mawlid naats

[salahuldin786]

Aqa Ka Milad Aya- Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=groTirshfr0&feature=related

mawlid naat by minhaj
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNgqnUyhSUc

Preview Milad un Nabi 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxj1B8Be2Hc&feature=related

Farhan Qadri Attari- Melad Aaya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZyzCu7avEw

Farhan Qadri - Aamina Ka Laal Aya Aamina Ka Laal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51SjUlPcQqE&feature=related

Shaam - Jashne Aamede Rasool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7MjWcdTptQ

Barwein Ka Chand Aaya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4YXF0_gguU&feature=related

An Nabi Sallu Alaih - Nishtar Park - Owais Qadri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ52tNwO4-s&feature=related

naat of muhammad milad raza qadri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEvWST8HJ3Q

OWAIS RAZA QADRI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAjMtB-iZgg

Syed Fasihuddin Soharwardi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHtyQke14zQ

[PK Aali]

:salams

Nice one bro. You can find more here:

www.muhammadiya.com

[salahuldin786]

:jkk: thanks for that.:up:

[Eemaan]

My Favorite (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezb1n2IsIgI&feature=related) :love:

[MMS]

My Favorite (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezb1n2IsIgI&feature=related) :love:

thas not a mawlid naat :smack:

[Eemaan]

thas not a mawlid naat :smack:

shurrup, got it spam it somwhere. salahudin allows anything pro sufi in his threads :coolbro:

[Omar Mukhtar]

not a mawlid naat, but still beautiful naat you all should listen to.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wcabYnuGzEY&feature=related

[Baybars]

not a mawlid naat, but still beautiful naat you all should listen to.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wcabYnuGzEY&feature=related

Yeah, that's a nice one bro. I'm just getting into some of them. This one is currently my favorite. It's not a mawlid one either. I don't really celebrate mawlid, but I like the naats.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dJ-6LFiuCK0

[Anikaa]

Too much bid'ah on this forum:spunch::ban:

[salahuldin786]

Too much bid'ah on this forum:spunch::ban:

go to salafi.com then :coolbro: http://youtube.com/watch?v=79n6PtgLokM&feature=related

[salahuldin786]

Badshah Woh Koun Hai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXuYl-etFug&feature=related

Rakh Le Bharam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoeDD3tpAVc&feature=related

Meri Nas Nas Bole Nabi Nabi-Ghulam Mustafa Qadri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcP6zw3XtX4&feature=related

Syed Furqan Qadri-Sohna Aaya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpsC06zZUGU&feature=related

Naat-Syed Furqan Qadri- Breathless
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CttQDU1azU&feature=related

Naat by farhan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4exyfu0EuEU&feature=related

Noor Wala Aya Hai By Farhan Ali Qadri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra1bmBr_C7A&feature=related

[Anikaa]

go to salafi.com then :coolbro: http://youtube.com/watch?v=79n6PtgLokM&feature=related

:rolleyes: may Allah guide you, ameen!

[salahuldin786]

may allah guide you too, and open your heart to the true love of islam. :coolbro:

[Anikaa]

may allah guide you too, and open your heart to the true love of islam. :coolbro:

That's "Allah" with a capital A! And ameen to ur duaa.

P.S: You don't gain the true love of islaam by celebrating mawlid...but only sins.

[Novelist]

P.S: You don't gain the true love of islaam by celebrating mawlid...but only sins.

Am with you brother hundred percent! Read this;

Ruling regarding celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu
`alayhe wa sallam)

Question: Is gathering (the people) on the 12th day of Rabee' al-Awwal in
remembrance of the birth of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam)
permissible?

Response: Celebrating the birthday of the Messenger (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa
sallam) is an innovation; this is because he (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam)
did not do this himself and nor did he order this to be done, and nor did
any of his companions (radhi-yallaahu 'anhum) do this, and they were the
most adherent of people in honouring the Messenger (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa
sallam) and following his Sunnah. And all good is in following his guidance,
and he (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) said:

((Whoever introduces anything into this matter of ours (i.e. Islaam) that
which is not from it, will have it rejected)), [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree/ 2697 and
Saheeh Muslim/1718] .

And with Allaah lies all success and may Allaah send prayers and salutations
upon our Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) and his family and his
companions.

The Permanent Committee for Islaamic Research and Fataawa
Head: Shaykh 'Abdul 'Azeez ibn Abdullaah ibn Baaz;
Deputy Head: Shaykh 'Abdur-Razzaaq 'Afeefee;
Member: Shaykh 'Abdullaah ibn Ghudayyaan;
Member: Shaykh 'Abdullaah Ibn Qu'ood
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa.imah lil-Buhooth al-'Ilmiyyah wal-Iftaa. - Volume
3, Page 30, Question 13, Fatwa No. 5005

...

How can one actualise one's love for the Messenger (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa
sallam)

Question: How can one actualise (their) love for the Messenger (sal-Allaahu
`alayhe wa sallam)?

Response: Love of the Messenger (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) and love of
Allaah (Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala) is actualised by following the Messenger
(sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam), and everyone who follows the Messenger
(sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) is more eligible for the love of Allaah and
the love of His Messenger. Allaah (Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala) says:

{Say: "If you (really) love Allaah then follow me (Muhammad), Allaah will
love you}, [Soorah Aal-'Imraan, Aayah 31].

And the sign of the love of the Messenger (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) is
that a person inquires about his sunnah and then follows it and does not add
nor take anything away from that. Based upon this, then those who innovate
in anything related to the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) and state
that this is from their love and honouring of him (the Prophet) then in
reality they do not love him and nor honour him. And that is because true
love and honouring of him is to follow his sayings and not to add to his
Sharee'ah and nor to take away from it.

And indeed whoever desires to innovate in the Sharee'ah of Allaah that which
is not from it, then his love of Allaah and His Messenger is limited without
doubt, because completeness of manners and honouring is not to extend
oneself before Allaah and His Messenger. Allaah (Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala)
said:

{O you who believe! Do not put (yourselves) forward before Allaah and His
Messenger, and fear Allaah. Verily! Allaah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. O
you who believe! Raise not your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor
speak aloud to him in talk as you speak aloud to one another, lest your
deeds may be rendered fruitless while you perceive not}, [Soorah
al-Hujuraat, Aayahs 1 and 2].

Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen
Fataawa Noorun 'alad-Darb - Volume 2, Page 522, Question 414

...

Dealing with someone (an innovator) who insists on celebrating the birthday
of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam)

Question: We have a man with us at work who approves of the celebration of
the birthday (i.e. the Prophet's (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) birthday),
and advocates and insists upon this. Should I abandon him for the Sake of
Allaah or not? What should I do? .and may Allaah reward you with good.

Response: Celebrating the Prophet's birthday is an innovation, and whoever
pursues this (path) is an innovator (mubtadi') if he insists on doing so and
does not accept the (sincere) advice, (rather, choosing to) continue in
calling to (celebrating) the birthday and arousing interest in it. (In this
case), then, it is obligatory to abandon him since he is an innovator, and
it is not permissible to maintain companionship with an innovator.
Shaykh Ibn Fowzaan
Fataawa tata'allaaq bil-Mawlid an-Nabawee - Page 49, Question 11
Al-Muntaqaa min Fataawa al-Fowzaan - Volume 1, Page 184

[Anikaa]

:jkk: akhee. Masha-Allah, shaykh salih al fawzan is gr8.

P.S: i'm a sister.

[salahuldin786]

The celebration of the birthday of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is an issue of controversy amongst the scholars. Thus, there were some who considered it a disliked innovation, a few even saying it reached the level of prohibition. And there were others who considered it a praiseworthy innovation. This difference is traced back to a divergence concerning the division of innovation (bid’ah).

Some scholars recognized the validity of such innovations and this was, primarily, the school of Imam Al-Shafi’i (May Allah have mercy upon him) and the head of this thought was Al-’Izzi Adin Abdul Salam (May Allah have mercy upon him). In addition, Imam Al-Qurafi (May Allah have mercy upon him) who was a Maliki, carried this same opinion, giving it great attention and explaining it in an exhaustive manner. In his discussion Al-Qurafi (ra) expanded the concept of innovation to included innovations that were commendable, highly recommended and of an obligatory and disliked nature.

Thus, he divided innovation into five parts: (obligatory, recommended, permissible, disliked and forbidden). However, there were some scholars who failed to accept this division contending that, “Indeed, any innovation, if it appears, then it is repulsive in nature.” They did this by regulating the statement of ‘Umar, regarding the tarawih prayers, “This is a good innovation” to its linguistic meaning. There was a large body of scholars who held this opinion such as Taqi al-Din Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah, Al-Shatibi, in his book Al-’Itisam, and many scholars from the Maliki and Hanbali schools (may Allah have mercy upon all of them).

Finally, there were scholars who wrote in support of celebrating the Mawlid such as Al-Suyuti (May Allah have mercy upon him) and, at the same time, there were others who wrote against it. Thus, in my opinion, there is no need to drag this discussion out, nor continue to argue about it any longer.

The Ruling:

Indeed, whoever wants to celebrate the Prophet’s (sal Allahu alyahi wa sallam) birthday should celebrate it and avoid doing any action contrary to Islamic Law. In addition, this act should be done with an intention that it is not a sunna nor an obligatory act. If these conditions are observed, and one is careful not to contradict Islamic Law, out of sincere love for the Prophet (Peace and blessing of Allah upon him), then, Allah willing, there is nothing wrong with this action and this person will be rewarded.

Commenting on this, the Shaykh of Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (May Allah have mercy upon him) said, “Indeed, such a person will be rewarded because of his intention.” Likewise, for the one who shuns this celebration, seeking to cling to the sunna out of fear of falling into innovation, then this person will also be rewarded, Allah willing. It is important to note that this is not a big issue. Nor is it necessary to give it more attention then it deserves.

The Methodology

Our attention towards this issue is directed towards uniting the Muslims and curbing these differences. We base this understanding on facilitation (for both sides) and ease. This ease is not founded on an empty premise, but is referenced directly back to the Quran, traditions of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam), the fundamental objectives of Islamic law, and the order of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) to work towards unity between others.

Therefore, if a contentious issue arises pertaining to a matter, we exercise great consideration and respect for both sides. This consideration is not simply an act of being overly accommodative, as some contend, or attacking those who hold weak opinions. But, this respect and consideration for differences is guided by the fact that both opinions are based on proofs from Islamic Law.

In some regards these proofs are clear, and in other regards the opposite holds true. Thus, some (scholars) have provided evidences for these acts legitimacy, and others hold proofs for the opposite. In conclusion, our stance is that both are on goodness, Allah willing, as long as this act is not mixed with some type of evil and the intention is correct.

Allah knows best

Shaykh Abdullah Bin Bayyah (May Allah preserve him)

Remixed by TheTranslators 2007 {Suhaib Webb}

[Novelist]

LOL sister, didn't know.

Stay blessed.

[salahuldin786]

Ten (10) PROOFS from the Qur'an and Sunnah that Celebrating the Nabi's birthday is accepted in Shari'ah.

FIRST: Allah asks the Prophet, peace be upon him, to remind his Nation that it is essential for those who claim to love Allah, to love His Prophet: "Say to them: If you love Allah, follow (and love and honor) me, and Allah will love you" (3:31).

The Celebration of the Holy Prophet's birth is motivated by this obligation to love the Prophet, peace be upon him, to obey him, to remember him, to follow his example, and to be proud of him as Allah is proud of him, since Allah has boasted about him in His Holy Book by saying, "Truly you are of a magnificient character" (68:4).

Love of the Prophet is what differentiates the believers in the perfection of their iman. In an authentic hadith related in al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet said: "None of you believes until he loves me more than he loves his children, his parents, and all people." In another hadith in al-Bukhari he said: "None of you believes until he loves me more than he loves himself" and Sayyidina `Umar said: "O Prophet, I love you more than myself."

Perfection of faith is dependent on love of the Prophet because Allah and His angels are constantly raising his honor, as is meant by the verse already quoted, "Allah and His angels are praying on the Prophet" (33:56). The divine order that immediately follows in the verse, "O believers, pray on him," makes it clear that the quality of being a believer is dependent on and manifested by praying on the Prophet. O Allah! Send peace and blessings on the Prophet, his family, and his companions.


The Prophet Emphasized Monday As the Day He Was Born.

SECOND: Abu Qatada al-Ansari narrates in Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-siyam, that the Prophet was asked about the fast of Monday, and he answered: "That is the day that I was born and that is the day I received the prophecy."
We quote again from Shaykh Mutawalli Sha`rawi:

"Many extraordinary events occurred on his birthday as evidenced in hadith and history, and the night of his birth is not like the night of any other human being's birth."
These events and the hadiths pertaining thereto, such as the shaking of Chosroes' court, the extinction of the 1,000-year old fire in Persia, etc. are related in Ibn Kathir's work al-Bidaya, Vol. 2, pages 265-268.

