Years
1962-1963
We had the privilege to be hosted by the University at
Bahauddin Hotel at the western side of the mosque for three days. The
University was closed because of the summer vacation but Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin
Baz, the Vice-President, was in his office with a number of his staff including
Sheikh Muhammad Nasir Al-Aboodi, the Registrar.
Sheikh Ibn Baz, though a blind person, had been most
popular and famous scholar in the whole Kingdom. His accent was a bit hard for
us to comprehend but his warm welcome inspired us all. Then we had an audience
with both Sheikh Nasir Al-Aboodi and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zaid who was in charge
of our lodging. The University was located in a vast piece of land in the
Valley of Aqiq, away from the city. The buildings consisted of a number of
villas scattered all over that vast area which has been fenced from all sides.
Each villa comprised of four big rooms with a spacious veranda to which each
room had its opening door. A kitchen and washing room were added to it as well.
With four beds in each room, our delegation was accommodated in two of these
villas. Once you enter these premises from the central gate, you end up at the
centre of the complex where the whole admin block was situated. On its left
were an array of classrooms and on its right were the students’ lodging. On the
extreme right was the mosque with its sole minaret.
The whole land was surfaced with pebbles, which unlike
sand would help a walker to have a steady walk. This land was next to the royal
palace of Madinah and the buildings have been used as barracks for the guards
and the soldiers. At the back of the building was a vast hollow wilderness
surrounded by hills and mountains, all reddish in colour and barren in nature.
On the top of the highest among them we could see a military post with a cannon
beside a mast carrying a flag.
I shared the room with two of my Pakistani colleagues,
Muhammad Ibrahim Khalil of Baltistan and Abdul Rahman Nasir along with a
Lebanese student, Muhammad Farooq Naja. The inauguration of the University had
taken place a few months ago in 1961, so we had missed the opportunity to be
among the pioneer students of this great seat of knowledge. The first batch of
our Indian colleagues had already completed their first year and most of them
had returned to India to enjoy the summer leave. We, with a few other students,
were there to pass our time until the new session started once again. We were
given a host of books in Aqeeda, Tafsir, Hadith and Nahw (grammar) to prepare
ourselves for the entry test. At noon it was too hot for us to have a pleasant
siesta as there were no coolers or electric fans. Even if there was any, it
could not operate because the power was completely cut off at day time. We used
to sprinkle some water on the carpet to have some comfort.
Each day after Asr prayer, the University bus, similar to
the school buses in America, used to wait for us to take us to the Prophet’s
Mosque and then bring us back after Isha prayer. Our driver, Ali al-Zahrani,
was a jolly talkative fellow who had a great zeal to impart the true teachings
of Islam to all those carried by him in that short journey to the City. We
enjoyed his Arabic, his humour and his hospitality. At the mosque, we had the
honour to attend, between Maghrib and Isha, the circles held by Sheikh Umar
Fullata of Mali and Sheikh Muhammad Mukhtar al-Shanqiti of Mauritania in Hadith
and Fiqh respectively.
There were some other Sheikhs like Jabir from Algeria and
Sheikh Nuruddin, one of the famous Qaris who was originally from Turkistan. The
Mosque was surrounded with markets, narrow alleys on all four sides, the
toilets and wudu places were available within those alleys as well. On the
eastern side, adorned with three gates, Babus Salam, Bab Abu Bakr, and Bab
al-Rahma, there used to be an open area known as Baraha leading through a
street (i.e. Shari’ Uyaina) with shops on both sides to Masjid Al-Ghamama,
built on the actual site of Eid prayer during the time of the Prophet (SAS).
As stated earlier, we used to assemble at the place near
the clock with Arabic time. It was a good time for us to have our own study,
attend some of the circles going on in the mosque, have a stroll outside the
mosque, have a glance of new and old books at Maktaba Ilmiyya of Al-Turkistani
or Maktaba Salafiyya of Abdul Mohsin or a visit to one of the restaurants to
save us being occupied preparing the dinner by ourselves.
