The Shaykh Al-Albani's Position Regarding Nasaib al-Rafai

The questioner : My dear, good brothers, this is a very good, pleasant opportunity.The Shaykh : Nasaib, I mean, was he, if Allah wills?

The Shaykh : The Shaykh : Nasaib is the intermediary.

The questioner : Our teacher, may Allah forgive you, do not give me remarks. May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : But you must be humble with us.

The questioner : I was coming to tell you, do not give me remarks, .

The Shaykh : Did we not give you a lesson on "who suppresses anger"?

Another questioner : Yes, my master, may Allah bless you?

The Shaykh : Suppressing anger at the moment of the first shock.

The questioner : By Allah, this is...The Shaykh : He suppressed his anger at the first shock, and by Allah, Nasaib spoke to him words that are not spoken, and yetThe Shaykh : He suppressed his anger and did not answer him with the like of what he said.

The Shaykh : My people, you are truly not fair, I mean, but allow me?
Listen, you are not fair not because injustice is your custom, even though the poet says:
Injustice is the custom of souls, so if you find one with chastity, it is for a reason that he does not commit injustice.
So you are committing injustice, but the motive for injustice is not, I mean, bad intent or ill disposition, no, he is in the good, but likewise here it is said:
Sa'd led it, and Sa'd was wrapped up, this is not, O Sa'd, how you lead the camels.
You are on the path of freeing this man from miserable psychological life, perhaps— I say by the grace of Allah— perhaps you placed a man opposite him in a miserable, wretched life, and even though this will not happen, because he is accustomed to bearing such matters, but this does not justify that in the path of freeing a man, you wronged another man.
So you must know— whether it is regarding Nasaib or regarding this man— there is no person in this world that I boycott for one mistake, or two, or three. We often say: we are flat, we are flat, but if the flood does not reach the foam, nothing stops it absolutely.
So now look at what this man did to his companion in the call for thirty years? What did he do to his so-called Shaykh? He said a word, he said to him: I acknowledge that you are my Shaykh, but you are a misguided Shaykh. Why?

The questioner: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : The student of knowledge, O our Shaykh, denied this word.

The questioner : I seek refuge in Allah... He used to say "disbeliever" at first, then he said "misguided."

The questioner : Meaning, it seems he retracted it because he interpreted it...

The Shaykh : No, allow me, my brother, "misguided Shaykh" he said it in front of my brother-in-law, in front of Ahmad 'Atiyyah, Mahmoud 'Atiyyah, the deceased Mahmoud Shalbayyeh, and so on, and then he said in Aleppo something worse than that.

The questioner : Well, no problem, our Shaykh, let us know what is required of al-Barqawi, if he responds, it is good and we ask Allah for success, otherwise Allah will take care of us and him. Regarding Shaykh Nasaib al-Rafai, what are the requests, our Shaykh?

The Shaykh : They will go tomorrow, I think, this is a good intermediary and, praise be to Allah, he has a broad chest, and so on.

The questioner : Our requests are that he retracts from misleading us, cursing us, and insulting us. He is the one who boycotted us, he is the one who insulted us, he is the one who cursed us, he is the one who misled us, and we never answered him in kind to this day. So he acknowledges that by this action he was wrong toward us, and now his reason and intellect and correctness have returned to him.

The Shaykh : There is no power or strength except in Allah, and by Allah, the Muslims today are in a terrible trial, the good Muslims, I mean the committed ones, let alone others. I mean, in several aspects, a person must not judge a thing unless he knows the complaint of both parties. Well, what is al-Barqawi's complaint against Al-Albani? What is Nasaib's complaint against Al-Albani?

The questioner : He has no complaint, and nothing... nothing.

The Shaykh : Well, ask Al-Albani what is his complaint against this one and this one and so on? No one asks, except... let us go, reconciliation is better.

Another questioner : No, Professor, we are peaceful. The truth is on your side, and they are the ones who are wrong.

The Shaykh : Do you know when you say "the truth is on our side," why? I want you to know why the truth is on our side, so that you know how to stand before this tyrant and this oppressor until he retracts from his injustice to others. And what is the benefit if we reconcile and everything remains as it was?

Another questioner : ... The group, may Allah reward them with good, if Allah wills, if our Lord enables us to go to the man, my brother, you accused the group of accusations, and these accusations they are innocent of. You said that the wives of the Messenger are protected by the protection of the Prophets, and the group said we have no evidence for that matter, we do not agree with you...

The Shaykh : No, I want to interrupt you, even if this disagreement were ordinary.

