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by Sh. G F Haddad
[with a typical reaction to the text]:[his deviant approach to hadith]:
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, ʿaqīda, usūl, 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. He remains the qibla of the people of Innovation,
self-styled re-formers of Islam, and other "Salafi" and Wahhabi
sympathizers, and the preferred author of book merchants and many
uneducated Muslims. Most of the contemporary Sunni scholars warned of his
heresy and many of them wrote articles or full-length works against him
such as:
- The Indian hadith scholar Habib al-Rahman al-Aʿzami who wrote al-Albani
Shudhudhuh wa Akhta'uh ("Al-Albani's Aberrations and Errors") in four
volumes.
- The Syrian scholar Muhammad Saʿid Ramadan al-Buti who wrote the two
classics al-Lamadhhabiyya Akhtaru Bidʿatin Tuhaddidu al-Shariʿa
al-Islamiyya ("Not Following A School of Jurisprudence is the Most
Dangerous Innovation Threatening Islamic Sacred Law") and al-Salafiyya
Marhalatun Zamaniyyatun Mubaraka La Madhhabun Islami ("The ʿWay of the
Early Muslims' Was A Blessed Historical Epoch, Not An Islamic School of
Thought")
- The Moroccan hadith scholar ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari who wrote Irgham al-Mubtadiʿ al-Ghabi bi Jawaz al-Tawassul bi al-Nabi fi al-Radd ʿala al-Albani al-Wabi ("The Coercion of the Unintelligent Innovator with the Licitness of Using the Prophet ﷺ as an Intermediary in Refutation of al-Albani the Baneful"), al-Qawl al-Muqniʿ fi al-Radd ʿala al-Albani al-Mubtadiʿ ("The Persuasive Discourse in Refutation of al-Albani the Innovator"), and Itqan al-Sunʿa fi Tahqiq Maʿna al-Bidʿa ("Precise Handiwork in Ascertaining the Meaning of Innovation").
- The Moroccan hadith scholar ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari who wrote Bayan Nakth al-Nakith al-Muʿtadi ("The Exposition of the Treachery of the Rebel").
- The Syrian hadith scholar ʿAbd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda who wrote Radd ʿala Abatil wa Iftira'at Nasir al-Albani wa Sahibihi Sabiqan Zuhayr al-Shawish wa Mu'azirihima ("Refutation of the Falsehoods and Fabrications of Nasir al-Albani and his Former Friend Zuhayr al-Shawish and their Supporters").
- The Egyptian Hadith scholar Muhammad ʿAwwama who wrote Adab al-Ikhtilaf ("The Proper Manners of Expressing Difference of Opinion").
- The Egyptian hadith scholar Mahmud Saʿid Mamduh who wrote Wusul al-Tahani bi Ithbat Sunniyyat al-Subha wa al-Radd ʿala al-Albani ("The Alighting of Mutual Benefit and Confirmation that the Dhikr-Beads are a Sunna in Refutation of al-Albani") and Tanbih al-Muslim ila Taʿaddi al-Albani ʿala Sahih Muslim ("Warning to the Muslim Concerning al-Albani's Attack on Sahih Muslim").
- The Saudi hadith scholar Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad al-Ansar who wrote Taʿaqqubat ʿala "Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Daʿifa wa al-Mawduʿa" li al-Albani ("Critique of al-Albani's Book on Weak and Forged Hadiths"), Tashih Salat al-Tarawih ʿIshrina Rakʿatan wa al-Radd ʿala al-Albani fi Tadʿifih ("Establishing as Correct the Tarawih Salat in Twenty Rakʿas and the Refutation of Its Weakening by al-Albani"), and Ibahat al-Tahalli bi al-Dhahab al-Muhallaq li al-Nisa' wa al-Radd ʿala al-Albani fi Tahrimih ("The Licitness of Wearing Gold Jewelry for Women Contrary to al-Albani's Prohibition of it").
- The Syrian scholar Badr al-Din Hasan Diab who wrote Anwar al-Masabih ʿala Zulumat al-Albani fi Salat al-Tarawih ("Illuminating the Darkness of al-Albani over the Tarawih Prayer").
