How was your selection for teaching at the Islamic University, given that it requires a doctoral degree?

Al-Huwaini: There was a question, and it concerns your selection for teaching at the Islamic University, meaning how did it happen, given that regular academic study requires a doctorate, preparation, and such things?

The Shaykh : The truth is, this is the first time I have been asked this question. What comes to mind for an answer now goes back to two matters:
The first matter: The university was new to university-level teaching, especially in the Saudi lands; where it is, likewise, a state new to modern regulations. This is from one side, or the first reason.
The second reason: The fame of some of the writings, and the satisfaction of the people there with them, and what appears to be their appreciation of them at their true worth, is what prompted them to send for me. I did not ask for it, and I did not request it, and I have lived this way, praise be to Allah, not asking for any job. So, since—as you know from what has passed—since the softness of my nails, I have earned my daily sustenance from the labor of my right hand and the sweat of my brow. And in this regard of earning, a request came to me fromThe Shaykh : Muhammad al-Ibrahim, who was the Mufti of the Kingdom and the head of the university. He asked me to agree to teach the subject of Hadith at the Islamic University, which would open its doors at a specific time. So, I consulted with our brothers there, in whose understanding and knowledge I trust. One of them, who was among their most intelligent and most sincere brothers to me, said: Try it. If you see that you benefit the students; because I mentioned that I do not have degrees first, and then generally, university study does not align with my calling. So, I was very hesitant. What convinced me was only this brother, who said: Try for a year. If you find good in your teaching, you will continue with what is written for you. Otherwise, the year will end and you will return to your profession. And so it was. But the truth is, I found there a wonderful atmosphere, ready to accept the call first, and the scientific methodology upon which I was created and which I followed second.
My story at the university, in my opinion, is rare for a professor of a subject taught at the university.

Another questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
I was with the students as if I were one of them. There are pictures that bring this reality closer to them. For example, when I finished my teaching session and the break came, usually the professors would rush from their lesson to the room... and there they would sit for the duration of the break, which was ten minutes or a quarter of an hour—I no longer remember well—drinking tea and coffee and talking about all kinds of things. As for me, I would turn away from all that, and I would go out from the lesson to the courtyard, and sit on this sandy ground. The students I had been teaching minutes before would gather, and students from all years would gather in the open circle, and I would give them some guidance, some advice, and answers to some questions. And so I spent all three years that I taught at the university. I remember well that the one called in university terminology the "Mu'idd" (teaching assistant) passed by me one day and said: Peace be upon you. I said: And upon you be peace. He said: Do you know, O Shaykh, that the real lesson is this? As if he was informing me... in this circle, they were taking their freedom and their glory. As for the regular lesson, yes, I was also broad with them, but even so, the matter must have limits, meaning constraints. This is a picture of Al-Albani's uniqueness among all the professors there at the university. And it had other good effects. For example, when Al-Albani entered the university minutes before the lesson, they would circle around the car until the car was lost among them and could not be seen. And everyone would race his brother to direct a question he had. And when he came out, they would race, likewise, to ride with him to the city; first, so that they would not be late in going, and second, they would gain an opportunity as our friend does. And so was my habit in going and returning, even though no one was with me in my car, but it was loaded with students going and returning.
On the way there, I would find students who had been left behind on the road, despite the fact that they had a special bus. The bus would stop at the Prophet's Mosque and at a specific time it would depart. And some students would necessarily be late, so they would run on foot from the city to the university. So, I would pick them up in the car, and load it beyond its usual weight, in order for them to catch up with what? The lesson at its beginning. While you would see the other professors as if they were kings, no one would ride with them at all!! So, it is not hidden from you that this situation created in the hearts of the students an attachment to Al-Albani and a very strange love. Add to that that he brought them knowledge they had not heard of before. The professor of Tafsir, Fiqh, and Usul would narrate to them hadiths that corresponded to their lessons. So, the professors themselves would hear a new language: "O Professor, who narrated this hadith?" So-and-so. "Good; is its chain authentic?" The professors were surprised by such a tone.
And I remember, likewise, well an incident that happened: The professor of Usul brought a hadith, a hadith related to Usul. Yes, , I think this or something similar to it, do you remember a hadith similar to it, and it is not authentic?

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : This is authentic, the important thing.

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : No, this hadith is the hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal, the hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal: . He said: By the Book of Allah.
So he brought this hadith to them in the Usul lesson, arguing with it against Qiyas (analogical reasoning), of course. In the lesson was our brother Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Khaliq, who is in Kuwait. It was in the third year. He said to him: O Professor, is this hadith authentic? He said to him: Yes. He said: We heardThe Shaykh : Al-Albani say that this hadith is Munkar (denounced). I do not know what his answer was, but he was, of course, not satisfied with the position from thisThe student : After a few days,The Shaykh : the professor of the Usul subject came to my house. He said to me: It has reached me such and such, that you say about this hadith that it is Munkar. I said: Yes. He said: Where are you writing something on this topic? I said: Yes, in "Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da'ifah" (The Chain of Weak Hadiths), and this is in the second volume, as you know, and it had not been printed at that time. He said: Can I look at it? I said: Yes. And I showed him the article. So, I had listed there all the ways it is narrated and explained their weak defects. And if he, in another lesson, affirmed to them that the hadith is authentic, andThe Shaykh : Al-Albani himself brought this hadith with ways that strengthen it, while they only add weakness upon weakness.
Meaning, a picture like this, and this very strange phenomenon in a university, and the clustering of students around me, aroused the resentment of some of the professors. So, they wrote to the Mufti—Allah knows best—directly or to the King, and they portrayed to them that he is forming a party, and it is feared that he will do something!! And the third year ended, and I returned to Damascus, my place for spending the summer vacation. At that time,The Shaykh : Ibn Baz—may Allah reward him with good—was the Vice President, so he was the actual president; you are the honorary president. And he wrote to me before a week or two weeks of my return to the city. And I remember well that some of my children, and he was Abd al-Latif, had a completion in one of the lessons, so I sent him ahead of me to take the exam. And I was surprised by a letter fromThe Shaykh : Ibn Baz that a letter had come to him from the Mufti that there is no need this year to renew the contract withThe Shaykh : Al-Albani, and thus my relationship with the university ended. And he wrote to me a kind word—may Allah reward him with good; he says: One like you, in any post, performs his duty. Yes, indeed.
So, the summary of the answer is that I was requested to teach. It appears that after they were committed to university laws, and because they needed a person they trusted in his knowledge and his creed at the same time; this and that is what carried them to appoint me to teach.