We quote from the book Kitab al-Madkhal by Ibn al-Hajj (1:261):

"It is an obligation that on every Monday of Rabi` ul- Awwal we increase our worship to thank Allah for what He gave us as a great favor -- the favor of sending us His beloved Prophet to direct us to Islam and to peace... The Prophet, when answering someone questioning him about fasting on Mondays, mentioned: On that day I was born. Therefore that day gives honor to that month, because that is the day of the Prophet... and he said: I am the master of the children of Adam and I say that without pride... and he said: Adam and whoever is descended from him are under my flag on the day of Judgment. These hadiths were transmitted by the Shaikhayn . And Muslim quotes in his Sahih, the Prophet said, On that day, Monday, I was born and on that day the first message was sent to me."
The Prophet emphasized the day of his birth and thanked Allah for the big favor of bringing him to life by fasting on that day as is mentioned in the hadith of Abu Qatada. This means that the Prophet was expressing his happiness for that day by fasting, which is a kind of worship. Since the Prophet emphasized that day by fasting, worship in any form to emphasize that day is also acceptable. Even if we change the form, the essence is kept. Therefore, fasting, giving food to the poor, coming together to praise the Prophet, or coming together to remember his good manners and good behavior, all of this is considered a way of emphasizing that day. (See also the hadith "Dying on Monday" below.)


[B]Allah Said: Rejoice in the Prophet

THIRD: To express happiness for the Prophet coming to us is an obligation given by Allah through Qur'an, as Allah said in Qur'an: "Of the favor and mercy of Allah let them rejoice" (10:58).
This order came because joy makes the heart grateful for the mercy of Allah. And What greater mercy did Allah give than the Prophet himself, of whom Allah says, "We did not send you except as a mercy to human beings" (21:107).

Because the Prophet was sent as a mercy to all mankind, it is incumbent not only upon Muslims, but upon all human beings to rejoice in his person. Unfortunately, today it is some Muslims who are foremost in rejecting Allah's order to rejoice in His Prophet.


The Prophet Celebrated Great Historical Events

FOURTH: The Prophet always made the connection between religious events and historical events, so that when the time returned for a significant event, he reminded his Sahaba to celebrate that day and to emphasize it, even if it had happened in the distant past. This principle can be found in the following hadith of Bukhari and others: "When the Prophet reached Madina, he saw the Jews fasting on the day of `Ashura'. He asked about that day and they told him that on that day, Allah saved their Prophet, Sayyidina Musa and drowned their enemy. Therefore they are fasting on that day to thank Allah for that favor." At that time the Prophet responded with the famous hadith, "We have more right to Musa than you," and he used to fast that day and the day preceding it.

Allah Said: Invoke Blessings on the Prophet

FIFTH: Remembrance of the birth of the Prophet encourages us to pray on the Prophet and to praise him, which is an obligation on us through Allah's order in the verse,
"Allah and His angels are praying on (and praising) the Prophet; O believers! pray on (and praise) him and send him utmost greetings" (33:56). Coming together and remembering the Prophet causes us to pray on him and to praise him. Who has the right to deny the obligation which Allah has ordered us to fulfill through the Holy Qur'an? The benefit brought by obeying an order of Allah, and the light that it brings to our heart, cannot be measured. That obligation, furthermore, is mentioned in the plural: Allah and His angels are praying on and praising the Prophet -- in a gathering. It is entirely incorrect, therefore, to say that praying on and praising the Prophet must be done alone.

The Effect of Observing Mawlid on Unbelievers

SIXTH: Expressing happiness and celebrating the Prophet on his birthday causes even unbelievers, by Allah's favor and mercy, to gain some benefit. This is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari. Bukhari said in his hadith that every Monday, Abu Lahab in his grave is released from punishment because he freed his handmaid Thuwayba when she brought him the news of the Prophet's birth.
This hadith is mentioned in Bukhari in the book of Nikah, and Ibn Kathir mentions it in his books Sirat al-Nabi Vol.1, p. 124, Mawlid al-Nabi p. 21, and al-Bidaya p. 272-273. The hafiz Shamsuddin Muhammad ibn Nasiruddin ad-Dimashqi wrote on this the following verses in his book Mawrid as-sadi fi Mawlid al-Hadi: "If this, a kafir who was condemned to hell eternally with "Perish his hands" [sura 111], is said to enjoy a respite every Monday because he rejoiced in Ahmad: what then do you think of the servant who, all his life, was happy with Ahmad, and died saying, "One"?"


The Obligation to Know Sira and Imitate Its Central Character

SEVENTH: We are asked to know about our Prophet, about his life, about his miracles, about his birth, about his manners, about his faith, about his signs (ayat wa dala'il), about his seclusions, about his worship, and is not this knowledge an obligation for every Muslim? What is better than celebrating and remembering his birth, which represents the essence of his life, in order to acquire knowledge of his life? To remember his birth begins to remind us of everything else about him. This will make Allah happy with us because then we will be able to know the Prophet's Sira better, and we will be readier to take the Prophet as an example for ourselves, to correct ourselves, and to imitate him. That is why the celebration of his birthday is a great favor sent to us.

The Prophet Accepted Poetry in His Honor

EIGHTH: In the time of the Prophet, it is well-known that poets came to him with all kinds of works praising him, writing about his campaigns and battles and about the Sahaba. This is proved by the numerous poems quoted in the Siras of Ibn Hisham, al-Waqidi, and others. The Prophet was happy with good poetry since it is reported in Bukhari's al-Adab al-mufrad and elsewhere that he said: "There is wisdom in poetry." Thus the Prophet's uncle al-`Abbas composed poetry praising the birth of the Prophet, in which are found the following lines:

When you were born, the earth was shining, and the firmament barely contained your light, and we can pierce through, thanks to that radiance and light and path of guidance.
This text is found in Suyuti's Husn al-maqsid p. 5 and in Ibn Kathir's Mawlid p. 30 as well as Ibn Hajar's Fath al-Bari.

Ibn Kathir mentions the fact that according to the Sahaba, the Prophet praised his own name and recited poetry about himself in the middle of the battle of Hunayn in order to encourage the companions and scare the enemies. That day he said: "I am the Prophet! This is no lie. I am the son of `Abd al-Muttalib!"

The Prophet was therefore happy with those who praised him because it is Allah's order, and he gave them from what Allah was providing him. If we get together and do something in order to approach the Prophet, we are doing something to approach Allah, and approaching the Prophet will make Allah happy with us.

Singing and Recitation of Poetry:

It is established that the Prophet instructed `A'isha to let two ladies sing on the day of `Eid. He said to Abu Bakr: "Let them sing, because for every nation there is a holiday, and this is our holiday" [Agreed upon]. Ibn Qayyim in Madarij al-salikin comments that the Prophet also gave permission to sing in wedding celebrations, and allowed poetry to be recited to him. He heard Anas and the Companions praising him and reciting poems while digging before the famous battle of the Trench (Khandaq), as they said: "We are the ones who gave bay`a to Muhammad for jihad as long as we are living."

Ibn Qayyim also mentions `Abdullah ibn Rawaha's long poem praising the Prophet as the latter entered Mecca, after which, the Prophet prayed for him. He prayed that Allah support Hassan ibn Thabit, with the holy spirit as long as he would support the Prophet with his poetry. Similarly the Prophet rewarded Ka`b ibn Zuhayr's poem of praise with a robe. The Prophet asked Aswad bin Sarih to make poems praising Allah, and he asked someone else to recite the poem of praise of 100 verses which Umayya ibn Abi al- Salt had composed. Ibn Qayyim continues, "`A'isha always recited poems praising him and he was happy with her."

This Umayya ibn Abi al-Salt is a poet of Jahiliyya who died in Damascus before Islam. He was a pious man who had relinquished the use of wine and the worship of idols, as related by Dhahabi in Siyar a`lam al-nubala' (2:23).

Part of the funeral eulogy Hassan ibn Thabit recited for the Prophet states:


I say, and none can find fault with me But one lost to all sense: I shall never cease to praise him. It may be for so doing I shall be for ever in Paradise With the Chosen One for whose support in that I hope. And to attain to that day I devote all my efforts.(1)
Singing and Recitation of Qur'an:

As Ibn al-Qayyim says in his book, "Allah gave permission to his Prophet to recite the Qur'an in a melodious way. Abu Musa al- Ash`ari one time was reciting the Qur'an in a melodious voice and the Prophet was listening to him. After he finished, the Prophet congratulated him on reciting in a melodious way and said, "You have a good voice." And he said about Abu Musa al-Ash`ari that Allah gave him a "mizmar" (flute or horn) from Dawud's mizmars. Then Abu Musa said, "O Messenger of Allah, if I had known that you were listening to me, I would have recited it in a much more melodious and beautiful voice such as you have never heard before."

Ibn Qayyim continues, "The Prophet said, "Decorate the Qur'an with your voices," and "Who does not sing the Qur'an is not from us." Ibn Qayyim comments: "To take pleasure in a good voice is acceptable, as is taking pleasure in a nice scenery, such as mountains or nature, or from a nice smell, or from good food, as long as it is conforming to Shari`a. If listening to a good voice is haram, then taking pleasure in all these other things is also haram."

The Prophet Allowed Drum-Playing For A Good Intention:

Ibn `Abbad the Muhaddith gave the following fatwa in his "Letters." He starts with the hadith, "One lady came to the Prophet when he was returning from one of his battles and she said, "Ya Rasulallah, I have made an oath that if Allah sends you back safe, I would play this drum near you." The Prophet said, "Fulfill your oath." The hadith is found in Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Ahmad.

Ibn `Abbad continues, "There is no doubt that the playing of a drum is a kind of entertainment, even though the Prophet ordered her to fulfill her oath. He did that because her intention was to honor him for returning safely, and her intention was a good intention, not with the intention of a sin or of wasting time. Therefore, if anyone celebrates the time of the birth of the Prophet in a good way, with a good intention, by reading Sira and praising him, it is accepted."


The Prophet Emphasized the Birthday of Prophets

NINTH: The Prophet emphasized in his hadith both the day and the place of birth of previous prophets. Speaking of the greatness of the day of Jum`a (Friday), the Prophet said in his hadith: "On that day [i.e. Jum`a], Allah created Adam." This means that the day of Friday is emphasized because Allah created Adam on that day. That day is emphasized because it saw the creation of the prophet and father of all human beings. What about the day when the greatest of prophets and best of human beings was created? The Prophet said: "Truly Allah made me the Seal of prophets while Adam was between water and clay." This hadith is related by Ahmad in the Musnad, Bayhaqi in Dala'il al-Nubuwwa and others, and is sound and established as authentic.

Why Bukhari Emphasized Dying On Monday

Imam Qastallani said in his commentary on Bukhari: "In his book on Jana'iz (Funerals), Bukhari named an entire chapter "Dying on Monday." In it there is the hadith of `A'isha relating her father's (Abu Bakr al-Siddiq) question: "On which day did the Prophet die?" She replied: "Monday." He asked: "What day are we today?" She said, "O my father, this is Monday." Then he raised his hands and said: "I beg you, O Allah, to let me die on Monday in order to coincide with the Prophet's day of passing."

Imam Qastallani continues, "Why did Abu Bakr ask for his death to be on Monday? So that his death would coincide with the day of the Prophet's passing, in order to receive the baraka of that day... Does anyone object to Abu Bakr's asking to pass away on that day for the sake of baraka? Now, why are people objecting to celebrating or emphasizing the day of the Prophet 's birth in order to get baraka?"

The Prophet Emphasized the Birthplace of Prophets

A hadith authentified by the hafiz al-Haythami in Majma` al- zawa'id states that on the night of Isra' and Mi`raj, the Prophet was ordered by Jibril to pray two rak`ats in Bayt Lahm (Bethlehem), and Jibril asked him: "Do you know where you prayed? When the Prophet asked him where, he told him: "You prayed where `Isa was born."(2)


The Ijma` of `ulama on the Permissibility of Mawlid

TENTH: Remembering the Prophet's birthday is an act that all `ulama of the Muslim world accept and still accept. This means that Allah accepts it, according to the saying of Ibn Mas`ud related in Imam Ahmad's Musnad with a sound chain: "Whatever the majority of Muslims see as right, then this is good to Allah, and whatever is seen by the majority of Muslims as wrong, it is wrong to Allah."
History of The Celebration of Mawlid: The Mawlid in Mecca According to Muslim Historians Celebration of the Birthplace of the Prophet

Mecca, the Mother of Cities, may Allah bless and honor her, is the leader of other Islamic cities in the celebration of Mawlid as in other things. In his book Akhbar Makka, Vol. 2, p. 160, the 3rd- century historian of Mecca, al-Azraqi, mentions as one of the many places in Mecca in which the performance of salat is desirable (mustahabb), the house where the Prophet was born (Mawlid al- Nabi). According to him, the house had previously been turned into a mosque by the mother of the caliphs Musa al-Hadi and Harun ar-Rashid.

The Qur'anic scholar al-Naqqash (266-351) mentions the birthplace of the Prophet as a place where du`a by noon on Mondays is answered. He is quoted in al-Fasi's Shifa' al-gharam Vol. 1, p. 199, and others.


Earliest Mentions of the Public Mawlid

The oldest source that mentions a public commemoration of the Mawlid is in Ibn Jubayr's (540-614) Rihal ("Travels"), p. 114-115:


"This blessed place [the house of the Prophet] is opened, and all men enter it to derive blessing from it (mutabarrikin bihi), on every Monday of the month of Rabi` al-Awwal; for on that day and in that month was born the Prophet."
The 7th-century historians Abul `Abbas al-`Azafi and his son Abul Qasim al-`Azafi wrote in their unpublished Kitab ad-durr al-munazzam:


"Pious pilgrims and prominent travellers testified that, on the day of the mawlid in Mecca, no activities are undertaken, and nothing is sold or bought, except by the people who are busy visiting his noble birthplace, and rush to it. On this day the Ka`ba is opened and visited."
Ibn Battuta's Account of the Mawlid

The famous 8th-century historian Ibn Battuta relates in his Rihla, Vol. 1, p. 309 and 347, that on every Friday, after the salat, and on the birthday of the Prophet, the door of Ka`ba is opened by the head of the Banu Shayba, the doorkeepers of the Ka`ba, and that on the Mawlid, the Shafi`i qadi (head judge) of Mecca, Najmuddin Muhammad Ibn al-Imam Muhyiddin al-Tabari, distributes food to the shurafa' (descendants of the Prophet) and to all the other people of Mecca.