Among those circles which attracted me was that of Sheikh
Umar Fullata of Mali (Africa). With his clear voice, pure Arabic presentation,
comprehensive elucidation of the Hadith under discussion, he was a symbol of a
very knowledgeable but humble person. I remember describing him in my letter to
my father who, in response, asked me to convey his greetings to him.
Sheikh Attiya Salim (of Egypt originally) had to take our
entry test. We had to write an article in Arabic of our choice. I remembered
writing the article on the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire. Because of my
keen interest in Arabic prose, I was among the eight out of the whole group of
eighteen, who were selected to join the “Kulliya Shari’ya” (Shari’ya College,
the only college existing at the time) whereas the remaining ten had to go
through the preparatory course of three years known as ‘Thanawiya’ (secondary).
The studies started with the beginning of the new academic year (1382 A.H).
The classrooms were no more different from any higher
school. Two students a desk was the norm. My desk-mate was Mohammad Ibrahim
Khalil of Baltistan and had been so for the whole four years course. We used to
have four lessons of around 50 minutes each with a break of ten minutes after
the first three.
Let me introduce my teachers:
1.
Sheikh
‘Abdul Mohsin Hamad Al-‘Abbaad
I think he must have been a fresh graduate from the
Shari’a College of Riyadh. He was our teacher of “Al-Aqida Al-Tahawiya”, a
major book on the beliefs of a Muslim, introduced in the syllabus after a
student had already gone through Kitab al-Tawhid of Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdul
Wahhab and Al-Aqida al-Wasitiyya of Imam Ibn Taimiyya. He used to keep standing
holding the book in his hand and then keep on moving right and left elucidating
the points raised by Ibn Abi Alizz, the exegist of the Aqeeda of Imam
Al-Tahawi. Though the renowned book has been compiled by a Hanafi scholar, it
was not popular in the Islamic seminaries of India and Pakistan as they were
always fascinated by ‘Aqa’id Nasafi: Our Hanafi colleagues were always at odds
with the Sheikh as they found it difficult to reconcile with their deeply-rooted
beliefs based on Maturidi and Ash’ari teachings. For four years, the Sheikh and
the book were hand in hand. The Sheikh was a simple and very humble man. His
sincerity, knowledge and good understanding of the aims and objectives of the
University won him to be a true successor of Sheikh Abdul-Aziz bin Baz, when he
had to leave Madinah, many years later, to take a prestigious post of the Mufti
of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after the death of Sheikh Muhammad bin Ibrahim
in Riyadh. In the eighties, I had the honour to accompany Sheikh Abdul Mohsin
Al-Abbad on his appointments, when he came to London, for a check on his eye
sight which started failing. One day he accepted to be my guest at home in Wood
Green, London N22. I never knew his most gifted son Abdul Razzaq but after
meeting him in some conferences in the UK and later at Sheikh’s newly-built
house at the rear of the University building. In my days at Madina, the
University was the farthest point with no house around it except for the royal
palace adjacent to its southern wall.
2.
Sheikh
Muhammad Nasiruddin Al-Albani (d. 2.10.1999)
I was blessed to attend his lectures on the explanation
of the Hadith collection entitled Bulugh al-Maram by Ibn Hajar with its
explanation “Subul-us-Salam” by Amir al-Sana’ani as well as his Isnad lessons
based upon the Ahadith of Sahih Muslim. Though he was of an Albanian origin, he
was raised and brought up in Damascus (Syria). His expression of Arabic was
clear, arguments always convincing with lots of references and quotes. Because
he has to deal with Fiqh issues, exchange of arguments between him and the
students ofdifferent Fiqhi background was a usual phenomenon each and every
day. In the short break of ten minutes after the lecture, all teachers used to
go to the staff room for a break except for our Sheikh who would leave the
classroom only to take his seat on the step in the veranda with students around
him; once again busy answering their questions with patience and calmness. Once
the break was over, he used to move to the next class room.
He was very open and welcoming to the students and so was
his car. Just after the fourth period when classes were over and the teachers
were on their way to their homes in Madinah, some of the students were eager to
go to the town either to pray Zuhur in the Mosque of the Prophet (SAS), or to
keep an appointment with a visitor. There were no buses operating at that time.
