Al-Albaani and the False Prophet

The Shaikh said, “Not too long ago I had a meeting with a man who claimed that he was the Mahdi. So we met and I put this frank question to him:

“Are you the Mahdi meaning a Muslim who is rightly guided, a righteous Muslim, or are you ‘the’ Mahdi about whose arrival we have been given glad tidings?”

He said, “No. I am the Mahdi about whose coming glad tidings have been mentioned in the hadiths.” Then he started to speak.

I wanted to know how best to tackle him, so I listened to him and then he said, “Some of the hadiths regarding the Mahdi are authentic and others are weak.” This was sound.

After he finished, I said, “Can I ask you a question?”

He said, “Please do [tafaddal].”

I said, “If you could please give us some of the authentic and weak hadiths you just alluded to.”

So the miskeen was at his wit’s end and did not know what to say. He twisted and turned, saying what he had said before, until finally he said, “Tonight, I will not speak about these hadiths.”

Interjector: Allaahu Akbar!

Al-Albaani: He didn’t want to speak. So I said, “Why? Do you think this discussion is going to be according to how you want it? I asked you a question, you have to answer. You claim to be the Mahdi … the one who is a guide for the people, amongst the people are scholars and ignorant folk, righteous people and sinners–the real [Imaam] Mahdi is supposed to bear [the responsibility of guiding] the people not the other way round, with the people bearing [the responsibility of guiding] him. Because the Mahdi is all good, he is full of knowledge and so on. For this reason, I ask that you present us with some of the authentic and weak hadiths [that you alluded to].”

He said, “Tomorrow, I will bring them.”

I said, “No. I will not continue until tomorrow, and who can guarantee for himself that he will live until tomorrow?”

[Again] he started to go this way and that.

At the end I said to him, “Okay! We will give up half of the request but not the other. I asked you to bring some authentic and weak hadiths, I will let you off regarding the weak: bring some of the authentic ones.”

But he had nothing, and if he had mentioned any, they would obviously have been a proof against him. He was a man from whose appearance you wouldn’t judge him to be a Muslim: clean-shaven, head uncovered, obese, and he couldn’t recite an aayah correctly as it had been revealed by Allaah.

And the strange thing was that this miskeen thought that he was a Messenger from Allaah.

Interjector: His brother followed him.

Al-Albaani: Sorry?

Interjector: The person who followed him was his brother.

Al-Albaani: Right, his brother followed him. So he said that he was a messenger from Allaah but not a prophet. Look at the miguidance?! He had made a plan so that he could deceive the people: you know the clear hadiths, “There is no prophet after me …” but because of his ignorance it seems as though he did not picture there to be a hadith which says, “There is no messenger after me,” and that is why he claimed to be a messenger but not a prophet.

So I said to him, “You say you are a messenger …” and he said that Allaah revealed the Quraan to him afresh yet along with that he couldn’t even read it properly, making clear mistakes when reading it, reading a dammah in the place of a fathah and a fathah in the place of a dammah and so on.

Interjector: Had he memorised the Quraan?

Al-Albaani: No … only some aayahs. He brought a mushaf, and the mushaf has all the diacritical marks yet along with that he still made mistakes. So I said to him, “How can revelation have come down upon you … if we were to read the Quraan and make a mistake there would be nothing strange about that because it was not revealed to us afresh: [but] how can you make mistakes when reading it [since you claim it was revealed to you all over again]?”

I asked him some questions to uncover his ignorance and misguidance, saying, “What do you believe, are the messengers infallible or not?”

He said, “Infallible in some things and not others.”

I said, “Clarify.”

He said, “Infallible in their delivery of the message and not infallible in what is besides that.”

I said, “Do you have anything else you want to add?”

He said, “No.”

So I said, “So [according to what you just said], it is possible that they can steal, it is possible that they can fornicate and so on.”

Naturally, this was a strong doubt [I raised concerning his futile definition, a definition which, once this doubt was raised] he did not apply to himself, but instead, as was his habit, he fled from it.

I asked him [moving the argument along since he couldn’t answer the previous one], “So a messenger is infallible in delivering the message?”

He said, “Yes.”

I said, “Okay, but just an hour ago you [in fact] made it clear that you are not infallible: the Quraan has been sent down to you again [as you claim] but you couldn’t read it as it has been sent to you, afresh. So this is a proof that you are not infallible and following on from that, you are not a messenger as you claim.”

The debate continued like this between me and him until finally I said to him, “Is there a difference between a messenger and a prophet?” I wanted to see what the difference [in his eyes] was since he had confined himself to being a messenger and not a prophet.

He said, “There is a difference but no-one except Allaah knows it .”

I said, “Okay. You’re a messenger and not a prophet?”

He said, “Yes.”

So I said, “That is a proof that you know a messenger differs from a prophet: so how does this go with your statement that, ‘No-one knows the difference except Allaah?’”

In summary, the group of people present detected his misguidance and his ignorance of the Sharee’ah.

And subhaanallaah! His brother … in the end I admonished both of them, saying to his brother, “Fear Allaah. The least that can be said about your brother is that the issue has become obscure to him [such that he sees himself to be correct] and that he is a person imagining things and is deluded and so on. Don’t you see how he is asked questions but cannot answer them?”

And I challenged them, saying, “What do you know about the sharee’ah? Do you know how the Prophet used to pray? I challenge you now. Stand and pray.”

He said, “I don’t want to pray.”

… during the debate between me and him, this person, what was his name, Khaleel?

Interjector: Khaleel … Khaleel is his brother’s name.

Al-Albaani: When I was debating with the self-professed Mahdi, his brother would interrupt. [I would say to him], ‘Yaa akhi, this is not the way to debate. I’m speaking to your brother why are you interfering? If your brother allows you to speak I have no objection but I’m only one person and can only speak to either you or him …” because there was a chair here and there and his brother was next to me. “So I speak with him one time and the other with you … who am I supposed to talk to.” In order to defend his brother’s mistake [the claimant to prophethood] said, “I give him permission to speak.”