Three Tenth-Century Accounts of the Mawlid

The following description consolidates eyewitness accounts by three 10th-century authorities: the historian Ibn Zahira al-Hanafi from his al-Jami` al-latif fi fasl Makka wa ahliha, p. 326; Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami from his Kitab al-mawlid al-sharif al- mu`azzam, and the historian al-Nahrawali from al-I`lam bi-a`lam bayt Allah al-haram, p. 205.

Each year on the 12th of Rabi` al-Awwal, after the salat al-Maghrib, the four qadis of Mecca (representing the Four Schools) and large groups of people including the fuqaha' (scholars) and fudala' (notables) of Mecca, shaykhs, zawiya teachers and their students, ru'asa' (magistrates), and muta`ammamin (scholars) leave the mosque and set out collectively for a visit to the birthplace of the Prophet, shouting out dhikr and tahlil (LA ILAHA ILLALLAH). The houses on the route are illuminated with numerous lanterns and large candles, and a great many people are out and about. They all wear special clothes and they take their children with them. Having reached the birthplace, inside a special sermon for the occasion of the birthday of the Prophet is delivered, mentioning the miracles (karamat) that took place on that occasion. Hereafter the du`a' for the Sultan (i.e. the Caliph), the Emir of Mecca, and the Shafi`i qadi is performed and all pray humbly. Shortly before the salat al-`Isha', the whole party returns from the birthplace of the Prophet to the Great Mosque, which is almost overcrowded, and all sit down in rows at the foot of the Maqam Ibrahim. In the mosque, a preacher first mentions the tahmid (AL HAMDULILLAH) and the tahlil, and once again the du`a' for the Sultan, the Emir, and the Shafi`i qadi is performed. After this the call for the Salat al-`Isha' is made. After the salat, the crowd breaks up. A similar description is given by al- Diyarbakri (d. 960) in his Ta'rikh al-Khamis.


The Celebration of Mawlid in Islamic Countries Today

In every Muslim country today, we find people celebrating the Prophet's birthday. This is true of the following: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Kuwait, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia (not officially, but in the majority of homes), Sudan, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Djibouti, Somalia, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaidjan, Uzbekistan, Turkestan, Bosnia (former Yugoslavia), Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, and most other Islamic countries. In most Arab countries it is a national holiday. All these countries, O Nation of Islam, are celebrating that event. How is it that today a minority is coming and making up a ruling that it is haram? And who are these scholars who spoke against Mawlid, in comparison to the huffaz (hadith masters) and scholars of the Community such as Abu Shama, `Asqalani, Suyuti, Sakhawi, Haytami, Shawkani, and al-Qari, all of whom declared Mawlid praiseworthy? How can any of the "Salafis" declare haram something that even the strictest of their scholars, Ibn Taymiyya, allowed under certain conditions, and which Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Kathir encouraged, each of them by writing a booklet entitled Mawlid and consisting of poems and passages from the sira?


The celebration of Mawlid as understood by the scholars of the "salafi" movement and the os the Four Schools of Ahl As-Sunnah

Ibn Taymiyya's Opinion on the Celebration of Mawlid and the Deviation of "Salafis" from his Opinion
This is Ibn Taymiyya's opinion about Mawlid from the Collected Fatwas, Majma` Fatawa Ibn Taymiyya, Vol. 23, p. 163 and his Iqtida' al-sirat al-mustaqim, p. 294-295, Section entitled: "The innovated festivities of time and place" (ma uhditha min al-a`yad al-zamaniyya wa al-makaniyya):


And similarly what some people innovate by analogy with the Christians who celebrate the birth of Jesus, or out of love for the Prophet and to exalt him, and Allah may reward them for this love and effort, not on the fact that it is an innovation... To celebrate and to honor the birth of the Prophet and to take it as an honored season, as some of the people are doing, is good and in it there is a great reward, because of their good intentions in honoring the Prophet.

This is what "Salafis" cannot stomach, for all their love of Ibn Taymiyya, and they cannot seem to forgive him for saying this. One "Salafi" editor of the Iqtida', Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqqi, has a two-page footnote here in which he exclaims: "Kayfa yakunu lahum thawabun `ala hadha??... Ayyu ijtihadun fi hadha??" -- "How can they possibly obtain a reward for this??... What effort is in this??" and the contemporary "Salafi" scholars are all without exception cut from the same cloth of intemperance and deviation regarding Mawlid, substituting their ruling to that of Ibn Taymiyya although the latter should be sufficient for them. Thus we see another "Salafi" author, Mashhur Salman, exploding in similar terms in his recent edition of Abu Shama's al-Ba`ith `ala inkar al- bida` (Assault on all innovations), because when it comes to Mawlid, Abu Shama instead of censoring it declares: "Truly it is a praiseworthy innovation and a blessed one!"

Further on in the same text Ibn Taymiyya mentions a fatwa given by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the Imam of Ibn Taymiyya's madhhab, whereby when the people told Imam Ahmad about a prince who spent 1000 dinars on the decoration of Qur'an he said: "That is the best place for him to use gold."

We ask: Was Ibn Taymiyya promoting bid`a when he permitted the celebration of Mawlid "as some of the people are doing"? Not only did he allow it, but he mentioned that their celebration of Mawlid "is good and in it there is a great reward." We ask again: Was Imam Ahmad making bid`a when he allowed the decoration of Qur'an? The answer to both questions is no.


Ibn Taymiyya's Opinion on the Meetings of Dhikr

The following is the opinion of Ibn Taymiyya on meetings of dhikr. It can be found in the King Khalid ibn `Abd al-`Aziz edition of the Majmu`at fatawa Ibn Taymiyya:


Ibn Taymiyya was asked about people that gather in a masjid making dhikr and reading Qur'an, praying to Allah and taking their turbans off their heads (leaving their heads bare) and crying, while their intention is not pride nor showing off but seeking to draw closer to Allah: is it acceptable or not? He answered: "Praise to Allah, it is good and recommended according to Shari`a (mustahabb) to come together for reading Qur'an, making dhikr, and making du`a'."(3)

Ibn Kathir Praises the Night of Mawlid

Imam Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani, in his book al-Durar al-kamina fi `ayn al-Mi'at al-thamina, mentions that Ibn Kathir, a muhaddith from among the followers of Ibn Taymiyya, "in the last days of his life wrote a book entitled Mawlid Rasul Allah which was spread far and wide. That book mentioned the permissibility and recommendability of celebrating the Mawlid."

Ibn Kathir's book was edited and published in 1961.(4) In it he says, p. 19: "The Night of the Prophet's birth is a magnificient, noble, blessed and holy night, a night of bliss for the believers, pure, radiant with lights, and of immeasurable price."


`Asqalani and Suyuti's Fatwas on the Permissibility of Mawlid
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti said in his Hawi li al-fatawa: "The Sheikh of Islam and hadith master of his age, Ahmad ibn Hajar (`Asqalani) was asked about the practice of commemorating the birth of the Prophet, and gave the following written reply:


As for the origin of the practice of commemorating the Prophet's birth, it is an innovation that has not been conveyed to us from any of the pious early Muslims of the first three centuries, despite which it has included both features that are praiseworthy and features that are not. If one takes care to include in such a commemoration only things that are praiseworthy and avoids those that are otherwise, it is a praiseworthy innovation, while if one does not, it is not.
An authentic primary textual basis from which its legal validity is inferable has occured to me, namely the rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith in the collections of Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet came to Medina and found the Jews fasting on the tenth of Muharram (`Ashura '), so he asked them about it and they replied: "It is the day on which Allah drowned Pharaoh and rescued Moses, so we fast in it to give thanks to Allah Most High," which indicates the validity of giving thanks to Allah for the blessings He has bestowed on a particular day in providing a benefit, or averting an affliction. We repeat our thanks on the anniversary of that day every year, giving thanks to Allah with various forms of worship such as prostration, fasting, giving charity or reciting the Qur'an... Then what blessing is greater than the birth of the Prophet, the Prophet of mercy, on this day? In light of which, one should take care to commemorate it on the day itself in order to conform to the above story of Musa and the tenth of Muharram, those who do not view the matter thus do not mind commemorating it on any day of the month, while some have expanded its time to any of day the year, whatever exception may be taken at such a view."(5)


[B]Other Scholars' Opinions on the Mawlid

According to the Mufti of Mecca Ahmad ibn Zayni Dahlan, in his book al-Sira al-nabawiyya wa al-athar al- muhammadiyya, page 51: "To celebrate the Mawlid and to remember the Prophet is accepted by all the Ulama of the Muslims." Most of the following quotations are taken from that work.

Imam Subki said, "When we were celebrating the Prophet's birthday, a great uns (familiarity) comes to our hearts, and we feel something special."

Imam Shawkani in his book al-Badr at-tali`, said, "It is permissible to celebrate the Prophet's birthday." He mentioned that Mullah `Ali Qari held the same opinion in a book entitled al- Mawrid ar-Rawi fi al-Mawlid al-Nabawi, written specifically to support the celebration of the Prophet's birthday.

Imam Abu Shama, the sheikh of Imam Nawawi, said in his book on innovations entitled: al-Ba`ith `ala inkar al-bida` wa al- hawadith:


The best innovation in our day is the remembrance of the Prophet's birthday. On that day, people give much donations, make much worship, show much love to the Prophet, and give much thanks to Allah Almighty for sending them His messenger to keep them on the Sunna and Shari`a of Islam.
Imam Sakhawi said, "The Mawlid was begun three centuries after the Prophet, and all Muslim nations celebrated it, and all `ulama accepted it, by worshipping Allah alone, by giving donations and by reading the Prophet's Sira."

Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Haytami said , "As Jews celebrated the day of `Ashura by fasting to thank Allah, we also have to celebrate the day of Mawlid," and he quoted the aforementioned hadith, "When the Prophet came to Madina..." Ibn Hajar continues, "One gives thanks to Allah for the favor that He gave on a particular day either through a great good, or through the averting of a disaster. That day is celebrated every year thereafter. Thanksgiving entails various forms of worship like prostration, fasting, charity, and the recitation of Qur'an, and what greater good is there than the advent of that Prophet, the Prophet of Mercy, on the day of Mawlid?"

Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597) wrote a booklet of poems and sira to be read at mawlid celebrations. It is entitled Mawlid al-`arus(6) and begins with the words: al-hamdu lillah al-ladhi abraza min ghurrati `arusi al-hadrati subhan mustanira: "Praise be to Allah Who has manifested from the radiance of the bridegroom of His Presence a light-giving daybreak..."

To Celebrate Mawlid Is Mandub (Recommended)

Imam Suyuti in his book Husn al-maqsid fi `amal al-mawlid, p. 54 and 62, says: "The reason for gathering for tarawih prayers is Sunna and qurba (to seek nearness to Allah)... and similarly we say that the reason for gathering to celebrate mawlid is mandub (recommended) and qurba (an act of drawing near).. and the intention to celebrate mawlid is mustahsana (excellent) without a doubt."

Imam Suyuti continues, p. 64-65, "I have derived the permissibility of Mawlid from another source of the Sunna [besides Ibn Hajar's deduction from the hadith of `Ashura'], namely, the hadith found in Bayhaqi, narrated by Anas, that "The Prophet slaughtered an `aqiqa [sacrifice for newborns] for himself after he received the prophecy," although it has been mentioned that his grandfather `Abd al-Muttalib did that on the seventh day after he was born, and the `aqiqa cannot be repeated.(7) Thus the reason for the Prophet's action is to give thanks to Allah for sending him as a mercy to the worlds, and to give honor to his Umma, in the same way that he used to pray on himself. It is recommended for us, therefore, that we also show thanks for his birth by meeting with our brothers, by feeding people, and other such good works and rejoicing." This hadith confirms the aforementioned hadith of the Prophet's emphasis of Monday as the day of his birth and that of his prophethood.

[salahuldin786]

Concerning the claim of contemporary "salafi" writers who forbade Mawlid on the grounds that it is an innovation, such as Al-albani, Bin Baz, Abu Bakr Jaza'iri, Mashhur Salman, 'Uthaymin, and others.


This claim is not only an innovative departure from what the majority of the past scholars have said on the question; it is, first and foremost, defective in its logic and reasoning, since the scholars have defined innovations as being sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes indifferent, and therefore it is not allowed to prohibit something solely on the ground that it is an innovation without first defining what kind of innovation it is.
There is a bid`a hasana or excellent innovation according to the majority of the scholars who have written about bid`a, though some, like Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyya, consider all bid`a to be bid`a dalala (innovation of miguidance). Their position in this is shadhdh (anomalous and deviating from the norm) as the following evidence shows:


Harmala ibn Yahya said: "I heard ash-Shafi'i saying:
al-bid`atu bid`atan: bid`a mahmuda wa bid`a madhmuma, fa ma wafaqa al-sunna fa huwa mahmud, wa ma khalafa al-sunna fa huwa madhmum.

