AL-ALBANI,

Concise Guide to
the Chief Innovator of Our Time*

by GF Haddad
Nasir al-Albani is the arch-innovator of the Wahhabis and "Salafis" in
our time. A watch repairman by trade, al-Albani is a self-taught
claimant to hadith scholarship who has no known teacher in any of the
Islamic sciences and has admitted not to have memorized the Book of
Allah nor any book of hadith, fiqh, `aqîda, usûl, or grammar. He
achieved fame by attacking the great scholars of Ahl al-Sunna and
reviling the science of fiqh with especial malice towards the school of
his father who was a Hanafi jurist. A rabid reviler of the Friends of Allah
and the Sufis, he was expelled from Syria then Saudi Arabia and lived
in Amman, Jordan under house arrest until his death in 1999. He
remains the qibla of the people of Innovation, self-styled re-formers of
Islam, and other "Salafi" and Wahhabi sympathizers, and the preferred
author of book merchants and many uneducated Muslims.Most of the
contemporary Sunni scholars warned of his heresy and many of them
wrote articles or full-length works against him such as:

- The Indian hadith scholar Habib al-Rahman al-A`zami who wrote

al-Albani Shudhudhuh wa Akhta'uh ("Al-Albani's Aberrations and
Errors") in four volumes.

- The Syrian scholar Muhammad Sa`id Ramadan al-Buti who wrote

the two classics al-Lamadhhabiyya Akhtaru Bid`atin Tuhaddidu
al-Shari`a al-Islamiyya ("Not Following A School of Jurisprudence is
the Most Dangerous Innovation Threatening Islamic Sacred Law") and
al-Salafiyya Marhalatun Zamaniyyatun Mubaraka La
Madhhabun Islami ("The `Way of the Early Muslims' Was A Blessed
Historical Epoch, Not An Islamic School of Thought")

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

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

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- The Syrian hadith scholar `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda who wrote
Radd `ala Abatil wa Iftira'at Nasir al-Albani wa Sahibihi
Sabiqan Zuhayr al-Shawish wa Mu'azirihima ("Refutation of the
Falsehoods and Fabrications of Nasir al-Albani and his Former Friend
Zuhayr al-Shawish and their Supporters").

- The Egyptian Hadith scholar Muhammad `Awwama who wrote

Adab al-Ikhtilaf ("The Proper Manners of Expressing Difference of
Opinion").

- The Egyptian hadith scholar Mahmud Sa`id Mamduh who wrote

Wusul al-Tahani bi Ithbat Sunniyyat al-Subha wa al-Radd `ala
al-Albani ("The Alighting of Mutual Benefit and Confirmation that the
Dhikr-Beads are a Sunna in Refutation of al-Albani") and Tanbih al-
Muslim ila Ta`addi al-Albani `ala Sahih Muslim ("Warning to the
Muslim Concerning al-Albani's Attack on Sahih Muslim").

- The Saudi hadith scholar Isma`il ibn Muhammad al-Ansar who

wrote Ta`aqqubat `ala "Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da`ifa wa al-
Mawdu`a" li al-Albani ("Critique of al-Albani's Book on Weak and
Forged Hadiths"), Tashih Salat al-Tarawih `Ishrina Rak`atan wa al-
Radd `ala al-Albani fi Tad`ifih ("Establishing as Correct the Tarawih
Salat in Twenty Rak`as and the Refutation of Its Weakening by al-
Albani"), and Ibahat al-Tahalli bi al-Dhahab al-Muhallaq li al-Nisa'
wa al-Radd `ala al-Albani fi Tahrimih ("The Licitness of Wearing
Gold Jewelry for Women Contrary to al-Albani's Prohibition of it").

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

- The Director of Religious Endowments in Dubai, `Isa ibn `Abd Allah

ibn Mani` al-Himyari who wrote al-I`lam bi Istihbab Shadd al-
Rihal li Ziyarati Qabri Khayr al-Anam ("The Notification Concerning
the Recommendation of Travelling to Visit the Grave of the Best of
Creation ) and al-Bid`a al-Hasana Aslun Min Usul al-Tashri` ("The
Excellent Innovation Is One of the Sources of Islamic Legislation").