So I said, “Then we will leave you [i.e., the false Mahdi] now and speak to your brother. When we asked him [i.e., your brother, the false Mahdi] to get up and pray … who didn’t want to? [He didn't], your brother, the ‘Mahdi.’ So we said okay.

[Now], you’re his brother–you stand and pray so we can see.’”

He said, “No. Not until he [my brother, the ‘Mahdi’] gives me permission.”

[I said], “He [already] has given you permission … didn’t he say that he gives you permission to say or do anything?”

In summary, their ignorance has blinded their hearts.

You know the [false] Mahdi whose name is Ghulaam Ahmad al-Qadiyani, he was a man who had knowledge, a complete Dajjaal with knowledge, but these miskeens are ignorant people who don’t know a thing from the Sharee’ah and don’t [even] know how to read the Quraan … they don’t know the language … they don’t know anything.”

Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 28.

Are the Aayahs About Allaah’s Attributes Regarded as Being from the Precise or Unspecific Aayahs [Muhkamaat and Mutashaabihaat]?

 

Questioner: A questioner is asking whether the aayahs and hadiths that talk about Allaah’s Attributes are from the precise [muhkamaat] aayahs or hadiths] or the unspecific ones [mutashaabihaat, cf: Surah Aali-Imraan 3:7] … as the Shaikh of Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said …

Al-Albaani: From one angle, namely in that which is connected to the exact nature [i.e., the ‘how?’] of those Attributes, they are from the unspecific aayahs [al-mutashaabihaat, but] from the other angle they are not [regarded as being from the unspecific ones but rather are from the precise [muhkamaat] aayahs] in that they have a clear meaning.

As we just said now that the saying of the Salaf, ‘Pass them on/relay them as they have come,’ i.e., as they are understood in the Arabic language and we mentioned the example of [Imaam] Maalik about that previously too. So in this sense they are not from the unspecific [aayahs], i.e., in that they have a [linguistic] meaning well-known in the Arabic language.

But as regards the exact nature [of those Attributes they talk about] then they are regarded as being from the unspecific aayahs [mutashaabihaat], because it is not possible for us to know the exact nature [i.e., the ‘how?’] of Allaah’s Dhaat, and following on from that it is not possible for us to know the exact nature of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic’s, Attributes either.

For this reason some of the Imaams of Hadith, like Abu Bakr al-Khateeb [al-Baghdaadi], author of the well-known [encyclopaedia], ‘The History of Baghdaad,’ [said that] the same is said concerning the Attributes as is said concerning [Allaah’s] Esssence/Dhaat, both in negating and affirming, that which is said concerning the Esssence/Dhaat is said concerning the Attributes.

So just as we affirm [Allaah’s] Essence/Dhaat [i.e., His very existence] and we do not deny it–for such a denial is total and utter rejection [of Allaah]–then we say the same about [Allaah’s] Attributes: we affirm them and do not negate them, but just as we do not ask exactly ‘how?’ His Essence/Dhaat is [but still affirm it], then in the same way we do not ask ‘how?’ His Attributes are [but still affirm them].

This is the answer to the question.

789 | Fatwaawaa Imaraat, 2.

The video:

Al-Albaani asked about Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb | 14 |

 

Questioner: May Allaah bless you, we want the legislated, balanced evaluation of some of the Islamic callers of the past about whom much has been said, like Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb, because opinions have clashed concerning them with some people saying that Shaikh Naasir [i.e., al-Albaani] says such and such, and others say that Shaikh Naasir says such and such.  We want the legislated, scholarly, evaluation which your eminence holds to be true concerning Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb?

Al-Albaani: Yes.  Based upon His Saying, the Blessed and Most High, “… and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness …” [Maa’idah 5:8] [I say that] we do not withhold a caller his due, and what we believe about him is done so without falling short or going to extremes.

I believe that Hasan al-Banna had a good influence on many of the Muslim youth who were lost in [different forms of] amusement and Western habits like places of entertainment and cinemas.  He banded them together–and it was a hizbi bloc that they formed which we are not happy with because … [tape is unclear here] …– but he called them to follow the Book and the Sunnah and to cling to the Islaam that he knew, so through him Allaah caused there to be as much benefit as He wanted and his call spread to the Islamic lands.  This is what we hold to be true before Allaah regarding his call.

But we do not go to extremes regarding him as those who are partisan to him do–for he, regretfully, did not have knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah and was not a caller to the Book and the Sunnah upon the methodology of the Salaf as-Saalih.

And we just said [in previous sittings] that no group or faction on the face of the earth will be found which denies clinging to the Book and the Sunnah. In fact, every group no matter how misguided they are like, for example, the Shee’ah and the Khawaarij, say, ‘We are on the Book and the Sunnah,’ let alone Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb and those who followed them, these too call to holding firmly to the Book and the Sunnah.

But, most unfortunately, to this day the Ikhwaan al-Muslimoon do not openly proclaim that they cling to the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the Salaf as-Saalih but instead suffice with calling to Islaam, to the Book and the Sunnah, generally.

For this reason, we know through experience that the Ikhwaan al-Muslimoon tread on the path of Hasan al-Banna in calling to Islaam, and even if it is connected to the Book and the Sunnah their call is general and does not include detail even in that which is related to aqidah.

So they do not openly declare clinging to the aqidah of the Salaf as-Saalih in detail, they may say it generally, but what we see actually taking place in many countries in which the Ikhwaan al-Muslimoon party has spread is that they are satisfied with everyone who holds onto Islaam in whatever shape or form that may be, so the Ikhwaan gather between the Salafis and the Khalafis, i.e., between those who align themselves to the Salaf and those who align themselves to the Khalaf, indeed they will gather and add people who may be Shee’ah to their ranks.

And I know through personal experience that the Ikhwaan al-Muslimoon, because their da’wah is general and not detailed and is not on the methodology of the Salaf as-Saalih, [because of this] you will find that the Ikhwaan al-Muslimoon in one country differ from the Ikhwaan al-Muslimoon in another even though they are both Ikhwaanees, but their fiqh and their aqidah differs greatly.