- The Director of Religious Endowments in Dubai, ʿIsa ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Maniʿ al-Himyari who wrote al-Iʿlam bi Istihbab Shadd al-Rihal li Ziyarati Qabri Khayr al-Anam ﷺ ("The Notification Concerning the Recommendation of Travelling to Visit the Grave of the Best of Creation ﷺ) and al-Bidʿa al-Hasana Aslun Min Usul al-Tashriʿ ("The Excellent Innovation Is One of the Sources of Islamic Legislation").
- The Minister of Islamic Affairs and Religious Endowments in the United Arab Emirates Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khazraji who wrote the article al-Albani: Tatarrufatuh ("Al-Albani's Extremist Positions").
- The Syrian scholar Firas Muhammad Walid Ways in his edition of Ibn al-Mulaqqin's Sunniyyat al-Jumuʿa al-Qabliyya ("The Sunna Prayers That Must Precede Salat al-Jumuʿa").
- The Syrian scholar Samer Islambuli who wrote al-Ahad, al-Ijmaʿ, al-Naskh.
- The Jordanian scholar Asʿad Salim Tayyim who wrote Bayan Awham al-Albani fi Tahqiqihi li Kitab Fadl al-Salat ʿala al-Nabi ﷺ.
- The Jordanian scholar Hasan ʿAli al-Saqqaf who wrote the two-volume Tanaqudat al-Albani al-Wadiha fi ma Waqaʿa fi Tashih al-Ahadith wa Tadʿifiha min Akhta' wa Ghaltat ("Albani's Patent Self-Contradictions in the Mistakes and Blunders He Committed While Declaring Hadiths to be Sound or Weak"), Ihtijaj al-Kha'ib bi ʿIbarat man Iddaʿa al-Ijmaʿ fa Huwa Kadhib ("The Loser's Recourse to the Phrase: ʿWhoever Claims Consensus Is a Liar!'"), al-Qawl al-Thabtu fi Siyami Yawm al-Sabt ("The Firm Discourse Concerning Fasting on Saturdays"), al-Lajif al-Dhuʿaf li al-Mutalaʿib bi Ahkam al-Iʿtikaf ("The Lethal Strike Against Him Who Toys with the Rulings of Iʿtikaf), Sahih Sifat Salat al-Nabi Sallallahu ʿalayhi wa Sallam ("The Correct Description of the Prophet's Prayer ﷺ "), Iʿlam al-Kha'id bi Tahrim al-Qur'an ʿala al-Junub wa al-Ha'id ("The Appraisal of the Meddler in the Interdiction of the Qur'an to those in a State of Major Defilement and Menstruating Women"), Talqih al-Fuhum al-ʿAliya ("The Inculcation of Lofty Discernment"), and Sahih Sharh al-ʿAqida al-Tahawiyya ("The Correct Explanation of al-Tahawi's Statement of Islamic Doctrine").
Among Albani's innovations in the Religion:
1- In his book Adab al-Zafaf he prohibits women from wearing gold jewelry - rings, bracelets, and chains - despite the Consensus of the Ulema permitting it.
2- He claims that 2.5% zakāt is not due on money obtained from commerce, i.e. the main activity whereby money circulates among Muslims.
3- He absolutely prohibits fasting on Saturdays.
4- He prohibits retreat (iʿtikaf) in any but the Three Mosques.
5- He claims that it is lawful to eat in Ramadan before Maghrib as defined by the Law, and similarly after the true dawn.
6- He compares Hanafi fiqh to the Gospel.1 
7- He calls people to imitate him rather than the Imams of the Salaf such as the founders of the Four Schools, and his followers invalidate the hadiths that contradict his views.
8- He prohibits the make-up performance of prayers missed intentionally.
9- He claims that it is permissible for menstruating women and those in a state of major defilement (junub) to recite, touch, and carry the Qur'an.
10- He claims over and over that among the innovations in religion existent in Madina is the persistence of the Prophet's ﷺ grave in the mosque.
11- He claims that whoever travels intending to visit the Prophet ﷺ or to ask him for his intercession is a misguided innovator.