- The Minister of Islamic Affairs and Religious Endowments in the

United Arab Emirates Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khazraji
who wrote the article al-Albani: Tatarrufatuh ("Al-Albani's Extremist
Positions").

- The Syrian scholar Firas Muhammad Walid Ways in his edition of

Ibn al-Mulaqqin's Sunniyyat al-Jumu`a al-Qabliyya ("The Sunna

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Prayers That Must Precede Salat al-Jumu`a").

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

al-Naskh.

- The Jordanian scholar As`ad Salim Tayyim who wrote Bayan

Awham al-Albani fi Tahqiqihi li Kitab Fadl al-Salat `ala al-Nabi .

- The Jordanian scholar Hasan `Ali al-Saqqaf who wrote the two-
volume Tanaqudat al-Albani al-Wadiha fi ma Waqa`a fi Tashih al-
Ahadith wa Tad`ifiha min Akhta' wa Ghaltat ("Albani's Patent Self-
Contradictions in the Mistakes and Blunders He Committed While
Declaring Hadiths to be Sound or Weak"), Ihtijaj al-Kha'ib bi `Ibarat
man Idda`a al-Ijma` fa Huwa Kadhib ("The Loser's Recourse to the
Phrase: `Whoever Claims Consensus Is a Liar!'"), al-Qawl al-Thabtu fi
Siyami Yawm al-Sabt ("The Firm Discourse Concerning Fasting on
Saturdays"), al-Lajif al-Dhu`af li al-Mutala`ib bi Ahkam al-I`tikaf
("The Lethal Strike Against Him Who Toys with the Rulings of I`tikaf),
Sahih Sifat Salat al-Nabi Sallallahu `alayhi wa Sallam ("The
Correct Description of the Prophet's Prayer "), I`lam al-Kha'id bi
Tahrim al-Qur'an `ala al-Junub wa al-Ha'id ("The Appraisal of the
Meddler in the Interdiction of the Qur'an to those in a State of Major
Defilement and Menstruating Women"), Talqih al-Fuhum al-`Aliya
("The Inculcation of Lofty Discernment"), and Sahih Sharh al-`Aqida
al-Tahawiyya ("The Correct Explanation of al-Tahawi's Statement of
Islamic Doctrine").

Among Albani's innovations in the Religion:

1- In his book Adab al-Zafaf he prohibits women from wearing gold

jewelry - rings, bracelets, and chains - despite the Consensus of the
Ulema permitting it.

2- He claims that 2.5% zakât is not due on money obtained from

commerce, i.e. the main activity whereby money circulates among
Muslims.

3- He absolutely prohibits fasting on Saturdays.

4- He prohibits retreat (i`tikaf) in any but the Three Mosques.

5- He claims that it is lawful to eat in Ramadan before Maghrib as

defined by the Law, and similarly after the true dawn.

6- He compares Hanafi fiqh to the Gospel.1

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7- He calls people to imitate him rather than the Imams of the Salaf
such as the founders of the Four Schools, and his followers invalidate
the hadiths that contradict his views.

8- He prohibits the make-up performance of prayers missed

intentionally.

9- He claims that it is permissible for menstruating women and those in

a state of major defilement (junub) to recite, touch, and carry the
Qur'an.

10- He claims over and over that among the innovations in religion
existent in Madina is the persistence of the Prophet's grave in the
mosque.

11- He claims that whoever travels intending to visit the Prophet or to

ask him for his intercession is a misguided innovator.

12- He claims that whoever carries dhikr-beads in his hand to

remember Allah Most High is misguided and innovating.

13- He invented a location to Allah Most High above the Throne which
he named al-makân al-`adamî - "the non-existent place."

14- He claims in Tamam al-Minna that masturbation does not annul

one's fast.

