He takes his phone everywhere that he goes. He likes to call his friends and take fun photos on his phone. The two people he calls the most are Phoebe and Phyllis. One time they all took a trip to Philadelphia. Phil took a lot of photos. He took five photos of pheasants! One day Phil hopes to go to Phoenix. Until then, he will stay on his phone.
- Albani and His Friends: A Concise Guide to the Salafi Movement (Paperback) Gibril Fouad Haddad (author), Sjaad Hussain (editor) Sign in to write a review. Paperback 163 Pages / Published:.
- Download story: Daniel and his friends obey God The original illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and these digitally adjusted compilations of them the copyright of FreeBibleimages. They are made available for free download under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.
- Name Reading Comprehension Read the short passage and answer the questions. © Kaitlynn Albani Leon loves his new pet. He is big and has brown fur.
the Chief Innovator of Our Time
by Sh. G F Haddad
[with a typical reaction to the text]:[his deviant approach to hadith]:
Nasir al-Albani is the arch-innovator of the Wahhabis and 'Salafis' in ourtime. A watch repairman by trade, al-Albani is a self-taught claimant tohadith scholarship who has no known teacher in any of the Islamic sciencesand has admitted not to have memorized the Book of Allah nor any book ofhadith, fiqh, `aqîda, usûl, or grammar. He achieved fame by attacking thegreat scholars of Ahl al-Sunna and reviling the science of fiqh withespecial malice towards the school of his father who was a Hanafi jurist.A rabid reviler of the Friends of Allah and the Sufis, he was expelledfrom Syria then Saudi Arabia and lived in Amman, Jordan under house arrestuntil his death in 1999. He remains the qibla of the people of Innovation,self-styled re-formers of Islam, and other 'Salafi' and Wahhabisympathizers, and the preferred author of book merchants and manyuneducated Muslims. Most of the contemporary Sunni scholars warned of hisheresy and many of them wrote articles or full-length works against himsuch as:
- The Indian hadith scholar Habib al-Rahman al-A`zami who wrote al-AlbaniShudhudhuh wa Akhta'uh ('Al-Albani's Aberrations and Errors') in fourvolumes.
- The Syrian scholar Muhammad Sa`id Ramadan al-Buti who wrote the twoclassics al-Lamadhhabiyya Akhtaru Bid`atin Tuhaddidu al-Shari`aal-Islamiyya ('Not Following A School of Jurisprudence is the MostDangerous Innovation Threatening Islamic Sacred Law') and al-SalafiyyaMarhalatun Zamaniyyatun Mubaraka La Madhhabun Islami ('The `Way of theEarly Muslims' Was A Blessed Historical Epoch, Not An Islamic School ofThought')
- The Moroccan hadith scholar `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiqal-Ghumari who wrote Irgham al-Mubtadi` al-Ghabi bi Jawaz al-Tawassul bial-Nabi fi al-Radd `ala al-Albani al-Wabi ('The Coercion of theUnintelligent Innovator with the Licitness of Using the Prophet ﷺ as an Intermediary in Refutation of al-Albani theBaneful'), al-Qawl al-Muqni` fi al-Radd `ala al-Albani al-Mubtadi` ('ThePersuasive Discourse in Refutation of al-Albani the Innovator'), and Itqanal-Sun`a fi Tahqiq Ma`na al-Bid`a ('Precise Handiwork in Ascertaining theMeaning of Innovation').
- The Moroccan hadith scholar `Abd al-`Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiqal-Ghumari who wrote Bayan Nakth al-Nakith al-Mu`tadi ('The Exposition ofthe Treachery of the Rebel').
- The Syrian hadith scholar `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda who wrote Radd `alaAbatil wa Iftira'at Nasir al-Albani wa Sahibihi Sabiqan Zuhayr al-Shawishwa Mu'azirihima ('Refutation of the Falsehoods and Fabrications of Nasiral-Albani and his Former Friend Zuhayr al-Shawish and their Supporters').
- The Egyptian Hadith scholar Muhammad `Awwama who wrote Adab al-Ikhtilaf('The Proper Manners of Expressing Difference of Opinion').
- The Egyptian hadith scholar Mahmud Sa`id Mamduh who wrote Wusulal-Tahani bi Ithbat Sunniyyat al-Subha wa al-Radd `ala al-Albani ('TheAlighting of Mutual Benefit and Confirmation that the Dhikr-Beads are aSunna in Refutation of al-Albani') and Tanbih al-Muslim ila Ta`addial-Albani `ala Sahih Muslim ('Warning to the Muslim Concerning al-Albani'sAttack on Sahih Muslim').
