The Shaykh’s remarks on Ahmad al-Ghumari and the story of Al-Albani with Abdullah al-Habashi, continuing the discussion on Abdullah al-Ghumari’s weakening of the hadith of Aisha
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The Shaykh : He contradicts his elder brother, who is older and more knowledgeable, in this action, namely Ahmad, Ahmad ibn Abdullah ibn Sadiq al-Ghumari.
The questioner : Is Ahmad still alive?
The Shaykh : No, he died many years ago. He was the first of the Ghumari family I got to know, because he had come to Damascus and visited the Zahiriyah Library. At that time, I was engaged in a debate and responses with the Shaykh Abdullah al-Habashi, who, as it turns out, brings us very bad news from Lebanon. They enter mosques and strike the worshippers, and it is a terrible thing, as if he were a spy under the name of Shaykh Abdullah al-Habashi al-Harari. In that period, Shaykh Ahmad al-Ghumari came, and I presented to him some of Abdullah al-Habashi’s words. He responded to them just as I respond to him, which increased my certainty regarding my refutation of Abdullah al-Habashi. Then, about a year ago, one of our Moroccan brothers there sent me two letters in Ahmad al-Ghumari’s handwriting, written to one of his friends about his trip to Damascus. He says that he met so-and-so and so-and-so there, and met Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani. He speaks, O Professor, in praise of al-Albani’s knowledge of hadith, and says that, according to his madhhab, if he were not a Wahhabi and a Taymiyyi more than the Taymiyyis... he would be unique in his era in the science of hadith. This... our brother al-Ghumari, this is the one for whom we finally obtained a copy that he used to trace the book al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah, excuse me, "Bidayat al-Mujtahid wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid" by Ibn Rushd al-Andalusi.
The questioner : He is a Maliki, of course.
The Shaykh : He is a Maliki, so he named his book "Al-Hidayah fi Takhrij Ahadith al-Hidayah", Ibn Rushd...
The questioner : Is it a manuscript or a printed edition?
The Shaykh : No, it is printed. We obtained a copy from the volumes, but the original imprint, meaning "Al-Bidayah" by Ibn Rushd, is annotated with it, therefore...
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, the point is that Ibn Rushd (may Allah have mercy on him) says this hadith is agreed upon as being established, yet Abdullah has weakened it.
The questioner : It is a hadith...
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, yes?
Another questioner: The hadith of al-Bukhari.
The Shaykh : The hadith of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and it is agreed upon. Shaykh Ahmad al-Ghumari traces it to al-Bukhari and Muslim, etc., and he approves of it!
The questioner : And his brother contradicts him.
The Shaykh : Welcome, and this brother of his has very strange violations, as if this person is afflicted with a love of showing off, "and the love of showing off cuts off showing off". Among the things he did in refuting the hadith of the Lady Aisha, he says that it is established from the Lady Aisha that she completed [the prayer], and if her hadith had made the prayer obligatory as two rak'ahs, she would not have completed it. In the hadithSunan an-Nasa'i 455Sahih (Darussalam) from the Lady Aisha in the two Sahihs, it was said to the narrator of the hadith from Aisha, and he was Urwah ibn al-Zubayr.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, it was said to him, "What is the matter that she used to complete it?"
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, since she narrates that the prayer was made obligatory as two rak'ahs, two rak'ahs, what is the matter that she completes it? Urwah said, and he is the one who knows her best, "She interpreted it as Uthman interpreted it." Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), in his precision, and likewise Ibn al-Qayyim, says: If the hadith narrated by al-Daraqutni and others from Aisha, that the Messenger of Allah used to shorten and complete when traveling, were authentic from Aisha, Urwah would not have said about her that she interpreted it. Because when Uthman interpreted it, he did not say the Messenger completed it; rather, some known excuses were brought for him. Likewise, Lady Aisha did not say he completed it; she interpreted it as Uthman interpreted it.
The point is that this wicked man, from his wickedness and cunning, what does he say to the readers... I do not know if these people will die as Muslims or as disbelievers or as hypocrites. They weaken Aisha’s hadith without making it clear to the readers that it is agreed upon. They do not say that al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it.
The questioner : ... Aisha’s hadith.
The Shaykh : Yes, meaning they weaken it to the point that it does not occur to the reader how this can be weakened when al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it. At least... if he is one of those who seek truth, he should seek truth, or else he will doubt that Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim... would not have narrated it. He also weakened the hadith of Ibn Abbas in Sahih Muslim. He weakens it because all these authentic hadiths contradict what? His five weak hadiths. He came to the hadith of Aisha in Sunan al-Daraqutni that the Messenger of Allah used to shorten and complete when traveling. Ibn Taymiyyah weakened it, Ibn al-Qayyim weakened it, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani weakened it. All of these, he responds to them. His brother Ahmad quotes this hadith and says, "Everyone who has studied the biography of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his travels knows that this hadith is false and has no basis, as Ibn Taymiyyah said." And I know between them, "Ma Sa'na al-Haddad", meaning between the Ghumari family in general and Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim, but they cannot help but acknowledge their knowledge first.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, so this Ahmad follows Ibn Taymiyyah in denying this hadith of al-Daraqutni. He authenticates it in order to refute the hadith of Lady Aisha, whose authenticity is agreed upon. It is very strange cunning, meaning an agreed-upon hadith is hidden, its tracing is not done, and a weak hadith is told to you, "So-and-so narrated it and so-and-so narrated it," etc.
The questioner : ... and he conceals defects.
The Shaykh : He conceals defects in strange and very odd ways. So these people, meaning the Najdis, these are like al-Tuwajiri and others. When they follow the method of interpretation like these people, the result is... so here is the lesson in the matter!