15- He published "corrected" editions of the two Sahihs of al-Bukhari

and Muslim, which he deceitfully called "Abridgments" (mukhtasar) in
violation of the integrity of these motherbooks.

16- He published newly-styled editions of the Four Sunan, al-Bukhari's

al-Adab al-Mufrad, al-Mundhiri's al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib, and al-Suyuti's
al-Jami` al-Saghir, each of which he split into two works, respectively
prefixed Sahih and Da`if in violation of the integrity of these
motherbooks.

17- He said: "Many of those who interpret figuratively [the Divine

Attributes] are not heretics (zanâdiqa), but they say what heretics say,"
and "figurative interpretation is the very same as nullification (al-ta'wîl
`ayn al-ta`tîl)."2

18- He suggests that al-Bukhari is a disbeliever for interpreting the

Divine Face as dominion or sovereignty (mulk) in the verse (Everything
will perish save His countenance( (28:88) in the book of Tafsir in his
Sahih: "Except His wajh means except His mulk, and it is also said:

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Except whatever was for the sake of His countenance." Albani blurts
out: "No true believer would say such a thing" and "We should consider
al-Bukhari innocent of that statement."3

19- In imitation of the Mu`tazila, tawassul (seeking means), istighâtha

(asking for help), and tashaffu` (seeking intercession) through the
Prophet or one of the Awliyâ' he declared prohibited acts in Islam
(harâm) tantamount to idolatry (shirk) in his booklet al-Tawassul as did
his friends Bin Baz and those who obey them such as al-Qahtani in al-
Wala' wa al-Bara' and others, in flat rejection of the numerous sound
and explicit narrations to that effect, such as al-Bukhari's narration of
the Prophet from Ibn `Umar - Allah be well-pleased with him -: "Truly
the sun shall draw so near on the Day of Resurrection that sweat shall
reach to the mid-ear, whereupon they shall ask (istaghâthû) help from
Adam - upon him peace -, then from Musa - upon him peace - , then
from Muhammad who will intercede (fa yashfa`u)... and that day Allah
shall raise him to an Exalted Station, so that all those who are standing
[including the unbelievers] shall glorify him (yahmaduhu ahlu al-jam`i
kulluhum)."

20- He denies that the name of the Angel of death is `Azrâ'îl and
claims such a name has no basis other than Israelite reports, although
`Iyad reports the Consensus on the Umma on it in al-Shifa'.

21- Like the rest of Wahhabi and "Salafi" innovators he declares

Ash`aris, Maturidis, and Sufis to be outside the fold of Ahl al-Sunna and
even outside the fold of Islam, although Allah Most High and His
Prophet praised them! Upon revelation of the verse (Allah shall bring a
people whom He loves and who love Him( (5:54), the Prophet pointed
to Abu Musa al-Ash`ari - Allah be well-pleased with him - and said:
"They are that man's People."4 Al-Qushayri, Ibn `Asakir, al-Bayhaqi, Ibn
al-Subki, and others said that the followers of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash`ari -
i.e. Ash`aris who were mostly Sufis - are included among Abu Musa's
People for in every place that a people are affiliated to a Prophet, what
is meant is the followers of that Prophet. As for Maturidis, they are
referred to in the narration of the Prophet from Bishr al-Khath`ami or
al-Ghanawi with a sound (sahîh) chain according to al-Hakim, al-
Dhahabi, al-Suyuti, and al-Haythami: "Truly you shall conquer
Constantinople and truly what a wonderful leader will her leader be
[Mehmet Fatih Sultan - Allah be well-pleased with him -], and truly what
a wonderful army will that army be!" Both the leader and his army
were classic Hanafi Maturidis and it is known that Mehmet Fatih loved
and respected Sufis, practiced tawassul, and followed a Shaykh.
Moreover, enmity against Ash`aris, Maturidis, and Sufis, is nifâq and
enmity against the Umma of Islam as most of the Ulema of Islam are
thus described.