- The Saudi hadith scholar Isma`il ibn Muhammad al-Ansar who wroteTa`aqqubat `ala 'Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da`ifa wa al-Mawdu`a' li al-Albani('Critique of al-Albani's Book on Weak and Forged Hadiths'), Tashih Salatal-Tarawih `Ishrina Rak`atan wa al-Radd `ala al-Albani fi Tad`ifih('Establishing as Correct the Tarawih Salat in Twenty Rak`as and theRefutation of Its Weakening by al-Albani'), and Ibahat al-Tahalli bial-Dhahab al-Muhallaq li al-Nisa' wa al-Radd `ala al-Albani fi Tahrimih('The Licitness of Wearing Gold Jewelry for Women Contrary to al-Albani'sProhibition of it').
- The Syrian scholar Badr al-Din Hasan Diab who wrote Anwar al-Masabih`ala Zulumat al-Albani fi Salat al-Tarawih ('Illuminating the Darkness ofal-Albani over the Tarawih Prayer').
- The Director of Religious Endowments in Dubai, `Isa ibn `Abd Allah ibnMani` al-Himyari who wrote al-I`lam bi Istihbab Shadd al-Rihal li ZiyaratiQabri Khayr al-Anam ﷺ ('The NotificationConcerning the Recommendation of Travelling to Visit the Grave of the Bestof Creation ﷺ) and al-Bid`a al-Hasana AslunMin Usul al-Tashri` ('The Excellent Innovation Is One of the Sources ofIslamic Legislation').
- The Minister of Islamic Affairs and Religious Endowments in the UnitedArab Emirates Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khazraji who wrote the articleal-Albani: Tatarrufatuh ('Al-Albani's Extremist Positions').
- The Syrian scholar Firas Muhammad Walid Ways in his edition of Ibnal-Mulaqqin's Sunniyyat al-Jumu`a al-Qabliyya ('The Sunna Prayers ThatMust Precede Salat al-Jumu`a').
- The Syrian scholar Samer Islambuli who wrote al-Ahad, al-Ijma`,al-Naskh.
- The Jordanian scholar As`ad Salim Tayyim who wrote Bayan Awham al-Albanifi Tahqiqihi li Kitab Fadl al-Salat `ala al-Nabi ﷺ.
- The Jordanian scholar Hasan `Ali al-Saqqaf who wrote the two-volumeTanaqudat al-Albani al-Wadiha fi ma Waqa`a fi Tashih al-Ahadith waTad`ifiha min Akhta' wa Ghaltat ('Albani's Patent Self-Contradictions inthe Mistakes and Blunders He Committed While Declaring Hadiths to be Soundor Weak'), Ihtijaj al-Kha'ib bi `Ibarat man Idda`a al-Ijma` fa Huwa Kadhib('The Loser's Recourse to the Phrase: `Whoever Claims Consensus Is aLiar!'), al-Qawl al-Thabtu fi Siyami Yawm al-Sabt ('The Firm DiscourseConcerning Fasting on Saturdays'), al-Lajif al-Dhu`af li al-Mutala`ib biAhkam al-I`tikaf ('The Lethal Strike Against Him Who Toys with the Rulingsof I`tikaf), Sahih Sifat Salat al-Nabi Sallallahu `alayhi wa Sallam ('TheCorrect Description of the Prophet's Prayer ﷺ '), I`lam al-Kha'id bi Tahrim al-Qur'an `ala al-Junub wa al-Ha'id('The Appraisal of the Meddler in the Interdiction of the Qur'an to thosein a State of Major Defilement and Menstruating Women'), Talqih al-Fuhumal-`Aliya ('The Inculcation of Lofty Discernment'), and Sahih Sharhal-`Aqida al-Tahawiyya ('The Correct Explanation of al-Tahawi's Statementof Islamic Doctrine').
Among Albani's innovations in the Religion:
1- In his book Adab al-Zafaf he prohibits women from wearing goldjewelry - rings, bracelets, and chains - despite the Consensus of theUlema permitting it.
2- He claims that 2.5% zakât is not due on money obtained from commerce,i.e. the main activity whereby money circulates among Muslims.
3- He absolutely prohibits fasting on Saturdays.
4- He prohibits retreat (i`tikaf) in any but the Three Mosques.
5- He claims that it is lawful to eat in Ramadan before Maghrib as definedby the Law, and similarly after the true dawn.