12- He claims that whoever carries dhikr-beads in his hand to remember Allah Most High is misguided and innovating.
13- He invented a location to Allah Most High above the Throne which he named al-makān al-ʿadamī - "the non-existent place."
14- He claims in Tamam al-Minna that masturbation does not annul one's fast.
15- He published "corrected" editions of the two Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim, which he deceitfully called "Abridgments" (mukhtasar) in violation of the integrity of these motherbooks.
16- He published newly-styled editions of the Four Sunan, al-Bukhari's al-Adab al-Mufrad, al-Mundhiri's al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib, and al-Suyuti's al-Jamiʿ al-Saghir, each of which he split into two works, respectively prefixed Sahih and Daʿif in violation of the integrity of these motherbooks.
17- He said: "Many of those who interpret figuratively [the Divine
Attributes] are not heretics (zanādiqa), but they say what heretics say,"
and "figurative interpretation is the very same as nullification
(al-ta'wīl ʿayn al-taʿtīl)."2
18- He suggests that al-Bukhari is a disbeliever for interpreting the
Divine Face as dominion or sovereignty (mulk) in the verse { Everything
will perish save His countenance } (28:88) in the book of Tafsir in his
Sahih: "Except His wajh means except His mulk, and it is also said: Except
whatever was for the sake of His countenance." Albani blurts out: "No true
believer would say such a thing" and "We should consider al-Bukhari
innocent of that statement."3
19- In imitation of the Muʿtazila, tawassul (seeking means), istighātha (asking for help), and tashaffuʿ (seeking intercession) through the Prophet ﷺ or one of the Awliyā' he declared prohibited acts in Islam (harām) tantamount to idolatry (shirk) in his booklet al-Tawassul as did his friends Bin Baz and those who obey them such as al-Qahtani in al-Wala' wa al-Bara' and others, in flat rejection of the numerous sound and explicit narrations to that effect, such as al-Bukhari's narration of the Prophet ﷺ from Ibn ʿUmar - Allah be well-pleased with him -: "Truly the sun shall draw so near on the Day of Resurrection that sweat shall reach to the mid-ear, whereupon they shall ask (istaghāthū) help from Adam - upon him peace -, then from Musa - upon him peace - , then from Muhammad ﷺ who will intercede (fa yashfaʿu)... and that day Allah shall raise him to an Exalted Station, so that all those who are standing [including the unbelievers] shall glorify him (yahmaduhu ahlu al-jamʿi kulluhum)."
20- He denies that the name of the Angel of death is ʿAzrā'īl and claims such a name has no basis other than Israelite reports, although ʿIyad reports the Consensus on the Umma on it in al-Shifa'.
21- Like the rest of Wahhabi and "Salafi" innovators he declares Ashʿaris,
Maturidis, and Sufis to be outside the fold of Ahl al-Sunna and even
outside the fold of Islam, although Allah Most High and His Prophet ﷺ praised them! Upon revelation of the verse { Allah shall bring a people whom He loves and who love Him } (5:54), the
Prophet ﷺ pointed to Abu Musa al-Ashʿari -
Allah be well-pleased with him - and said: "They are that man's People."4
Al-Qushayri, Ibn ʿAsakir, al-Bayhaqi, Ibn al-Subki, and others said that
the followers of Abu al-Hasan al-Ashʿari - i.e. Ashʿaris who were mostly
Sufis - are included among Abu Musa's People for in every place that a
people are affiliated to a Prophet, what is meant is the followers of that
Prophet. As for Maturidis, they are referred to in the narration of the
Prophet ﷺ from Bishr al-Khathʿami or
al-Ghanawi with a sound (sahīh) chain according to al-Hakim, al-Dhahabi,
al-Suyuti, and al-Haythami: "Truly you shall conquer Constantinople and
truly what a wonderful leader will her leader be [Mehmet Fatih Sultan -
Allah be well-pleased with him -], and truly what a wonderful army will
that army be!" Both the leader and his army were classic Hanafi Maturidis
and it is known that Mehmet Fatih loved and respected Sufis, practiced
tawassul, and followed a Shaykh. Moreover, enmity against Ashʿaris,
Maturidis, and Sufis, is nifāq and enmity against the Umma of Islam as
most of the Ulema of Islam are thus described.