The questioner : No, I... Subhan Allah, I was also surprised at how the Shaykh... actually, I do not know, may Allah forgive him, the Shaykh...
Another questioner: The Shaykh, may Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : And I hope that it is not backbiting, but rather it is in the category of informing, as you know: "Censure is not backbiting in six cases: *** the aggrieved, the one informing, and the one warning". So the Shaykh, with the goodness of his heart, the sincerity of his intention, and his eagerness to benefit the Muslims, has something of...
The questioner : Whatever the... degree.
The questioner : Is Ahmad still alive?
The Shaykh : No, he died many years ago. He was the first of the Ghumari family I got to know, because he had come to Damascus and visited the Zahiriyah Library. At that time, I was engaged in a debate and responses with the Shaykh Abdullah al-Habashi, who, as it turns out, brings us very bad news from Lebanon. They enter mosques and strike the worshippers, and it is a terrible thing, as if he were a spy under the name of Shaykh Abdullah al-Habashi al-Harari. In that period, Shaykh Ahmad al-Ghumari came, and I presented to him some of Abdullah al-Habashi’s words. He responded to them just as I respond to him, which increased my certainty regarding my refutation of Abdullah al-Habashi. Then, about a year ago, one of our Moroccan brothers there sent me two letters in Ahmad al-Ghumari’s handwriting, written to one of his friends about his trip to Damascus. He says that he met so-and-so and so-and-so there, and met Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani. He speaks, O Professor, in praise of al-Albani’s knowledge of hadith, and says that, according to his madhhab, if he were not a Wahhabi and a Taymiyyi more than the Taymiyyis... he would be unique in his era in the science of hadith. This... our brother al-Ghumari, this is the one for whom we finally obtained a copy that he used to trace the book al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah, excuse me, "Bidayat al-Mujtahid wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid" by Ibn Rushd al-Andalusi.
The questioner : He is a Maliki, of course.
The Shaykh : He is a Maliki, so he named his book "Al-Hidayah fi Takhrij Ahadith al-Hidayah", Ibn Rushd...
The questioner : Is it a manuscript or a printed edition?
The Shaykh : No, it is printed. We obtained a copy from the volumes, but the original imprint, meaning "Al-Bidayah" by Ibn Rushd, is annotated with it, therefore...
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, the point is that Ibn Rushd (may Allah have mercy on him) says this hadith is agreed upon as being established, yet Abdullah has weakened it.
The questioner : It is a hadith...
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, yes?
Another questioner: The hadith of al-Bukhari.
The Shaykh : The hadith of al-Bukhari and Muslim, and it is agreed upon. Shaykh Ahmad al-Ghumari traces it to al-Bukhari and Muslim, etc., and he approves of it!
The questioner : And his brother contradicts him.
The Shaykh : Welcome, and this brother of his has very strange violations, as if this person is afflicted with a love of showing off, "and the love of showing off cuts off showing off". Among the things he did in refuting the hadith of the Lady Aisha, he says that it is established from the Lady Aisha that she completed [the prayer], and if her hadith had made the prayer obligatory as two rak'ahs, she would not have completed it. In the hadith
The Salah was enjoined two Rak'ahs at a time
فرضت الصلاة ركعتين ركعتينThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, it was said to him, "What is the matter that she used to complete it?"
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, since she narrates that the prayer was made obligatory as two rak'ahs, two rak'ahs, what is the matter that she completes it? Urwah said, and he is the one who knows her best, "She interpreted it as Uthman interpreted it." Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), in his precision, and likewise Ibn al-Qayyim, says: If the hadith narrated by al-Daraqutni and others from Aisha, that the Messenger of Allah used to shorten and complete when traveling, were authentic from Aisha, Urwah would not have said about her that she interpreted it. Because when Uthman interpreted it, he did not say the Messenger completed it; rather, some known excuses were brought for him. Likewise, Lady Aisha did not say he completed it; she interpreted it as Uthman interpreted it.
The point is that this wicked man, from his wickedness and cunning, what does he say to the readers... I do not know if these people will die as Muslims or as disbelievers or as hypocrites. They weaken Aisha’s hadith without making it clear to the readers that it is agreed upon. They do not say that al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it.
The questioner : ... Aisha’s hadith.
The Shaykh : Yes, meaning they weaken it to the point that it does not occur to the reader how this can be weakened when al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it. At least... if he is one of those who seek truth, he should seek truth, or else he will doubt that Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim... would not have narrated it. He also weakened the hadith of Ibn Abbas in Sahih Muslim
Indeed, Allah made obligatory a prayer in travel of two rak'ahs, two rak'ahs
إن الله فرض صلاة في السفر ركعتين ركعتينThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, so this Ahmad follows Ibn Taymiyyah in denying this hadith of al-Daraqutni. He authenticates it in order to refute the hadith of Lady Aisha, whose authenticity is agreed upon. It is very strange cunning, meaning an agreed-upon hadith is hidden, its tracing is not done, and a weak hadith is told to you, "So-and-so narrated it and so-and-so narrated it," etc.
The questioner : ... and he conceals defects.
The Shaykh : He conceals defects in strange and very odd ways. So these people, meaning the Najdis, these are like al-Tuwajiri and others. When they follow the method of interpretation like these people, the result is... so here is the lesson in the matter!
The questioner : No, I... Subhan Allah, I was also surprised at how the Shaykh... actually, I do not know, may Allah forgive him, the Shaykh...
Another questioner: The Shaykh, may Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : And I hope that it is not backbiting, but rather it is in the category of informing, as you know: "Censure is not backbiting in six cases: *** the aggrieved, the one informing, and the one warning". So the Shaykh, with the goodness of his heart, the sincerity of his intention, and his eagerness to benefit the Muslims, has something of...
The questioner : Whatever the... degree.