So I’ll give you a very sensitive and precise example: unquestionably it is Sayyid Saabiq’s book called Fiqhus-Sunnah.  In reality, I advise the Muslim youth to read it, those who have not studied the fiqh which is followed in one of the four madhhabs, as is the case with most of the youth today–they do not study fiqh.  Because they go through formal education which only teaches very, very little fiqh.

When they want to learn fiqh, I advise these youth to learn it from Sayyid Saabiq’s book [called], ‘Fiqhus-Sunnah.’  For it, in reality, opened a door for the rigid blind-followers who do not know Islaam except within the limits of their madhhabs which they studied and lived according to or which they found their fathers and forefathers on–it opened a way for them to stick to fiqh issues which have been authentically reported in the Sunnah. I advise the youth to read this book, even though I had some points to make about it, and this is something natural, for this reason I wrote a book called, Tamaam al-Minnah fit-Ta’liq alaa Fiqhis-Sunnah, [which is a four hundred and seventy three page checking of Sayyid Saabiq's book].

I say: in some institutions in the Islamic countries this book is studied because it is easy to grasp and understand and because it is not fanatical towards any one of the four madhhabs followed today–whilst in other countries, it is thrown to the side just as a [worthless] seed is by a group of the Ikhwaan al-Muslimoon [themselves] even though the book’s author is from the heads of the Ikhwaan al-Muslimoon and from the students of Hasan al-Banna, may Allaah the Blessed and Most High, have mercy on him.

Al-Albaani asked about Sayyid Qutb | 13 | Salafiyyah is not a Mere Claim

 

Questioner: In some Arab countries a group has emerged which claims that they are followers of Sayyid Qutb and that they are the true Salafis, what is your opinion?

Al-Albaani: My opinion is that the problem is the same, and my answer is that groundless claims are invalid. We believe that Sayyid Qutb, may Allaah have mercy on him, was not Salafi in his methodology for the majority of his life. But near its end, when he was in prison, a strong inclination to the Salafi methodology became apparent from him.

Salafiyyah is not a mere claim, salafiyyah requires acquaintance with the Book and the authentic Sunnah and the Salafi narrations.

We know that these people and their likes, who claim that their da’wah is based on the Book and the Sunnah, do not know the principles of understanding the Book, principles which are well-known from the statements of Ibn Taymiyyah in his trestise on Usoolul-Fiqh, and the statements of the Imaams of tafseer like Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir and others: that the Quraan is interpreted with the Quraan, and if not then with the hadiths, and if not then with the sayings of the Companions and those after them from the Pious Predecessors.

So those who [merely] claim Salafiyyah do not tread this path in explaining the Quraan, this scholarly path, which the scholars of the Muslims have agreed upon.

Questioner: This is present among the Qutubis.

Al-Albaani: Of course, it is present. And that is why in Sayyid Qutb’s tafsir you will find some explanations which adopt the approach of those who came later who oppose the Pious Predecessors.

Thereafter I want to say that these people are not concerned about distinguishing between the authentic Sunnah and the weak, let alone the fact that they are not concerned about scrutinising the narrations of the Companion and the Pious Predecessors, [which is important] because it is these narrations which help a scholar to understand the Book and the Sunnah as we just alluded to.

From where will Salafiyyah come to them if they are far away from understanding the first foundation of Islaam, i.e., the Quraan, and far away from correct, scholarly principles, and far away from distinguishing between authentic and weak hadiths, and even more distant in examining the narrations of the Pious Predecessors, such that they can be guided through their guidance and seek light from theirs?

Thus, the issue is not to merely claim. And why do these people claim that they are Salafis? The answer is as I have mentioned in some of my previous answers: that now the Salafi call, through Allaah’s Grace, has almost covered the Islamic sphere, and it has become apparent to most of those who used to oppose it, even if only generally, that this call is that of the truth, for this reason they associate themselves to it, even though in their actions they are ever so far removed from it.

Al-Huda wan-Noor, 188.

Al-Albaani Destroys, “If you’re not with us, you’re against us.”

Here’s the PDF: IfYou’reNotWithUSYou’re AgainstUs.

Questioner: There are principles, O Shaikh, which some of the youth act upon, from these rules is, ‘Whoever does not declare a disbeliever to be a disbeliever then he is a disbeliever.  Whoever does not declare an innovator to be an innovator then he is an innovator,’ and another rule, ‘Whoever is not with us, then he is against us.’

What is your opinion about these rules, O Shaikh?

Al-Albaani: And where have these rules come from?! And who laid them down?!

This reminds me of a joke that is told in my motherland, Albania, my father, may Allaah have mercy on him, related it in a sitting. In the story he said that a scholar visited a friend of his at his house and then when he left he declared his friend to be a disbeliever.

He was asked why …

In our country we have a custom, and I think it is [something] uniform in the countries of non-Arabs, they glorify and respect, and revere the scholars with some customs and habits which differ from country to country. From these is that when a scholar enters a house, visiting someone, upon leaving his shoes are supposed to be turned around so that the scholar will not have to burden himself by turning around–he should just find the shoes are ready for him to slide his feet into.

So when this scholar visited his friend and then went to leave he found that his shoes were just as he had left them, i.e., the host had not respected the Shaikh and had just left them as they were.

So ‘the scholar’ said that this is disbelief.

Why? Because the host had not respected the scholar, and the one who has not respected a scholar has not respected knowledge, and the one who does not respect knowledge does not respect the one who brought the knowledge–and the one who brought the knowledge is Muhammad عليه السلام and he carried on in this way until he got to Jibreel and then the Lord of the Worlds, and thus the host is a kaafir.

This question [of yours], this rule [you mentioned], reminded me of this fable!

It is not a condition at all that someone who has declared a person to be a disbeliever or has established the proof against someone, that [as a result of that] all of the people have to be with him in that judgement of takfir, because he [i.e., the person’s situation] may be open to interpretation and [thus] another scholar may hold that it is not permissible to declare that individual to be a disbeliever, and the same goes for declaring someone to be a faasiq or an innovator.

This reality is from the trials of the present day, and from the hastiness of some youth who falsely claim knowledge. So the point is that this chain [of deduction] or making this binding is not incumbent at all.

