Al-Albaani’s Humility

He said, “And if you see that I have strayed or made a mistake you must advise me …”

Al-Hudaa wan-Noor, 82.

The Incident That Directed Al-Albaani Towards the Science of Hadith

“Imaam al-Albaani grew up in Damascus, Syria.  In his youth the state the Ummah had reached alarmed and greatly disturbed him: [its] ignorance, myths/superstitions, blind following, innovations, misguidance, in fact polytheism and idol worship, and he used to renounce it. A Shaikh heard him forbidding some wrong and so said to him, ‘Haven’t you heard the hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, “Leave the people in their heedlessness?”

Al-Albaani, still a youth, replied, “Who reported this hadith? And what is its grading?” The Shaikh was taken aback by this youth and was unable, naturally, to answer him.

So al-Albani went and started to delve deeply into books, checking, researching, scrutinising until Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, guided him to the hadith with its complete wording, “Leave the people to their heedlessness, they are granted provision [by Allaah] one from another,” [see here for other wordings of this hadith without the word 'heedlessness,' to get a clearer context of the meaning] and so he checked it and expounded upon the condition of its narrators and made known its grading.

So Shaikh al-Albaani told me one time that this was the beginning of his work in this noble [field of] knowledge.”

Written by Muhammad ibn Badee’ Musa in Al-Isaalah magazine, 23/59.

Al-Albaani and Fame

 

Shaikh Abu Islaam Saalih Taa Haa said, “A man one day invited the Shaikh to visit him in his house and announced the visit on some media outlets and so a large number of people gathered to see the Shaikh and listen to him.  When the Shaikh came to know of that he refused to go to the invite. I later asked him about his reason for not going, and he said, ‘Showing off destroys a person.’

Al-Aqeedah Awwalan Law Kanu Ya’lamun, pp. 14-15.

‘This is a Gift Which No-one Except al-Albaani will Give to You.’

 

Shaikh Abu Islaam Saalih Taa Haa said, “He used to teach us humbleness, and an example of his humility and fine behaviour towards me is that many times he would visit us after Fajr prayer and would bring a modest gift with him, may Allaah have mercy on him, and sometimes say, jokingly, ‘This is a gift which no-one except al-Albaani will give to you,’ due to [both] the modest nature of the gift and his [own] modesty.”

Al-Aqeedah Awwalan Law Kanu Ya’lamun, p. 22.

Al-Albaani and Turning up on Time

 

Shaikh Abu Islaam Saalih Taa Haa said, “Shaikh al-Albaani, may Allaah have mercy on him, used to teach us to be precise for appointments. An example of that is when I would invite him to visit me or if I accompanied him to an invite, he, may Allaah have mercy on him, would not turn up late or early for the set engagement.

Once I invited him over at 1 pm and he arrived in his car before that by a quarter of an hour, and remained seated in it and did not get out until the time was due … I was not aware of the Shaikh’s presence, it was the people who accompanied him who told me about that [later]. When I asked the Shaikh about that, he said, ‘Because before the [set] time you’re busy preparing for the guest’s arrival at [that] specified time … if we were to come in before it, we’d divert you from your preparation for your guests.’

So may Allaah have mercy on our Shaikh, how precise his understanding was! And how keen he was to act upon the Sunnah of Allaah’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم.

And when he, may Allaah have mercy on him, was invited to a place he would not take anyone with him unless the host had permitted him to. One time I invited him saying, ‘Our Shaikh! I invite you to lunch with me tomorrow,’ and by that I meant him and his wife, Umm al-Fadl. The next day he came alone so I said to him, ‘Where is Umm al-Fadl?’ So he replied, ‘You didn’t mention to me that I should bring Umm al-Fadl with me. And we stick to being precise in what is said.’”

Al-Aqeedah Awwalan Law Kanu Ya’lamun, pp. 17-18.

Al-Albaani’s Goal in Life

 

The Imaam said, “And in reality, my entire goal in this life–after carrying out the obligatory duties and rights that Allaah has made incumbent upon me–is but to acquaint the Muslims with the accurate biography [seerah] of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم from every aspect as far as I am able, by teaching [them], lecturing and writing, and to urge them to take him as the definitive example for themselves, as Allaah the Most High has asked them to, as occurs in His Saying:

“There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allaah an excellent example for anyone whose hope is in Allaah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allaah much.” [Al-Ahzaab 33:21]

And in that lies their happiness in this world and the Hereafter.”

Bidaayatus-Sool fi Tafdeelir-Rasool, p. 7.

A Picture of a Receipt from the Shop of Al-Albaani the Watch-Repairer

Muhammad Naasirud-deen al-Albaani
Horologist
Damascus, Al-Amara district, King Faisal Street
[a famous district and street in Damascus]

Our code [motto] in selling and repairing is the noble hadith,
“The religion is to sincerely advise.”

Sale and Repair of all Types of Watches
With Precision, Sincere Advice, and Guaranteed

Name:
Sex [/or maybe type of watch]:
Repair and cost:

Guaranteed for six Arabic months, with a real warranty.
Note: Watches will not be returned except with this receipt.

Date:        /         /        year

Taken from: http://www.sahab.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=131263

Al-Albaani on His Balcony and The Fig Tree

“There used to be a fig tree in his house in Amman [Jordan], from which he would take figs while seated on his balcony.  He would do so by using a long stick that he had devised where he had split and overlapped it so that he controlled how long or short he wanted it.  At its end he placed a sharp, pointed cup, so that when he touched them with the tip of the stick, the figs would fall into the cup.”

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, p. 111.

Al-Albaani and His Bicycle: The Turbaned Shaikh was the Talk of the Town But He Didn’t Care

He said, “I bought a bicycle to ride and it was the first time the Damascenes saw such a spectacle: a turbaned Shaikh riding a bicycle!

They were astonished at such a sight.

There used to be a magazine called Al-Mudhik al-Mubki¹ which a Christian man would publish, he mentioned this incident among the witty jokes [therein, but] I wouldn’t care about these petty issues–all that concerned me was time.”

¹ A comedic magazine published in Damascus by a journalist called Habeeb Kahaalah.  In each edition he would print a picture which would be the talk of the town for the whole week.

Al-Imaam al-Albaani, Duroos, wa Mawaaqif, wa Ibar, of Abdul-Aziz ibn Muhammad Abdullaah as-Sadhaan, p. 111.

Al-Albaani’s Humility

“I am only, as I always and forever say, a student of knowledge.”

Al-Albaani