6- He compares Hanafi fiqh to the Gospel.1
7- He calls people to imitate him rather than the Imams of the Salaf suchas the founders of the Four Schools, and his followers invalidate thehadiths that contradict his views.
8- He prohibits the make-up performance of prayers missed intentionally.
9- He claims that it is permissible for menstruating women and those in astate of major defilement (junub Extract subtitles from dvd online. ) to recite, touch, and carry the Qur'an.
10- He claims over and over that among the innovations in religionexistent in Madina is the persistence of the Prophet's ﷺ grave in the mosque.
11- He claims that whoever travels intending to visit the Prophet ﷺ or to ask him for his intercession is a misguidedinnovator.
12- He claims that whoever carries dhikr-beads in his hand to rememberAllah Most High is misguided and innovating.
13- He invented a location to Allah Most High above the Throne which henamed al-makân al-`adamî - 'the non-existent place.'
14- He claims in Tamam al-Minna that masturbation does not annul one'sfast.
15- He published 'corrected' editions of the two Sahihs of al-Bukhari andMuslim, which he deceitfully called 'Abridgments' (mukhtasar) in violationof the integrity of these motherbooks.
16- He published newly-styled editions of the Four Sunan, al-Bukhari'sal-Adab al-Mufrad, al-Mundhiri's al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib, and al-Suyuti'sal-Jami` al-Saghir, each of which he split into two works, respectivelyprefixed Sahih and Da`if in violation of the integrity of thesemotherbooks.
17- He said: 'Many of those who interpret figuratively [the DivineAttributes] are not heretics (zanâdiqa), but they say what heretics say,'and 'figurative interpretation is the very same as nullification(al-ta'wîl `ayn al-ta`tîl).'2
18- He suggests that al-Bukhari is a disbeliever for interpreting theDivine Face as dominion or sovereignty (mulk) in the verse { Everythingwill perish save His countenance }(28:88) in the book of Tafsir in hisSahih: 'Except His wajh means except His mulk, and it is also said: Exceptwhatever was for the sake of His countenance.' Albani blurts out: 'No truebeliever would say such a thing' and 'We should consider al-Bukhariinnocent of that statement.'3
19- In imitation of the Mu`tazila, tawassul (seeking means), istighâtha(asking for help), and tashaffu` (seeking intercession) through theProphet ﷺ or one of the Awliyâ' he declaredprohibited acts in Islam (harâm) tantamount to idolatry (shirk) in hisbooklet al-Tawassul as did his friends Bin Baz and those who obey themsuch as al-Qahtani in al-Wala' wa al-Bara' and others, in flat rejectionof the numerous sound and explicit narrations to that effect, such asal-Bukhari's narration of the Prophet ﷺ fromIbn `Umar - Allah be well-pleased with him -: 'Truly the sun shall draw sonear on the Day of Resurrection that sweat shall reach to the mid-ear,whereupon they shall ask (istaghâthû) help from Adam - upon him peace -,then from Musa - upon him peace - , then from Muhammad ﷺ who will intercede (fa yashfa`u).. and that day Allah shallraise him to an Exalted Station, so that all those who are standing[including the unbelievers] shall glorify him (yahmaduhu ahlu al-jam`ikulluhum).'
20- He denies that the name of the Angel of death is `Azrâ'îl and claimssuch a name has no basis other than Israelite reports, although `Iyadreports the Consensus on the Umma on it in al-Shifa'.
21- Like the rest of Wahhabi and 'Salafi' innovators he declares Ash`aris,Maturidis, and Sufis to be outside the fold of Ahl al-Sunna and evenoutside the fold of Islam, although Allah Most High and His Prophet ﷺ praised them! Upon revelation of the verse { Allah shall bring a people whom He loves and who love Him }(5:54), theProphet ﷺ pointed to Abu Musa al-Ash`ari -Allah be well-pleased with him - and said: 'They are that man's People.'4
Al-Qushayri, Ibn `Asakir, al-Bayhaqi, Ibn al-Subki, and others said thatthe followers of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash`ari - i.e. Ash`aris who were mostlySufis - are included among Abu Musa's People for in every place that apeople are affiliated to a Prophet, what is meant is the followers of thatProphet. As for Maturidis, they are referred to in the narration of theProphet ﷺ from Bishr al-Khath`ami oral-Ghanawi with a sound (sahîh) chain according to al-Hakim, al-Dhahabi,al-Suyuti, and al-Haythami: 'Truly you shall conquer Constantinople andtruly what a wonderful leader will her leader be [Mehmet Fatih Sultan -Allah be well-pleased with him -], and truly what a wonderful army willthat army be!' Both the leader and his army were classic Hanafi Maturidisand it is known that Mehmet Fatih loved and respected Sufis, practicedtawassul, and followed a Shaykh. Moreover, enmity against Ash`aris,Maturidis, and Sufis, is nifâq and enmity against the Umma of Islam asmost of the Ulema of Islam are thus described.