You had to ask for a lift which was wholeheartedly available with Sheikh
Al-Albani. His car was not locked. So some students would exploit his
generosity to open his car and get seated in the back seat. Some even occupied
the passenger seat as well. Once Sheikh was coming with one of his friends to
take him to the town. To his surprise, all seats have been occupied before his
arrival. He had to plead to the one sitting in the passenger seat to make a
place for his visitor.
I happened to be the part of those two camps, in Khaibar
and the other in Mastura, organised for the students under the guidance of a
number of our teachers and mentors including Sheikh Al-Albani. Sheikh always
used to begin his talk with Khutba-tul Haja, the famous sermon of the Prophet
(SAW). It was a brilliant occasion to hear from him the account of the battle
of Khaibar (7AH) while we were in Khaibar, a small town, 166 km away from
Madinah towards north, the main highway leading to Tabuk and Jordan. In
Madinah, looking at mountain Uhud, I used to always wonder what lies behind it.
When we set on our journey to Khaibar, we had to take the road that passed
behind Uhud mountain. It was just a vast wilderness with mounts and hills
scattered all the way to our destination.
In the camp we had the common Arabian hospitality of rice
cooked with a full sheep. Big kettles of tea has always been on the fire almost
the whole day. In Fajr prayer, especially we used to enjoy his melodious
recitations of the Qur’an. The two days camp was all educational and
Tarbiya-motivated. For recreation, the travelling in Hijaz, glancing the black
and brownish mountains around us, or a rare sight of wild rabbits or lizards,
gun-shots of hunters within our caravan was enough for the excited students,
especially those well-versed in history. It was a cold night both at Khaibar
and then in Mastura. We were all stuck in our blankets at night. The entrance
of the tent was covered with a thick rug but the cold breeze could still find
its way in to fill us with a chill in our spines. In the early hours of the
morning, one could hear some low noise and little movements. It was not yet Fajar
time and still you could see some fortunate souls, students and their teachers,
among them Sheikh Al-Albani as well, standing while facing towards Qiblah and
offering their pre-dawn devotion to Allah. Allah knows how many of us got up
and did the same and how many waited for Fajar Adhan to wake them eventually.
I was keen to visit him at his house to ask him some
questions about Isnad and convey to him the greeting (salam) of my father as
well. And one day I was able to knock on his door. His son showed me in where
the Sheikh was sitting in his chair surrounded by packs of books, a paper
inserted to a small board in front of him while he got his notebook on the
table as if he was in the process of checking and correlating material at hand.
(Today, the laptop screen has replaced the cardboard frame of the Sheikh).
After inquiring about my health and studies and offering me the traditional
Arabic tea in a small cup, he started concentrating on his work. Though he
answered my questions, he was more concerned with his books and research. This
is how I found him always engrossed in his research work; not wasting a single
moment of his life. Of course if I was accompanied by a Sheikh, he could have
given me more attention. Nonetheless I was able to have a short glance at his
study and the way he occupied himself with the work.
It is a pity that he fell prey to the jealousy known to
be one of the ailments of contemporary scholars. Sheikh Albani used to have
some odd opinions such as:
1.
Permission for a woman to expose her face in
public through veiling, as a preferred opinion with him. I remember, while I
was still in Pakistan, that an Arabic translation of Maududi’s book on Hijab
was published in Syria with an appendix by Sheikh Al-Albani refuting the
opinion of the author on the face veil as an obligation. It was done without
the knowledge of the author and caused a great embarrassment to him.
2.
Wearing gold is not allowed for women except
if the bangles are not completely circular, i.e they have a cut in their shape.
3.
A menstruating woman is allowed to remain
sitting inside the mosque.
4.
The worship I’tikaf is not allowed in each
and every mosque, only in the three major ones: the sacred mosque of Makkah,
the Mosque of the Prophet (SAW) and the Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
What disturbed them more was his stance on the Salafi
understanding of Taqlid i.e one should not follow one particular Madhhab but
should pick from each Imam what is closer to Qu’ran and Sunnah. Though the
official Madhhab in Saudi Arabia was to follow Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal who is
held to be the Imam of Salafi school of thought, but they are keen to follow
him in the matters of Fiqh just like the other three followers of Madhahib:
Maliki, Hanafi and Shafi. They share Ahl-e-Hadith in the matters of beliefs,
the repugnance of innovations, exceeding the limits in the veneration of the
saints but differ with them in the issue of Taqlid.