This is an open/expansive issue, one scholar may hold something to be obligatory and the other may hold that it is not. And the scholars of before and those who came later never differed except due to the fact that the door of ijtihaad does not make it incumbent on others to take his opinion, ‘that others have to take his opinion.’ It is only the blind-follower [muqallid] who has no knowledge who has to blindly-follow [yuqallid].

The scholar, who sees another declare an individual to be a disbeliever, or a faasiq or an innovator, but does not agree with his opinion–it is not incumbent upon him at all to follow that [other] scholar.

And this is a calamity which, inshaa Allaah, has not spread from your country to others?

Questioner: By Allaah, O Shaikh, it is present in our country, the issue of declaring people to be innovators and declaring them to be disbelievers.

Al-Albaani: As for the Jamaa’atut-Takfeer then it is well-known that it is a group that started in Egypt and their fitnah was here in Ammaan before I settled here, i.e., about fourteen years ago. But Allaah the Mighty and Majestic guided them and they became upright on the Sunnah with us. Likewise some of them came to Damascus before I came here, and they tried to spread the fitnah of declaring other people to be disbelievers there, but again, our Lord did not give them success and they returned empty-handed. As for this misguidance, it is still present in Egypt and I fear that some of it may have reached the students of knowledge, and Allaah’s Aid is sought.

Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 778.

Continuing from the Same Tape | 12 | True Mujtahid Scholars who Fall into Innovations Unintentionally are Rewarded

The Meccan Man: If you allow us, as a completion of this discussion [to discuss the following example], some of the people of knowledge whose usool are correct [may] see that a certain issue is an innovation because the basis whih the ruling [he made] is dependent on is reliable in his opinion, and another scholar does not see it as such because the basis for his ruling is reliable in his opinion [too], [this could be] because of the difference [that occurs between them] in declaring a hadith to be authentic or weak or for reasons other than that, so is it possible for us to term this as, ‘interpretative innovation [bid’ah ijtihaadiyyah]?’

Al-Albaani: I previously mentioned that if a man from the people of knowledge and ijtihaad [namely, someone who comes to an Islamic ruling through his interpretation of the texts] falls into an innovation then he is not blamed due to that, just like if he were to declare something haraam to be halaal–and this is something which is even more important than innovations: maybe a scholar will declare something that Allaah has forbidden to be permissible but through ijtihaad and without intending to [make something haraam, halaal].  So do we now say that what he says is halaal is [in fact] halaal because the ruling came from a mujtahid who is qualified to make ijtihaad?  We say no, the haraam  is haraam, and the halaal is halaal–but this mujtahid scholar … and he is not rebuked for having made a mistake for he is rewarded whatever the case … but [at the same time] this does not mean that we declare his ruling to be correct while in reality it is a total mistake.

And maybe it is more pertinent for me to say that when a mujtahid scholar falls into an innovation and in doing so opposes the Sunnah without intending to, I say that he has [indeed] fallen into an innovation but that he is rewarded for what has emanated from him, because it was based upon ijtihaad.

The Meccan Man: Maybe we can say, based upon what you just stated, that there are three conditions, in fact one condition, but maybe for elaboration [we can say that]: he has to be from the people of knowledge, and from those capable of doing ijtihaad, or that he has correct usool …

 Al-Albaani: … but is not from the people of knowledge …

The Meccan Man: … or that the basis for his rulings is correct, likewise he will not be from the people of knowledge unless the basis for his rulings is correct.

Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 785.

Al-Albaani asked about Sayyid Qutb | 11 | Primary and Secondary Innovations

Al-Albaani referring to the previous interjector’s mention of Imaam ash-Shaatibi’s name says …

Al-Albaani: You reminded me of a statement of ash-Shaatibi, [he had a term], ‘… additional/secondary innovations [al-bidah al-idaafiyyah].’

From this man’s knowledge and understanding of Islaam is that he came up with a precise, scholarly categorisation of innovations, i.e., innovations which the Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم would universally declare to be misguidance in his khutbahs by saying, ‘… and every innovation is misguidance, and all misguidance is in the Fire.’

He divided innovations into real/primary innovations [al-bid’ah al-haqiqa] and additional/secondary innovations [bid’ah idaafiyyah], and he explained what was intended by both.

So he said, obviously in meaning [and not word for word], that primary innovations are those which openly oppose the Book and the Sunnah or either one of them. He gives some examples of that like the false aqidah of the Jabariyyah for example, and [also the false aqidah] of i’tizaal and khurooj, which have no basis at all in the Book and the Sunnah in any way whatsoever, these are real/primary innovations.

Additional/secondary innovations are those which if looked at from one angle are found to be legislated, and when you look at them from another you will see that they are not. It is in this way that additional/secondary innovations differ from real/primary ones.

I will explain this partially, but [before that] we must stop [to note a point] here: [when someone] goes against what has been prohibited in the Sharee’ah it is not called an innovation but a sin. Many people call cinemas or the new places of entertainment that are found nowadays, which contain lewdness and sins, innovations. It is not allowed to call these places innovations, these are rather forbidden sins, [the only way we can call them innovations is if we stretch it and] go far away from [talking about] innovations in the sharee’ah and said that linguistically these cinemas were not present–but [normally] a person who says that such places/things are misguided innovations does not mean [this linguistic meaning when he says that, and thus should not call them innovations].

[Going back to the categorisation of innovations] all innovations in the religion are blameworthy and they are of the two types just mentioned: either real/primary innovations which have no basis in the Book or the Sunnah, but which [rather] oppose the Book and the Sunnah–like those examples mentioned earlier [of the Jabariyyah etc.]–or secondary innovations which, as we said, if you look at them from one angle you will find them to be legislated but if looked at from another you will find that they are not … and most of the innovations present in the Islamic world today are of this type.

Ash-Shaatibi gives some very clear examples of this, like that of seeking forgiveness after prayer. Seeking forgiveness after prayer is established in Sahih Muslim, he صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم used to seek Allaah’s forgiveness when he would give salaam.  Ash-Shaatibi says that this is a sunnah–but [people] raising their voices together [whilst doing so] is an innovation. So by looking at the fact that this seeking of forgiveness has a basis [in Islaam], then it is a Sunnah, [but] by looking at the unlegislated method of doing it which has been added to this Sunnah, it has become an additional/secondary innovation, and thus it [i.e., the innovated way of doing it], has fallen under those hadith which warn against innovations.