22- In at least five of his books5 he calls for the demolition of the
Green Dome of the Prophet's Mosque in al-Madina al-Munawwara and for
taking the Prophet's grave outside the Mosque.
23- He states: "I have found no evidence for the Prophet's ﷺ hearing of the salaam of those who greet him at his grave"
and "I do not know from where Ibn Taymiyya took his claim6 that he ﷺ hears the salaam from someone near." This and the
previous item are among his greater enormities and bear the unmistakable
signature of innovation and deviation.7
25- He gave the fatwa that Muslims should exit Palestine en masse and
leave it to the Jews as it is part the Abode of War (dār al-harb).9
26- He advocates in his Salat al-Nabi ﷺ, the formula "Peace and blessings upon the Prophet" instead of "upon you, O Prophet" in the tashahhud in contradiction of the Four Sunni Schools, on the basis of a hadith of Ibn Masʿud whereby the Companions used the indirect-speech formula after the passing of the Prophet ﷺ. But the Prophet ﷺ himself instructed them to pray exactly as he prayed saying: "Peace and blessings upon you, O Prophet" without telling them to change it after his death, nor did the major Companions (whose Sunna we were ordered to imitate together with that of the Prophet ﷺ), such as Abu Bakr and ʿUmar, teach the Companions and Successors otherwise!
27- He prohibits praying more than 11 rakʿas in Tarawih prayers on the grounds that the Prophet ﷺ never did and in blatant rejection of his explicit command to follow the Sunna of the well-guided Caliphs after him.
28- He declares that adding more to 11 supererogatory rakʿas in the late
night prayer (tahajjud) is an innovation rather than an act of obedience
on the grounds that the Prophet ﷺ "never ever
prayed one hundred rakʿas in his whole lifetime"10 although the Ulema
agree that there is no prescribed limit to something which the Prophetﷺ commanded without specifically quantifying it,
and he ﷺ said in three authentic narrations:
"Know that the best of your good deeds is prayer,"11 "Prayer is a
light,"12 and "The night prayer is in cycles of two [rakʿas] and when one
of you fears the rising of the dawn, let him pray a single one."13 It is
also established in many authentic narrations collected by Imam ʿAbd
al-Hayy al-Lacknawi in the second part of his Iqamat al-Hujja ʿala anna
al-Ikthar min al-Taʿabbudi Laysa bi Bidʿa that the Companions and Salaf
prayed hundreds if not thousands of rakʿas in every twenty-four hours!
29- He considers it an innovation to pray four rakʿas between the two
adhāns of Jumuʿa and before Salat, although it is authentically narrated
that "the Prophet ﷺ prayed four rakʿas before
Jumuʿa and four rakʿas after it."14
30- He declares it prohibited (harām) and an innovation to lengthen the
beard over a fistful's length although there is no proof for such a claim
in the whole Law and none of the Ulema ever said it before him.15
31- He gives free rein to his propensity to insult and vilify the Ulema of
the past as well as his contemporaries. As a result it is difficult to
wade through his writings without being affected by the nefarious spirit
that permeates them. For example, he considers previous editors and
commentators of al-Bukhari's al-Adab al-Mufrad ("Book of Manners"!)
"sinful," "unbearably ignorant," and even "liars" and "thieves." Of one he
says: "There are so many weak hadiths [in his choice]... that it is an
unIslamic practice"; of another: "It is ignorance which must not be
tolerated"; of another: "Forgery and open lie... His edition is stolen
[from a previous one]."16 Such examples actually fill a book compiled by
Shaykh Hasan ʿAli al-Saqqaf and titled Qamus Shata'im al-Albani wa
Alfazihi al-Munkara al-Lati Yatluquha ʿala ʿUlama' al-Umma ("Dictionary of
al-Albani's Insults and the Heinous Words He Uses Against the Scholars of
the Muslim Community").