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22- In at least five of his books5 he calls for the demolition of the
Green Dome of the Prophet's Mosque in al-Madina al-Munawwara and
for taking the Prophet's grave outside the Mosque.

23- He states: "I have found no evidence for the Prophet's hearing of
the salaam of those who greet him at his grave" and "I do not know
from where Ibn Taymiyya took his claim6 that he hears the salaam
from someone near." This and the previous item are among his greater
enormities and bear the unmistakable signature of innovation and
deviation.7

24- He considers it an innovation to visit relatives, neighbors, or friends

on the day of `Eid and prohibits it.8

25- He gave the fatwa that Muslims should exit Palestine en masse and
leave it to the Jews as it is part the Abode of War (dâr al-harb).9

26- He advocates in his Salat al-Nabi , the formula "Peace and

blessings upon the Prophet" instead of "upon you, O Prophet" in the
tashahhud in contradiction of the Four Sunni Schools, on the basis of a
hadith of Ibn Mas`ud whereby the Companions used the indirect-
speech formula after the passing of the Prophet . But the Prophet
himself instructed them to pray exactly as he prayed saying: "Peace
and blessings upon you, O Prophet" without telling them to change it
after his death, nor did the major Companions (whose Sunna we were
ordered to imitate together with that of the Prophet ), such as Abu Bakr
and `Umar, teach the Companions and Successors otherwise!

27- He prohibits praying more than 11 rak`as in Tarawih prayers on the

grounds that the Prophet never did and in blatant rejection of his
explicit command to follow the Sunna of the well-guided Caliphs after
him.

28- He declares that adding more to 11 supererogatory rak`as in the

late night prayer (tahajjud) is an innovation rather than an act of
obedience on the grounds that the Prophet "never ever prayed one
hundred rak`as in his whole lifetime"10 although the Ulema agree that
there is no prescribed limit to something which the Prophet
commanded without specifically quantifying it, and he said in three
authentic narrations: "Know that the best of your good deeds is
prayer,"11 "Prayer is a light,"12 and "The night prayer is in cycles of
two [rak`as] and when one of you fears the rising of the dawn, let him
pray a single one."13 It is also established in many authentic
narrations collected by Imam `Abd al-Hayy al-Lacknawi in the second
part of his Iqamat al-Hujja `ala anna al-Ikthar min al-Ta`abbudi Laysa bi

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Bid`a that the Companions and Salaf prayed hundreds if not thousands
of rak`as in every twenty-four hours!

29- He considers it an innovation to pray four rak`as between the two

adhâns of Jumu`a and before Salat, although it is authentically
narrated that "the Prophet prayed four rak`as before Jumu`a and four
rak`as after it."14

30- He declares it prohibited (harâm) and an innovation to lengthen the

beard over a fistful's length although there is no proof for such a claim
in the whole Law and none of the Ulema ever said it before him.15

31- He gives free rein to his propensity to insult and vilify the Ulema of
the past as well as his contemporaries. As a result it is difficult to wade
through his writings without being affected by the nefarious spirit that
permeates them. For example, he considers previous editors and
commentators of al-Bukhari's al-Adab al-Mufrad ("Book of Manners"!)
"sinful," "unbearably ignorant," and even "liars" and "thieves." Of one
he says: "There are so many weak hadiths [in his choice]... that it is an
unislamic practice"; of another: "It is ignorance which must not be
tolerated"; of another: "Forgery and open lie... His edition is stolen
[from a previous one]."16 Such examples actually fill a book compiled
by Shaykh Hasan `Ali al-Saqqaf and titled Qamus Shata'im al-Albani wa
Alfazihi al-Munkara al-Lati Yatluquha `ala `Ulama' al-Umma ("Dictionary
of al-Albani's Insults and the Heinous Words He Uses Against the
Scholars of the Muslim Community").