The questioner : Please, your command, my master.

The Shaykh : You can say to him: You used to sit in gatherings with ten or twenty people in front of you and you would fabricate about this man and say about him that it is permissible for the wives of the Messenger to be... Can you do more than that?

The questioner : No, I do not do that, but I say to him, did you say this word?

The Shaykh : This is defeat.

The questioner : I am not ashamed of this...

The Shaykh : Why?

The questioner : He is older than me.

The Shaykh : The truth is greater, the truth is greater.

The questioner : But I say to him, O our noble professor, the issue that I raised from the beginning has absolutely no necessity. Your belief is yours and the group's belief is theirs.

Another questioner : My master, I see that there is no need to open the issue.

The questioner : It will...The Shaykh : Nasaib will argue and persist in arguing in this issue, so consequently...

The questioner : If he wants to continue arguing and so on, it means he did not acknowledge the truth.

The questioner : Yes, this is what we are saying, we do not want issues, we want to argue with him about the stance.

The questioner : He made a mistake in his stance with us.

The questioner : But this is it.

The questioner : And he now will...

The Shaykh : And what are we seeking now?
Last: He, in order to intend my Shaykh's words...

The Shaykh : But I heard his words that he, I do not do that, he is greater than me.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Be patient, and you supported him, listen a little, and you, praise be to Allah, supported him, you supported him with an excuse perhaps you heard from him that he is older than me, the truth is greater than you and him and me and everyone, is he not oppressed in this process?

The questioner : Oppressed.

The Shaykh : Is he not slandered? Why do you not remind him of this process so that he repents to Allah from it? What do you mean when you say that he...

The questioner : I say that the man was convinced, and perhaps the one who discussed the issue saw it as wrong.

The questioner : It is a stance, not an issue of disagreement, the stances.

The questioner : ... And we hope that there is good in it.

The questioner : Our professor, as we say the proverb: The patient is sick and we give him medicine suitable for his illness...

The Shaykh : Good, but do not give him a narcotic injection, after a while he will wake up.

The questioner : If you want to go and see, there is no objection even.

The questioner : I mean, do you want us to go together, you and us, because...
Last: By Allah, I want good...

The questioner : Nizar promised to call Nasaib, and see Nasaib and come to take if there is an opportunity.

The questioner : Brother Nizar, our brother and our beloved, and older than us and more senior than us, but he helpsThe Shaykh : Nasaib to accept us more, it seems, and Allah knows best.

The questioner : No, he accepts Salih too, he has a place with him, I mean.

The questioner : The question now is whether we go out before Hajj Salih, or we take Hajj Salih with us and we all go out?

The questioner : No, if you go to him with his presence.
The moderator: Okay, this is it, we enter with a tribal approach to him, and he can handle this kind of thing.

The Shaykh : Because he lives it.

The questioner : ... You are more informed about your worldly affairs, my professor...The Shaykh : Nasaib is greater in him than others, he loves you a little, I mean, give him a special status.

The Shaykh : I do not think that from the scientific aspect you are more informed.

The questioner : No, from the scientific aspect you are, from the psychological aspect.

The Shaykh : This is a scientific research.

The questioner : I am the least of your students.

The questioner : You always say this and emphasize it, I mean, this is a testimony for the face of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He,The Shaykh : He always says: By Allah, I do not want from them except themselves, I mean, let them leave them alone...

The questioner : By Allah, he is oppressed in the Salafi group with injustice that has no end, by Allah, my brother, I testify to Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

Another questioner : The reward is according to the patience, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has the reward, if Allah wills.

The questioner : The Sufism that deifiesThe Shaykh : until it reaches worship in it, and we, my master,The Shaykh : ... Allah is sufficient for us and He is the best Disposer of affairs, this is absolutely not permissible.

The questioner : Allah has written for you the reward, if Allah wills, and the recompense.

Another questioner: If Allah wills, our Lord, the Lord of the Worlds, will help us, and He will come with us with permission and cheerfulness, and he will apologize to you, if Allah wills. We ask Allah for this. I am just a questioner, by Allah, because the period has been long for him, and perhaps he has mixed with some of the righteous and discussed this matter with them, and he saw that his state was in error...

The Shaykh: Do not stand on what you have no knowledge of. Gather, look, and then speak.

Another questioner: But do not tell me again that your friend, your student, is me.

The Shaykh: Why is it not your friend?

The questioner: We are ready from today for Abu Malik to come. In my opinion, Abu Malik should listen to both sides and see the situation, and he has a standing with both parties as well.