It was difficult for them to convince Sheikh Ibn Baz of
their complaints as he supported the Salafi and Ahl-e-Hadith views vehemently.
So they approached Mufti Muhammad bin Ibrahim, the first Chair of the
University as well. This is how they were able to get support to get Sheikh
Al-Albani to quit his seat in the University and return to Syria. At least we
had an audience of one full year with him. Though he left Saudi Arabia, his
vast material on Hadith, like the famous serial of Books on Sahih Hadith and
the other on weak and fabricated ones, penetrated their way to the bookshops in
the Kingdom everywhere.
Later, long after my graduation, I have seen him in
Jeddah where he was surrounded by a vast number of his pupils and admirers in a
friend’s big compound. It was no secret that he used to have very cordial
relations with Sheikh Ibn Baz. In my opinion, both are shining examples of
respect and honour found among scholars even though they differ in opinions
held by them. Except for a few, Sheikh al-Albani had become the sole authority
in the science of Hadith in our times.
Ten years after my graduation, I was blessed to accompany
him, on his visit to the UK in 1977. I took him to the British Museum which
used to have the library as well. We visited the main Mosque of Jamiat
Ahl-e-Hadith in Birmingham, Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking and several other institutions
in London. At that time, very few people knew him, so there were not many
people to attend his talks. I imagine how tumultuous welcome he would have if
he visited a decade later when a great number of the students of knowledge,
mostly the graduates of Madinah were running a number of mosques and Islamic
centres.
We were invited by our friend Hafiz Nisaruddin Ahmad to
his flat for dinner. With us on the table was a grandson of a great Indian
Salafi scholar, Maulana Samarudi. The young man was not very well-versed in the
academic studies but was too enthusiastic in his practices. He saw Sheikh using
a fork and knife on the table. He could not resist to say: “Sheikh! It is not a
Sunnah to use fork and knife?”
Sheikh replied smilingly: “What about your watch on your
wrist? Is it a Sunnah?”
In another sitting, someone asked him: “Though we people
did migrate to this country and got settled down here but we are very much
worried about so many impediments we keep on facing to practice our Deen.”
Sheikh remarked by saying: “there is an old Syrian
saying: If you do not want to see horrible dreams, then do not sleep in the
cemetery!”
That was his mild and wise way to argue with the
opponents. He never showed disgust or anger at any question but always took the
conversant by gradually coming to the point.
I am thankful to him when he asked me why I had started
shaving the hair of my beard around the cheeks. I was sorry to say that it
happened during my days in Nairobi where I had been delegated to teach just
after my graduation from Madinah in 1967. He told me that the hairs on the
cheeks are part of the beard and they should not be exposed to the razor. I
took his advice and since then I only touched my beard in its length and from
around the sides. Sheikh was of the opinion that the beard could be shortened
beyond a handful of length. When I think about him I always remember some of
his favourite pieces of admonition based upon Hadith such as:
1.
The sermon of need (khutbat al-haja)
2.
The Hadith about Sadaqa in light of the story
of the Mudar tribe when they came to the Prophet (SAW) in a miserable state.
3.
Hadith of Mu’awiya bin Hakam about his
sneezing in the prayer.
4.
The saying of Abdullah bin Mas’ood about
preserving the prayers in congregation.
5.
His explanation, in our class, of the Hadith
of Ibn Abbas about omens as reported in Sahih Muslim.
May Allah have mercy on him, accept his services to Islam
and elevate his ranks in Al-Firdous.
3.
Sheikh
Muhammad Al-Amin Al-Shinqiti (died 10.01.1974)
A man of great calibre, with an astounding memory which
kept assisting him with the relevant Ayat of Al-Qur’an to his topic and a
galaxy of lines of poetry from among the famous texts in Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh and
Al-Nahaw (Grammar). When he spoke as if a river was flowing which had never to
stop. He was our teacher in Tafsir (exegesis of the Qur’an) and Fiqh as well.