32- He revived Ibn Hazm's anti-madhhabî claim that differences can

never be a mercy in any case but are always a curse on the basis of
the verse (If it had been from other than Allah they would have found
therein much discrepancy( (4:82).17 Imam al-Nawawi long since
refuted this view in his commentary on Sahih Muslim where he said: "If
something is a mercy, it is not necessary for its opposite to be the
opposite of mercy. No-one makes this binding and no-one even says
this, except an ignoramus or one who affects ignorance." Similarly, al-
Munawi said in Fayd al-Qadir: "This is a contrivance that showed up on
the part of some of those who have sickness in their heart."

33- He expresses hatred for those who read Imam al-Busiri's

masterpiece, Qasidat al-Burda, and calls them cretins (mahâbîl),18 i.e.
millions of Muslims past and present including the likes of Imams Ibn
Hajar al-`Asqalani, al-Sakhawi, and al-Suyuti who all included it as
required reading in the Islamic curriculum.19

34- He perpetuates lies if they detract from Ash`aris, such as his

remark that Imam Sayf al-Din al-Amidi did not pray,20 although Dr.

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Hasan al-Shafi`i in his massive biography entitled al-Amidi wa Ara'uhu
al-Kalamiyya showed that the story that al-Amidi did not pray was a
forgery put into circulation during the campaign waged by Imam Ibn al-
Salah against him for teaching logic and philosophy in Damascus.

35- He perpetuates the false claim first made by Munir Agha the
founder of the Egyptian Salafiyya Press, that Imam Abu Muhammad al-
Juwayni - the father of Imam al-Haramayn - "repented" from Ash`ari
doctrine and supposedly authored a tract titled Risala fi Ithbat al-Istiwâ'
wa al-Fawqiyya ("Epistle on the Assertion of Establishment and
Aboveness").21 This spurious attribution continues to be promoted
without verification - for obvious reasons - by modern-day "Salafis" who
adduce it to forward the claim that al-Juwayni embraced
anthropomorphist concepts. The Risala in question is not mentioned in
any of the bibliographical and biographical sources nor does al-
Dhahabi cite it in his encyclopedia of anthropomorphist views entitled
al-`Uluw. More conclusively, it is written in modern argumentative style
and reflects typically contemporary anthropomorphist obsessions.

36- He derides the fuqahâ' of the Umma for accepting - in their

massive majority - the hadith of Mu`adh ibn Jabal on ijtihâd as
authentic then rejects the definition of knowledge (`ilm) in Islam as
pertaining to fiqh but claims that it pertains only to hadith,22 although
the Ulema of the Salaf explicitly said that a hadith master without fiqh
is a misguided innovator! And he defines the `âlim as "meaning, of
course, the `Salafi' `âlim, not the `Khalafi [late Egyptian Shaykh]
Ghazali'!"23 Al-Qurtubi said: "One of the knowers of Allah said: A
certain group that has not yet come up in our time but shall show up at
the end of time, will curse the scholars and insult the jurists."24

NOTES

1 In his commentary on al-Mundhiri's Mukhtasar Sahih Muslim, 3rd ed.

(Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1977, p. 548). This phrase was removed
from later editions.

2 Fatawa (p. 522-523) and Mukhtasar al-`Uluw (p. 23f.).

3 Fatawa (p. 523).

4 Narrated from `Iyad by Ibn Abi Shayba and al-Hakim who said it is
sahîh by Muslim's criterion, and by al-Tabarani with a sound chain as
stated by al-Haythami.

5 Ahkam al-Jana'iz wa Bida`uha, Talkhis Ahkam al-Jana'iz, Tahdhir al-

Sajid, Hijjat al-Nabi, and Manasik al-Hajj wa al-`Umra.

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6 In Majmu`a al-Fatawa (27:384).

7 In his notes on Nu`man al-Alusi's al-Ayat al-Bayyinat (p. 80) and his
Silsila Da`ifa (#203).

8 Fatawa (p. 61-63).

9 Fatawa (p. 18).

10 Fatawa (p. 315-316).

11 Narrated as part of a longer hadith from Thawban with sound chains

by Ibn Majah and Ahmad. Malik cites it in his Muwatta'.