22- In at least five of his books5 he calls for the demolition of theGreen Dome of the Prophet's Mosque in al-Madina al-Munawwara and fortaking the Prophet's grave outside the Mosque.
23- He states: 'I have found no evidence for the Prophet's ﷺ hearing of the salaam of those who greet him at his grave'and 'I do not know from where Ibn Taymiyya took his claim6 that he ﷺ hears the salaam from someone near.' This and theprevious item are among his greater enormities and bear the unmistakablesignature of innovation and deviation.7
• see ahadith: <Proof-texts of the Life of the Prophet in His Grave >
24- He considers it an innovation to visit relatives, neighbors, orfriends on the day of `Eid and prohibits it.8
25- He gave the fatwa that Muslims should exit Palestine en masse andleave it to the Jews as it is part the Abode of War (dâr al-harb).9
26- He advocates in his Salat al-Nabi ﷺ, theformula 'Peace and blessings upon the Prophet' instead of 'upon you, OProphet' in the tashahhud in contradiction of the Four Sunni Schools, onthe basis of a hadith of Ibn Mas`ud whereby the Companions used theindirect-speech formula after the passing of the Prophet ﷺ. But the Prophet ﷺ himselfinstructed them to pray exactly as he prayed saying: 'Peace and blessingsupon you, O Prophet' without telling them to change it after his death,nor did the major Companions (whose Sunna we were ordered to imitatetogether with that of the Prophet ﷺ), such asAbu Bakr and `Umar, teach the Companions and Successors otherwise!
27- He prohibits praying more than 11 rak`as in Tarawih prayers on thegrounds that the Prophet ﷺ never did and inblatant rejection of his explicit command to follow the Sunna of thewell-guided Caliphs after him.
28- He declares that adding more to 11 supererogatory rak`as in the latenight prayer (tahajjud) is an innovation rather than an act of obedienceon the grounds that the Prophet ﷺ 'never everprayed one hundred rak`as in his whole lifetime'10 although the Ulemaagree that there is no prescribed limit to something which the Prophetﷺ commanded without specifically quantifying it,and he ﷺ said in three authentic narrations:'Know that the best of your good deeds is prayer,'11 'Prayer is alight,'12 and 'The night prayer is in cycles of two [rak`as] and when oneof you fears the rising of the dawn, let him pray a single one.'13 It isalso established in many authentic narrations collected by Imam `Abdal-Hayy al-Lacknawi in the second part of his Iqamat al-Hujja `ala annaal-Ikthar min al-Ta`abbudi Laysa bi Bid`a that the Companions and Salafprayed hundreds if not thousands of rak`as in every twenty-four hours!
29- He considers it an innovation to pray four rak`as between the twoadhâns of Jumu`a and before Salat, although it is authentically narratedthat 'the Prophet ﷺ prayed four rak`as beforeJumu`a and four rak`as after it.'14
30- He declares it prohibited (harâm) and an innovation to lengthen thebeard over a fistful's length although there is no proof for such a claimin the whole Law and none of the Ulema ever said it before him.15
31- He gives free rein to his propensity to insult and vilify the Ulema ofthe past as well as his contemporaries. As a result it is difficult towade through his writings without being affected by the nefarious spiritthat permeates them. For example, he considers previous editors andcommentators of al-Bukhari's al-Adab al-Mufrad ('Book of Manners'!)'sinful,' 'unbearably ignorant,' and even 'liars' and 'thieves.' Of one hesays: 'There are so many weak hadiths [in his choice].. that it is anunIslamic practice'; of another: 'It is ignorance which must not betolerated'; of another: 'Forgery and open lie.. His edition is stolen[from a previous one].'16 Such examples actually fill a book compiled byShaykh Hasan `Ali al-Saqqaf and titled Qamus Shata'im al-Albani waAlfazihi al-Munkara al-Lati Yatluquha `ala `Ulama' al-Umma ('Dictionary ofal-Albani's Insults and the Heinous Words He Uses Against the Scholars ofthe Muslim Community').