The Sheikh, as his name comes from Shanqit (Mauritania presently), a desert
area at the north end of the African continent. He was famous in his country
because of his vast knowledge and God-given ability to decide on the disputes
among people. He came to Saudi Arabia for Hajj but his fame attracted the
scholars to remain there for the benefit of the students of knowledge. This is
how he settled down in Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom in the newly set up
Sharia college. The day the Islamic University was established in 1961 in
Madinah, city of the Prophet (SAW), he became one of its pioneer teachers and
mentors. Once an Iranian pilgrim, the rector of Tehran University, during his
visit to Madinah, entered our class as a visitor when our Sheikh was delivering
his lecture. He heard him attentively and as soon as the Sheikh was about to
finish he took his permission to say a few words. What he said can be
summarised as follows:
Friends! I have attended a lot of institutions
and seats of knowledge but I have never seen a person like you Sheikh who
appears to me like Ibn Jarir in Tafsir, like Bukhari in Hadith, like Ibn Malik
in grammar, like Zamakhshari in the interpretation of the Ayat, like Ibn Sa’ad
in the Knowledge of Tabaqat (the early generations of Islam). He
kept on comparing him to the eminent scholars of the past and then asked
permission to leave. The Sheikh was amused but he did not remark more than
saying two words: “Eish Hadha!” (“What is that?”).
Once during his lecture, he said amazingly, people are
introduced to me with degrees like BA, MA PhD (doctorates) and then I have been
asked “What degree (Shahahda in modern Arabic, which actualy means a
‘testimony’), you hold, O Sheikh?” So I have to tell them: “I hold the highest
Shahada i.e. Shahada of La ilaha illalah, Muhammadur Rasullulah.”
It was again his general lecture in the modest hall of
the University when, after his lecture was over, the Egyptian doctor of the
campus said to him: “Sheikh! I wish you could teach me all that knowledge you
possess!!”
Straightaway he answered: “Provided you teach me all the
medical knowledge you have!!”
Primarily he was a person of fiqh with the opinions of
all jurists and their evidences on his finger tips and this is why you see him
devoting 47 pages to the issue of triple divorce (in support of its validity
unlike Sheikh Ibn Baz and Sheikh Al-Albani) and almost a whole volume of his
tafsir (No.5) to the rituals of Hajj.
During my days in Madinah, he was still delivering his
Tafseer lessons. Later on, one of his talented students, Sheikh Attiya Muhammad
Salim (Egyptian), who used to be in the Registrar office in the beginning, was
able to collate all the Tafseer material he had left in the form of his
recorded lectures in Riyadh and Madinah and accommodated them in nine volumes
by the title of: ‘Adwa-ul-Bayan fi Tafsir Al-Qu’ran bil Qu’ran’ which I
acquired long after my graduation.
I remember attending his eloquent lecture in
Dar-ul-Hadith of Madinah on the issue of the names and attributes of Allah
Al-Mighty. It was chaired by Sheikh Ibn Baz who, according to his normal
practice, used to give his comment on every speech once it comes to an end.
This time it was all praise and commending remarks by him on that exhaustive
discourse by Sheikh Shanqiti. Sheikh had propounded vehemently that no
allegorical expression (Al-Majaz) is found in the Qur’an. He has also compiled
a book on this issue.
We were told that his driver, an African, used to be his
slave. The Sheikh liberated him when he came to the Kingdom but the man loved
to remain with the Sheikh and joined him as a driver. I saw him once, long
after my graduation, in one of my annual visits to Madinah, coming back from
Nairobi. He was all praiseworthy to see me and he blessed me with his Du’a as
well. I think that he must have been well-informed of my activities in the
field of Da’wa in Africa.