32- He revived Ibn Hazm's anti-madhhabī claim that differences can never
be a mercy in any case but are always a curse on the basis of the verse
{ If it had been from other than Allah they would have found therein much
discrepancy } (4:82).17 Imam al-Nawawi long since refuted this view in his
commentary on Sahih Muslim where he said: "If something is a mercy, it is
not necessary for its opposite to be the opposite of mercy. No-one makes
this binding and no-one even says this, except an ignoramus or one who
affects ignorance." Similarly, al-Munawi said in Fayd al-Qadir: "This is a
contrivance that showed up on the part of some of those who have sickness
in their heart."
33- He expresses hatred for those who read Imam al-Busiri's masterpiece,
Qasidat al-Burda, and calls them cretins (mahābīl),18 i.e. millions of
Muslims past and present including the likes of Imams Ibn Hajar
al-ʿAsqalani, al-Sakhawi, and al-Suyuti who all included it as required
reading in the Islamic curriculum.19
34- He perpetuates lies if they detract from Ashʿaris, such as his remark
that Imam Sayf al-Din al-Amidi did not pray,20 although Dr. Hasan
al-Shafiʿi in his massive biography entitled al-Amidi wa Ara'uhu
al-Kalamiyya showed that the story that al-Amidi did not pray was a
forgery put into circulation during the campaign waged by Imam Ibn
al-Salah against him for teaching logic and philosophy in Damascus.
35- He perpetuates the false claim first made by Munir Agha the founder of
the Egyptian Salafiyya Press, that Imam Abu Muhammad al-Juwayni - the
father of Imam al-Haramayn - "repented" from Ashʿari doctrine and
supposedly authored a tract titled Risala fi Ithbat al-Istiwā' wa
al-Fawqiyya ("Epistle on the Assertion of Establishment and Aboveness").21
This spurious attribution continues to be promoted without verification -
for obvious reasons - by modern-day "Salafis" who adduce it to forward the
claim that al-Juwayni embraced anthropomorphist concepts. The Risala in
question is not mentioned in any of the bibliographical and biographical
sources nor does al-Dhahabi cite it in his encyclopedia of
anthropomorphist views entitled al-ʿUluw. More conclusively, it is written
in modern argumentative style and reflects typically contemporary
anthropomorphist obsessions.
36- He derides the fuqahā' of the Umma for accepting - in their massive
majority - the hadith of Muʿadh ibn Jabal on ijtihād as authentic then
rejects the definition of knowledge (ʿilm) in Islam as pertaining to fiqh
but claims that it pertains only to hadith,22 although the Ulema of the
Salaf explicitly said that a hadith master without fiqh is a misguided
innovator! And he defines the ʿālim as "meaning, of course, the ʿSalafi'
ʿālim, not the ʿKhalafi [late Egyptian Shaykh] Ghazali'!"23 Al-Qurtubi
said: "One of the knowers of Allah said: A certain group that has not yet
come up in our time but shall show up at the end of time, will curse the
scholars and insult the jurists."24
NOTES
1 In his commentary on al-Mundhiri's Mukhtasar Sahih Muslim, 3rd ed.
(Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1977, p. 548). This phrase was removed from
later editions.
2 Fatawa (p. 522-523) and Mukhtasar al-ʿUluw (p. 23f.).
4 Narrated from ʿIyad by Ibn Abi Shayba and al-Hakim who said it is sahīh
by Muslim's criterion, and by al-Tabarani with a sound chain as stated by
al-Haythami.
5 Ahkam al-Jana'iz wa Bidaʿuha, Talkhis Ahkam al-Jana'iz, Tahdhir al-Sajid,
Hijjat al-Nabi, and Manasik al-Hajj wa al-ʿUmra.
6 In Majmuʿa al-Fatawa (27:384).
7 In his notes on Nuʿman al-Alusi's al-Ayat al-Bayyinat (p. 80) and his
Silsila Daʿifa (#203).
11 Narrated as part of a longer hadith from Thawban with sound chains by
Ibn Majah and Ahmad. Malik cites it in his Muwatta'.
12 Part of a longer hadith narrated from Abu Malik al-Ashʿari (Kaʿb ibn
ʿAsim) by Muslim, al-Tirmidhi (hasan sahīh), al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Ahmad,
and al-Darimi.
