Shaykh Nasir
Uddin Albani,
a great scholar of Hadith
of present times died a couple of months ago. The following email
which describes his life and works was received on 5-10-99. (Editor)
Assalamu Alaykum
The eyes are shedding tears and the heart is grieved,
And we will not say except what pleases our Lord, Indeed we are grieved
by your separation’. (Sahih
Bukhari)
It is with deep sorrow that we inform
of the passing away of a great soul, Shaykh Albani.
May Allah bestow his mercy and forgiveness to him. He died on the 2nd October
after ‘Asr time,. He left behind a
legacy of decades of cleansing the Hadith
from falsehoods.
Words cannot express the sadness that
the heart is filled with. As if the world is a strange planet where we
no longer belong. He was one whose knowledge, sincerity and honesty gave
us some comfort in this place; someone whom we could depend on for the
knowledge of our religion; verily, he has departed from the company of
the men of this earth to the company of the men of the Hereafter.
He was one of the few scholars who
could truly be called a Muhaddith.
Allah had gifted him with a comprehensive understanding of Islam. He strove
hard to revive the Sunnah. His life from his youth to his old age
was dedicated to the Da‘wah of this religion in order that the Muslims
may practice their religion like the Companions of the Prophet (sws) and
avoid deviations. He wrote numerous books to this end which are well known
among the students of Islam. May Allah reward him for all his efforts and
give him the company of the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs and the
pious.
The Shaykh was born in the
city of Ashkodera, then the capital of Albania in the year 1914 AD to a
poor family. His father Nuh Najjati
Albani had completed Shari‘ah studies
in Istanbul and returned a scholar to Albania. After Albania was taken
over by atheism the family migrated to Damascus. In Damascus, Albani completed his initial education and was then taught the Qur’an,
Tajwid, sciences of the Arabic language,
Fiqh of the Hanafites and other disciplines by various Shaykhs and
friends of his father.
He also learnt from his father the
art of clock and watch repair -- and became highly skilled in it. He later
became famous for it and earned his living through it. He began to specialize
in the field of Hadith
and its related sciences by the age of 20 -- being influenced by articles
in Al-Manar magazine. He began
to work in this by field by transcribing Iraqi’s monumental Al-Mughni and adding
notes to it. He delved further into the field of Hadith
and its various sciences despite discouragement from his father. Furthermore,
the books he needed were not to be found in his father’s library which
was composed mainly of various works of the Hanafite Fiqh -- and since
he could not afford many of the books he required, he would borrow them
from the famous library of Damascus ‘Al-Maktabah al-Zahiriyyah’
and sometimes even from book sellers.
He became engrossed with the science
of Hadith
to the extent that he would sometimes close up his shop and remain in the
library for up to twelve hours -- breaking off his work only for prayer
- he would not even leave to eat, but would take two light snacks with
him. Eventually the library authorities granted him a special room to himself
for his study and his own key for access to the library before normal opening
time. Often he would remain at work from early morning until after ‘Isha.
During this time he produced many useful works -- many of which are still
yet to be printed.
The Shaykh’s study of Hadith
of Allah’s Messenger (sws) had a great effect on him and resulted in
his turning away from the blind following of his former school of thought
and instead to accept and act upon the Book and the Sunnah -- with the
understanding of the pious predecessors. As a result, he was sometimes
at variance with some of the local Shaykhs who blindly followed
the Hanafites, and likewise with the local Sufi imams and innovators who
began to oppose him and incite the common people against him by calling
him a, ‘Wahhabi
deviant’. He was however, encouraged by some of the noble Shaykhs of Damascus
who urged him to continue. The Shaykh therefore faced much opposition
in his efforts to promote Tawhid and the Sunnah but he bore this with patience and perseverance.
After sometime, he started giving
two weekly classes attended by enthusiastic students and university teachers
- in which he taught various books of ‘Aqidah,
Fiqh, Usul
and Hadith
sciences. He also began to organize monthly journeys for Da‘wah to the
various cities of Syria and then Jordan. After a number of his works appeared
in print, the Shaykh was chosen to teach Hadith
in the new University in Madinah,
Saudi Arabia, for three years from 1381 to 1383 AH -- where he was also
a member of the University board. After this, he returned to his former
studies and work in ‘Maktabatah Al-Zahiriyyah’
leaving his shop in the hands of one of his brothers.
He visited various countries for Da‘wah
and lectures - amongst them Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, the Emirates, Spain
and England. He was forced to emigrate a number of times moving from
Syria to Jordan, then Syria again, then Beirut, then the Emirates, then
again to Ammaan, Jordan where he resided upon his death.
His works - mainly in the field of Hadith
and its sciences number over 100. His students are many and include many
Shaykhs of the present day.
Regards
Fawaz
fawaz@nettaxi.com |