Another questioner : The Shaykh : Abu Malik, we are looking into it and preparing for him to come. Because Abu Malik was annoyed last time.

The Shaykh: Do you know what "we prepare him" means?

Another questioner: We prepare him to come and acknowledge the truth.

The questioner: We need to anesthetize him.

The Shaykh: There is no power nor strength except with Allah.

The questioner: We perform the operation after the anesthesia, and then he wakes up from the anesthesia. If Allah wills, he will honor us. Each of us calls upon Allah the Exalted with the righteous deeds he has presented before his Lord, individually by himself, and perhaps Allah the Exalted will accept our supplication.

The questioner: We ask Allah the Great, the Lord of the Great Throne, to bring forth good and ward off evil.

The Shaykh : Amen.

The questioner: We seek nearness to Allah through the supplication of the righteous man, through the supplication of our Shaykh. Pray for us, O Shaykh. Pray for us, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh: No, I do not supplicate.

The questioner : Why?

The Shaykh: Because if I supplicated, I would be testifying to what you claimed.

The questioner : ButThe Shaykh : He affirmed my supplication.

The Shaykh: Look, Abu Ahmad.

Another questioner: This is Ibrahim, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Welcome, what Allah willed, what Allah willed. How are you? May Allah bless you, and may Allah cause you to grow as good vegetation, and may He make your parents' eyes pleased with you.

The questioner : O Allah, amen.

The questioner: Congratulations, if Allah wills.

The questioner : May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh: This hadith is weak, and the hadith narrated by the trustworthy ones: All these hadiths are printed and indexed. I do not think there is anything in it, because that is the etiquette of the material in the dictionary of innovations, a very abundant material... We need: .

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: O Allah, amen. The important thing is that I worked on reviewing some of the letters when I emigrated from Damascus to here, in case it becomes easy for us to print them, considering the letters are small.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh: So it was in my mind that I had reviewed the response to al-Habashi, and I added things, so I returned to this story. I found that indeed that man I thought was him is not him, but he is a man other than the one you mentioned to me. Then he is trustworthy, so the story does not go beyond being authentic.

The questioner: Authentic, but you are mistaken in...

The Shaykh: No, but it is not the name you mentioned. In any case, we can return to it now and see what the man's name is.

The questioner: Yahya ibn 'Amr ibn Abi Salama. Al-Bukhari and Ibn Abi Hatim did not mention any criticism or vindication regarding him, but another person is telling me to review his biography, that he is trustworthy, and his name is al-'Ajili.

The Shaykh: Al-'Ajili. The point is this al-'Ajili. Al-'Ajili has a book of the Trustworthy, but al-'Ajili is generally characterized by the same laxity in authentication as Ibn Hibban.

The questioner: Yes, perhaps Ibn Hibban is also.

The Shaykh: Now let us look.

The questioner: The important thing is that he has routes brought by the author of "Al-Ibtida' fi Mudharat al-Ibtida'" (Innovation in the Harms of Innovation), other routes.

The Shaykh: These routes are not with this level of detail.

The questioner: It is not with that detail, no.

The Shaykh: I remember the routes. The important thing is what follows from this criticism? ThatThe Shaykh : there was a mistake in the name?

The questioner: Nothing follows, meaning we reviewed the story and were convinced of the authenticity of the story, except that you were mistaken in it. We said this mistake is one from which no person is safe.

The Shaykh: I wish all our mistakes were of this kind.

The questioner: Meaning the story is authentic. We spoke about al-'Ajili being lax and so on.

The Shaykh: And why am I asking you? That this discovery is not from this friend of yours whom you left neither this way nor that way. This is in the hand of a letter from one of the innovators who responds to us.

The questioner: ...By Allah, we reviewed...

The Shaykh: It is a composed letter, "Taqdim al-Tahani fi al-Radd 'ala al-Albani" (Presenting Congratulations in the Response to al-Albani). So he is dealing with responding to me with this story in particular, and with my response to al-Habashi in general. So he approves of the prayer beads, so among what he responded to us with is this.

The questioner: And this is weak.

The Shaykh: No, this man is not the one who narrated the hadith.

The questioner: Meaning he weakens the story and not...

The Shaykh: He weakens it, and I think this friend of yours whom you are hinting at neither authenticates it nor weakens it.

The questioner: No, he means like a hint, meaning.

The Shaykh: Say you like this, say like this, say like I tell you. A hint, I know, but the completeness of the hint is that he neither authenticates nor weakens.