Innovation is of two kinds: the praiseworthy innovation and the blameworthy innovation. Whatever conforms to the Sunna is praiseworthy, and whatever contravenes the Sunna is blameworthy.

Sources: al-hafiz Abu Nu`aym al-Asbahani cites it in Hilyat al-awliya (9:113);

al-hafiz Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani also in Fath al-Bari (13:253);

al-hafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali also in Jami` al-`uloom wa al-hikam (p. 291);

al-hafiz Abu Shama in al-Ba`ith `ala inkar al-bida` wa al- hawadith, ed. Mashhur Hasan Salman (Riyadh: Dar al- Raya, 1990/1410) p. 93; Cairo edition, p. 12.

al-hafiz al-Turtushi al-Maliki, Kitab al-hawadith wa al- bida` (p. 158-159); He himself divided the bid`a into muharrama (forbidden), makruha (disliked), and wajiba (obligatory): p. 15.

al-hafiz al-Suyuti alludes to it in the introduction to his fatwa on Mawlid entitled Husn al-maqsid fi `amal al-mawlid in al-Hawi li al-fatawi;

al-hafiz Ibn Taymiyya, Dar' ta`arud al-`aql wa al-naql, ed. Muhammad al-Sayyid Julaynid (Cairo: Mu'assasat al- ahram, 1409/1988) p. 171: "Bayhaqi narrated it in al- Madkhal with a sound chain";

al-hafiz al-Bayhaqi, Manaqib ash-Shafi'i (1:469) in these words:

al-muhdathatu min al-umuri darbani ahaduhuma ma uhditha yukhalifu kitaban aw sunnatan aw atharan aw ijma`an fa hadhihi al-bid`atu al-dalalat wa al-thaniyatu ma uhditha min al-khayri la khilafa fihi li wahidin min hadhihi wa hadhihi muhdathatun ghayru madhmuma.

Innovated matters are one of two kinds: one is an innovation which contravenes something in the Qur'an or the Sunna or a report from a Companion or the consensus of he scholars: this is the innovation of misguidance (bid`a dalala); the other kind is whatever good has been innovated which contravenes none of the above, and this is an innovation that is not blameworthy (muhdathatun ghayru madhmuma).


al-Hafiz al-`Izz Ibn `Abd al-Salam said:
There are five types of bid`a: - Haram (forbidden) - Makhruh (disliked) - Mubah (permitted) - Mandub (praiseworthy) - Wajib (obligatory)."

Sources:

al-hafiz ash-Shatibi, Kitab al-i`tisam (Beirut ed.) 1:188;

al-hafiz al-Imam al-Nawawi, Kitab al-Adhkar (Beirut: al- Thaqafiyya) p. 237; and Tahdhib al-asma' wa al-lughat ([Cairo] : Idarat al-Tibaah al-Muniriyah, [1927]?) 3: 22;

al-hafiz Ibn `Abidin, Radd al-muhtar (Kuitah, Pakistan ed.?) 1:376;

al-hafiz al-Suyuti mentions it in the introduction to his fatwa on Mawlid entitled Husn al-maqsid fi `amal al- mawlid in al-Hawi li al-fatawi.


Others who admitted the possibility of praiseworthy bid`a are:
Abu Shama; he divided it into bid`a mustahsana / hasana on the one hand, and bid`a mustaqbaha on the other, itself subdivided into muharram and makruh. In al-Ba`ith `ala inkar al-bida` wa al-hawadith Cairo ed. (p. 13);

al-Turkumani al-Hanafi; he divided it into either bid`a mustahsana (approved), such as mubaha yuthab `alayha (permitted innovation which merits reward), or bid`a mustaqbaha (disapproved), such as makruha or muharrama. In Kitab al-luma` fi al-hawadith wa al-bida` (Stuttgart, 1986) 1:37;

Ibn al-Hajj al-`Abdari al-Maliki, who followed al-Izz Ibn `Abd al-Salam's classification. Madkhal ash-Shar` ash-Sharif (Cairo, 1336 H) 2:115;

al-Tahanawi al-Hanafi, who also followed Ibn `Abd al- Salam. Kashshaf istilahat al-funun (Beirut, 1966) 1:133- 135;

al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani in his commentary of `Umar's saying related by Bukhari about Salat al-Tarawih: "What a fine innovation this is" (ni`mat al-bid`a hadhih):

The root meaning of innovation is what is produced without precedent. It is applied in the law in opposition to the Sunna and is therefore blameworthy. Strictly speaking, if it is part of what is classified as commendable by the law then it is a good innovation (hasana), while if it is part of what is classified as blameworthy by the law then it is blameworthy (mustaqbaha), otherwise it falls in the category of what is permitted indifferently (mubah). It can be divided into the known five categories."(8)


Certain people still object: "What about the hadith: kullu bida'tin dalala: "Every innovation is a misguidance"? Doesn't the term "every" include all innovations?"
Such an objection stems from the misinterpretation of the term kullu ("every") in the hadith to be all-encompassing without exception, whereas in Arabic it may mean "nearly all" or "the vast majority." This is how ash-Shafi`i understood it or else he would have never allowed for any innovation whatsoever to be considered good, and he is considered a hujja or "proof," that is, a reference without peer for questions regarding the Arabic language. Imam Bayhaqi narrated in his Manaqib ash-Shafi`i (2:42-46):


al-Hasan ibn Habib related from Mahmud al-Misri -- and he was one of those gifted with eloquence -- that Mahmud said: I saw ash-Shafi`i when I was little, and I heard Ibn Hisham -- and I never set eyes on one from whom I took wisdom such as Ibn Hisham -- say: "I was ash-Shafi`i's sitting-companion for a long time, and I never heard him use a word except that if that word were carefully considered, one would not find (in its context) a better word than it in the entire Arabic language." Mahmud also said: I also heard Ibn Hisham say: "ash-Shafi`i's discourse, in relation to language, is a proof in itself."
It is also related from al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al- Za`farani: A group of the people of pure Arabic (qawmun min ahl al-`arabiyya) used to frequent ash-Shafi`i's gathering with us and sit in a corner. One day I asked their leader: "You are not interested in scholarship; why do you keep coming here with us?" They said: "We come to hear ash-Shafi`i's language."
The stylistic figure of meaning the part by the whole, or synecdoche in English, is in Arabic: `abbara `an al-kathrati bi al- kulliyya. This is illustrated by the use of kull in verse 46:25 of the Qur'an in a selective or partial sense not a universal sense:

Destroying all things by commandment of its Lord. And morning found them so that naught could be seen save their dwellings.

Thus the dwellings were not destroyed although "all" things had been destroyed. "All" here means specifically the lives of the unbelievers of `Ad and their properties, except their houses. The same applies with the hoopoe-bird's expression when he says that Balkis has been given in abundance from "everything" in Sura al- Naml (27:23), whereas she was not given any power over Sulayman nor any share of his kingdom. Similarly when Allah says: "Every soul (kullu nafsin) shall taste death" (3:185), it is understood though not mentioned that Allah Himself is excluded from the meaning.

In conclusion, the position of the majority of the scholars is clear: "To invent" (ahdatha) a "new practice" (bid'at) may refer either to the matter that is new linguistically speaking (lafzan), e.g. stone masjids, all the Islamic sciences, writing books about religion, etc. or the matter that is new legally speaking (shar`an), e.g. a sixth daily prayer. Since bid`a usually applies to innovations in religion in the legal sense, the former kind of "new matter" does not qualify as a bid`a and therefore is not prohibited.

The above is the ruling of all the major scholars on the definition of bid`a. Whoever denies this definition is either ignorant, or actually giving a new definition which is not from the majority of scholars but from one's own whim. Their claim that they are "sticking to the Sunna" is an empty claim which does not fool anybody but themselves and those they sadly misguide. When asked to substantiate it with the criteria of scholarship in the light of the evidence against them, they just instead keep repeating the claim, like parrots, ignoring or affecting to ignore the difference between the claim and the reality of the claim. Their purported "avoidance of bid`a" is similarly based on their own whimsical conviction that they alone are right although they stray from the larger group. May Allah guide them to the truth.

[Anikaa]

Why don't you provide "CLEAR-CUT" daleel? Instead of these mumbo-jumbo?! And how dare you refer to scholars such as al-albani, ibn baaz, ibn uthaymeen as merely "writers" Authubillaah! Have respect for the 'ulemaa. If you speak ill of them, remember that their blood is POISON!

[salahuldin786]

The Ijazas of Ibn Baz and al-Albani

The Salafis allege that both Ibn Baz and al-Albani have ijazas (authorizations of mastery of a book, etc. in Islamic knowledge from the scholar it was studied with) from great sheikhs. They say that al-Albani has an ijaza from some sheikhs in Syria, do you have any information on this?



Our teacher in hadith, Sheikh Shu‘ayb al-Arna’ut, tells my wife and me that Sheikh Nasir al-Albani learned his hadith knowledge from books and manuscripts in the Dhahiriyya Library in Damascus, as well as his long years working on books of hadith. He did not get any significant share of his knowledge from living hadith scholars, according to Sheikh Shu‘ayb, for the very good reason that there wasn’t anyone in Damascus at the time who knew much about hadith, and he didn’t travel anywhere else to learn. I have heard Salafis say that he has an ijaza from one person in Syria, but it could only be (according to Sheikh Shu‘ayb) from someone with far less knowledge than himself

I believe Sheikh Shu‘ayb about this, because his family, like Sheikh Nasir’s, were of the Albanians who emmigrated to Damascus at the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and they all know each other rather intimately. The impression one gets is that Sheikh Nasir’s father, Sheikh Nuh al-Albani, was so strict a Hanafi that he produced something of an over-reaction in Sheikh Nasir not only against Abu Hanifa and his madhhab, but against traditional Islamic sheikhs as well. According to Sheikh Shu‘ayb, Sheikh Nasir studied tajwid or ‘Qur’anic recitation’ and perhaps the Hanafi fiqh primer Maraqi al-falah [The ascents to success] with his father Sheikh Nuh al-Albani, and possibly other lessons in Hanafi fiqh from Sheikh Muhammad Sa‘id al-Burhani, who taught in Tawba Mosque, in the quarter of the Turks on the side of Mount Qasiyun, near Sheikh Nasir’s father’s shop. Sheikh Nasir subsequently found that his time could be more profitably spent with books and manuscripts at the Dhahiriyya Library and in reading works to students, and he did not attend anyone else’s lessons

As for his ijaza or ‘warrant of learning,’ Sheikh Shu‘ayb tells us that it came when a hadith scholar from Aleppo, Sheikh Raghib al-Tabbakh, was visiting the Dhahiriyya Library in Damascus, and Sheikh Nasir was pointed out to him as a promising student of hadith. They met and spoke, the sheikh authorized him "in all the chains of transmission that I have been authorized to relate"—that is to say, a general ijaza, though Sheikh Nasir did not attend the lessons of the sheikh or read books of hadith with him. Sheikh Raghib al-Tabbakh had chains of sheikhs reaching back to the main hadith works, such as Sahih al-Bukhari, the Sunan of Abu Dawud, and hence had a contiguous chain back to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) for these books. But this was an authorization (ijaza) of tabarruk, or ‘for the blessing of it,’ not a ‘warrant of learning’—for Sheikh Nasir did not go to Aleppo to learn from him, and he did not come to Damascus to teach him

This type of authorization (ijaza), that of tabarruk, is a practice of some traditional scholars: to give an authorization in order to encourage a student whom they have met and like, whom they find knowledgeable, or hope will become a scholar. The reason I know of such ijazas is because I have one, from the Meccan hadith scholar Sheikh Muhammad ‘Alawi al-Maliki, which authorizes me to relate "all the chains of transmission that I [Muhammad ‘Alawi al-Maliki] have been authorized to relate by my sheikhs," including chains of transmission reaching back to the hadith Imams Malik, al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah (Mecca: Muhammad ‘Alawi al-Maliki, 1412/1992). Though my name is on the authorization, and it is signed by the sheikh, it does not make me a hadith scholar like he is, because aside from some of his public lessons, my hadith knowledge is not from him but from Sheikh Shu‘ayb, whom I have actually studied with. Rather, Sheikh al-Maliki knows my sheikhs in Damascus, that I am the translator of ‘Umdat al-salik [Reliance of the traveller] in Shafi‘i fiqh, that we have known each other for some time, and he approves of my way. The scholarly value of such ijazas is merely to establish that we have met.

As for Ibn Baz, I do not know who he studied with, though from his broadcasts on the radio, I would be most surprised if he had ever studied with someone uncommitted to what he and his colleagues simply call the da‘wa or ‘propagation,’ that is, of the revisions of Islam advocated by Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab.

As it is unlawful to say anything disliked about a Muslim except for an interest countenanced by Sacred Law, the following discussion will not exceed (a) whether these revisions constitute a sectarian emphasis differing from traditional Islam; and (b) if sectarian, how this influences issues that Sheikh Nasir and Ibn Baz might otherwise be believed about

I mention this to you, because, as you may know, some people take offense at the word Wahhabi—and with good reason, if we mean to suggest that they do not love Islam, or are not trying to practice it to the best of their understanding and ability. I feel this is true of virtually all separatist groups, from the beginning of Islam. Provided they do not negate something necessarily known to be of the religion (necessarily known meaning that which any Muslim would know about if asked), all these groups may be said to have tried to understand and apply the Qur’an and the sunna, even though their understanding has brought them to a mistaken conclusion. This is why Shari‘a manuals say things like:

They [those who rise in insurrection against the caliph] are subject to Islamic laws (because they have not committed an act that puts them outside of Islam that they should be considered non-Muslims. Nor are they considered morally corrupt (fasiq), for rebels is not a perjorative term, but rather they merely have a mistaken understanding), and the decisions of their Islamic judge are considered legally effective (provided he does not declare the lives of upright Muslims to be justly forfeitable) if they are such as would be effective if made by our own judge (Reliance of the Traveller, 594).

