A Kuwaiti student’s discussion with Shaykh Al-Albani regarding a book by Shaykh Shuqara that led to a disagreement with Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abd al-Khaliq on the rulings of jihad in the path of Allah

The Shaykh : Who among you would like to speak?
The student: I, Shaykh...

The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The student : In the name of Allah, all praise is for Allah, and may blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. To begin, my Shaykh, may Allah reward you with good. I say: I praise Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) for granting us the pleasure of meeting you.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.
The student : And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) knows how much esteem and respect you hold in the hearts of all our Salafi brothers, whether they are in Kuwait or elsewhere.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you all.
The student : And I say this based on my observation of what has become clear to me from Kuwait, for I lived there for a long period, and I can almost, indeed I am certain, say that if any one of our Salafi brothers in Kuwait were asked to identify the prominent figures of the Salaf, or to name three of the prominent figures of the Salaf in our time, he would count you among them.

The Shaykh : O Allah, make me better than what they think, and do not hold me accountable for what they say, and forgive me for what they do not know. Yes.
The student : My Shaykh, I have come on behalf of a group of Salafi brothers in Kuwait, after we had read the book written by Shaykh Abu Malik and the responses that followed it.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The student : Such as the response of our Shaykh, Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abd al-Khaliq, in the magazine *Sayyarah*, and also a recorded tape in your name by one of the Kuwaiti brothers who came here, and also the response of Shaykh Abu Malik in a recorded tape to the statements of Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abd al-Khaliq. The truth is, we felt concerned about the style of the dialogue, as we are accustomed to the style being objective, and the discussion and argument being based on evidence to reach the truth. We sensed that in some aspects, this was not the case. And since we know that Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abd al-Khaliq loves you and honors you, and so does Shaykh Abu Malik, we firmly believed that, with Allah’s permission, you are able to end this disagreement and remove it, especially since the tapes have multiplied and the talk has increased in some matters. So we resolved to go to Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abd al-Khaliq, particularly after your invitation to him in one of the tapes to come here and discuss together many matters that concern the call to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). We went to Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abd al-Khaliq and spoke with him about this matter, and he confirmed to us (may Allah preserve him) that it is of great importance to him to meet you. In fact, he was about to send you a message in this regard. When he learned of our intention, he was very happy and praised you greatly in our meeting. He said words that pleased us and made us know that the disagreement will certainly be resolved.

The Shaykh : If Allah wills.
The student : However, he is unable, at least in the current circumstances, to come to Jordan for security reasons. So we see that if you are able to meet, or to designate another place other than Kuwait, of course, for you to meet there, there is no doubt that you, the professor, and you, the great Shaykh, and you, the father of Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abd al-Khaliq, and we are all your sons, if Allah wills, if you would designate the place and time, and of course, Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman will attend this from his side. On the other hand, as I mentioned, I came on behalf of a group of Salafi brothers, and therefore I have a set of questions. I hope there will be ample time for you to answer them. My stay in this country is short, as I am traveling on Monday, so I ask Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) to expand your chest to answer some of these questions. And we ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to remove what has stuck in the minds regarding those issues. And praise be to Allah. You know that Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman 'Abd al-Khaliq is one of your students and has, by the grace of Allah, an impact on the blessed Salafi call in Kuwait and elsewhere. So we ask Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) to remove what has stuck in the minds regarding those issues, and praise be to Allah.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good for this concern regarding the dispute that arose among some of those who are united by the call to truth, which is the call of the Book and the Sunnah upon the methodology of the righteous Salaf, as we always and forever sing about it or revolve around it. As for meeting in a place other than Oman, this is not an easy matter for me in these days, first of all, and secondly, in my belief, the dispute that arose from the words of our brother Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Khalq—and as I said, I still hold in my heart all respect and honor for his activity in the Salafi call in Kuwait, and may Allah (Mighty and Majestic) have blessed him in it and benefited through him and it as many of His creation as He willed, not only in Kuwait but in other lands as well; this is a matter I do not doubt, and we do not need to speak much about it—but the dispute that arose because of our brother Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Khalq’s writing about our brother Abu Malik’s book revolves around two issues. One of them does not require a meeting at all, while the other requires a meeting and it is necessary. Therefore, I made that request to him: if he is able to be gracious and come here so that we can meet to discuss what can be called issues in which the perspectives of one scholar and another scholar differ, and I do not say between a scholar and a student of knowledge. This requires a meeting for understanding regarding such a dispute. And this meeting requires that it be in a place with references and books, so that if the two disputing parties differ on a matter and need to consult the sources agreed upon as scientific sources, they can bring together the points of disagreement and unify them on a correct opinion, if Allah wills. This is the second part of the dispute. But there is another dispute, which is that it is said of so-and-so that he explicitly denies jihad and drops the obligation of jihad, while so-and-so himself explicitly states in the very book he is criticizing the opposite of that. May Allah reward you all. This does not require a meeting and does not bear waiting an hour of time, if the truth becomes clear to the one who claimed the opposite of the truth. This is what requires a meeting. The meeting needs to remove a misunderstanding on an issue. Let me give an example for it, from what he always sings about in his letters: that entering the existing parliaments today, which do not rule by what Allah has prescribed, is one of the collective obligations that the people of knowledge must enter. Another party from our side says, no, this is not permissible. This requires a meeting for understanding so that the dots can be placed on the letters. But as for a Muslim who believes in Allah and His Messenger, believes in the verses of jihad and the hadiths of jihad, and that jihad will continue until the Day of Resurrection like hijrah in the path of Allah, it is attributed to him the opposite of what he wrote in his book, that he denied jihad. This is what requires a meeting. May Allah reward you. This requires him to say, "I apologize, my pen or tongue rushed ahead, and I said what I said, so I repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for what I said, and we are all still upon the Book and the Sunnah." But there are some issues where a meeting and understanding are necessary. So I hope you understand from me this detail, which in my belief does not accept any argument, that it is said, for example, that this is not the reality, and praise be to Allah, that it is said, for example, that Shaykh Al-Albani denies that Sahih al-Bukhari is the most authentic book after the Book of Allah. This is a lie. This does not require a meeting, because all my writings... I am saying this as an example, it is not in accordance with reality. Likewise, our brother Abu Malik, in his lectures and in his sermons, and even in this book itself, established a special chapter to clarify that jihad in the path of Allah is obligatory and that it will continue until the Day of Resurrection, and so on. On this occasion, I say that I stated in some gatherings that I think this writing attributed to our brother Abu Malik denying the obligation of jihad in this time is not by the pen of our brother Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Khalq. Why did I say this? Because I believe that Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Khalq does not have this haste, this recklessness that we complain of from some of the youth. Rather, he was able to direct the Muslim youth there in Kuwait to the call of the Book and the Sunnah and upon the methodology of the righteous Salaf only because he was given forbearance and he was given patience and he was given deliberation. So how could he fall into such a great calamity, accusing a Muslim in a printed and published book of the opposite of what he published, that jihad in the path of Allah is obligatory? But he says that jihad in the path of Allah requires preparation, and we have many words and recordings on some tapes regarding this issue. As for the claim that he denied jihad, this truly does not require a meeting, although I am eager for a meeting for the second type of dispute; this is necessary. So I conclude my answer to your question: First, we thank you for your good opinion of your brother, and I counter this exaggeration in praise with what Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say when he heard praise that he felt he was not worthy of: . This is first. And secondly, I wished that the meeting would be in any place proposed by our brother Abd al-Rahman, if this were possible for me at this advanced age.