AL-ALBANI

A Concise Guide to the Chief Innovator of Our Time

by Dr. G. F. Haddad

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, aqda, usl, 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-Azami who wrote al-Albani Shudhudhuh wa Akhta'uh (Al-Albani's Aberrations and Errors) in four volumes.

- The Syrian scholar Muhammad Said Ramadan al-Buti who wrote the two classics al-Lamadhhabiyya Akhtaru Bidatin Tuhaddidu al-Sharia 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 Way of the Early Muslims' Was A Blessed Historical Epoch, Not An Islamic School of Thought)

- The Moroccan hadith scholar Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari who wrote Irgham al-Mubtadi al-Ghabi bi Jawaz al-Tawassul bi al-Nabi fi al-Radd ala al-Albani al-Wabi (The Coercion of the Unintelligent Innovator with the Licitness of Using the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - as an Intermediary in Refutation of al-Albani the Baneful), al-Qawl al-Muqni fi al-Radd ala al-Albani al-Mubtadi (The Persuasive Discourse in Refutation of al-Albani the Innovator), and Itqan al-Suna fi Tahqiq Mana al-Bida (Precise Handiwork in Ascertaining the Meaning of Innovation).

- The Moroccan hadith scholar Abd al-Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari who wrote Bayan Nakth al-Nakith al-Mutadi (The Exposition of the Treachery of the Rebel).

- The Syrian hadith scholar Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda who wrote Radd ala 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 Awwama who wrote Adab al-Ikhtilaf (The Proper Manners of Expressing Difference of Opinion).

- The Egyptian hadith scholar Mahmud Said Mamduh who wrote Wusul al-Tahani bi Ithbat Sunniyyat al-Subha wa al-Radd ala 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 Taaddi al-Albani ala Sahih Muslim (Warning to the Muslim Concerning al-Albani's Attack on Sahih Muslim).

- The Saudi hadith scholar Ismail ibn Muhammad al-Ansar who wrote Taaqqubat ala Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Daifa wa al-Mawdua li al-Albani (Critique of al-Albani's Book on Weak and Forged Hadiths), Tashih Salat al-Tarawih Ishrina Rakatan wa al-Radd ala al-Albani fi Tadifih (Establishing as Correct the Tarawih Salat in Twenty Rakas 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).

- The Syrian scholar Badr al-Din Hasan Diab who wrote Anwar al-Masabih ala Zulumat al-Albani fi Salat al-Tarawih (Illuminating the Darkness of al-Albani over the Tarawih Prayer).

- The Director of Religious Endowments in Dubai, Isa ibn Abd Allah ibn Mani al-Himyari who wrote al-Ilam bi Istihbab Shadd al-Rihal li Ziyarati Qabri Khayr al-Anam - Allah bless and greet him - (The Notification Concerning the Recommendation of Travelling to Visit the Grave of the Best of Creation - Allah bless and greet him -) and al-Bida al-Hasana Aslun Min Usul al-Tashri (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-Jumua al-Qabliyya (The Sunna Prayers That Must Precede Salat al-Jumua).

- The Syrian scholar Samer Islambuli who wrote al-Ahad, al-Ijma, al-Naskh.

- The Jordanian scholar Asad Salim Tayyim who wrote Bayan Awham al-Albani fi Tahqiqihi li Kitab Fadl al-Salat ala al-Nabi - Allah bless and greet him -.

- The Jordanian scholar Hasan Ali al-Saqqaf who wrote the two-volume Tanaqudat al-Albani al-Wadiha fi ma Waqaa fi Tashih al-Ahadith wa Tadifiha 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 Ibarat man Iddaa al-Ijma fa Huwa Kadhib (The Loser's Recourse to the Phrase: Whoever Claims Consensus Is a Liar!'), al-Qawl al-Thabtu fi Siyami Yawm al-Sabt (The Firm Discourse Concerning Fasting on Sa ays), al-Lajif al-Dhuaf li al-Mutalaib bi Ahkam al-Itikaf (The Lethal Strike Against Him Who Toys with the Rulings of Itikaf), Sahih Sifat Salat al-Nabi Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam (The Correct Description of the Prophet's Prayer - Allah bless and greet him -), Ilam al-Kha'id bi Tahrim al-Qur'an ala 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-Aliya (The Inculcation of Lofty Discernment), and Sahih Sharh al-Aqida 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% zakt is not due on money obtained from commerce, i.e. the main activity whereby money circulates among Muslims.

3- He absolutely prohibits fasting on Sa ays.

4- He prohibits retreat (itikaf) 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 - Allah bless and greet him - grave in the mosque.

11- He claims that whoever travels intending to visit the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - 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-makn al-adam - the non-existent place.

14- He claims in Tamam al-Minna that 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 (

taken from: http://www.sunnah.org/history/Innovators/al_albani.htm