What do you know about the creed of Abdullah Azzam?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Shaykh, by the way, regarding the creed of Abdullah Azzam (may Allah have mercy on him), what do you know about his creed?
The Shaykh : First, Abdullah Azzam was from the Muslim Brotherhood.
The questioner : Yes, that is known about him.
The Shaykh : Then, he had a side of Salafism.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But he exploited this side to recruit some Salafi individuals.
The questioner: Yes.
Another questioner : ...
The Shaykh : He was the only one from the Muslim Brotherhood in this country who broke the Muslim Brotherhood's system by attending the lessons or circles of Al-Albani.
The questioner : He broke the custom.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : The one known about them.
The Shaykh : None of the senior Muslim Brotherhood members, I hesitate between saying they would concede to attend Al-Albani's gatherings or dare to do so, but he broke through... whenever he heard about a night session, he would attend alone.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : He had no one from the Brotherhood with him, just a small notebook and a short, thin pen; as they say, he did not miss a single word, whether it was a stray thought or a main point; he would listen to it all.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Therefore, we could see threads of Salafism in his writings, but the style of the Muslim Brotherhood predominated in him, in terms of fanaticism for the group and gathering the Brotherhood members when they came there in Afghanistan, in Peshawar, and attempting to distance anyone who felt he was not a Brotherhood member. He was like Jamil al-Rahman (may Allah have mercy on him), with the difference between the two; both of them called me on the phone once.
The questioner : And where?
The Shaykh : From there, as for Jamil al-Rahman, they were in a problem, fearing that they would be attacked by some of the seven parties. He had, of course, a group of young Arab Salafis, so he opened the line, and one of his members asked me about this problem, in case it materialized.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : My answer, when I understood from Islam, was that if you are attacked, defend yourselves and do not attack. During this conversation or this answer, Shaykh Jamil (may Allah have mercy on him) came in and greeted me, saying "Welcome" and "How are you," and thanked me, and that was it. As for Azzam, he told me that he had extracted seventy hadiths from Sahih al-Jami' regarding jihad, and he wanted to collect them in a treatise and publish and print it, so he asked for my permission. I said to him: "And above that, may Allah reward you with good." I saw, and I am certainly more aware of his culture, that he hinted at the effects of his attendance at my gatherings in some of his writings. The clearest effect was this phone call in which he asked for permission to publish these hadiths he had selected from Sahih al-Jami', all of which were in line with the jihad he was engaged in. Then I do not know what he did, whether he published it or not. So I say, meaning, I think that in terms of creed and tawhid (the oneness of Allah), he differed from the Muslim Brotherhood.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : This is from one side, but unfortunately, he adhered to the official decisions of the Muslim Brotherhood. Once, the Muslim Brotherhood here issued a decision to boycott Shaykh Al-Albani.
The questioner : The Muslim Brotherhood... God is Great.
The Shaykh : So he was among those who responded to this decision, with caution.
The questioner : It was Azzam; I listened to a tape of his...
The Shaykh : Agreed, pardon me.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I prayed in the mosque of Suhayb, the one at the seventh roundabout.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : You know, it is elevated on stairs. When we came out of the mosque after the Maghrib prayer, I met him. I said to him, "Mr., what is this? You called for the unification of Muslims, and then you and the others boycotted Shaykh Al-Albani. What did he do? He calls to the Book and the Sunnah." He said, may Allah have mercy on him, his speech was light and gentle: "This is a summer cloud; it will soon clear up." And, by Allah, the boycott lasted two years.
The questioner : Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.
The Shaykh : Then it was ended, and praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh : First, Abdullah Azzam was from the Muslim Brotherhood.
The questioner : Yes, that is known about him.
The Shaykh : Then, he had a side of Salafism.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But he exploited this side to recruit some Salafi individuals.
The questioner: Yes.
Another questioner : ...
The Shaykh : He was the only one from the Muslim Brotherhood in this country who broke the Muslim Brotherhood's system by attending the lessons or circles of Al-Albani.
The questioner : He broke the custom.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : The one known about them.
The Shaykh : None of the senior Muslim Brotherhood members, I hesitate between saying they would concede to attend Al-Albani's gatherings or dare to do so, but he broke through... whenever he heard about a night session, he would attend alone.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : He had no one from the Brotherhood with him, just a small notebook and a short, thin pen; as they say, he did not miss a single word, whether it was a stray thought or a main point; he would listen to it all.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Therefore, we could see threads of Salafism in his writings, but the style of the Muslim Brotherhood predominated in him, in terms of fanaticism for the group and gathering the Brotherhood members when they came there in Afghanistan, in Peshawar, and attempting to distance anyone who felt he was not a Brotherhood member. He was like Jamil al-Rahman (may Allah have mercy on him), with the difference between the two; both of them called me on the phone once.
The questioner : And where?
The Shaykh : From there, as for Jamil al-Rahman, they were in a problem, fearing that they would be attacked by some of the seven parties. He had, of course, a group of young Arab Salafis, so he opened the line, and one of his members asked me about this problem, in case it materialized.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : My answer, when I understood from Islam, was that if you are attacked, defend yourselves and do not attack. During this conversation or this answer, Shaykh Jamil (may Allah have mercy on him) came in and greeted me, saying "Welcome" and "How are you," and thanked me, and that was it. As for Azzam, he told me that he had extracted seventy hadiths from Sahih al-Jami' regarding jihad, and he wanted to collect them in a treatise and publish and print it, so he asked for my permission. I said to him: "And above that, may Allah reward you with good." I saw, and I am certainly more aware of his culture, that he hinted at the effects of his attendance at my gatherings in some of his writings. The clearest effect was this phone call in which he asked for permission to publish these hadiths he had selected from Sahih al-Jami', all of which were in line with the jihad he was engaged in. Then I do not know what he did, whether he published it or not. So I say, meaning, I think that in terms of creed and tawhid (the oneness of Allah), he differed from the Muslim Brotherhood.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : This is from one side, but unfortunately, he adhered to the official decisions of the Muslim Brotherhood. Once, the Muslim Brotherhood here issued a decision to boycott Shaykh Al-Albani.
The questioner : The Muslim Brotherhood... God is Great.
The Shaykh : So he was among those who responded to this decision, with caution.
The questioner : It was Azzam; I listened to a tape of his...
The Shaykh : Agreed, pardon me.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I prayed in the mosque of Suhayb, the one at the seventh roundabout.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : You know, it is elevated on stairs. When we came out of the mosque after the Maghrib prayer, I met him. I said to him, "Mr., what is this? You called for the unification of Muslims, and then you and the others boycotted Shaykh Al-Albani. What did he do? He calls to the Book and the Sunnah." He said, may Allah have mercy on him, his speech was light and gentle: "This is a summer cloud; it will soon clear up." And, by Allah, the boycott lasted two years.
The questioner : Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.
The Shaykh : Then it was ended, and praise be to Allah.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.