The Muslim's Position on Shaykh Al-Albani's Opinions and the Preference Between Views
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The questioner:
We have Shaykh Al-Albani's opinions on hijab, on women's adornments, and so on, in prayer, as this questioner mentioned, and as she mentioned that in one of his books, what is Shaykh Salih's view?
The Shaykh:
Shaykh Nasir al-Din Al-Albani (may Allah preserve him) is a noble man and a fine scholar without doubt, and he has made an effort in calling to the correct creed and fighting religious innovations (bid'ah), so may Allah reward him with good. But he has independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) in which he may be right and may be wrong; he is like others in that he hits the mark and misses. So we take the truth from Shaykh Al-Albani and from others, and leave the error. This is the Muslim's position on the statements of the people of knowledge: to take from them what is supported by evidence, and to leave what contradicts the evidence, even if its author is a scholar who exercises independent legal reasoning. Indeed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The questioner:
All right, may Allah reward you with good. What is the guidance for the reader or student in this case, Shaykh, if he reads such opinions and acts on them, and then discovers that they are not the stronger position among the scholars' views?
The Shaykh:
The stronger position for the reader or student, if he understands the distinction between the stronger and weaker positions and knows the evidence, is that he must take what is supported by the evidence. It is not permissible for him to take the weaker position just because he loves its author, or feels affection for him, or holds him in high esteem, for the truth is more worthy of being followed.
As for if this reader or student is a beginner, and he is not skilled in deriving evidence or preferring one view over another, then he must ask the people of knowledge, specifically the trustworthy among the people of knowledge, and follow their statements. These are the people of knowledge who know the stronger from the weaker position and know the evidence, and he follows their statements. And if it happens that a person took the opinions of a certain individual, and then it became clear to him that he was wrong in them, or in some of them, Allah forgives him for that, because he did not intend the error. But after the truth becomes clear to him, he must take the truth, and Allah forgives what has passed.
The presenter:
May Allah bless you, may He reward
The Shaykh:
you with good.
We have Shaykh Al-Albani's opinions on hijab, on women's adornments, and so on, in prayer, as this questioner mentioned, and as she mentioned that in one of his books, what is Shaykh Salih's view?
The Shaykh:
Shaykh Nasir al-Din Al-Albani (may Allah preserve him) is a noble man and a fine scholar without doubt, and he has made an effort in calling to the correct creed and fighting religious innovations (bid'ah), so may Allah reward him with good. But he has independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) in which he may be right and may be wrong; he is like others in that he hits the mark and misses. So we take the truth from Shaykh Al-Albani and from others, and leave the error. This is the Muslim's position on the statements of the people of knowledge: to take from them what is supported by evidence, and to leave what contradicts the evidence, even if its author is a scholar who exercises independent legal reasoning. Indeed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
If the judge exercises independent legal reasoning and is right, he has two rewards; and if he exercises independent legal reasoning and is wrong, he has one reward.
إذا اجتهد الحاكم فأصاب فله أجران، وإن اجتهد وافق فله أجر واحد.The questioner:
All right, may Allah reward you with good. What is the guidance for the reader or student in this case, Shaykh, if he reads such opinions and acts on them, and then discovers that they are not the stronger position among the scholars' views?
The Shaykh:
The stronger position for the reader or student, if he understands the distinction between the stronger and weaker positions and knows the evidence, is that he must take what is supported by the evidence. It is not permissible for him to take the weaker position just because he loves its author, or feels affection for him, or holds him in high esteem, for the truth is more worthy of being followed.
As for if this reader or student is a beginner, and he is not skilled in deriving evidence or preferring one view over another, then he must ask the people of knowledge, specifically the trustworthy among the people of knowledge, and follow their statements. These are the people of knowledge who know the stronger from the weaker position and know the evidence, and he follows their statements. And if it happens that a person took the opinions of a certain individual, and then it became clear to him that he was wrong in them, or in some of them, Allah forgives him for that, because he did not intend the error. But after the truth becomes clear to him, he must take the truth, and Allah forgives what has passed.
The presenter:
May Allah bless you, may He reward
The Shaykh:
you with good.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، نور على الدرب 155 من المجموعة الأولى للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (9:01)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.