The Shaykh's remarks on the stories of the theft of his books, including *Tanqil 'ala ma fi al-Kawthari min al-abatil* and *Sahih Abu Dawud* and *Sahih al-Kalim al-Tayyib* and others

The Shaykh : It came after that, in the morning, a book—I don't know if you know it or not—its name is *Tanqil*.
The student : Yes, *Tanqil 'ala ma fi al-Kawthari min al-abatil*.

The Shaykh : Ah, this is by the Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman al-Mu'allimi (may Allah have mercy on him).

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : A learned and virtuous man, and this book of his is excellent.
The student : Shaykh, I want to buy some fruit for the house from you.

The Shaykh : Don’t buy anything, just take your way.
The student : Please, I swear by Allah.

The Shaykh : Do not swear by Allah, may Allah guide you.

The questioner : Oh Shaykh, let us honor you a little.

The Shaykh : So, I was in Damascus for about, perhaps, forty years, and I was commissioned by one of the virtuous, good men from Jeddah, perhaps you have heard of him, Shaykh Muhammad Nasif.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : A truly virtuous man and a Salafi.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : He used to come to spend the summer in Damascus every year, and he was a friend of Shaykh Bahjat al-Baytar.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : AndThe Shaykh : Bahjat al-Baytar is our friend, I mean, the point is that he commissioned me—just keep going straight, where are you going from here—.
The student : He stopped on the right and said.

The Shaykh : Who said?
The student : I did.

The Shaykh : Why...
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : The point is, he commissioned me to print this book and write a commentary on it, and I did so. Days passed, and then days came when some of the publishers in Egypt noticed the value of this book after the Salafi da'wah had spread.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : So he went and stole the book and printed it in Egypt.
The student : Without your permission, of course.

The Shaykh : Of course. I had written, according to what I had agreed upon, of course, with Shaykh Nasif (may Allah have mercy on him): "Edited, commented upon, verified, and published by: Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, at the expense of Muhammad Nasif and his partners."
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : That was how we had agreed with him. So this wicked Egyptian came, printed the book, removed all the credits, and put "Edited by Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani and"The Shaykh : 'Abd al-Razzaq Hamza.
The student : Who is 'Abd al-Razzaq Hamza?

The Shaykh : He is one of the Egyptian scholars who resided in Makkah, and I got to know him on my first trip. A learned, virtuous, Salafi man, and a companion and friend of 'Abd al-Rahman al-Yamani.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : But he has no connection to printing the book or commenting on it.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Rather, this is, as I always say, and I said this to Zuhayr al-Shawish recently, changing the appearance for the sake of eating.
The student : You have done well.

The Shaykh : That this book is not just al-Albani’s book, no, it is also the edition of 'Abd al-Razzaq Hamza, do you see the joke?
The student : Well, what is the benefit of adding 'Abd al-Razzaq Hamza for this Egyptian?

The Shaykh : Changing the appearance, my brother, a new edition.
The student : You have done well.
Another student: It increases the importance of the book, oh Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student : Yes, yes.

The Shaykh : The bottom line is that 'Abd al-Razzaq has absolutely no connection to it; it is forgery and a lie to promote the merchandise.
The student : By Allah, O Shaykh, this is a very ugly forgery.

The Shaykh : Yes, and look at the second ugliness now: our old friend Zuhayr al-Shawish was jealous of this Egyptian, so he went and printed a new edition of the book in Lebanon, and he wrote that the editor was Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani, Zuhayr al-Shawish, and 'Abd al-Razzaq Hamzah.
The student : There is no power or strength except in Allah, this is a more ugly forgery.

The Shaykh : What do you want to say, my brother, Allahu Akbar.
The student : May Allah guide us and guide them.
The student : And when was this book that contains your picture published?

The Shaykh : This is worse than that.
The student : This is a stronger forgery.

The Shaykh : This is worse.
The student : ... .

The Shaykh : No, the man, in truth, revealed his fangs and his malice; it is a very long story.
The student : Is he an Ikhwan, oh Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Of course, he was one of the senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The student : Now, now.

