9 Top Accusations Against Imaam Al-Albaany 2

[bamalli]

6. His Math-hab is Dhaahiri

This is an accusation that needs proof. The fact is, attributing
Ahlul-Hadeeth as being from the people of Dhaahir is from hearsay that
is spread from time to time. Hence attributing al-Albaani with this is
not strange, since he is from the People of Hadeeth!
Because of the eternity of the garment that may have tied onto the
minds of some, no doubt we should ask these questions:

i. Did the Shaykh declare in any of his books that he follows the
Dhaahiri Math-hab?
ii. Does the mere fact of the Shaykh's reference to the books of Ibn
Hazm constitute him being a Dhaahiri?
With knowledge in various accounts, ash-Shaykh al-Albaani,
rahimahullaah, makes Ibn Hazm, the Dhaahiri, look ugly, as in, Tamaam
al-Minnah, page 160, where he says, "Contrary what Ibn Hazm rattles
around", and in the same source, page 162, he says, "And Ibn Hazm, as
usual, was irregular in his upholding the Dhaahiri Math-hab." Also
among the volumes of al-Albaani, may Allaah have mercy upon him, is
his book in refutation to Ibn Hazm in regards to the matter of
stringed instruments. Therefore, the People of Hadeeth â€" and
al-Albaani is one of them â€" are among those farthest from the mistakes
that the Scholars have recorded regarding the adherents to the
Dhaahiriyyah.
On the contrary, the Shaykh, rahimahullaah, declared, on more than one
occasion, the most famous among them being his book, Sifatu Salaat
an-Nabi salla-llaahu `alaihi wa sallam, that he relies, in his Manhaj,
upon following the Ahadeeth and Aathaar and does not stray from that,
in addition to his respect for all the A'immah, and benefiting from
their understanding.

7. He is lenient when authenticating Ahadeeth

This is a matter that is relevant and differs according to the people,
so whoever is severe [when authenticating Ahadeeth], will view others
as being lenient, and whoever is lenient will consider others to be
harsh. Therefore to find out the truth, we must investigate and
examine the case and compare it to others.
The sum of what is ascribed to al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, regarding
leniency, is in the following:
i. Authenticating a weak narrated because of multiplicity in the ways
that it has reach the Ummah.
ii. Accepting the narration of the narrator whose status is unknown
and relying upon Ibn Hibbaan's strengthening of the narration.
iii. His Ta`deel (praise) for some of the weak narrators.

All variations of a weak narration accept consideration and repair,
and it improves by the many ways that it has been transmitted. This
applies to all weak narrations except Hadeeths that have a narrator
who is a liar or fabricator in its chain, a Hadeeth that is suspected
to have been lied upon, a Hadeeth which has a narrator who is in the
degree of abandonment (such as the one who's memory has faded
tremendously) , and the irregular Hadeeth, or the Hadeeth that is
disclaimed.
As for acceptance of a Hadeeth which has a narrator who's status is
unknown and relies on Ibn Hibbaan to strengthen the narration is what
is ascribed to al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, without correct proof for
it! The Shaykh responded [critically] in more than one place to those
who rely upon Ibn Hibbaan's strengthening, and he is ascribed with
leniency [in authenticating Ahadeeth]! Al-Albaani, rahimahullaah,
concluded in the introduction to his book, Tamaam al-Minnah, pages
20-26, the fifth rule that he named, 'Lack of reliance upon Ibn
Hibbaan's strengthening. '
As for his praise for some of the weak narrators, this is a total
fabrication, since the accusers can not bring even one narrator whose
weakness was agreed upon and al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, praised the
weak narrator.

8. He is contradictory in his judgment of Ahadeeth
This is ignorance or ignoring the fact of the matter, so know my
brother, may Allaah preserve you, that from the fundamental truths of
Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa`ah is that the infallibility is not fully
established for anyone in this Ummah except the Prophet of Allaah,
salla-llaahu `alaihi wa sallam, and we, and we praise Allaah, and by
his grace, are upon that fundamental; we do not affirm infallibility
to al-Albaani, rahimahullaah, as we do not affirm it for anyone else
from the people of knowledge.
However, does the mere fact of a mistake or contradiction of the
scholar negate his knowledge and negates for him the title of
knowledge? I do not think that any just person, let alone a scholar,
would say this! Yes, using one as proof whose mistakes are many, and
his mistakes are more than his accuracies, negates his being called
trustworthy and his status is null and void.
If this is long-established, then know that all of the Ahadeeth, which
al-Albaani was ascribed to contradiction in his rulings leaves no mark
on neither his trustworthiness nor his knowledge, not to the layman
let alone a scholar, all praise is due to Allaah. Those Ahadeeth that
are said to have a contradiction, compared to the other Ahadeeth that
the Shaykh collected are few, of little significance, since it does
not tarnish his ocean of knowledge, and the water, if it lessens,
would not have scum [in it]. Ascribing him as being contradictory is
a spiteful allegation and a filthy fraud in most cases. After
reviewing this allegation, only a few are accepted, if they are not
disregarded from the following cases:
i. Narrations that the Shaykh changed his ruling after more reasons
came about that were not known to him before.
ii. Narrations that he ruled on them a certain way then stopped at
another way.
iii. Narrations that he ruled on them based upon what was superior to
him regarding the condition of the narrator, and his Ijtihaad
regarding that narrator was renewed, and he changed his ruling.
iv. Narrations that did not reveal an `Illa (defect), but then it
became apparent later on.
v. Narrations that he did not know of a present follower of it or
witness, and then he knew later on.
I refer you, O my brother who is reading, to the book, al-Anwaar
al-Kaashifah li-Tanaaqadhaat al-Khasaaf az-Zaa'iqah wa Kashf ma feeha
min az-Zaighi wat-Tahreef wal-Mujaazafah.

9. He does not analyze the text [of the Hadeeth]

This accusation is false and has no bases to it. The fact is, the
Shaykh's books, may Allaah have mercy upon him, demolishes this
fabricated accusation. Therefore, I will mention only one Hadeeth
which clarifies al-Albaani's analyze of the text, after he had
analyzed the Sanad.
This is from the second Hadeeth in, Silsilah al-Ahadeeth adh-Dha`eefah
that states, "Whomever's Salat does not protect him from atrocities
and falsehood, then he moving further from Allaah." After commenting
on the Sanad, he dealt with the text, saying, "As for the text of the
Narration (Hadeeth), it is not authentic because what is apparent
includes the person who prays with its (the Prayer's) preconditions
and pillars. Whereas the truth is that the religion is the criteria
which rules upon its (the Prayer's) correctness, even if the person
who prays still does some sins; how, then, does this Salat move him
further from Allaah? This is from what the Sharee`ah does not accept
nor attest to…" to the end of his commentary.

And with this, our goal is complete, and all praise is to Allaah, He
who, with his bounties, the good deeds become accomplished.

By Shaykh Muhammad `Umar Bazmool