Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani


Muhammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albanī was a Syrian-Albanian Islamic scholar who specialized in the fields of hadith and fiqh. He established his reputation in Syria, where his family had moved when he was a child and where he was educated.
Albani is considered to be a major figure of the Salafi methodology of Islam. Al-Albani did not advocate violence, preferring quietism and obedience to established governments. A watchmaker by trade, Al-Albani was active as a writer, publishing chiefly on ahadith and its sciences. He also lectured widely in the Middle East, Spain and the United Kingdom on the Salafist movement.

Biography

Early life

Albani was born into a poor Muslim family in the city of Shkodër in northern Albania in 1914. During the reign of the secularist Albanian leader Ahmet Zogu, Al-Albani's family migrated to Damascus, Syria. In Damascus, Albani completed his early education – initially taught by his father – in the Quran, Tajwid, Arabic linguistic sciences, Hanafi Fiqh and further branches of the Islamic faith, also helped by native Syrian scholars. In the meantime, he earned a modest living as a carpenter before joining his father as a watchmaker.

Studies in hadiths

Albani began to specialize in hadith studies in the 1930s. Though he was largely self-taught, he transcribed and commented on Abd al-Rahim ibn al-Husain al-'Iraqi's Al-Mughnee 'an-hamlil-Asfar fil-Asfar fee takhrej maa fil-lhyaa min al-Akhbar. He followed this writing a series of lectures and books, as well as publishing articles in Al-Manar magazine.

Later life and death

Starting in 1954, Albani began delivering informal weekly lessons. By 1960, his popularity began to worry the government, and he was placed under surveillance. He was imprisoned twice in 1969. He was placed under house arrest more than once in the 1970s by the Ba'ath regime of Hafez al-Assad. The Syrian government accused Albani of "promoting the Wahhabi da'wa, which distorted Islam and confused Muslims."
After a number of his works were published, Albani was invited to teach ahadith at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia by the University's then-vice president, Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz. Shortly upon his arrival, Albani angered the Wahhabi elite in Saudi Arabia, who did not like his anti-traditionalist stances in Muslim jurisprudence. They were alarmed by Albani's intellectual challenges to the ruling Hanbali school of law but were unable to challenge him openly due to his popularity. When Albani wrote a book supporting his view that the Niqab, or full face-veil, was not a binding obligation upon Muslim women, he caused a minor uproar in the country. His opponents ensured that his contract with the university was allowed to lapse without renewal.
In 1963, Albani left Saudi Arabia and returned to his studies and work in the Az-Zahiriyah library in Syria. He left his watch shop in the hands of one of his brothers.
Albani visited various countries for preaching and lectures – amongst them Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, and the United Kingdom. He moved a number of times between Syria and a couple of cities in Jordan. He also lived in the UAE. After Bin Baz's intervention with Saudi educational management, Albani was invited to Saudi Arabia a second time in order to serve as the head of higher education in Islamic law in Mecca. This did not last due to controversy among the Saudi establishment regarding Albani's views.
Albani returned to Syria, where he was briefly jailed again in 1979. He moved to Jordan, living there for the remainder of his time. He died in 1999 at the age of 85.

Views

Albani was a proponent of Salafism, and is considered one of the movement's primary figureheads in the 20th century. Albani criticized the four mainstream schools of Islamic law and rejected the traditional Sunni view that Muslims should automatically turn to a Madhhab for fiqh. Instead, he spent much of his life critically re-evaluating hadith literature and felt that numerous previously accepted hadiths were unsound. This led him to produce rulings that were at odds with the Islamic majority. Although Salafism has frequently been associated with Wahhabism, Albani distinguished between the two movements, and he criticized the latter while supporting the former. He had a complex relationship to each movement.
Albani was amongst some leading Salafi scholars who were preaching for decades against what they considered the warped literalism of extremists. Politically they were quietists who rejected vigilantism and rebellion against the state. They believed that Muslims should focus on purifying their beliefs and practice and that, in time, "God would bring victory over the forces of falsehood and unbelief."
Albani's own views on jurisprudence and dogma have been a matter of debate and discussion. During a 1989 visit to Saudi Arabia, Albani was asked if he adhered to the lesser-known Zahiri school of Islamic law; he responded affirmatively. Albani's opponents among the mainstream have affirmed this as a point of criticism. A number of Albani's students have denied his association with any formal school of jurisprudence.
Albani openly criticized Syed Qutb after the leader was executed. He claimed that Qutb had deviated in creed and held the belief of Oneness of Being. Further, Albani accused Hassan al-Banna, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, of not being a religious scholar and holding "positions contrary to the Sunna".

Prayer (Salah) Formula

Albani wrote a book in which he redefined the proper gestures and formula that constitute the Muslim prayer ritual "According to the Prophet's sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallams practice." These were contrary to the prescriptions of all established schools of jurisprudence.
As he argued that several details of the concrete prayer that have been taught from generation to generation were based on dubious hadith, his book caused considerable unease. Albani's descriptions for the performance of the Tahajjud and Taraweeh prayers deviated considerably from established practice.

Controversies

Albani held a number of controversial views that ran counter to the wider Islamic consensus, and more specifically to Hanbali jurisprudence.
These include:
Albani was criticized by a number of contemporary Sunni scholars, and many of them wrote short texts, articles or even full-length books against him such as:
Albani was awarded the King Faisal International Prize in 1999 before his death for his contributions to Islamic studies. The award committee described him as "considered by many academics as probably the greatest Islamic scholar of the 20th Century."
Over a period of sixty years, Albani's lectures and published books were highly influential in the field of Islamic studies, and many of his works became widely referred to by other Islamic scholars. Muhibb-ud-Deen Al-Khatib, a contemporary scholar, said of him:
In 2015, the Huffington Post remarked that Albani's movement of 'Quietist Salafism' "with its strong opposition to takfirism and violence may provide the rhetoric that could prevent youth from being drawn to the apocalyptic rubbish of ISIS."

Works