The fact that such people may consider other Muslims not of their sect to be non-Muslims—the hallmark of heterodox (batil) sects of all times and places—does not change the above rulings, and the caliph or his representative may use only enough force to end the strife. We find in the Hashiya radd al-muhtar ‘ala al-Durr al-mukhtar sharh Tanwir al-absar [(Ibn ‘Abidin’s) Commentary: the guide of the perplexed, upon (Haskafi’s) The choice pearls, an exegesis of (Tumurtashi’s) Illumination of eyes], whose every word is considered a decisive evidence (nass) in the Hanafi school:

(al-Haskafi:) Those who revolt against obedience to the imam [meaning the caliph or his representative] are of three types:

(1) highwaymen, and their ruling is known [n: i.e. the death penalty, if they do not give themselves up before they are caught];

(2) rebels (bughat) against the caliphate, whose ruling will be discussed below [n: i.e. they are fought with as much force as needed to make them desist, as in the Reliance above];

(3) and kharijites, meaning men with military force who revolt against the imam because of a mistaken scriptural interpretation (ta’wil), believing that he is upon a falsehood of unbelief (kufr) or disobedience to Allah (ma‘siya) that necessitates their fighting him, according to their mistaken scriptural interpretation, and who consider it lawful to take our lives, our property, and take our women as slaves, and who consider the Companions of our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to be disbelievers. Their ruling is the same as that of rebels (bughat) against the caliphate [n: (2) above] by unanimous consensus of fiqh scholars.

(Ibn ‘Abidin:) His words and who consider the Companions of our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to be disbelievers are not a condition for someone to be a kharijite, but rather are a mere clarification of what those who revolted against ‘Ali (Allah Most High be well pleased with him) in fact did. Otherwise, it is enough to be convinced of the unbelief of those they fight against, as happened in our own times with the followers of [Muhammad ibn] ‘Abd al-Wahhab, who came out of the Najd in revolt, and took over the sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina. They followed the Hanbali madhhab, but believed that they were the Muslims, and that those who believed differently than they did were polytheists (mushrikin). On this basis, they held it lawful to kill Sunni Muslims (Ahl al-Sunna) and their religious scholars, until Allah Most High dispelled their forces, and the armies of the Muslims attacked their strongholds and subdued them in 1233 A.H. [1818] (Hashiya radd al-muhtar, 4.262).

The Shafi‘i mufti of Mecca, Ahmad ibn Zayni Dahlan (d. 1304/1886), a historian as well as a scholar, recorded the story of the Wahhabis’ takeover of the holy places in a number of books, one of which, his two-volume history al-Futuhat al-Islamiyya [The Islamic conquests], gives the following description of what became perhaps their most famous, and certainly their most lethal ijtihad; namely, that the sunna of tawassul or ‘supplicating Allah through an intermediary’ was shirk:

Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab claimed that his aim in this school of thought he innovated was to make sincere the belief in Allah’s unity (tawhid), and to abjure worshipping false gods (shirk), and that Muslims had been worshipping false gods for six hundred years, and that he had revived their religion for them. He interpreted Qur’anic verses revealed about worshippers of false gods (mushrikin) as referring to those who worship Allah alone, such as the word of Allah Most High,

"And who is further astray than he who supplicates apart from Allah someone who will not answer him until Resurrection Day, while they are oblivious to their supplication" (Qur’an 46:5),

and His word,

"Do not supplicate besides Allah what will not benefit or harm you" (Qur’an 10:106).

There are many such verses in the Qur’an , so Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab said that whoever seeks the help of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) or others, of the prophets, the friends of Allah (awliya’), or the righteous; or calls on him or asks him to intercede—was like such worshippers of false gods, and was referred to by the generality of such verses. He believed the same thing about visiting the tomb of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and all others of the prophets, friends of Allah, or the righteous. He said about the word of Allah Most High, who quotes the idolators about worshipping their idols:

"We only worship them that they may bring us the nearer to Allah" (Qur’an 39:3)

that people who pray to Allah by means of an intermediary (tawassul) are like these worshippers of false gods who said, "We only worship them that they may bring us the nearer to Allah." He said that the worshippers of false gods didn’t believe their idols created anything, but rather that the Creator was Allah Most High, as shown by Allah’s word

"And if you ask them who created them, they will say, ‘Allah’" (Qur’an 43:87),

and,

"And if you ask them who created the heavens and earth, they will say, ‘Allah’" (Qur’an 31:25),

such that Allah did not judge them to have committed unbelief and worshipping false gods except for their saying, "that they may bring us all the nearer to Allah," and in consequence, these people [Muslims who make tawassul] are like them.

And this is simply wrong, for Muslim believers do not take the prophets (upon whom be peace) or the friends of Allah as gods or make them co-partners (shuraka’) with Allah, but rather, they believe that they are created slaves of Allah and do not deserve any worship

As for the worshippers of false gods whom these Qur’anic verses were revealed about, they believed that their idols were gods, and reverenced them with the reverence of godhood, even if they acknowledged that they did not create anything—while believers do not hold that the prophets or awliya’ deserve worship or godhood, and do not reverence them with the reverence due solely to the Divine. Instead, they believe that they are the servants of Allah, and His beloved ones, whom He has elected and chosen, and through His blessings to them (baraka), He shows mercy towards His slaves. Their intention in seeking blessings through them is the mercy of Allah Most High, and much attests to the validity of this in the Qur’an and sunna.

The creed of the Muslims is that the Creator—He Who Afflicts, He Who Benefits, He who deserves worship—is Allah alone. They do not believe that anyone else has any effect whatsoever; and they believe that the prophets and awliya’ do not create anything, do not possess any ability to benefit or harm, but merely that through Allah’s grace to them (baraka), He shows mercy towards created servants.

It was the belief of the worshippers of false gods that their idols deserved worship and godhood that made them guilty of associating co-partners with Allah (shirk), not merely their saying, "We only worship them that they may bring us the nearer to Allah." For it was only when it was proved to them that their idols did not deserve to be worshipped—as they believed they did—that they said by way of excuse, "We only worship them that they may bring us nearer to Allah."

So how should Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab and his followers consider believers who acknowledge the unity of tawhid to be comparable to those worshippers of false gods who believed in the godhood of their idols? For all the above-mentioned verses and those like them specifically refer to non-Muslims and worshippers of false gods, while not a single believer enters into them.

Bukhari relates from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (Allah be well pleased with father and son) who related from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) that in [foretelling the] description of the Kharijites, he said that they would "proceed to Qur’anic verses revealed about non-Muslims, and interpret them as if they referred to believers."

And in another hadith, also from Ibn ‘Umar, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "The thing I fear most for my Umma is a man who interprets the Qur’an taking it out of its context"; both of these hadiths being applicable to this sect

If believers’ praying to Allah through an intermediary (tawassul) and the like were worshipping false gods, it wouldn’t have been done first by the Prophet himself (Allah bless him and give him peace), his Companions, and the Muslim Umma, from first to last (Dahlan, al-Futuhat al-Islamiyya [Cairo: al-Maktaba al-Tijariyya al-Kubra, 1354/1935], 2.258–59).

This passage shows us why the Wahhabis’ were considered like Kharijites, men who, as al-Haskafi notes above, revolted against the imam "because of a mistaken scriptural interpretation (ta’wil)," believing that he was "upon a falsehood of unbelief (kufr) or disobedience to Allah (ma‘siya) that necessitates their fighting him."

The main difficulty with their theory that tawassul amounted to worshipping false gods was the fact that it was taught to the Umma by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)—something you have asked about and will be discussed in question (9) below—which was perhaps why no one in the previous eleven centuries of Islamic scholarship before Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab had ever noticed that it was unbelief

In this respect, it is fortunate that Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab didn’t get his hands on his own Imam, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who enjoined his most outstanding student, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Marrudhi (d. 275/888) to make tawassul through the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). Al-Marrudhi relates the tawassul of the hadith of the Companion (Sahabi) ‘Uthman ibn Hunayf containing the words, "O Allah, verily, I turn to You through Your prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy (Allah bless him and give him peace); O Muhammad, verily I turn through you to my Lord, that He may fulfill my need [emphasis the translator’s]"—which al-Marrudhi relates from Ahmad ibn Hanbal in the "Chapter on Supplications" of his Kitab al-mansak [Book of Hajj and ‘Umra]. This is mentioned by Ibn Taymiya (Qa‘ida jalila fi al-tawassul wa al-wasila [N.d. Reprint. Beirut: al-Maktaba al-‘Ilmiyya, n.d.], 98), whom I tend to believe on it, since it is something whose sunna character he tries to disprove his Imam about, though without conceiving it to be idolatry (shirk) or unbelief (kufr), as the Wahhabis did more than four centuries later.

Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab is gone today, together with the fatwas he gave that resulted in the attacks on Mecca, Ta’if, and Medina beginning in 1205/1790 by "reformers" who believed that the lives, women, and money of ordinary Sunni Muslims who did not feel that tawassul was shirk could be lawfully taken by those who did. There are no more Wahhabis in this sense. As King Fahd (who, on the whole, has had a positive, moderating influence) said a few years ago in a speech, "We are not Wahhabis, we are Hanbalis."

Yet if the "revolt" (in al-Haskafi’s words) is gone, the "mistaken scriptural interpretation" remains; and its intellectual influence is still strong on all aspects of the religious establishment in Saudi Arabia. Many of the questions you have asked deal specifically with ideas aggressively packaged and exported to other Muslim countries under the aegis of Ibn Baz, and given currency by the support of Sheikh Nasir and his followers

These are revisions to traditional Islam, and if many ordinary Muslims have forgotten this, it is due to the extent to which they have succeeded, abetted by heavy subsidizing and the present lack of traditional scholars (‘ulama) to teach Muslims the truth. Yet one cannot but feel they mark a transient phase, for Allah has promised to protect the din, and if the rebuttals of classical scholars were heard, these innovations would melt away. In the meantime, "reforms" have been slated for all three pillars of the din, Islam (Shari‘a), Iman (‘Aqida), and Ihsan (Tariqa), and can perhaps be best summarized under these headings:

(1) Islam (Shari‘a): To their credit, the movement we are speaking of has revived interest in hadith among Islamic scholars across the board. But the emphasis on hadith and its ancillary disciplines to the exclusion of other Islamic sciences equally essential to understanding the revelation, such as fiqh methodology, or the conditioning of hadith by general principles expressed in the Qur’an , has created the false dichotomy in many Muslims’ minds of either fiqh or hadith. And this is an intellectual bid‘a of the most ominous sort for Islam, which has never accepted ijtihad from non-mujtahids, or anything short of the fiqh (literally "understanding subtle points") of hadith.

One sad outcome of dichotomizing fiqh and hadith is the revival of Dhahiri thought we have talked about above, with its "fallacy of misplaced literalism" in interpreting primary scriptural texts. Such literalism necessarily forces itself upon someone trained in hadith alone (like Sheikh Nasir) if he tries to deduce Shari‘a rulings without mastery of the interpretive tools needed to meet the challenges that face the mujtahid, for example, in joining between a number of hadiths on a particular question that seem to conflict, or the many other intellectual problems involved in doing ijtihad. This strident Dhahirism—especially among Sheikh Nasir’s followers—has made some contemporary Muslims seriously believe that it is a matter of either following "the Qur’an and sunna," or one of the schools of the mujtahid Imams

Now, the big lie has only gained credibility today because so few Muslims understand what ijtihad is or how it is done. I believe this can be cured by familiarizing Muslims with concrete examples of how mujtahid Imams derive particular Shari‘a rulings from the Qur’an and hadith, examples which first, demonstrate the breadth of their hadith knowledge (Muhammad ibn ‘Ubayd Allah ibn al-Munadi (d. 272/886) relates that Ahmad ibn Hanbal said that having memorized three hundred thousand hadiths was not enough to be a mujtahid), and second, demonstrate their mastery of the deductive principles that enable one to join between all the primary texts. Until this is done, the advocates of this movement will probably continue to follow the ijtihad of non-mujtahids (the sheikhs who inspire their confidence), under the catch phrase "Qur’an and sunna" just as if the real mujtahids were unfamiliar with the obligation of following these. The followers perhaps cannot be blamed, since "for someone who has never travelled, his mother is the only cook." But I do blame the sheikhs who, whatever their motivations, write and speak as if they were the only cooks

(2) Iman (‘Aqida): The uncritical acceptance and subsidizing of Ibn Taymiya’s and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya’s opinions in ‘aqida has had a number of results

One is that Ibn Taymiya’s denial of all figurative expression (majaz) in the Qur’an , what we have called above "misplaced literalism," has caused the anthropomorphism it brings to most minds to spread to the horizons, under the slogan of a "return to the ‘aqida of early Muslims," which, as explained above, it most certainly is not

In this connection, I was recently speaking with Mawlana ‘Abdullah Kakakhail, a scholar of Islamic belief (usul al-din) from Islamabad, who told me that he graduated from the Islamic University in Medina in 1966, and shortly afterwards, on the verge of returning home, had been summoned to the office of the vice-rector of the university, who expressed his disappointment that the student had not benefited more from his studies in Islamic faith (‘aqida). The vice-rector said he knew ‘Abdullah was returning to Pakistan with the same tenets of faith he had had when he came. They got to talking about the mutashabihat or ‘unapparent in meaning’ Qur’anic verses and hadiths, and the discussion turned to Allah’s ‘hand’ (Qur’an 48:10). "You say," the young man told the vice-rector, "That ‘the hand is known, but the how of it is unknown.’ What does the unknownness of this how mean?" The vice-rector said, "It means we do not know whether the hand is black or white, or whether it is long or short." The vice-rector’s name was Ibn Baz, and this was what was being offered at the time as the da‘wa or ‘invitation’—apparently to the faith (‘aqida) that inspired the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Secondly, the yawning gulf between this kind of anthropomorphism and the entire previous Qur’an tafsir literature has necessitated the explanation that someone (namely, the Ash‘ari school) has crept in upon the Umma and altered the "‘aqida of the early Muslims" that is alleged to have been there before (but now cannot be found). This has in turn divided the field of ‘aqida into two camps, pro- and anti-Ash‘ari, whereas for the previous thousand years, Sunni Muslims agreed upon the orthodoxy of the Ash‘ari and Maturidi schools. Why was something fixed that was not broken?