The questioner: No, he only authenticates and weakens.

The Shaykh: Now you are conveying this hint, but what do you say? The story is authentic? This person does not say that.

The questioner: He first said it was fabricated because he went to Yahya like the others, that one.

The Shaykh: Did you see how my intuition is clearer than your observation?

The questioner: May Allah bless you, but we reviewed and so on, and we reached the conclusion that the story is authentic. First, this man was authenticated by two, Ibn Hibban and al-'Ajili. Second, there are routes, meaning.

The Shaykh: The routes do not strengthen the story, Abu Ahmad. Meaning, if this man were unknown, we could not say the story is authentic. But the corroborations that testify to a part of the story, this part is authentic. As for the story with this completeness, it is not authentic because of the corroborations, because we call these corroborations limited corroborations. Did you understand? Or not?

The questioner: Yes, considering that this man's weakness is slight. Meaning, al-'Ajili authenticated him, and he is lax in authentication, and Ibn Hibban is also lax in authentication.

The Shaykh: Yes, with this consideration, what?

The questioner: With this consideration, the weakness is slight. The slight weakness gives strength to these routes. Does it not?

The Shaykh: I did not understand it.

The questioner: Perhaps this can be reprinted? You print it, if Allah wills?

The Shaykh: But we are not free for it. We are busy with reprinting books.

The questioner: Our dear professor, what Allah willed, is it enough on its own, or what Allah willed was?

The Shaykh: Depending on the situation. If you see the news, you say "what Allah willed": . But if the action has occurred, you say: "What Allah willed was, and what He did not will did not occur."

The questioner: 'Amara ibn...

The Shaykh: 'Amara ibn Abi Hasan al-Mazini ibn Salama al-Hamdani. Where do you say this misreading? You say Yahya.

The questioner: No, it is 'Amara. This is not present in al-Darimi's chain, 'Amara.

The Shaykh: I deduced it. Now, is it present or not? I am telling you the correct one.

The questioner: We returned to al-Darimi's chain.

The Shaykh: May Allah guide you, stay with me.

The questioner: Your command.

The Shaykh: Now, what did you do? We understood. I understood. Look, what I did: in the previous edition, it was 'Amara ibn Abi Hasan al-Mazini, and it was an error I followed for a period of time. I ask Allah to forgive it for me. The correct one is what I established here, from the route of 'Amr.

The questioner: 'Amr.

The Shaykh: 'Amr, and then we deleted it. What did we put after it? Salama al-Hamdani. 'Amr ibn Salama al-Hamdani. You named it and told me: Yahya, I don't know what?

The questioner: Okay, is al-Darimi here?

The Shaykh: Al-Darimi is present.

The questioner: Let me see it...

The Shaykh: Excuse me, if you were not remembering, al-Darimi certainly did not mention Yahya, nor did he mention 'Amr.

The questioner: No, he mentioned 'Amr, but he mentioned it from his father from his grandfather.

The Shaykh: Understood. Why are you hasty? If al-Darimi is present, he will not mention 'Amr to you, nor will he mention Yahya, correct?

The questioner : Correct.

The Shaykh: What do you gain if al-Darimi is present? And as we learned in Syria: what does not come with you, go with it.

The questioner: 'Amr ibn Salama or...?

The Shaykh: Ibn Salama. Okay, let us see it here. There is no need here to explain the reason for the error, for there is no benefit in it. And al-Hamdani is also trustworthy, and he is the one who narrates from Ibn Mas'ud, as in al-Mizzi's Tahdhib and others. And al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir from another route from 'Amr ibn Salama, summarized. And the elevated part of it is in al-Bukhari's Tarikh, and the elevated part of the story is in al-Bukhari, and al-Tabarani narrated it from the route of 'Amr ibn Salama.

The questioner: And al-Darimi from the route of 'Amr ibn Salama as well.

The Shaykh: Do you see here now?

The questioner: Ibn Salama, here we put "Ibn".

The Shaykh: Excuse me, we put it. We do not have a pencil. The important thing is 'Amr ibn Salama.

The questioner: Yes, a Tabi'i.

The Shaykh: Do you distinguish like that with you?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh: How? Yes, you say Yahya.

The questioner : No, he is not his son. His name is Yahya, meaning he narrates from him. The one who says, "Amr ibn Salama al-Hamdani told me."

The Shaykh : My brother, he does not say, "Amr told me."

The questioner : He does not say, "Told me," meaning.

The Shaykh : Nor does he say, "From."

