Al-Albani’s explanation of the campaign launched against him by some yellow newspapers, and his clarification of what occurred between him and his father (may Allah have mercy on them both)

The questioner : From what we heard in the newspaper articles today, it is said that you left your son today and you and your associates were upset with him and abandoned him, and you turned away from him. Is this true, as they said in the newspapers?! I heard from you that when you raised your hands, you swatted a fly with your hand.

The Shaykh : In any case, I am surprised by such a question, namely whether what was published in the newspapers is true, and what is the truth that is published today in the newspapers regarding the issue they raised through aggression, injustice, and tyranny?! This is from one perspective. From another perspective: the truth is, I do not want us to delve too much into what is published in commercial newspapers, which do not care whether they write truth or falsehood, or publish right or wrong. However, if some of the brothers who are afflicted with reading such newspapers have a problem or a doubt regarding what is published, and I see that they should not immediately elevate what is published to the status of a fact, and assume in it, as a matter of course, that it is a lie, then if you must ask that question, I answer that I was expelled from my father’s house, and I did not leave out of my own desire. This is exactly like the same problem these opponents raised, who used a word that stirs up emotions, and did not use the legal term that reminds these hearts, if they remember, because they used the word: “he issues a fatwa on the obligation of the Palestinians leaving,” and they do not say: “the obligation of hijrah (emigration),” because hijrah, as is not hidden from any Muslim who has a remnant of knowledge, is nothing but leaving with a specific description and intention. In other words: every hijrah is leaving the country, but not every leaving of the country is hijrah. Therefore, between the two words, as the jurists say, there is “generality and specificity.” This also reminds me of what I mentioned earlier: I was expelled from my father’s house, and I did not leave by my own choice. The story has, I mean, many details, and I do not see it as beneficial to publish and record them, because my father (may Allah have mercy on him) is now in the unseen world, the world of the barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection), and we hope for him all good in the abode of the barzakh, and in the Hereafter, if Allah wills, that we will meet him in Paradise under the banner of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Those who published that the reason for the alleged leaving was the fanaticism of the fanatics for the madhhab (school of jurisprudence) is not the case. Rather, my adherence to the Sunnah is what moved the enemies of the Sunnah, just as is the case now entirely. They moved my father and, I mean, compelled him to give me the choice between being a follower of him (in his madhhab) or remaining as I am in following the Sunnah. So I said to him: Give me three days, and after that I will give you the answer. And indeed, after those three days—peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings—I returned to him and said to him: Since you gave me the choice, because he had said to me in eloquent Arabic: either agreement or separation!!! Either agreement to remain on his madhhab, or that I separate from him. So I chose separation, but I did not leave him at all. And he (may Allah have mercy on him) used to visit me often in my shop, and he used to declare to me often that I—meaning he speaks about himself—benefited greatly from me. But the fanatical group of the madhhab were moving him, and they pushed him to give me that choice. This is the summary of what happened, and Allah is the One to be sought for help!!