I read in some of your books that you had a dedicated room in the Zahiriyyah Library. How did you achieve this status, given that it is difficult?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Well, one of the things I read in some of the books about you is that you had a dedicated room in the Zahiriyyah Library.
The Shaykh : That is correct.
The questioner : Yes, how did you achieve this status, considering that it is nearly impossible?
The Shaykh : In the Muslim countries!
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Hehehe, that is true. I do not remember clearly now. It was either because the officials at the Zahiriyyah Library felt that I was a man of knowledge, an enthusiast of knowledge. So I would sit in the public hall and say: "O Abu Mahdi, give me—of course with a receipt—the such-and-such manuscript." I would hardly finish one before I would ask for a second, a third, and a fourth. And you know that this is not customary in libraries.
The questioner : Yes, indeed.
The Shaykh : Sometimes a pile of manuscripts would accumulate on my table. The table was set for four people, two on this side and two on the other. Because of this situation, no student could come to share the table with me. Without a doubt, this caused some objection from the students. It appears they mentioned it to the administration. A student or students would come in looking for a place, especially during exam times, and find no space. So it seems the officials there found a solution to the problem. They had a dark room that was not suitable for gathering firewood or stacking firewood in it, so they offered it to me. I said to myself, as I tell my brothers: I am a man who does not find humor, and I do not care about the issue of whether it is healthy or not.
In short: they placed me in this room and provided me with the books I needed as references so that I would not trouble the staff there by asking for this book and that book. They even left some manuscripts with me. This is the first possibility, and it is the most likely in my opinion, because a long time has passed since then.
The second possibility: that the Faculty of Sharia at the Syrian University held, apparently, many meetings and decided among themselves to establish the nucleus for an encyclopedia of hadith. And unfortunately, I say, they could not find among their professors someone to undertake this task. So they sent for me to discuss an important scientific topic. I met with them at the university, and they presented the idea to me and asked me to work according to a methodology they had established. After deliberation on the matter, I agreed with them to work for them four hours every day, and the remaining hours for my personal work, on the condition that I be allowed to enter the Zahiriyyah Library at any time I wished, day or night. It is not hidden from you that there is a system: the department or library opens at eight in the morning, for example, the workday ends at twelve, the afternoon shift begins at four, and ends at nine, for example. So I said to them: If the officials at the library allow me that, then I will give you four hours every day. They said: We will speak with the responsible director there. And indeed, while I was in this dark room, I was supervising the entry and exit, and I was not seen because it did not attract attention.
The questioner : So how did you write?
The Shaykh : In the light, of course, electricity.
The questioner : Ah, yes.
The Shaykh : Ah, yes. The important thing is that I think at that time, I no longer remember, al-Siba'i, Mustafa al-Siba'i or Muhammad al-Mubarak, went up to the responsible director and spoke about the matter. So they sent for me and said: We have agreed with the director that he will order the doorman/guard that whenever you come, he opens the door for you. So the key to the library was in my pocket. The official door, of course, was with the guard. So I would ring the bell before eight o'clock, I would pray Fajr at home and set off to the library. He would open for me, having woken up from his sleep, meaning he was forced and compelled. And so I saved four hours for them. So I was working on the project of the Encyclopedia of Hadith of Sales. Perhaps you remember that I sometimes attribute to this project.
The questioner : Is it finished, O our Shaykh?
The Shaykh : No, it was not completed, or another research was completed for it.
The point is: now, I truly cannot determine whether they cleared this room for me on this occasion or before that, and this is what is more likely in my view. However, they gave me this special permission to enter whenever I wished, day or night. This is the story of this room, which I had exclusively, unlike all the other researchers there.
The Shaykh : That is correct.
The questioner : Yes, how did you achieve this status, considering that it is nearly impossible?
The Shaykh : In the Muslim countries!
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Hehehe, that is true. I do not remember clearly now. It was either because the officials at the Zahiriyyah Library felt that I was a man of knowledge, an enthusiast of knowledge. So I would sit in the public hall and say: "O Abu Mahdi, give me—of course with a receipt—the such-and-such manuscript." I would hardly finish one before I would ask for a second, a third, and a fourth. And you know that this is not customary in libraries.
The questioner : Yes, indeed.
The Shaykh : Sometimes a pile of manuscripts would accumulate on my table. The table was set for four people, two on this side and two on the other. Because of this situation, no student could come to share the table with me. Without a doubt, this caused some objection from the students. It appears they mentioned it to the administration. A student or students would come in looking for a place, especially during exam times, and find no space. So it seems the officials there found a solution to the problem. They had a dark room that was not suitable for gathering firewood or stacking firewood in it, so they offered it to me. I said to myself, as I tell my brothers: I am a man who does not find humor, and I do not care about the issue of whether it is healthy or not.
In short: they placed me in this room and provided me with the books I needed as references so that I would not trouble the staff there by asking for this book and that book. They even left some manuscripts with me. This is the first possibility, and it is the most likely in my opinion, because a long time has passed since then.
The second possibility: that the Faculty of Sharia at the Syrian University held, apparently, many meetings and decided among themselves to establish the nucleus for an encyclopedia of hadith. And unfortunately, I say, they could not find among their professors someone to undertake this task. So they sent for me to discuss an important scientific topic. I met with them at the university, and they presented the idea to me and asked me to work according to a methodology they had established. After deliberation on the matter, I agreed with them to work for them four hours every day, and the remaining hours for my personal work, on the condition that I be allowed to enter the Zahiriyyah Library at any time I wished, day or night. It is not hidden from you that there is a system: the department or library opens at eight in the morning, for example, the workday ends at twelve, the afternoon shift begins at four, and ends at nine, for example. So I said to them: If the officials at the library allow me that, then I will give you four hours every day. They said: We will speak with the responsible director there. And indeed, while I was in this dark room, I was supervising the entry and exit, and I was not seen because it did not attract attention.
The questioner : So how did you write?
The Shaykh : In the light, of course, electricity.
The questioner : Ah, yes.
The Shaykh : Ah, yes. The important thing is that I think at that time, I no longer remember, al-Siba'i, Mustafa al-Siba'i or Muhammad al-Mubarak, went up to the responsible director and spoke about the matter. So they sent for me and said: We have agreed with the director that he will order the doorman/guard that whenever you come, he opens the door for you. So the key to the library was in my pocket. The official door, of course, was with the guard. So I would ring the bell before eight o'clock, I would pray Fajr at home and set off to the library. He would open for me, having woken up from his sleep, meaning he was forced and compelled. And so I saved four hours for them. So I was working on the project of the Encyclopedia of Hadith of Sales. Perhaps you remember that I sometimes attribute to this project.
The questioner : Is it finished, O our Shaykh?
The Shaykh : No, it was not completed, or another research was completed for it.
The point is: now, I truly cannot determine whether they cleared this room for me on this occasion or before that, and this is what is more likely in my view. However, they gave me this special permission to enter whenever I wished, day or night. This is the story of this room, which I had exclusively, unlike all the other researchers there.