The Shaykh : By Allah, now you do not know the Muslim Brotherhood, especially in Syria, I mean, they have no mention left, but he is undoubtedly one of the senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood and a man, I mean, not insignificant, I mean, a schemer.
The student : Do we take the right or the left?

The Shaykh : No, no, go straight.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : The point is, it was later arranged for me to print from your side, the owner of al-Ma'arif bookstore, I think.
The student: Yes ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, so we agreed with him to print.
The student : Sahih Abu Dawud, he is the one who printed Abu Dawud.

The Shaykh : Who is he?
The student : Al-Ma'arif.

The Shaykh : No, no, he did not print anything of this. The important thing is that we agreed with him to print the book, so I wrote an introduction for him and mentioned in it the Egyptian thief and then this Syrian. I revealed the name of the Egyptian thief, but I did not reveal the name of this one because the relationship between me and him had not yet been completely severed.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Unlike the second one, who is now filing lawsuits and court cases against me, with lawyers and forgery and terrible business.
The student : May Allah help you against him, oh Shaykh.

The Shaykh : O Allah, amen.
The student : By Allah, oh Shaykh, his publication of this picture in the book, oh Shaykh, led to the book selling in large quantities.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.
The student : Because the young people want to take your picture.

The Shaykh : May Allah take revenge on him.
The student : They did not buy this book except for your picture.

The Shaykh : Because he wronged me greatly.
The student : This proves that his goal is material gain.

The Shaykh : It is this.
The student : It is clear from his books, yes.

The Shaykh : So I wrote the introduction about the theft of the book and what our old friend did, and I published a picture of the covers of the two editions showing "Edited by Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani and 'Abd al-Razzaq Hamza" by the Egyptian—take it easy, take it easy, take it easy from here now, right, hit, hit, hit, hit, right, just—.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : The first edition was like this: Muhammad Nasir al-Din and 'Abd al-Razzaq Hamzah. This edition is by Zuhayr al-Shawish: Muhammad Nasir al-Din, Zuhayr al-Shawish, and 'Abd al-Razzaq Hamzah. And after that, a very long story followed, and the relationship between me and him was severed. So he now claims that the books that are mine are his, including *Mukhtasar al-Bukhari*. Do you know this?
The student : Yes, yes.

The Shaykh : And among them is "Mukhtasar al-Mundhiri" with my verification and commentary, and among them are many, many things, and glory be to Allah. Allah is about to expose him. I discovered things; in truth, I had been dealing with him as a brother, relying on him, submitting to his sincerity. And when the man had been planning for twenty years for the point that has now appeared—come on, quickly—the bottom line is: the book "al-Kalim al-Tayyib," do you know it?
The student: Yes, O Shaykh, yes.

The Shaykh : Look at what he did: The first edition was printed in a very normal way, and he had an introduction as the publisher. He wrote at the bottom of the page, after his signature, he says: I don't know now if it is the first or second edition, I forgot. He wrote: "And Allah has made it easy for our Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani to extract from al-Kalim al-Tayyib what is authentic in a special treatise he called Sahih al-Kalim al-Tayyib, and it has been well received." From this statement, later, my brothers, several editions were printed—take now to the right—several editions were printed, and this footnote was removed—do you see the indication, take to your right—this testimony was removed in all the editions. So this testimony condemns him that this abridged treatise is mine. And after we also printed the treatise here at Maktabat al-Ma'arif, he came and stole the treatise, and he explicitly stated in the introduction that the treatise is his, even though he had testified in al-Kalim al-Tayyib that this treatise belongs to the Shaykh.
The student : Glory be to Allah.

The Shaykh : And more than that, the treatise *Sahih al-Kalim al-Tayyib*—which he first printed, like all my books, as *Sahih al-Kalim al-Tayyib by Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani*—in the introduction I say that I suggested to my virtuous brother Zuhayr al-Shawish that I extract what is authentic from *al-Kalim al-Tayyib*. He printed all of this repeatedly. When the book became his, he started saying that the book is his. So what is mine? He no longer has any shame, because greed for material things blinded his sight and his insight.
The student: Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh : And the story does not end, and there is no harm in that.
The student : So, O Shaykh, did theft happen with the book *Sifat Salat al-Nabi*?

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : From him?

The Shaykh : He.