Likewise, he gives another example in which he seeks to put right an issue which it seems was prevalent in his time and about which he relates his [own personal] account. [He said that] an Imaam was appointed in a mosque [where he prayed] and the people had become accustomed to the Imaam turning to face them after he had given salaam and then he would prompt/get them to repeat the words of remembrance and would then raise his hands and supplicate while they would say aameen. Ash-Shaatibi said, ‘So I was perplexed at this predicament, should I … [tape recording unclear here, the word could be ‘follow’] … the people and oppose the Sunnah? Or follow the Sunnah even if the people become hostile towards me?’ And that is what he did, and indeed the arrows of criticism and disparagement and slander were shot at him from every angle.

So he was saying that supplicating after giving salaam does have a basis in the legislation but doing so in this fashion, in unison, making it lengthy and expansive and in unison–these are additions that have been added to the basis of supplication and it has thus become an innovation, something unlegislated.

Like I said, the innovation which is prevalent amongst the Muslims today and is the easiest thing for them, the one they call, ‘A good innovation [al-bid’ah al-hasanah].’ What is their proof? They looked at the [action’s] foundation … [so] for example, adding [the sending of salutations on the Prophet] at the beginning or the end of the call to prayer, they will say, ‘My brother, sending salutations upon the Prophet … the Prophet said that whoever sends prayers upon me once, Allaah will send prayers upon him ten times [so that’s why we add it to the adhaan] …’

But they are ignorant of the fact that these additions have been added to this legislated action and have thus made it misguidance and an innovation and it is not permissible to seek closeness to Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, through it.

This is what ash-Shaatibi, may Allaah have mercy on him, meant by additional/secondary innovations.

Al-Albaani asked about Sayyid Qutb | 10 | “Relieve me of him!”

The Yemeni Youth: Okay, O Shaikh, there is an issue, a matter, which many of the youth fall into, especially those who go to Afghanistan, they say, for example, [if] you say to them that this person fell into a dangerous affair and you clarify [the matter] for them or [you tell them that] such and such a Shaikh spoke about this, he will say to you that that person/Shaikh has not been there and has not experienced the reality there, i.e., he has not been there. I say to him that Shaikh al-Albaani says such and such, [but] it is as though they assume that a person should be there, we said to them that people come to the Shaikhs and ask them questions and the Shaikhs give them answers, so some advice for these people, O Shaikh, because this understanding has become …

Al-Albaani Cutting Him Off and Addressing Those Around Him Concerning The Yemeni Youth: Relieve me of him! [i.e., ‘Get him off my back.’]

Interjector: I say, it was not fitting that I speak on behalf of the Shaikh but I advise our brother and all of the brothers … and I ask the brother [i.e., the Yemeni Youth] this question: how have you come to know the truth from falsehood? A mistake from that which is correct? Is it not through knowledge? Is it not through beautiful preaching?

So the best way for these people and you is that you lead them towards seeking knowledge through which Allaah the Mighty and Majestic will guide their steps. And such statements which you are requesting our noble Shaikh to make do not have the effect which knowledge, laying down principles and establishing foundations [of knowledge] have.

So you should explain the principle and establish the foundation that the truth is not connected to men, that the truth is not connected to place, that the truth is not connected to time.

As for those arguments and debates which go on between the brothers and Al-Albaani … [so and so] is good, not good, Sayyid Qutb is a kaafir, not a kaafir, and the same about so and so–there is no end to this whatsoever.

So the Shaikh’s statements … he will tell you to encourage them to seek knowledge, to call them with wisdom and beautiful preaching, not to create enmity between yourself and them.

If they were Jews, in the path of da’wah not jihaad … indeed, Allaah the Mighty and Majestic made it a condition upon us when calling the People of the Book [to Islaam] that it should be done with that which is best, “And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best …” [Ankabut 29:46] So what do you think the case is with your brothers, Muslims, but are those who have deviated, strayed, are mistaken and so on?

So the Shaikh’s answer is that you encourage them to seek knowledge and that you establish a brotherly, knowledge-based, connection between yourself and them so that they will become firm like you in recognizing the truth.  And all of you are doing well, and we are with you in calling to Allaah.

Al-Albaani: May Allaah accept your advice from you.

Interjector: Wa iyyaak.

But the Shaikh’s praise or his compliments, or the praise or compliments of any scholar … like the Shaikh of Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah did concerning the Ash’aris indeed the Mu’tazilah … and if we praise al-Ma’moon for his jihaad and his conquering lands for the Muslims, [all of this] does not mean nor does it necessitate that we support their madhhabs, and at the same time it does not mean that criticizing, saying that so and so made a mistake in this issue and that issue, that we declare him to be misguided.

So these extremities, subhaanallaah, how the Muslims have been tried, as the Shaikh of Islaam said, ‘There is no statement except that it has two extremities and a middle way.’

Shouldn’t your disputes about a man be about seeking knowledge and be a scholarly discussion? Maybe Allaah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, will guide him.

And when the Shaikh encourages one to read the books of Zaid or Amr or Sayyid Qutb … he is only encouraging you to seek knowledge which is based upon the Book and Sunnah and the statements of the Salaf as-Saalih, and this encouragement is not … and I will enter this discussion myself [after the Shaikh’s permission and say], sometimes, like [earlier] a noble brother came to me and asked me the self-same questions [that you put to Shaikh al-Albaani] and with Allaah’s Bounty and His Decree what I said was the same as you [i.e., al-Albaani] before I knew what you said, and maybe it was the same almost word for word, and I directed this kind of advice to him: that he distance himself from such issues.

The point is when we say, or when the Shaikh, may Allaah reward him with good, says that these statements in [Qutb’s book] Milestones are good, it does not mean that he has equated Shaikh Qutb to Ibn Kathir, he makes clear that the man [i.e., Qutb] is not a scholar–this is a point we must grasp, and nor does it mean that when he makes one, two, three mistakes that we do not mention a single good deed of his as our Shaikh reminded us when he mentioned that Allaah the Mighty and Majestic praised the Christians in more than one place, “And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a great amount [of wealth], he will return it to you.” [Aali-Imraan 3:75], so this is not unequivocal/to be taken absolutely.

