Was Albānī a real muhaddith?

by Seeker

Was Albānī a real muhaddith?

Nāsir ud-Dīn al-Albānī was a researcher initially from Damascus and he studied under his father Nūh Najjati (may Allah bless him) who was a Sunni scholar, a Hanafī jurist, who was also the teacher of Sheikh Ibrāhīm al-Ya’qūbī (may Allah bless him), he taught Sheikh Ibrāhīm al-Ya’qūbī (may Allah bless him) the science of (‘ilm al) tawqīt, astronomy. Nāsir ud-Dīn his son, deviated from the path of his father and was influenced by the al-Manar Magazine, which is a Masonic magazine, and he was also influenced by other thinkers within that period and he edited many works of Hadīth; if someone were to compile his mistakes in editing they can make volumes of just the mistakes he made in editing those works.

The muhaddithīn of our age, recent muhaddithīn are the likes of ash-Sheikh ‘Abdullah Sirāj ud-Dīn, as-Sayyid Muhammad bin ‘Alawī of Makkah al-Mukarramah, ash-Sheikh Nūr ud-Dīn ‘Itr (may Allah preserve him), also the likes of al-‘Allāma Sayyid Ahmed Saeed al-Kādmī, al-Muhaddith Sardār Ahmad who was a student of ash-Sheikh Mustafā Ridā Khān, and the likes of Sheikh ul-Kul ‘Atā Muhammad Bandyālwī (may Allah bless them all), these are the muhaddithīn of our age.

Answered by Sheikh Asrar Rashid (may Allah preserve him).

Imam Ghazali On Evil of The Tongue from Ihyā’ ‘Ulūm ud-Dīn

by Seeker

An excerpt from al-Ghazālī’s Ihyā’ ‘Ulūm ud-Dīn

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Praise be to Allah Who made good the creation of man, and formed him in due proportion, and inspired him the light of faith with which He has adorned and beautified him, and revealed to him the faculty of speech therewith He gave him superiority over all of His creatures, and overflowed his heart with depositories of knowledge, and sent upon him a curtain from His mercy which He hung on it, and provided him with a tongue therewith to interpret what lies within the heart and mind, disclose what is concealed in him, tell the truth, and send praises and thanks for His favours on him.

I bear witness to the fact that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Almighty, the One and Only, Who has no partner with Him, and that Muhammad sall Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam is His slave and Messenger, whom He honoured and exalted, and sent with a Book He revealed to him, made superior his favour, and clarified his ways.

Coming to the point: verily, tongue is one of the great favours bestowed by Allah on man, and His amazing and fine things. Although it is small in size, its sin and obedience have a great consequence. It is that the faith could be distinguished from disbelief only through the witness of tongue, and they represent the utmost degree of obedience and disobedience. Furthermore, there is neither existing nor non-existing, neither creator nor created, neither imagined or concrete, but that the tongue deals with it and either affirms or denies it. The tongue expresses of all the objects of knowledge whether in truth or in falsehood. This characteristic is lacking in all the other organs of the body. The eye, for instance, perceives only images and colours, the ear sounds, the hand the concrete bodies, etc.

The field of tongue is expansive and limitless, and it applies to both good and evil. If the tongue is released with nothing to rein it or bind its freedom, Satan then takes it to all fields of evil, and drives it to the verge of a bank that is about to collapse, until it leads him to perdition. Of a surety, nothing draws the people prone on their faces into the fire of Hell other than the evil of their tongues. None is saved from the evil of the tongue except he, who reins it with the rein of religious law: he releases it only in what benefits him in the world and the hereafter, and stops it from anything whose evil consequence is feared.

The knowledge of the praiseworthy and blameworthy states in which the tongue should be released and acting upon that accordingly is abstruse and difficult. The tongue is the most disobedient organ upon man. There is no trouble to be exerted to release and move it. The people have indulged in avoiding its evils and vices, and its traps and snares.

A few Hadith on the Greatness of the Master of Creation, Sayyiduna RasūlAllah sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam

by Seeker

Mawla Álī raĎīyAllāhu ánhu narrated,

The beloved Prophet sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “I was a noor (light) in front of Allah subḥānahu wa ta’ala 14000 years prior to the creation of Sayyiduna Adam álayhis salam.”[1]

Abu Hurayra raĎīyAllāhu ánhu said,

The blessed companions raĎīyAllāhu ánhum said, “Ya RasūlAllah sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, when did nabuwwa (prophet hood) become compulsory for you?” The beloved Messenger sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “When Adam was between rūh (soul) and jism (body).”[2]

Maysarah radiyAllahu ánhu narrates that he said,

“Ya RasulAllah sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, from when were you a Nabi?” The beloved Messenger sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “I was a Nabi even then, when Adam was betweenrūh and jism.”[3]

Ibn Abī Asim has stated that the sanad is Ṣaḥīḥ, and all the narrators are Sahih and thiqqa (trustworthy).

