The researcher Subhi al-Halaq’s mention of the Shaykh’s rulings in his research and the people’s criticism of him for that.

The questioner : I found that some critics, for example, say—and especially those who have read some of my research on the book *Wabil al-Ghummah* and *Bidayat al-Mujtahid* by Ibn Rushd, and *al-Rawdah*, and others—that when I present a hadith and mention who narrated it, I state the reason, then usually give my ruling on it, and after that I say, “And the hadith scholar Al-Albani authenticated it in such-and-such.” Some of them say to me, meaning, why did you bring in Al-Albani and squeeze him into every hadith? This is a weakness and an inability on your part.

The Shaykh : This is a favor from you.

The questioner : May Allah bless you. I said to them, I am between two things. I have ruled on the hadith and studied its chain and everything, but there is someone who preceded me and surpassed me and was more generous. Does fairness and loyalty not mean that I should mention the source of this good man who served the Sunnah? I consider it an honor, not taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence), even from some of the students, the studentsThe Shaykh : in Yemen. Some of the students of the shaykhs in Yemen sayThe Shaykh : “Muhammad Subhi Al-Albani. Every hadith comes with Al-Albani’s opinions. Every hadith.” So I said to them, by Allah, I am impressed by this man. I followed your eminence in more than ten thousand hadiths, and I looked at your page numbers and went back to the books, and I found that indeed the quotations are one hundred percent; there is not a single quotation in which there is an error.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.

The questioner : So I said, I mean, it is loyalty to mention this, because when I go back to some of the researchers currently in the market, I find that they quote your words without attributing them to you. I go back and look at the one who quotes a single person’s words. Therefore, I say that in the end, I must mentionThe Shaykh : I mean, I say, when I mention the hadith, I say, “And the hadith scholar Al-Albani authenticated it in such-and-such.” Does this suffice, or do you give me another formula for reference?

The Shaykh : By Allah, as I said, this is a favor from you, and few are like you. This indicates fairness and objectivity, free from desire and envy, which prevails over many people today, unfortunately. In fact, this is a matter for which we praise you, and we ask Allah to increase us and you in knowledge and virtue. The scholars of old said, “One of the blessings of knowledge is attributing every statement to its speaker.” What many of the authors I mentioned earlier do is that they quote the benefit or the sentence or the research and then do not attribute it to its owner. This is contrary to what the scholars used to do.