The questioner : Can we look at al-Darimi?

The Shaykh : Yes, we can, but before bringing al-Darimi, I will prove to you that bringing al-Darimi is of no use.

The questioner : But there is one named Yahya in the chain, right?

The Shaykh : Okay, is this him?

The questioner : No, the last one who saw the story is this one, but the one before him.

The Shaykh : Okay, do we look into the one before him or this one?

The questioner : In the one before him. This is Muslim in his *Thiqat* (Book of Reliable Narrators); he is reliable. This is not a Companion, perhaps?

The Shaykh : My dear, 'Amarah is not found in al-Darimi.

The questioner : 'Amarah is not there, but Amr is.

The Shaykh : Listen, listen. 'Amarah is not there. What is the alternative? What is correct? Yes, Amr.

The questioner : Amr ibn Salama al-Hamdani.

The Shaykh : Is this one found?

The questioner : This exists.

The Shaykh : No, that is not possible.

The questioner : Why? It is found in al-Darimi... Amr ibn Salama... My master, let us look at it ourselves.

The Shaykh : No, I am careful. I told you I will bring it for you, but I will show you that if it were this clear, this error would not have occurred.

The questioner : Okay, let us look at it.

The Shaykh: All right, in the name of Allah.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : What page is it on in al-Darimi?

The questioner : Sunan al-Darimi, volume

The Shaykh : Please, this is Amr ibn Yahya.

The questioner : Yes, al-Hakam ibn al-Mubarak informed us, and Amr ibn Yahya informed us. There is a discussion about this Yahya.

The Shaykh : And I am asking you about what you are saying, my brother. I said here that the correct name is 'Amarah ibn Amr.

The questioner : This specification is correct, because here he says: al-Hakam ibn al-Mubarak informed us, and Amr ibn Yahya informed us, saying, "I heard my father." His father is from him, right? Yahya, is that not so?

The Shaykh: All right.

The questioner : This Yahya, look for his biography for us.

The Shaykh : This is the narration in the index, this is how it came in the chain, but what is the correct one?

The questioner : What is the correct one?

The Shaykh : We interpreted it here as Amr ibn Yahya ibn 'Amarah ibn Abi Hasan al-Mazini... and so on. Then it became clear to me—and it is also written—that it is Amr ibn Yahya ibn Amr ibn Salama ibn al-Harith al-Hamdani. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated it this way and said that Ibn 'Uyaynah narrated from him, and others. Ibn Ma'in said: "Sahih" (reliable). Then he mentioned him correctly among the narrators from his father: Yahya ibn Amr ibn Salama al-Hamdani. He did not mention any criticism of him, but he mentioned that Shu'bah and al-Thawri also narrated from him. As for his grandfather, Amr ibn Salama, he has a biography in *al-Tahdhib* as reliable. Al-Bukhari narrated in *al-Tarikh* only the elevated narration of Amr. It became clear to me that it is Amr ibn Yahya ibn Amr ibn Salama.

The questioner : Yes, here this Amr ibn Yahya said: "I heard my father," not "his father Yahya heard," right?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : What is the biography of this Yahya?

The Shaykh : This is his biography.

The questioner : Yahya.

The Shaykh : Yahya ibn Amr ibn Salama, the Medinan Hafiz.

The questioner : That is it.

The Shaykh : Ibn Abi Hatim narrated it this way, and Ibn 'Uyaynah and others narrated from him, and Ibn Ma'in said: "Sahih"... and so on. Then he mentioned him correctly among the narrators from his father, Yahya ibn Amr... and so on.

The questioner : Is this the Yahya whom al-'Ujayli deemed reliable?

The Shaykh : I do not know now, I am not remembering it here.

The questioner : Here, al-'Ujayli deemed him reliable. Do you want to see this? The important thing is that this Yahya is reliable for you.

The Shaykh : We said here that Ibn Ma'in said: "Sahih."

The questioner : What does "Sahih" mean?

The Shaykh : It means his hadith is used as evidence.

The questioner : His hadith is used as evidence, good. This is what we are talking about; it is correct.

The Shaykh : My point here is that you cannot tell who Yahya is on your own.

The questioner : You cannot tell! We returned to...

The Shaykh : And what did I tell you? What do we gain from bringing al-Darimi? We brought al-Darimi.

The questioner : My point is that regarding Yahya, you told me here it is Amr, and here it is from Yahya. This is the point. So it is free from criticism, meaning the hadith is correct.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : This is it. It is free from criticism, is that not so?

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : Good, that is enough.