Indeed, when a wealthy trader from Jedda brought to life the long-dead ‘aqida of Ibn Taymiya at the beginning of this century by financing the printing in Egypt of Ibn Taymiya’s Minhaj al-sunna al-nabawiyya and other works, the Mufti of Egypt Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti‘i, faced with new questions about the validity of anthropomorphism, wrote: "It was a fitna (strife) that was sleeping; may Allah curse him who awakened it."

But perhaps the most ill-starred ‘aqida legacy of the historical Wahhabi movement is something now practiced from the Najd to the Indian Subcontinent, to the East and the West; namely, the ease with which Muslims call each other "unbelievers." Whether it is over a fiqh question like tawassul, or an ‘aqida question like the above, this is precisely the sectarianism which Allah forbids in the Qur’an with the words,

"And do not be like those who separated into factions and differed between themselves" (Qur’an 3:105),

Sectarianism of this sort is something that did not exist in traditional Sunni Islam for the previous thousand years, but rather represents a break with that tradition. Whether we justify it in the name of an ‘Islamic reform,’ or a ‘return to early Islam,’ sectarianism is and remains the kind of bid‘a of misguidance of which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said in the hadith of Muslim,

"Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours that is not from it shall have it rejected" (Muslim 3.1343).

(3) Ihsan (Tariqa): The third of the re-forms, and among the most aggressively pursued today is an attempt to finish tasawwuf or ‘Sufism’ as one of the Islamic sciences, though there is no doubt that it has been considered as such by virtually all classical scholars since the religious sciences were first recorded. Our times have seen the printing and reprinting of works like ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Jawzi’s Talbis Iblis [The Devil’s deception] passages of which criticize "the Sufis" (meaning groups of them in his time) without mentioning that a great many of the biographies of his five-volume Sifa al-safwa [Description of the elect] are the very Sufis quoted in extenso in Qushayri’s classic work on Sufism al-Risala al-Qushayriyya.

Though Sufism exists for the good reason that the sunna we have been commanded to follow is not just the words and outward actions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), but also his states, such as reliance on Allah (tawakkul), sincerity (ikhlas), forbearance (hilm), patience (sabr), humility (tawadu‘), perpetual remembrance of Allah, and so on. Many, many hadiths and Qur’anic verses indicate the obligatory character of attaining these and hundreds of other states of the heart, such as the hadith related by Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,

"No one will enter paradise who has a particle of arrogance in his heart" (Muslim, 1.93).

or the sahih hadith in the Sunan of Abu Dawud about the obligatoriness of having presence of heart in the prayer (salat), that ‘Ammar ibn Yasir heard the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) say,

"Verily, a man leaves, and none of his prayer has been recorded for him except a tenth of it, a ninth of it, an eighth of it, a seventh of it, a sixth of it, a fifth of it, a fourth of it, a third of it, or a half of it" (Sunan Abi Dawud [N.d. Reprint. Istanbul: al-Maktaba al-Islamiyya, n.d.] 1.211).

Half a minute’s reflection should show each of us where we stand on these aspects of our din, and why in classical times, helping Muslims to attain these states was not left to amateurs, but rather delegated to ‘Ulama' of the heart, the scholars of Islamic Sufism

As in other Islamic sciences, mistakes historically did occur in Sufism, most of them stemming from not recognizing the Shari‘a and tenets of faith (‘aqida) of Ahl al-Sunna as being above every human being. But these mistakes were not different in principle from, for example, the Isra’iliyyat (baseless tales of Bani Isra’il) that crept into Qur’anic exegesis (tafsir) literature, or the mawdu‘at (hadith forgeries) that crept into the body of prophetic hadith. These were not taken as proof that tafsir was bad, or hadith was deviance, but rather, in each discipline, the errors were identified and warned against by the Imams of the field, because the Umma needed the rest. And such corrections are precisely what we find in books like Qushayri’s Risala, Ghazali’s Ihya’ and other works of Sufism.

In contrast, the re-formers of our times have hit upon the expedient of creating doubts of there being any genuine Islamic science to attain spiritual sincerity in a systematic and knowledge-based way. But perhaps today they are beginning to realize that if one ends all spiritual aspiration, one will only produce numbers of aggressive Muslims with no other means of feeling more religious than by arguing to prove their fellow Muslims are less so—an unenviable condition described in the hadith of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace),

"No people went astray after guidance, except that they were afflicted with arguing."

To summarize, the movement to re-form our din attacks the scholarly authority that has traditionally been the support of its three pillars: in Islam, by turning Muslim’s hearts against the madhhabs that are our Shari‘a; in Iman, by presenting Ibn Taymiya’s anthropomorphism as the ‘way of the early Muslims’; and in Ihsan, by trying to close the door of traditional Islamic spirituality once and for all.

Sheikh Nasir and Ibn Baz are among the main luminaries of the movement, and the latter’s whole career shows an emphasis on these reforms, from the publications printed under his auspices and distributed across the globe, to the funding of Wahhabi U. graduates to return from Medina to their homelands to disseminate the teachings of sect, tirelessly retelling of how few Muslims scholars over the last fourteen hundred years have truly understood Islam as it was understood by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and themselves.

So perhaps the best answer to your question about the ijazas of these two men is to ask in turn: What relevance to such re-formers should the traditional ijaza system have, when its function was to preserve intact the understanding of Islam by traditional scholars down through the centuries, an understanding they wish to change?

[salahuldin786]

Al-Albani Unveiled
An Exposition of His Errors
and other important issues
Compiled by Sayf ad-Din Ahmed ibn Muhammad


PREFACE
All praise be to Allahu ta'ala. Peace and blessings be on His final Messenger, Sayyidina Muhammad. Auspicious salutations be on his pure Ahl al-Bayt (people of the Prophet's House) and on all his just and devoted Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all); and last but not least praise be upon the glorious pious predecessors (Salaf as-Salihin) and their successors who are the Ahl-as-Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah (People of the Sunnah and Community) of the four existing schools of Sacred Law (Fiqh).

O you who believe! What you are about to read is of dire importance to the believer who accepts the authority of the Noble Hadith, second only to the Holy Qur'an al-Karim. I here present to the open minded believer an exposition of the mistakes and contradictions of probably the foremost Hadith Shaykh of the 'Salafiyya' sect, by the name of Shaykh Muhammad Nasiruddeen al-Albani. I was asked by some brothers on the status and rank of al-Albani, and fearing the declaration of Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him):

"He who is asked something he knows and conceals it will have a bridle of fire put on him on the Day of Resurrection" (Sunan Abu Dawood, 3/3650, English ed'n);
I decided to compile this short work. Let me stress at the outset, this work was primarily compiled to correct some notions held by al-Albani and secondarily the "Salafi" sect; hence the last part of this work has been entitled: "and Other Important issues."
This short piece of work has been edited and abridged from the four volume set which emphatically and clearly outlines al-Albani's mistakes, contradictions, slanders and even lies in the honourable and sacred Islamic Science of Hadith (Uloom al Hadith), by the well known scholar, Al-Shaykh Hasan ibn Ali al-Saqqaf (may Allah reward him for his effort) of Amman, Jordan; from his work entitled: "Tanaqadat al-Albani al-Wadihat" (The Clear Contradictions of al-Albani).

Shaykh Saqqaf is a contemporary Shafi'i scholar of Hadith and Fiqh. His Shaykh's include Hashim Majdhub of Damascus in Shafi'i Fiqh, Muti' Hammami in estate division, Muhammad Hulayyil of Amman in Arabic Grammar, and he has been given written authorization (Ijaza) in the field of Hadith from one of the greatest Hadith scholars of our time - Shaykh Abdullah Muhammad al-Ghimari (may the Mercy of Allah be upon him) of Tangiers, Morocco [born 1910 C.E; died Feb. 1413/1993 C.E]; an ex-Professor of Hadith at Al-Azhar University, author of nearly 150 works, his late brother: Ahmad ibn Muhammad (Allah's mercy be upon him) was a great Hafiz of Hadith, (see later for the definition of Hafiz of Hadith). Shaykh Ghimari has declared in one of his published Fatwa's that al-Albani is an innovator (mubtadi) in Islam, (al-Albani has criticised Shaykh Ghimari's classifications of Hadith in some of his works; but then contradicted himself in others - see the quotes from Shaykh Saqqaf later). Shaykh Saqqaf presently teaches a circle of students in Amman and has published over forty five books and treatises on Hadith, tenets of faith (Aqeeda), Fiqh and heresiology.

So as to enlighten the reader who is unaware of al-Albani's status, the following is a short biography as given in the inside back cover of the English translation of al-Albani's booklet by the title 'Adaab uz Zufaaf' (The Etiquettes of Marriage and Wedding) as published by his followers in England (viz.: "Jami'at Ihyaa Minhaj al Sunnah") :-

"Muhammad Naasir-ud-Deen Al-Albani was born in the city of Ashkodera, capital of Albania in 1914 CE. While he was young his parents migrated with him to Damascus, Syria. From an early age he became fascinated by the science of Hadith and thereafter spent his time devoted to seeking knowledge. In later life he was given Professorship of Hadith at the Islamic University of Madinah. He is well known to students and scholars for his knowledge and writings. He has many well known students and has visited places through out the Middle East and Europe. He was forced to migrate from Syria to Jordan. He has been of enormous service to the Prophetic Hadith, taking great pains to check and sort out the authentic from the weak and fabricated narrations. He has produced many pamphlets and books, some of them running into many volumes - on topics of great importance to the Muslims - and has fully checked many of the famous books of Hadith - the Sunan of Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, An-Nasai and Ibn Majah, along with Suyooti's huge "Jami-us-Sagheer" and "Mishkat-ul Masabih". He is the foremost scholar of Hadith and related sciences of this age."

It is this last statement which is highly far-fetched, and it is the predominantly imaginary belief of his misguided followers in certain parts of the world. Since only Allah knows who is the "foremost scholar of Hadith and related sciences of this age." I say this because there are others who may well be the 'foremost scholar'. One thing that may be noticed from the above biography, is that al-Albani does not seem to have been given any authorization (ijaza) in Hadith from any recognised scholar of Hadith. I have read other biographies and asked some of his supporters in England to give me the name of al-Albani's Hadith Shaykh; but to no avail. It seems that al-Albani "taught" himself the science of Hadith by spending many hours in the famous library of Damascus - al-Maktabatuz Zahiriyyah. In the biography written in the preface of the English edition of his work - "Sifah salah an-Nabee", it was also stated that he was: "influenced by articles in 'al-Manaar' magazine." The last named magazine was edited by the notorious freemason - Muhammad Rashid Ridah (d.1935 CE)!

Al-Albani has not made a handful of forgivable errors, but rather well over 1200, which are only forgivable if he himself admits and corrects his mistakes by repenting in front of the People of Knowledge, as well as the sincere believers who may have been relying on his 'classifications of Hadith'. The selected contradictions from "Tanaqadat al-Albani al-Wadihat" have been derived for sake of brevity from volume's one and two only, and whenever the symbol * is indicated, this corresponds to the original reference to the Arabic edition. The reader should also remember that whenever anything appears in brackets, then these are usually my words and not that of Shaykh Saqqaf. It should also be said that Volume 1 of the original contains 250 ahadith, in which al-Albani has said Sahih (an authentic Hadith) in one of his books and then contradicted himself by saying Daeef (a weak Hadith) in another of his books, or similar mistakes and contradictions. Volume 2 contains 652 Ahadith of the same description as the above, or similar contradictions in individual rijal (biography of a Hadith narrator) of the Sanad (the chain of transmission of a specific Hadith) of the Hadiths in question. In some instances (e.g. Vol.2, pp. 63-64), Shaykh Saqqaf shows how a Hadith narrator is 'trustworthy' when al-Albani wants to use a Hadith to prove something, but becomes 'untrustworthy' when in a Hadith used by the person al-Albani is arguing against; an extremely embarrassing mistake for anyone of any scholarly integrity. These books by Shaykh Saqqaf have already done much to pull the rug from under 'Salafiyyism' in Jordan and even in 'Saudi' Arabia, where the first volume alone has seen no less than SIX reprints in a single year alone! These books are extremely hot property that any 'Salafi' (or anti-Salafi) who reads Arabic will want to buy. I ask you, how many times does an inept student of Hadith like al-Albani have to contradict himself before he ceases to be of authority? Can you find even ten such contradictions in the works of the traditional memorizers of Hadith (Huffaz), those who had memorized at least 100,000 Ahadith with their sanad's? The great scholars like Abu Hanifah, Malik, Shafi'i, Ibn Hanbal, Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, Ibn Maja, al-Nasai, Daraqutni, Hakim, Asqalani and so on . . . . Allah's mercy be upon them. The discerning believer should know that al-Albani has not in his memory anywhere near a 100,000 Ahadith in his memory, in fact as far as we know there is no one who is a Hafiz of Hadith today! If there is, we say please come forward and prove it, and only Allah knows best!