Let me conclude with a couple of lines of poetry said by
Az-Zamakhshari which I memorised after listening to it from the mouth of Sheikh
in one of our lessons. In these lines, the author of “Al-Kashshaf” criticises
the people of his times who are divided among a number of factions, each got
prejudices to his own while they disapprove Az-Zamakhshari of his independence
in his thoughts:
إذا سألوا عن مذهبي لم أبح بــه *** وأكتمــه ، كــتمانــه لــي أسـلــــمُ
فإن
حنفيا قلــت ، قالــوا بأننـــي *** أبيح الطلا وهو الشراب المحـــرمُ
وإن
مالكيا قلــت ، قالــوا بأننــي *** أبيــح لهـم أكـل الكلاب وهــم هــمُ
وإن
شافعيا قلـت ، قالــوا بأننــي *** أبيح نكاح البنــت والبـنت تحـــرمُ
وإن
حنبليا قلــت ، قالــوا بأننــي *** ثقــــيل حلــولـي بغيـــض مجســمُ
وإن
قلت من أهل الحديث وحزبه *** يقولون : تيس ليس يدري ويفهمُ
تعجبت
مـن هذا الزمــان وأهلـــه *** فمـا أحـد مـن ألسن الناس يسلــمُ
وأخرني دهــري وقــدم معشــــرا *** علــى أنهـم لا يعــلمــون وأعلــــمُ
ومذ
أفلح الجهال أيقنت أننــــــي *** أنا الميم والأيام أفلح أعلـــــــــــمُ
Translation
1.
If they ask me about my Madhab, I will not
reveal it. I will conceal it. Concealing is safer for me.
2.
If I say that I am a Hanafi, they would say:
Oh! He allows drinking Nabeez while it is a prohibited drink.
3.
If I say that I am a Maliki, they would say
that I allow eating the dogs and they are themselves (dogs).
4.
If I say that I am a Shafi’i, they would say
that I allow marrying a sister while it is prohibited to marry such a girl.
5.
If I say that I am a Hanbali, they would say:
Oh! He is heavy-handed, mostly despised and a believer in corporealism and
incarnation.
6.
If I say that am of one of Ahl-e-Hadith, they
would say he is a ram who doesn’t know neither understand anything.
7.
I wonder how is the times and the people in
it. No one is safe from the tongues of the people.
8.
The times had pushed me behind and advanced
some others because they are ignorant while I am the only one who understands.
9.
Since the ignorant people had become
successful, I tend to believe that I am like the letter “Mim” and the times are
just like a man whose both lips, upper and lower, are torn.
Explanation
2.
According to Hanafi Fiqh, ‘Nabeez’, a drink
made of fruits like dates, barley, corn and left overnight is allowed as it
doesn’t reach a level which intoxicates, if consumed in small quantities. Other
jurists treat it like liquor, if a greater quantity intoxicates, then a smaller
quantity is also prohibited.
3.
According to Shafi’i Fiqh, fornication
doesn’t attract a prohibition of relations. So an illegitimate daughter of a
person will not be a real sister of his legitimate son. And as long as she is
not his sister, he can marry her. Other jurists do not allow such a marriage
because the man is still a father for both biologically.
4.
According to Maliki Fiqh, all sea food
including the “sea dog” (i.e. the shark in Arabic) is allowed. Others say that
the beast among the sea-creatures are to be treated like predators at land
which are not allowed.
5.
Because Hanbali jurists do not give
interpretation to the attributes of Allah and believe that we should believe in
them as they have been stated in the Qur’an. So they believe in their literal
meanings and do not allow to ask: How they should be understood. This is why
they are labelled as believers in incarnation.
6.
Because Ahl-ul-Hadith do not follow a
particular Imam, they are labelled as an animal that doesn’t know or understand
anything.
7.
This is straightforward.
8.
In this line he complains that he has been
discredited by the people of his times.
9.
Here there is a riddle in this last line. A
person with his both lips torn apart cannot say the letter “mim” which needs
both lips to join when pronouncing this letter. Similarly, Zamakhshari says
that I have become unacceptable to my people. They cannot tolerate me.
Note: In my next article, I would mention briefly my other
teachers and mentors during the first two years (1962-1964) followed by the
accounts of some other events happened till my return journey to Karachi in the
summer of 1964 for the annual vacation.