13 Narrated from Ibn ʿUmar in the Nine Books.
14 With a fair chain from ʿAli and Ibn ʿAbbas as stated by al-ʿIraqi in
Tarh al-Tathrib (3:42), Ibn Hajar in Talkhis al-Habir (2:74), and
al-Tahanawi in Iʿla' al-Sunan (7:9).
16 Sahih al-Adab al-Mufrad (Introduction, p. 15, 20, 26).
17 Al-Silsila al-Daʿifa (1:76 #57).
18 Introduction to al-Sanʿani's Rafʿ al-Astar (p. 24-25).
19 Cf. al-Suyuti, Husn al-Muhadara (Cairo 1293 ed. 1:260) and al-Sakhawi,
in A.J. Arberry, Sakhawiana: A Study Based on the Chester Beatty Ms. Arab.
773 (London: Emery Walker Ltd., 1951, p. 5-9).
20 In his notes to Nuʿman al-Alusi's al-Ayat al-Bayyinat (p. 88).
21 Mukhtasar al-ʿUluw (p. 277).
22 In his notes on al-Qasimi's al-Mash ʿala al-Jawrabayn (p. 38). On the
hadith of Muʿadh see our May 1999 post titled, "[4] Probativeness of the
Sunna" and Note 5 in that post.
23 Tahrim Alat al-Tarab (p. 160).
24 Al-Qurtubi, Tafsir (7:191).
Wal-'Aqibatu lil-Muttaqin.
GF Haddad ©
What is all this nonsense on your website about refuting so and so??? Since when did the Prophet or his companions sit back behind the veil and slander their muslims brothers and sisters??? Where did you get this nonsense?
Fear Allah brother. A muslim does not attack his muslim brother/sister. Didn't the Prophet say the one who testifies there is no god except Allah his life is sacred? So if his life is sacred, what makes you think you can sit up and slander him? In the grave, will not Allah punish those who slandered/backbited? So what makes you slander the righteous scholars of the ummah?
Do you know their relationship with Allah? It maybe so that their relationship with Allah is far more firmer than yours or mine, so hold that tongue brother and Fear Allah.
Wa salaamu alaykum,
We are convinced that it is not slandering to say where one scholar has failed and is
wrong and
that it is our duty to warn the Muslims about it
for the safeguarding of our doctrin and our dīn.
Concerning this typical reaction Shaykh Gibril F Haddad wrote the following:
“There are notable exceptions in the Law to the prohibition of slander, i.e. of saying something unpleasant but true.
From the strictest viewpoint of the Law, the Prophet ﷺ upon him blessings and peace, did mention someone's bad characteristics to warn others of the danger they represented. Another time he was reported to say: "Until when will you refrain from mentioning the wrongdoer [for the wrong they do]? Mention them so people can protect themselves from them!" or something to that effect.
So the prohibition of slander and backbiting excludes those that make no effort whatsoever to hide their transgressions nor are they repentent.
Furthermore, Allah Most High said:
{ Allah does not like the announcing of evil in public speech except by one who has been wronged; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing. } (4:148)
So the prohibition of slander and backbiting also excludes warning about a wrongdoer by someone that has been wronged.
Most relevantly here, such prohibition also excludes warning about innovators. As Imam Ahmad said, this is not backbiting nor slander but obligatory nasiha by and for those that truly fear Allah Most High, was-Salam.”
Hajj Gibril
*
The above text is further elaborated in
Shaykh Gibril F Haddad's book:
"Albani and His Friends", new revised edition
- Albani and His Friends aqsapublications - out of stock 2022
- Albani and His Friends pdf
Related:
Ibn Baz, A Concise Guide to
Another Primary Innovator in Islam
"Salafi" Tampering
of Tafsir Ruh al-Maʿani
"Salafi" forgeries/ manipulations
Texts On Salafism / ”Wahhabism”: Erroneous Methodology
Al Albani Unveiled - An Exposition Of His Errors
Al-Albani's Revolutionary Approach to Hadith (pdf), S. Lacroix
vs.2.7