And what is correct and the truth is that the brothers should not dedicate themselves to books which do not provide knowledge, [books] which they refer to as cultural/educational books, rather it is a must for them to go back to the books which lay down principles from the Book and the Sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and their explanations and the books of those scholars who laid down principles, scholars like the Shaikh of Islaam and his students and the books of Shaatibi and others.

Al-Albaani: You reminded me of …

Al-Albaani asked about Sayyid Qutb | 9 | The Shaikh’s Praise of Specific Statements of Qutb Doesn’t Mean He Agreed With Everything Qutb Said and His Criticism of Him Doesn’t Mean He Called Him a Kaafir

The Yemeni Youth: But I think, and Allaah knows best, from that the people will understand … they will say …, I know what you are saying is true without doubt, [but] what will the people go and say, they will say that, “Shaikh al-Albaani … why do you say this is a mistake …” because some of them study this, they study the tafsir of Surah Ikhlaas from the tafsir of Sayyid Qutb, and they say, ‘Why do you say such and such? Shaikh Qutb is the best of those who spoke about the explanation of Laa ilaaha illallaah, I heard Shaikh al-Albaani say such and such …’ they say such things and make things unclear … maybe, I know [what you are saying] but the common folk, many of them, O Shaikh …

Al-Albaani: O Shaikh, fear Allaah regarding yourself.

The Speech of Allaah wasn’t saved from the likes of these things that you are relating from the people. What did Allaah say about the Jews and the Christians? “… and you will find the nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say, ‘We are Christians,’ …” [Maa’idah 5:82]. What is found here? There is praise from Allaah for the Christians–are you able to say no?

He won’t answer.

Let him learn, my brother, give and take.

The Yemeni Youth: The end of the aayah, what is meant by the Christians are those who fear Allaah and who cried out of the fear of Allaah, those who believed, this is what I understand, maybe I am mistaken, but I’d like to ask.

Al-Albaani: The Christians concerning whom this aayah was revealed, were they monotheists on the way of Jesus, when between Jesus [and the coming of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم] there was a gap of five hundred years or more?

The Yemeni Youth: I don’t know, just, that which I see, that which I understand from the aayah … I don’t want to say …

Al-Albaani: Sorry, my brother, say what you have.

The Yemeni Youth: That He [i.e., Allaah] praised those among them who believed in the Final Message.

Al-Albaani: Correct. And the Jews?

The Yemeni Youth: “That is because among …” [Maa’idah 5:82], this is what I understand, and Allaah knows best.

Al-Albaani: Sorry, my brother, generally, are they the same? The Jews and the Christians, are they the same?

The Yemeni Youth: No, the Jews are further astray.

Al-Albaani: This is the point. So there is praise of the Christians generally, as for whether they believed, then it is not our topic [i.e., it is not what we are talking about now]. We, right up until now, believe that Allaah the Mighty and Majestic, nurtured us upon [the fact that] and taught us that there is a difference between the Christians as Christians and the Jews as Jews, putting aside whether there was a group amongst them who submitted to Islaam or not. So it is not fitting that such aayahs are taken to support the fact that Allaah has praised the Christians and [then] we leave the clear Saying of Allaah, “They have certainly disbelieved who say, ‘Allaah is the third of three,’ …” [Maa’idah 5:73]

So don’t be concerned about the fact that they will take an aayah from the Quraan and misinterpret it so that it will be a proof for their misguidance [i.e., they will take Allaah’s praise of the Christians and based upon that say everything Christians say is good and they will leave Allaah’s criticism of them], let alone the fact that they [i.e., those who use Al-Albaani’s praise of some parts of Qutb’s books] will take what al-Albaani says or what those who are higher than al-Albaani and more knowledgeable than al-Albaani say to strengthen their deviance and misguidance.

Why are you, as they say in Syria, ‘He took hold of the ladder horizontally and walked off,’ [i.e., harming everyone on his way and knocking them over, a Syrian proverb talking about people who do not know how to handle issues properly], what concerns you about this group?

I once said regarding Sayyid Qutb … you’ve heard of Shaikh Abdullaah Azzaam, Abdullaah Azzaam, he used to be here, from the Ikhwaan al-Muslimoon, and seven to eight years ago, the Ikhwaan al-Muslimoon issued a resolution to boycott al-Albaani, and to boycott Abu Yusuf, and to boycott everyone who affiliated themselves to his [i.e., al-Albaani’s] da’wah, bearing in mind that Abdullaah Azzaam was the only man from the Ikhwaanis who would hardly have heard that Shaikh al-Albaani had a sitting at a house except that he would be from amongst the first of those present, and he would have a small notebook with him and a small pen, like this, really small, he would write his notes in it, this man who was truly tender hearted.

[But] when the Ikhwaanis issued their decision to boycott me he totally stopped visiting me. I met him in Suhaib Mosque, we were leaving after the prayer, naturally I gave him salaam, he replied to my salaam with shyness because he didn’t want to oppose the ‘decision.’

I said, ‘Why this, O Shaikh? Is this what Islaam ordered you with?’

He said, ‘Soon shall the clouds of summer clear up.’ [i.e., this situation will be over soon just as a summer cloud disappears without rain].

Days came and went, and [one day] he came to my house to see me but I wasn’t there. In summary, he followed after [my news] and came to know that Nidhaam [the Shaikh’s brother-in-law] was with me … he [i.e., Azzaam] knocked the door and came in, I welcomed him, he said, ‘I came to your house but didn’t find you there. And as you know, I’m keen to benefit from your knowledge …’ I said that that was how I knew him to be, but what is the meaning of this address? [i.e., these opening statements, what have you come to say?]’

He said, ‘You declared Sayyid Qutb to be a disbeliever.’

I said to him, ‘Where did I do that?’

He said, ‘You say that he acknowledged the belief of Wahdatul-Wujood in his explanation of the first part of Surah Hadeed, and secondly in [Surah] Qul Huwallaahu Ahad.’