12 Part of a longer hadith narrated from Abu Malik al-Ash`ari (Ka`b ibn
`Asim) by Muslim, al-Tirmidhi (hasan sahîh), al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah,
Ahmad, and al-Darimi.

13 Narrated from Ibn `Umar in the Nine Books.

14 With a fair chain from `Ali and Ibn `Abbas as stated by al-`Iraqi in
Tarh al-Tathrib (3:42), Ibn Hajar in Talkhis al-Habir (2:74), and al-
Tahanawi in I`la' al-Sunan (7:9).

15 Fatawa (p. 53).

16 Sahih al-Adab al-Mufrad (Introduction, p. 15, 20, 26).

17 Al-Silsila al-Da`ifa (1:76 #57).

18 Introduction to al-San`ani's Raf` al-Astar (p. 24-25).

19 Cf. al-Suyuti, Husn al-Muhadara (Cairo 1293 ed. 1:260) and al-
Sakhawi, in A.J. Arberry, Sakhawiana: A Study Based on the Chester
Beatty Ms. Arab. 773 (London: Emery Walker Ltd., 1951, p. 5-9).

20 In his notes to Nu`man al-Alusi's al-Ayat al-Bayyinat (p. 88).

21 Mukhtasar al-`Uluw (p. 277).

22 In his notes on al-Qasimi's al-Mash `ala al-Jawrabayn (p. 38). On the

hadith of Mu`adh see our May 1999 post titled, "[4] Probativeness of
the Sunna" and Note 5 in that post.

23 Tahrim Alat al-Tarab (p. 160).

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24 Al-Qurtubi, Tafsir (7:191).

Wal-'Aqibatu lil-Muttaqin.

GF Haddad ©
Typical response by H.A.M., a 'Salafiy',
not caring much about the evidence put forward, as above:

Salaam,

What is all this nonsense on your website about refuting so and so???
Since when did the Prophet or his companions sit back behind the veil
and slander their muslims brothers and sisters??? Where did you get
this nonsense?

Fear Allah brother. A muslim does not attack his muslim brother/sister.
Didn't the Prophet say the one who testifies there is no god except
Allah his life is sacred? So if his life is sacred, what makes you think
you can sit up and slander him? In the grave, will not Allah punish
those who slandered/backbited? So what makes you slander the
righteous scholars of the ummah?

Do you know their relationship with Allah? It maybe so that their

relationship with Allah is far more firmer than yours or mine, so hold
that tongue brother and Fear Allah.

Wa salaamu alaykum,

We are convinced that it is not slandering to say where one scholar has
failed and is wrong and that it is our duty to warn the Muslims about it
for the safeguarding of our doctrin and our dîn.

Concerning this typical reaction Sidi GFH wrote the following:

“There are notable exceptions in the Law to the prohibition of slander,

i.e. of saying something unpleasant but true.

From the strictest viewpoint of the Law, the Prophet upon him blessings
and peace, did mention someone's bad characteristics to warn others
of the danger they represented. Another time he was reported to say:
"Until when will you refrain from mentioning the wrongdoer [for the
wrong they do]? Mention them so people can protect themselves from
them!" or something to that effect.

So the prohibition of slander and backbiting excludes those that make

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no effort whatsoever to hide their transgressions nor are they
repentent.

Furthermore, Allah Most High said:

Allah does not like the announcing of evil in public speech except by
one who has been wronged; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing. (4:148)

So the prohibition of slander and backbiting also excludes warning

about a wrongdoer by someone that has been wronged.

Most relevantly here, such prohibition also excludes warning about

innovators. As Imam Ahmad said, this is not backbiting nor slander but
obligatory nasiha by and for those that truly fear Allah Most High, was-
Salam.”

Hajj Gibril

[The above text is an excerpt of Shaykh Gibril F Haddad's book:

"Albani and His Friends", which you can search and order on the Web.]

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