How should one respond to those who say: You Salafis deny taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence), yet you follow Al-Albani when you say: Al-Albani graded it as authentic, good, or weak?

The questioner : He says: How should one respond to those who say: You Salafis, or the Salafis, deny taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence), yet you follow Al-Albani when you say: He graded it as authentic, good, or weak, even though he sometimes disagrees with the Imams of hadith, such as Ibn Hajar, al-Dhahabi, and others?

The Shaykh : Look, the question, I think you have heard it: What should a Muslim do if he finds that scholars have disagreed regarding a hadith, with some grading it as authentic and others as weak? According to the questioner’s approach, he must follow (taqlid) either the one who graded it authentic or the one who graded it weak. Then, he does not have before him someone to help him and clarify which of the two opinions is stronger. However, there was a man who was tested by the people and the people were tested by him; he dedicated his life to this knowledge. Some Muslim youth became convinced that this man possessed some knowledge of this field. So the questioner, or whoever points to him, says: These youth in the entire Islamic world claim to be Salafis who do not follow (taqlid), and yet here they are following Al-Albani! Well, who are they following? Are they following those who died and disagreed, leaving us this disagreement? They must adopt one of the two opinions, whether authentic or weak. If there is a person who brings the point of disagreement closer to them, explains the reason for the weakening and the reason for the authentication, and then performs a process of preferring one opinion over the other; is this not better than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) providing them with a person who revives this knowledge for them, clarifies it for the Muslim youth, and motivates them to act upon the science of hadith?
I am not saying something new, nor am I revealing a secret, as it is said. Thirty years ago, there was no scholar, writer, or preacher in the Islamic world who would mention a hadith in his sermon, in his book, or in any field of knowledge and say: It was narrated by al-Bukhari, or it was narrated by Muslim, or it was narrated by so-and-so, or so-and-so graded it as authentic, or if he brought a hadith and said: Its chain is weak; this had no mention whatsoever in the entire Islamic world before a third of a century. But today, praise be to Allah, you find activity in caring for hadith and tracing it to its sources, and even some try to authenticate it without having reached the level of authentication and weakening. This means there is a very remarkable scientific movement in the Islamic world. The elderly among us, like myself, know this, but you are now living in a bubble of knowledge regarding this noble science, which is the science of hadith.
In summary: We return to this question; they say: They follow Al-Albani. We said: Following (taqlid) is necessary, in his expression. But the scholars of usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence) and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), particularly among them Imam al-San'ani, the Amir al-San'ani, has a treatise titled "Taysir al-Ijtihad" (Facilitating Independent Legal Reasoning) or "Fi Taysir al-Ijtihad" (On Facilitating Independent Legal Reasoning). He mentions there that when a man hears a scholar say about a hadith: It is an authentic hadith, or about a hadith: It is a weak hadith; then the one who has no knowledge must follow him. And this following is not taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence), but rather ittaba' (following). He elaborates on the matter there based on the science of hadith. The summary of that is that if a man tells you about a person you do not know: This is a man of good conduct, there is no harm in associating with him; and you obey him in this and go to associate with him; this is not called taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence), but rather ittaba' (following). Taqlid is when you surrender the leadership of your mind and thinking to the one you follow without exerting effort, thinking: Is this a scholar? Is this a truthful man in what he transmits? This is taqlid when you close your eyes; because the scholars say that taqlid is derived from what? From the qaladah (necklace), as if you remove the necklace from your neck and put it on his neck, and everything is done. And this is the nature of the followers (muqallidin).
And last night, on the occasion of the previous research on the verse: , we heard from one of the scholars that there is no objection to taking out zakah (the obligatory alms) and giving it for the construction of mosques or hospitals. He mentioned a well-known athar (a report from a Companion or successor), and I mentioned it in "Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da'ifah wa al-Mawdu'ah" (The Series of Weak and Fabricated Hadiths): "Whoever follows a scholar will meet Allah in a safe state." So what did he equate? He followed this scholar; merely because he said so; that is it, as if he is with the text and submits completely.
It is not the case for one who tries to verify that this man who says: This is haram (forbidden), or says: It is halal (lawful), or says: The hadith is authentic or weak; he tries to be certain of him: Is he proficient in this knowledge? Is there a scope, for example, to discuss it, or is there no scope? After he is reassured, he follows him. So he is not called a muqallid (one who follows without evidence) as mentioned in the questioner’s question. But if he is not convinced of this because he is not, by nature, from the people of knowledge; then I say to him: What do you do? You follow (taqlid), and these people follow (taqlid), but these people follow with some insight. As for you, as we see many people today; they say according to this scholar’s opinion without evidence, and tomorrow they say according to that scholar’s opinion without evidence. But the evidence (dalil) leads you to following the truth, wherever it is, whether it is for you or against you.
This is what was possible in answering the questions presented. And I ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to grant us and you success in the truth and following it wherever it is and with whomever it is.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.

The questioner : In the end, we hope that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will benefit us with what we have heard. And we say that if every call (da'wah) has its characteristics, then the Salafi call is distinguished by being the only one that wrote about tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and clarifying shirk (associating partners with Allah) and deviation. And it is the only one—also—whose scholars, past and present, wrote about authentication and weakening. And all the people, or all the existing calls now, we have not read for any of them a book that is considered in the issues of tawhid and shirk, or in the issues of authentication and weakening. And this is from the favor of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) upon us. May Allah reward you with good.