I said, ‘Yes. He narrated statements of the Sufis and nothing can be understood from them except that he agrees with Wahdatul-Wujood. But from our principles, and you are from the most well-acquainted of people with them because you attend my gatherings, is that we do not declare a person to be a disbeliever even if he has fallen into disbelief except after the proof has been established against him. So how is it that you announced this boycott? And I am still here? [i.e.., you could have come to me to clarify things if they were unclear].’

… [when that other man came] to check to see whether it was true if I declare Sayyid Qutb to be a disbeliever, I said to him, ‘Sayyid Qutb says this [i.e., the saying of the extremist Sufis about Wahdatul-Wujood] in such and such Surah …’ [so] the other man opened it [i.e., Qutb's book] up in another place [and showed the Shaikh a part where Qutb said something good and based upon that] said, ‘He is a man who believes in Allaah and His Messenger and in tawheed!’

I said to him, ‘My brother, I do not deny this truth which he has said but I criticise this falsehood which he has stated.’

And despite this sitting we had, later he [i.e., Azzaam] went and published two or three consecutive pieces in the Al-Mujtama’ magazine in Kuwait with the title, ‘Shaikh al-Albaani declares Sayyid Qutb to be a disbeliever.’ It’s a very long story [but] the point to be had is: where do I say this and this?

So the one who holds that al-Albaani declared Sayyid Qutb to be a disbeliever is like the one who holds that Shaikh al-Albaani praised Sayyid Qutb in a place … [i.e., one group goes to extremes and takes Albaani’s praise of certain statements of Qutb’s to mean everything Qutb said was okay and the other takes Al-Albaani’s criticism of Qutb to mean that he declares Qutb to be a disbeliever] … these are people of desires and there is no way for us to stand in their way except that we pray to Allaah for them only, “Then, would you compel the people in order that they become believers?”[Yunus 10:99]

For this reason, I think [you should] put the fervour/passion you have into learning the Sunnah and calling to it and spreading it amongst the Ummah. And don’t put personal enmity between you and people, especially when they have gone ahead to the actions they have sent forth, whether good or bad [i.e., they have passed away].

The Yemeni Youth: Jazaakallaahu khair.

Al-Albaani: Wa iyyaak, in shaa Allaah.

The Yemeni Youth: O Shaikh, by the way, Abdullaah Azzaam, I read a book of his, it’s called, Al-Imlaaq Sayyid Qutb, he refuted you in it, a booklet, I read it and it seems like it’s distributed in Peshawar.

Al-Albaani: I said to you, my brother, he refuted me in the Al-Mujtama [magazine], and unfortunately in that he was an oppressor.  I didn’t want to relate the rest of the story to you because it had no connection to our discussion but now you are compelling me to complete it.

So days came and went and someone … from … what’s his name … Abu … their older brother … I used to visit them for a number of years … he said that he wanted me to attend an iftaar gathering in Ramadaan [as far as I recall], I don’t remember exactly, the point is he had invited Shaikh Abdullaah Azzaam who had come from Afghanistan.

I told him I would come under a condition. He asked what it was and I said, ‘The man [i.e., Abdulaah Azzaam] did such and such to me … and refuted me after we had sat in my brother-in-law, Nidhaam’s, house, and I made him [i.e., Azzaam] understand that I do not declare Sayyid Qutb to be a disbeliever but that I do make clear that what he said was disbelief.  [Yet after that] he went and printed two or three articles in the Al-Mujtama’ magazine.  So now I make it a condition upon you that you organise a private sitting for me with him so that I can call him to account over what he did.’ He replied, ‘It will be so.’

And I did sit with him [i.e., Azzaam] and said, ‘What is this? When you know my opinion, which is that I do not declare Sayyid Qutb to be a disbeliever? How did you go and write two articles in the Al-Mujtama’ magazine, with such a heavy title?’

He said, ‘Wallaahi, I went to Makkah for Umrah and the youth gathered around me and said that Shaikh al-Albaani declares Sayyid Qutb to be a disbeliever …’

I said, ‘Namely, you move according to the emotions of the youth? You are supposed to use your intellect and knowledge …’ and so on.

The point is that I carried on with him until I took a pledge from him that he would correct what he had written about me in the same magazine, the Al-Mujtama’ magazine, but he didn’t do it–may Allaah have mercy on him.

My point is, don’t busy yourself with the people, with individuals–this is a path which has no end, this is a path which has no end/a door which will not close.

The Yemeni Youth: Okay, O Shaikh, there is an issue …

Al-Albaani asked about Sayyid Qutb | 8 | Young Minds Busy with the Wrong Stuff

Al-Albaani: I say that there is a very precious chapter in this book [i.e., 'Milestones,' of Sayyid Qutb], I believe its title is, ‘Laa ilaaha illallaah – A Way of Life,’ this is what I say.

And just now I said: the man was not a scholar, but he has statements which have light on them, which have knowledge coming from them, like [the ones made in the chapter, ‘Laa ilaaha illallaah] A Way of Life.’

I believe that many of our Salafi brothers have not adopted the meaning of this chapter’s title, that Laa ilaaha illallaah is a way of life …

The Meccan Man: And you said these statements to us personally in a house twenty five years ago.

Al-Albaani: Possibly, I don’t remember now what I said [then], but the man [i.e., Qutb] has a book called Social Justice in Islaam which has no value. But Milestones has some topics that are extremely valuable.

The Yemeni Youth: I passed by Shaikh Rabee [ibn Haadi al-Madkhali] and he gave me two books to give to you …

Al-Albaani: Two hand-written books or printed?

The Yemeni Youth: No, printed. And also another book which he wanted to be read to you called, ‘Hakadhaa Allamal-Anbiyaa,’ and the two other books are about Sayyid Qutb’s works. One of them is called, ‘Sayyid Qutb’s Slander of The Companions of the Messenger of Allaah,’ and in it he [i.e., Shaikh Rabee] relied on the sixth print from the year 1964ce before Sayyid Qutb died by two years.

Al-Albaani: May Allaah guide him. May Allaah guide him. My brother, what is the benefit of this book?