During the course of examining various Hadiths, Shaykh Saqqaf compared them to the written opinion of al-Albani. Eventually Shaykh Saqqaf began a compilation of al-Albani's mistakes. He came across contradictions, supposition, inadequate research and the blatant perversion of sayings quoted from the great scholars of Islam. He was especially worried by the fact that many students and members of the youth who do not have enough or no knowledge are simply not bothering to investigate the Hadiths classified by al-Albani, are being misled into blind ignorance; even though these very people are the one's calling staunchly and vociferously for the complete abandonment of taqleed (usually translated as "blind following" by the opponents, but in reality it is the following of qualified and verified scholarship of a Mujtahid Mutlaq [an absolutely independent scholar of the highest calibre] like the Imam's Abu Hanifah, Malik, Shafi'i, Ibn Hanbal (Allah's mercy be upon them) and the like, as well as the scholars who adhered to and promulgated a particular school of fiqh [Madhhab] for the greater part of Islam's history; taqleed in simple language is the following of one of the four existing schools of fiqh). These people seem to contradict themselves, as well as displaying hypocrisy when they go around making it a priority to attack the followers of the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i or Hanbali schools of Sacred Law; even though they themselves are practising taqleed of an individual(s)!

Bearing in mind the Hadith reported by Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Holy Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him):

"Whoever sees an evil, he must prevent it with his hand, and if he has no power for this action, then he should prevent it with his tongue, and if he cannot do this, then he should at least consider it a vice in his heart, and this is a very low level of one's Iman (faith)." [see Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Nasai - as recorded in Targheeb Wa'l-Tarheeb by Al-Hafiz Mundhiri, d. 1258 C.E; Rahimahumullah],

and even more explicitly from Imam al-Darimi (Rahimahullah) who reported Ziyad Ibn Hudair (Rahimahullah) saying:

"Umar (Allah be pleased with him) said to me: Do you know what can destroy Islam?" I said: "No." He said: "It is destroyed by the mistakes of scholars, the argument of the hypocrites about the book (of Allah), and the opinions of the misguided leaders." (see Mishkatul Masabih, 1/269, Trans. A.H. Siddiqui).

We took the liberty to forewarn and guide the many sincere believers who are turning to their faith from blundering into miscomprehension and wrong by translating selectively from Shaykh Saqqaf's books.

In order to safe keep today's youth from falling into heresy, Shaykh Saqqaf has embarked upon a quest to expose such a person who considers himself to be among the great scholars of Hadith like, Imam's al-Bukhari and Muslim (Rahimahumullah), to the extent that one of his deluded followers considered him to be in the rank of the Amir al-Mu'minin fil Hadith, Shaykh al-Islam al-Hafiz Ahmad Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (the Shafi'i Imam who authored the most famous commentary of Sahih al-Bukhari and many other books, d. 852/1449 C.E; Rahimahullah).

As for Shaykh Saqqaf, the respected reader may get the impression that he has an uncompromising demeanour in some of his comments made straight after he exposes an error of al-Albani. I make no apology for his style of exposition, since many Allah fearing scholars have been uncompromising in the past when it comes to enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil as has been prescribed in the Qur'an and Sunnah (e.g. in the refutations against the heretical sects like the Khawarij, Mu'tazila, Shi'ah . . . . ), so long as it forewarns the general masses from accepting the falsities of the heretics and other like minded "scholars". May be Shaykh Saqqaf considers al-Albani to be an innovator, just as his late teacher - Shaykh Ghimari (Rahimahullah) considered him to be. There are many Hadith which command us to detest the Heretics. For example, Ibrahim ibn Maisara reported Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him) as saying:

"He who showed respect to an innovator he in fact aided in the demolishing of Islam." (Bayhaqi - see Mishkatul Masabih, 1/189, English ed'n).


I hope the esteemed reader will read this short piece of work with vigilance and an open mind, especially those who have been loyal readers and supporters of al-Albani's books and decrees. I sincerely hope that this work will be of great benefit to all who read it and pray that Allah accept it as a good deed done purely for His pleasure. I would also like to thank all those brothers who assisted me in the compilation of this work, especially to the brother who supplied me with Shaykh Saqqaf's books.

May Allah forgive us for any shortcomings and errors. Amin.

[salahuldin786]

Why don't you provide "CLEAR-CUT" daleel? Instead of these mumbo-jumbo?! And how dare you refer to scholars such as al-albani, ibn baaz, ibn uthaymeen as merely "writers" Authubillaah! Have respect for the 'ulemaa. If you speak ill of them, remember that their blood is POISON!

they are not scholer's of the ahl sunna wal jammah but of salafi's.

http://sunnah.org/ibadaat/albani.htm

[salahuldin786]

AL-ALBANI'S WEAKENING OF
SOME OF IMAM BUKHARI AND MUSLIM'S AHADITH.

Al-Albani has said in "Sharh al-Aqeedah at-Tahaweeah, pg. 27-28" (8th edition, Maktab al-Islami) by Shaykh Ibn Abi al-Izz al-Hanafi (Rahimahullah), that any Hadith coming from the Sahih collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim is Sahih, not because they were narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, but because the Ahadith are in fact correct. But he clearly contradicts himself, since he has weakened Ahadith from Bukhari and Muslim himself! Now let us consider this information in the light of elaboration :-


SELECTED TRANSLATIONS FROM VOLUME 1

No 1: (*Pg. 10 no. 1 )
Hadith: The Prophet (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) said: "Allah says I will be an opponent to 3 persons on the day of resurrection: (a) One who makes a covenant in my Name but he proves treacherous, (b) One who sells a free person (as a slave) and eats the price (c) And one who employs a laborer and gets the full work done by him, but doesn't pay him his wages." .
Al-Albani said that this Hadith was DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 4/111 no. 4054". Little does he know that this Hadith has been narrated by Ahmad and Bukhari from Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him)!!

[B]No 2: (*Pg. 10 no. 2 )
Hadith: "Sacrifice only a grown up cow unless it is difficult for you, in which case sacrifice a ram." [Muslim no. 1963-Arabic edition, or see the English version 3/4836 pg. 1086].
Al-Albani said that this Hadith was DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 6/64 no. 6222." Although this Hadith has been narrated by Imam's Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Nisai and Ibn Majah from Jaabir (Allah be pleased with him)!!

No 3: (*Pg. 10 no. 3 )
Hadith: "Amongst the worst people in Allah's sight on the Day of Judgement will be the man who makes love to his wife and she to him, and he divulges her secret." [Muslim no. 1437- Arabic edition].
Al-Albani claims that this Hadith is DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 2/197 no. 2005." Although it has been narrated by Muslim from Abi Sayyed (Allah be pleased with him)!!

No 4: (*Pg. 10 no. 4 )
Hadith: "If someone woke up at night (for prayers) let him begin his prayers with 2 light rak'ats." [Muslim no. 768]. Al-Albani stated that this Hadith was DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 1/213 no. 718." Although it is narrated by Muslim and Ahmad from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him)!!

No 5: (*Pg. 11 no. 5 )
Hadith: "You will rise with shining foreheads and shining hands and feet on the Day of Judgement by completing Wudhu properly. . . . . . . ." [Muslim no. 246].
Al-Albani claims it is DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 2/14 no. 1425." Although it has been narrated by Muslim from Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him)!!

No 6: (*Pg. 11 no. 6 )
Hadith: "The greatest trust in the sight of Allah on the Day of Judgement is the man who doesn't divulge the secrets between him and his wife." [Muslim no's 124 and 1437]
Al-Albani claims it is DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 2/192 no. 1986." Although it has been narrated by Muslim, Ahmad and Abu Dawood from Abi Sayyed (Allah be pleased with him)!!

No 7: (*Pg. 11 no. 7 )
Hadith: "If anyone READS the last ten verses of Surah al-Kahf he will be saved from the mischief of the Dajjal." [Muslim no. 809].
Al-Albani said that this Hadith was DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 5/233 no. 5772." NB- The word used by Muslim is MEMORIZED and not READ as al-Albani claimed; what an awful mistake! This Hadith has been narrated by Muslim, Ahmad and Nisai from Abi Darda (Allah be pleased with him)!! (Also recorded by Imam Nawawi in "Riyadh us-Saliheen, 2/1021" of the English ed'n).

No 8: (*Pg. 11 no. 8 )
Hadith: "The Prophet (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) had a horse called al-Laheef." . But Al-Albani said that this Hadith was DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 4/208 no. 4489." Although it has been narrated by Bukhari from Sahl ibn Sa'ad (Allah be pleased with him)!!!
Shaykh Saqqaf said: "This is only anger from anguish, little from a lot and if it wasn't for the fear of lengthening and boring the reader, I would have mentioned many other examples from al-Albani's books whilst reading them. Imagine what I would have found if I had traced everything he wrote?"

[B]AL-ALBANI'S INADEQUACY IN RESEARCH (* Vol. 1 pg. 20)
Shaykh Saqqaf said: "The strange and amazing thing is that Shaykh al-Albani misquoted many great Hadith scholars and disregards them by his lack of knowledge, either directly or indirectly! He crowns himself as an unbeatable source and even tries to imitate the great scholars by using such terms like "Lam aqif ala sanadih", which means "I could not find the chain of narration", or using similar phrases! He also accuses some of the best memorizers of Hadith for lack of attention, even though he is the one best described by that!" Now for some examples to prove our point:

No 9 : (* Pg. 20 no. 1 )
Al-Albani said in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 6/251 no. 1847" (in connection to a narration from Ali): "I could not find the sanad."
Shaykh Saqqaf said: "Ridiculous! If this al-Albani was any scholar of Islam, then he would have known that this Hadith can be found in "Sunan al-Bayhaqi, 7/121" :- Narrated by Abu Sayyed ibn Abi Amarah, who said that Abu al-Abbas Muhammad ibn Yaqoob who said to us that Ahmad ibn Abdal Hamid said that Abu Usama from Sufyan from Salma ibn Kahil from Mu'awiya ibn Soayd who said, 'I found this in my fathers book from Ali (Allah be pleased with him).'"

No 10 : (* Pg. 21 no. 2 )
Al-Albani said in 'Irwa al-Ghalil, 3/283': Hadith of Ibn Umar 'Kisses are usury,' I could not find the sanad."
Shaykh Saqqaf said: "This is outrageously wrong for surely this is mentioned in 'Fatawa al-Shaykh ibn Taymiyya al-Misriyah (3/295)': 'Harb said Obaidullah ibn Mu'az said to us, my father said to me that Soayd from Jiballa who heard Ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) as saying: Kisses are usury.' And these narrators are all authentic according to Ibn Taymiyya!"

No 11 : (* Pg. 21 no. 3 )
Hadith of Ibn Masood (Allah be pleased with him): "The Qur'an was sent down in 7 dialects. Everyone of its verses has an explicit and implicit meaning and every interdiction is clearly defined." Al-Albani stated in his checking of "Mishkat ul-Masabih, 1/80 no. 238" that the author of Mishkat concluded many Ahadith with the words "Narrated in Sharh us-Sunnah," but when he examined the chapter on Ilm and in Fadail al-Qur'an he could not find it!
Shaykh Saqqaf said: "The great scholar has spoken! Wrongly as usual. I wish to say to this fraud that if he is seriously interested in finding this Hadith we suggest he looks in the chapter entitled 'Al-Khusama fi al-Qur'an' from Sharh-us-Sunnah (1/262), and narrated by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (no. 74), Abu Ya'ala in his Musnad (no.5403), Tahawi in Sharh al-Mushkil al-Athar (4/172), Bazzar (3/90 Kashf al-Asrar) and Haythami has mentioned it in Majmoo'a al-Zawaid (7/152) and he has ascribed it to Bazzar, Abu Ya'ala and Tabarani in al-Awsat who said that the narrators are trustworthy."

No 12 : (* Pg. 22 no. 4 )
Al-Albani stated in his "Sahihah, 1/230" while he was commenting on Hadith no. 149: "The believer is the one who does not fill his stomach. . . . The Hadith from Aisha as mentioned by Al-Mundhiri (3/237) and by Al-Hakim from Ibn Abbas, I (Albani) could not find it in Mustadrak al-Hakim after checking it in his 'Thoughts' section."
Shaykh Saqqaf said: "Please don't encourage the public to fall into the void of ignorance which you have tumbled into! If you check Mustadrak al-Hakim (2/12) you will find it! This proves that you are unskilled at using book indexes and the memorization of Hadith!"