The beloved Messenger sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,

“O Abu Bakr! I swear by the Lord who sent me with the truth, no one knows my ḥaqīqa, aside from my Lord.”[4]

The beloved Messenger sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,

Every Nabi was sent to a specific nation, whilst I have been sent to all nations.[5]

The beloved Messenger sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,

I have been sent as a Rasul to the entire creation.[6]

Írbād bin Sāriya raĎīyAllāhu ánhu narrates that the beloved Messenger sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,

I am the supplication of my father Ibrahim, and the glad tidings of Isa.[7]

Thawbān raĎīyAllāhu ánhu narrates that the Master of Creation sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,

There shall be thirty imposters in my Ummah, each one of them shall claim himself to be a Nabi, however I am the Khātim an-Nabiyyīn (the Seal of Prophets) and there shall be no Nabi after me.[8]

Abu Imamah raĎīyAllāhu ánhu narrates that the beloved Messenger sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,

I am the last of the Prophets and you are the last Ummah.[9]

Upon the occasion of Ḥajjat al-Wada’ the blessed Messenger sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,

There shall be no Prophet after me, and there will be no Ummah after you.[10]

Another narration states,

There is no Nabi after me, and there is no Ummah after my Ummah.[11]

Amir Muáwiya raĎīyAllāhu ánhu narrates that the beloved Messenger sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,

Indeed, I am the one who distributes, and Allah bestows to me.[12]

Jabir bin Ábdullah raĎīyAllāhu ánhu narrates that the Master of Creation sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,

I have been made the distributor; I am the one who distributes amongst you.[13]

The beloved Messenger sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,

I am al-Qasim, I am the one who distributes amongst you.[14]

Úqba raĎīyAllāhu ánhu narrates that the beloved Messenger śallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam said,

Indeed, I have been given the keys to the treasures of the world.[15]

—–

[1] Ahmad al-Qastalānī, al-Mawāhib Ladunniya, vol. 1

Ábd al-Bāqī al-Zurqānī, Sharh al-Mawāhib Ladunniya, vol. 1

Halabī, Sīrah, vol. 1

[2] Tirmidhī, Jāmí as-Ṣaḥīḥ, vol. 5

Bayhaqī, Dalāýil al-Nabuwwa, vol. 2

[3] Ahmad bin Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 5

Ibn Abī Shayba, al-Musannaf, vol. 7

Maqdisī, al-Hadith al-Mukhtara, vol. 9

[4] Mahdī al-Fāsī, Mutālé al-Musarrāt, pp. 129

[5] Bukhari, Sahih, vol. 1

Nisā’i, Sunan, vol. 1

[6] Muslim, Sahih, vol. 1

Tirmidhī, Sunan, vol. 4

Ibn Ḥibbān, Sahih, vol. 6

Ahmad bin Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 2

[7] Hākim, al-Mustadrak, vol. 2

Bukhari, Tārīkh al-Kabīr, vol. 6

Abu Nuáym, Hilya al-Awliya, vol. 6

[8] Tirmidhī, Jāmí as-Sahih, vol. 4

Abu Dāwud, Sunan, vol. 4

Hakim, al-Mustadrak, vol. 4

[9] Ibn Majah, Sunan, vol. 2

Hākim, al-Mustadrak, vol. 4

Tabarānī, Mújam al-Kabīr, vol. 8

[10] Tabarānī, Mújam al-Kabīr, vol. 8

Ibn Hibbān, Sahih, vol. 15

Haythamī, Majmá az-Zawāíd, vol. 3

[11] Tabarānī, Mújam al-Kabīr, vol. 8

Haythamī, Majmá az-Zawā’íd, vol. 7

[12] Bukhari, Sahih, Kitab al-‘Ilm, vol. 1

Muslim, Sahih, Kitab al-Zakah, vol. 2

Ahmad bin Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 2

Tabarānī, Mújam al-Kabīr, vol. 19

[13] Bukhari, Ṣaḥīḥ, vol. 3

Ahmad bin Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 3

Tahāwī, Sharh Maánī al-Athār, vol. 4

[14] Muslim, Sahih, vol. 3

Bayhaqī, Sunan al-Kubra, vol. 9

[15] Bukhari, Sahih, vol. 5

Ibn Hibbān, Sahih, vol. 7

imam Ahmad RiDa: subjects of the fatawah

by Seeker

Taken from ‘Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah: an Introduction’

Imam Ahmad Raza Barelwi in his fatawa – like other scholars of Ahlu’s Sunnah – has enjoined Muslims to be steadfast in their belief and better their social standing. These are available as small booklets and following are the subjects of his fatawa:

– Shari’ah is the ultimate law and following it is obligatory for all Muslims;

– to refrain from Bid’ah is of utmost importance

– a Sufi without knowledge or a Shaykh without actions is a joke of the devil;

– it is impermissible to imitate the Kuffar, to mingle with the misguided [and heretics] and to participate in the festivals of the Hindus.

– it is polytheism [shirk] to prostrate to any other than Allah táālā with the intention of worship. And if such a prostration is out of reverence [sajdah at-taĥiyyah], it is Haram.

– it is prohibited to ridicule other muslims and consider oneself higher than others.

– the iconography of the Shi`ah [ta’aziyah] and respecting such icons is forbidden

– Qawwali [sama’a] with musical instruments is forbidden

– it is not permissible for women to travel to visit graves [or maqams of awliya]

– it is not permissible to make pictures of living things.

– abbreviating the blessing ‘sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam’ to an acronym ‘sa’d lam ayn meem’, [in english it is abbreviated as PBUH] is impermissible

– to visit fake graves [that have no basis or record but simply the product of folklore] is impermissible

– feeding the poor and needy with the intention to donate the reward to the dead is permissible; but to hold obsequies and banquets where even the rich are invited is impermissible

—

Translated by Sidi Muhammad Aqdas

Virtues of a Halal Morsel

by Seeker

There are many blessings for us in eating according to the Sunnah of the beloved of Allah sal Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam.

Sayyiduna Imam Muhammad Ghazali radiyAllahu ‘anhu, in his second volume of Ihya’ al-‘Ulum cites the following aphorism attributed to a pious predecessor:

When a Muslim eats the first morsel of halal [lawful] food, he is absolved of the sins he committed in the past. [Furthermore] the one who visits a place of humiliation[1] in search of halal [lawful] food, his sins fall like leaves fall from a tree. [Ihya’ al-‘Ulum 2:116]

[1] A place that is normally considered inferior in rank