The Yemeni Youth: He wants you to take a look at them and the book, ‘Aqaa’iduhu Wa Fikruhu,’ and these two books have been printed. This meeting came quickly and the books were in my house so I couldn’t … the brothers came to me in the mosque and told me there was a meeting now with the Shaikh [i.e., al-Albaani] … so the books are at home but I gave a copy of each one to Shaikh Ali Hasan, O Shaikh, he [i.e., Shaikh Rabee] means to show the many aqidah mistakes which are in them.

And likewise, ya’ni, he wants you to … the point is he is warning the people from this, especially because when he [i.e., Qutb] explains Laa ilaaha illallaah, he says that the polytheists didn’t dispute with Laa ilaaha illallaah and that the Messages [of the Prophets] only came to tackle the issue of Rububiyyah and not Uluhiyyah, especially this [final] message [i.e., Islaam]. Some people say that he was the best who spoke about it … he holds that Laa ilaaha illallaah, tawheed al-Uluhiyyah, that the polytheists were in agreement over it, that the issue was only in tawhid ar-Rububiyyah, and he repeated this many times.

Al-Albaani: … you read this yourself?

The Yemeni Youth: Yes, I read it, but I didn’t read it in his book Zilaal, I read it in the book of Shaikh Rabee where he quoted him, about four times he said such things in different phrases, maybe I … I wrote some of his expressions down [and can read them to you] … he said, ‘So the issue of Uluhiyyah was not the area of dispute but rather the issue of Rububiyyah is the one which the Messages [of the Prophets] confronted, and it is the one which the final message confronted …’ and so on … Shaikh Abdullaah Al-Duwaish also rebutted him regarding his statement that if an Islamic government was established it has the right to pass laws to regulate life … [like] laws to take wealth from the people since it is the property of the community, i.e., it has statements like this of the communists.

The point is, O Shaikh, that there are many things, the most important of them is his statement about Musaa [عليه السلام] when he said [about him], ‘The irascible youth,’ … and many such statements … and he also interpreted Allaah’s Attribute of Speech to mean His Intent, that it refers to intent, also regarding the Quraan he said that it was from Allaah’s workmanship, for example, when Allaah, the One free of all defects and the Most High, said in Surah Saad … he [i.e., Qutb] said that this is truly from Allaah’s workmanship [i.e., this could be taken to mean he is saying the Quraan is created] and in Surah Aali-Imraan, “So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers.” [Aali-Imraan 3:139] he said … as far as I recall, traverse the methodology which …

Al-Albaani: And you, why do you fatigue and tire your memory trying to memorise these texts which are not from Prophetic speech?

The Yemeni Youth: No, O Shaikh …

Al-Albaani: Why? Why? Don’t say, ‘No.’

The Yemeni Youth: Just so, I read this just now and because I want to put this to you so I tried to …

Al-Albaani: Why do you want to put it to me?

The Yemeni Youth: Firstly, so that the people can be wary of these books, wallaahi, if one says something about them … they regard them to be the books of an Imaam and mujaddid.

Al-Albaani: I will ask you a question. These people who hold these books to be authoritative sources of knowledge, are they Salafis?

The Yemeni Youth: Wallaahi …

Al-Albaani: Yes, you intend not to answer any question.

The Yemeni Youth: They, O Shaikh … some of them are not Salafis like the Ikhwaan and so on, and some of them are from other groups, and some of them are those who say they are Salafi or to be more precise are those who say we are from Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah but they do not say they are Salafi, they say we are from Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah.

The Meccan Man: You haven’t answered the Shaikh’s question.

Al-Albaani: There’s no point.

The Yemeni Youth: When we say to them … even when you speak about an issue, O Shaikh …

Al-Albaani: If Abu Talhah [i.e., the Yemeni Youth] can’t come to an understanding with a Salafi like him [i.e., Shaikh al-Albaani], then how will he come to an understanding with others. Tell me, let’s see.

The Yemeni Youth: O Shaikh, if I say they are Salafis …

Al-Albaani: Laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa billaah. I asked you if they are Salafis or not? And now I’m telling you that if you are not able to come to an understanding with me, then how will you be able to come to an understanding with others who are opponents of the da’wah? How?

The Yemeni Youth: We benefit and learn from you.

Al-Albaani: And how does learning take place?

The Yemeni Youth: By paying attention …

Al-Albaani: Thus, when a question is directed at you, focus your mind and think about the way to answer it if you have an answer. It is not necessary that you do answer [if you don’t have an answer, but] if you have one say, ‘I think such and such …’ and thus there will be some give and take, there will be benefit. As for us implementing the saying of the poet, ‘She went East and I went West,’ what a great difference there is between east and west.

I advise you not to busy your young mind with memorising that which will of a certainty not benefit you and which may harm you, [it may not harm you] for a certainty, but it may [nevertheless] harm you.

Don’t memorise the statements of so and so, and so and so, and so and so, and so and so, [people who] you think are more than likely not on the Straight Path with us–because you have not been commissioned to refute everyone who makes a mistake.

What do you think about what I just said?

The Yemeni Youth: It is good, O Shaikh.

Al-Albaani: [Do you have] any points to make about it?

The Yemeni Youth: It is good, only, the point … if it were to warn for example?

Al-Albaani: You’re warning us now?

The Yemeni Youth: No, the people for example.

Al-Albaani: I’m asking you, are you now warning us? Why, then?

The Yemeni Youth: To clarify.

Al-Albaani: To clarify, why?

The Yemeni Youth: Just a short while ago you mentioned a phrase …

Al-Albaani: He’s digressed, he’s digressed. I say to you, ‘Why?’ Namely, you want to warn, who are you warning?

The Yemeni Youth: Ya’ni, O Shaikh, I heard you say regarding the issue of Laa ilaaha illallaah that he said yes, that life … [i.e., that you praised the title to his book and people may take this to mean you are praising him so we have to warn …’

Al-Albaani: Yes, by Allaah, what do you think about this title?  That which you heard from me, what are your comments on it, in relation to your statement?

The Yemeni Youth: But I think, and Allaah knows best, the people will …