No 13 : (* Pg. 23 )
Another ridiculous assumption is made by al-Albani in his "Sahihah, 2/476" where he claims that the Hadith: "Abu Bakr is from me, holding the position of (my) hearing" is not in the book 'Hilya'.
We suggest you look in the book "Hilya , 4/73!"

No 14 : (*Pg. 23 no. 5 )
Al-Albani said in his "Sahihah, 1/638 no. 365, 4th edition": "Yahya ibn Malik has been ignored by the 6 main scholars of Hadith, for he was not mentioned in the books of Tahdhib, Taqreeb or Tadhhib."
Shaykh Saqqaf: "That is what you say! It is not like that, for surely he is mentioned in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib of Hafiz ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (12/19 Dar al-Fikr edition) by the nickname Abu Ayoob al-Maraagi!!

So beware!

FURTHER EXAMPLES OF AL-ALBANI'S CONTRADICTIONS
No 15 : (* Pg. 7 )
Al-Albani has criticized the Imam al-Muhaddith Abu'l Fadl Abdullah ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghimari (Rahimahullah) for mentioning in his book "al-Kanz al-Thameen" a Hadith from Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) with reference to the narrator Abu Maymoona: "Spread salaam, feed the poor. . . ."
Al-Albani said in "Silsilah al-Daeefa, 3/492", after referring this Hadith to Imam Ahmad (2/295) and others: "I say this is a weak sanad, Daraqutni has said 'Qatada from Abu Maymoona from Abu Hurayra: Unknown, and it is to be discarded.'" Al-Albani then said on the same page: "Notice, a slapdash has happened with Suyuti and Munawi when they came across this Hadith, and I have also shown in a previous reference, no. 571, that al-Ghimari was also wrong for mentioning it in al-Kanz."

But in reality it is al-Albani who has become slapdashed, because he has made a big contradiction by using this same sanad in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 3/238" where he says, "Classified by Ahmad (2/295), al-Hakim . . . from Qatada from Abu Maymoona, and he is trusted as in the book 'al-Taqreeb', and Hakim said: 'A Sahih sanad', and al-Dhahabi agreed with Hakim!

So, by Allah glance at this mistake! Who do you think is wrong, the Muhaddith al-Ghimari (also Suyuti and Munawi) or al-Albani?

No 16 : (* Pg. 27 no. 3 )
Al-Albani wanted to weaken a Hadith which allowed women to wear golden jewellery, and in the sanad for that Hadith there is Muhammad ibn Imara. Al-Albani claimed that Abu Haatim said that this narrator was: "Not that strong," see the book "Hayat al-Albani wa-Atharu. . . part 1, pg. 207."
The truth is that Abu Haatim al-Razi said in the book 'al-Jarh wa-Taadeel, 8/45': "A good narrator but not that strong. . ." So note that al-Albani has removed the phrase "A good narrator !"

NB-(al-Albani has made many of the Hadith which forbid Gold to women to be Sahih, in fact other scholars have declared these Hadith to be daeef and abrogated by other Sahih Hadith which allow the wearing of gold by women. One of the well known Shaykh's of the "Salafiyya" - Yusuf al-Qardawi said in his book: 'Islamic awakening between rejection and extremism, pg. 85: "In our own times, Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Albani has come out with an opinion, different from the consensus on permitting women to adorn themselves with gold, which has been accepted by all madhahib for the last fourteen centuries. He not only believes that the isnad of these Ahadith is authentic, but that they have not been revoked. So, he believes, the Ahadith prohibit gold rings and earrings."

So who is the one who violates the ijma of the Ummah with his extreme opinions?!)

No 17 : (* Pg. 37 no. 1 )
Hadith: Mahmood ibn Lubayd said, "Allah's Messenger (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) was informed about a man who had divorced his wife 3 times (in one sitting), so he stood up angrily and said: 'Is he playing with Allah's book whilst I am still amongst you?' Which made a man stand up and say, 'O Allah's Messenger, shall I not kill him?'" (al-Nisai).
Al-Albani declared this Hadith to be Daeef in his checking of "Mishkat al-Masabih, 2/981, 3rd edition, Beirut, 1405 A.H; Maktab al-Islami", where he says: "This man (the narrator) is reliable, but the isnad is broken or incomplete for he did not hear it directly from his father."

Al-Albani then contradicts himself in the book "Ghayatul Maram Takhreej Ahadith al-Halal wal Haram, no. 261, pg. 164, 3rd Edn, Maktab al-Islami, 1405 A.H"; by saying it is SAHIH!!!

No 18 : (* Pg. 37 no. 2)
Hadith: "If one of you was sleeping under the sun, and the shadow covering him shrank, and part of him was in the shadow and the other part of him was in the sun, he should rise up." Al-Albani declared this Hadith to be SAHIH in "Sahih al-Jami al-Sagheer wa Ziyadatuh (1/266/761)", but then contradicts himself by saying it is DAEEF in his checking of "Mishkat ul-Masabih, 3/1337 no. 4725, 3rd Ed" and he has referred it to the Sunan of Abu Dawood!"
No 19 : (* Pg. 38 no. 3 )
Hadith: "The Friday prayer is obligatory on every Muslim." Al-Albani rated this Hadith to be DAEEF in his checking of "Mishkat al-Masabih, 1/434", and said: "Its narrators are reliable but it is discontinuous as is indicated by Abu Dawood". He then contradicts himself in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 3/54 no. 592", and says it is SAHIH!!!
So beware o wise men!

No 20 : (* Pg. 38 no. 4 )
Al-Albani has made another contradiction. He has trusted Al-Muharrar ibn Abu Hurayra in one place and then weakened him in another. Al-Albani certifies in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 4/301" that Muharrar is a trustee with Allah's help, and Hafiz (Ibn Hajar) saying about him "accepted", is not accepted, and therefore the sanad is Sahih.
He then contradicts himself in "Sahihah 4/156" where he makes the sanad DAEEF by saying: "The narrators in the sanad are all Bukhari's (i.e.; used by Imam al-Bukhari) men, except for al-Muharrar who is one of the men of Nisai and Ibn Majah only. He was not trusted accept by Ibn Hibban, and that's why al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar did not trust him, Instead he only said 'accepted!'"



No 21 : (* Pg. 39 no. 5 )
Hadith: Abdallah ibn Amr (Allah be pleased with him): "The Friday prayer is incumbent on whoever heard the call" (Abu Dawood). Al-Albani stated that this Hadith was HASAN in "Irwa al-Ghalil 3/58", he then contradicts himself by saying it is DAEEF in "Mishkatul Masabih 1/434 no 1375"!!!

No 22 : (* Pg. 39 no. 6 )
Hadith: Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) used to say : "Do not be hard on yourself, otherwise Allah will be hard on you. When a people were hard on themselves, then Allah was hard on them." (Abu Dawood)
Al-Albani stated that this Hadith was DAEEF in his checking of "Mishkat, 1/64", but he then contradicts himself by saying that this Hadith is HASAN in "Ghayatul Maram, pg. 141"!!

No 23: (* Pg. 40 no. 7 )
Hadith of Sayyida Aisha (Allah be pleased with her): "Whoever tells you that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to urinate while standing, do not believe him. He never urinated unless he was sitting." (Ahmad, Nisai and Tirmidhi )
Al-Albani said that this sanad was DAEEF in "Mishkat 1/117." He then contradicts himself by saying it is SAHIH in "Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah 1/345 no. 201"!!!

So take a glance dear reader!

No 24 : (* Pg. 40 no. 8 )
Hadith "There are three which the angels will never approach: The corpse of a disbeliever, a man who wears ladies perfume, and one who has had sex until he performs ablution" (Abu Dawood).
Al-Albani corrected this Hadith in "Sahih al-Jami al-Sagheer wa Ziyadatuh, 3/71 no. 3056" by saying it was HASAN in the checking of "Al-Targhib 1/91" [Also said to be hasan in the English translation of 'The Etiquettes of Marriage and Wedding, pg. 11]. He then makes an obvious contradiction by saying that the same Hadith was DAEEF in his checking of "Mishkatul-Masabih, 1/144 no. 464" and says that the narrators are trustworthy but the chain is broken between al-hasan al-Basri and Ammar (Allah be pleased with him) as al-Mundhiri had said in al-Targhib (1/91)!!

No 25 : (* Pg. 42 no. 10 )
It reached Malik (Rahimahullah) that Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) used to shorten his prayer, in distances such as between Makkah and Ta'if or between Makkah and Usfan or between Makkah and Jeddah. . . .
Al-Albani has weakened it in "Mishkat, 1/426 no. 1351", and then contradicts himself by saying it is SAHIH in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 3/14"!!

No 26 : (* Pg. 43 no. 12 )
Hadith: "Leave the Ethiopians as long as they leave you, because no one takes out the treasure of the Ka'ba except the one with the two weak legs from Ethiopia." Al-Albani has weakened this Hadith in his checking of "Mishkat 3/1495 no. 5429" by saying: "The sanad is DAEEF." But then he contradicts himself as is his habit, by correcting it in "Sahihah, 2/415 no. 772."
An example of al-Albani praising someone in one place and then disparaging him in another place in his books

No 27 : (* Pg. 32 )
He praises Shaykh Habib al-Rahman al-Azami in the book 'Sahih al Targhib wa Tarhib, page 63', where he says: "I want you to know one of the things that encouraged me to. . . . which has been commented by the famous and respected scholar Shaykh Habib al-Rahman al-Azami" . . . . And he also said on the same page, "And what made me more anxious for it, is that its checker, the respected Shaykh Habib al-Rahman al-Azami has announced. . . ."
Al-Albani thus praises Shaykh al-Azami in the above mentioned book; but then makes a contradiction in the introduction to 'Adaab uz Zufaaf (The Etiquettes of Marriage and Wedding), new edition page 8', where he said: "Al-Ansari has used in the end of his letter, one of the enemies of the Sunnah, Hadith and Tawhid, who is famous for that, is Shaykh Habib al-Rahman al-Azami. . . . . For his cowardliness and lack of scholarly deduction. . . . ."

NB - (The above quotation from Adaab uz Zufaaf is not found in the English translation by his supporters, which shows that they deliberately avoided translating certain parts of the whole work).

So have a glance at this!

SELECTED TRANSLATIONS FROM VOLUME 2
No 28 : (* Pg. 143 no. 1 )
Hadith of Abi Barza (Allah be pleased with him): "By Allah, you will not find a man more just than me" (Sunan al-Nisai, 7/120 no. 4103).
Al-Albani said that this Hadith was SAHIH in "Sahih al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 6/105 no. 6978", and then he astonishingly contradicts himself by saying it is DAEEF in "Daeef Sunan al-Nisai, pg. 164 no. 287."



No 29 : (* Pg. 144 no. 2 )
Hadith of Harmala ibn Amru al-Aslami from his Uncle: "Throw pebbles at the Jimar by putting the extremity of the thumb on the fore-finger." (Sahih Ibn Khuzaima, 4/276-277 no. 2874)
Al-Albani acknowledged its weakness in "Sahih Ibn Khuzaima" by saying that the sanad was DAEEF, but then contradicts himself by saying it is SAHIH in "Sahih al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 1/312 no. 923!"

No 30 : (* Pg. 144 no. 3 )
Hadith of Sayyidina Jabir ibn Abdullah (Allah be pleased with him): "The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was asked about the sexually defiled [junubi]. . . can he eat, or sleep. . . He said :'Yes, when this person makes wudhu.'" (Ibn Khuzaima no. 217 and Ibn Majah no. 592).
Al-Albani has admitted its weakness in his comments on "Ibn Khuzaima, 1/108 no. 217", but then contradicts himself by correcting the above Hadith in "Sahih Ibn Majah, 1/96 no. 482 "!!

No 31 : (* Pg. 145 no. 4 )
Hadith of Aisha (Allah be pleased with her): "A vessel as a vessel and food as food" (Nisai, 7/71 no. 3957).
Al-Albani said that it was SAHIH in "Sahih al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 2/13 no. 1462", but then contradicts himself in "Daeef Sunan al-Nisai, no. 263 pg. 157", by saying it is DAEEF!!!

No 32 : (* Pg. 145 no. 5 )
Hadith of Anas (Allah be pleased with him): "Let each one of you ask Allah for all his needs, even for his sandal thong if it gets cut."
Al-Albani said that the above Hadith was HASAN in his checking of "Mishkat, 2/696 no. 2251 and 2252", but then contradicts himself in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 5/69 no. 4947 and 4948"!!!

No 33 : (* Pg. 146 no. 6 )
Hadith of Abu Dharr (Allah be pleased with him): "If you want to fast, then fast in the white shining nights of the 13th, 14th and 15th."
Al-Albani declared it to be DAEEF in "Daeef al-Nisai, pg. 84" and in his comments on "Ibn Khuzaima, 3/302 no. 2127", but then contradicts himself by calling it SAHIH in "Sahih al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 2/10 no. 1448" and also corrected it in "Sahih al-Nisai, 3/902 no. 4021"!!

So what a big contradiction!

NB- (Al-Albani mentioned this Hadith in 'Sahih al-Nisai' and in 'Daeef al-Nisai', which proves that he is unaware of what he has and is classifying, how inept!)

No 34 : (* Pg. 147 no. 7 )
Hadith of Sayyida Maymoonah (Allah be pleased with her): "There is nobody who has taken a loan and it is in the knowledge of Allah. . . ." (Nisai, 7/315 and others).
Al-Albani said in "Daeef al-Nisai, pg 190": "Sahih, except for the part al-Dunya." Then he contradicts himself in "