 1568-5195.
  17. ^ a b c Inge, Anabel (January 1, 2016). The Making of a Salafi Muslim Woman: Paths to Conversion. Oxford University Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780-1-9061-1675.
  18. ^ A. C. Brown, Jonathan (2014). Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy. Oneworld Publications. p. 129. ISBN 978-1780744209.
  19. ^ Al-Albani (1989), Shareet al-Khobar, Khobar, Saudi Arabia{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  20. ^ a b c d e Stephane Lacroix (Spring 2008), Al-Albani's Revolutionary Approach to Hadith (PDF), Leiden University's ISIM Review, p. 6, archived from the original (PDF) on October 10, 2017, retrieved February 13, 2013
  21. ^ Batrawi, Samar (October 28, 2015). "What ISIS Talks About When It Talks About Palestine". Foreign Affairs. Foreign Affairs. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  22. ^ a b Brown, Jonathan (June 5, 2007). The Canonization of Al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon. Brill. p. 325. ISBN 978-9004158399.
  23. ^ "Niqab Sunnah or Wajib – Face Cover Mandatory or Prescribed – Can I Take My Niqab off – PDF". July 2020.
  24. ^ Kahn, Jonathan; Lloyd, Vincent (March 22, 2016). Race and Secularism in America. Columbia University Press. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-2315-4127-5.
  25. ^ Haykel, Bernard (2009). "Salafī Groups". In John L. Esposito (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001. ISBN 9780195305135.
  26. ^ Adis Duderija (January 2010). "Constructing the religious Self and the Other: neo-traditional Salafi manhaj". Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations. Vol. 21, no. 1. pp. 75–93. Retrieved May 23, 2019. In addition, Salafism is a term that has a broader base in Islamic tradition and is more encompassing than Ahl-Hadith, which has more sectarian implications. Among the most influential exponents of NTS are some contemporary Middle Eastern Muslim scholars such as Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani (d. 1999), 'Abd al-'Aziz bin Baz (d. 1999), Muhammad Salih al-'Uthaymin (d. 2001), and Yahya al-Hajuri, to name but a few, who held senior positions on religious councils responsible for issuing fatwas (legal opinions) and/or were lecturers in Islamic sciences at traditional Islamic institutions such as the Universities of Medina and Riyadh.
  27. ^ Lauzière, Henri (2015). "Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century". The Making of Salafism: Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century. Columbia University Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780231540179. JSTOR 10.7312/lauz17550 – via De Gruyter.
  28. ^ Gauvain, Richard (2015). Salafi Ritual Purity. Routledge. ISBN 9780710313560.
  29. ^ Mustafa, Abdul-Rahman, and Mustafa Abdul Rahman. On Taqlid: Ibn Al Qayyim's Critique of Authority in Islamic Law. Oxford University Press, 2013. p.10
  30. ^ Ayd al-Hilali Abu Usamah, Selim Ibn (2012). Al-Imam al-Albani Shaykh al-Islam wa Imam Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama'ah Fee 'Ayoon A'alaam al-'Ulamaa' wa Fahool al-Adabaa' [Imam Al-Albani, Sheikh al-Islam and Imam of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah, in the eyes of notable scholars and virtuous writers]. Dar Al-Imaam Ahmad. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021.
  31. ^ a b c Brown, Jonathan (June 5, 2007). The Canonization of Al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon. Brill. p. 327. ISBN 978-9004158399.
  32. ^ a b Brown, Jonathan (June 5, 2007). The Canonization of Al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon. Brill. p. 328. ISBN 978-9004158399.
  33. ^ Cook, David (September 1, 2015). Understanding Jihad. University of California Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-5209-6249-1.
  34. ^ a b Pierret, Thomas (March 25, 2013). Religion and State in Syria: The Sunni Ulama from Coup to Revolution. Cambridge University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-1070-2641-4.
  35. ^ Jonathan Brown (2007). The Canonization of Al-Bukhari and Muslim: The Formation and Function of the Sunni Hadith Canon. Brill Publishers. p. 325. ISBN 978-9004158399.
  36. ^ Jocelyne Cesari (2007). Encyclopedia of Islam in the United States, Volume 1. Greenwood Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780313336263.
  37. ^ Brachman, Jarret M. (September 3, 2008). Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice. Routledge. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-1340-5541-8.
  38. ^ Hamdeh, Emad (2021). Salafism and Traditionalism: Scholarly Authority in Modern Islam. Cambridge University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-108-61836-6. A prolific scholar, he authored 217 books on various topics such as ḥadīth, fiqh, and creed.

Sources

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