32- He revived Ibn Hazm's anti-madhhabî claim that differences can neverbe a mercy in any case but are always a curse on the basis of the verse{ If it had been from other than Allah they would have found therein muchdiscrepancy }(4:82).17 Imam al-Nawawi long since refuted this view in hiscommentary on Sahih Muslim where he said: 'If something is a mercy, it isnot necessary for its opposite to be the opposite of mercy. No-one makesthis binding and no-one even says this, except an ignoramus or one whoaffects ignorance.' Similarly, al-Munawi said in Fayd al-Qadir: 'This is acontrivance that showed up on the part of some of those who have sicknessin their heart.'
33- He expresses hatred for those who read Imam al-Busiri's masterpiece,Qasidat al-Burda, and calls them cretins (mahâbîl),18 i.e. millions ofMuslims past and present including the likes of Imams Ibn Hajaral-`Asqalani, al-Sakhawi, and al-Suyuti who all included it as requiredreading in the Islamic curriculum.19
34- He perpetuates lies if they detract from Ash`aris, such as his remarkthat Imam Sayf al-Din al-Amidi did not pray,20 although Dr. Hasanal-Shafi`i in his massive biography entitled al-Amidi wa Ara'uhual-Kalamiyya showed that the story that al-Amidi did not pray was aforgery put into circulation during the campaign waged by Imam Ibnal-Salah against him for teaching logic and philosophy in Damascus.
35- He perpetuates the false claim first made by Munir Agha the founder ofthe Egyptian Salafiyya Press, that Imam Abu Muhammad al-Juwayni - thefather of Imam al-Haramayn - 'repented' from Ash`ari doctrine andsupposedly authored a tract titled Risala fi Ithbat al-Istiwâ' waal-Fawqiyya ('Epistle on the Assertion of Establishment and Aboveness').21 This spurious attribution continues to be promoted without verification -for obvious reasons - by modern-day 'Salafis' who adduce it to forward theclaim that al-Juwayni embraced anthropomorphist concepts. The Risala inquestion is not mentioned in any of the bibliographical and biographicalsources nor does al-Dhahabi cite it in his encyclopedia ofanthropomorphist views entitled al-`Uluw. More conclusively, it is writtenin modern argumentative style and reflects typically contemporaryanthropomorphist obsessions.
36- He derides the fuqahâ' of the Umma for accepting - in their massivemajority - the hadith of Mu`adh ibn Jabal on ijtihâd as authentic thenrejects the definition of knowledge (`ilm) in Islam as pertaining to fiqhbut claims that it pertains only to hadith,22 although the Ulema of theSalaf explicitly said that a hadith master without fiqh is a misguidedinnovator! And he defines the `âlim as 'meaning, of course, the `Salafi'`âlim, not the `Khalafi [late Egyptian Shaykh] Ghazali'!'23 Al-Qurtubisaid: 'One of the knowers of Allah said: A certain group that has not yetcome up in our time but shall show up at the end of time, will curse thescholars and insult the jurists.'24
NOTES
1 In his commentary on al-Mundhiri's Mukhtasar Sahih Muslim, 3rd ed.(Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1977, p. 548). This phrase was removed fromlater editions.
2 Fatawa (p. 522-523) and Mukhtasar al-`Uluw (p. 23f.).
3 Fatawa (p. 523).
4 Narrated from `Iyad by Ibn Abi Shayba and al-Hakim who said it is sahîhby Muslim's criterion, and by al-Tabarani with a sound chain as stated byal-Haythami.
5 Ahkam al-Jana'iz wa Bida`uha, Talkhis Ahkam al-Jana'iz, Tahdhir al-Sajid,Hijjat al-Nabi, and Manasik al-Hajj wa al-`Umra.
6 In Majmu`a al-Fatawa (27:384).
7 In his notes on Nu`man al-Alusi's al-Ayat al-Bayyinat (p. 80) and hisSilsila Da`ifa (#203).
8 Fatawa (p. 61-63).
9 Fatawa (p. 18).
10 Fatawa (p. 315-316).
11 Narrated as part of a longer hadith from Thawban with sound chains byIbn Majah and Ahmad. Malik cites it in his Muwatta'.
Albani And His Friends Pdf Book
12 Part of a longer hadith narrated from Abu Malik al-Ash`ari (Ka`b ibn`Asim) by Muslim, al-Tirmidhi (hasan sahîh), al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Ahmad,and al-Darimi.
13 Narrated from Ibn `Umar in the Nine Books.
14 With a fair chain from `Ali and Ibn `Abbas as stated by al-`Iraqi inTarh al-Tathrib (3:42), Ibn Hajar in Talkhis al-Habir (2:74), andal-Tahanawi in I`la' al-Sunan (7:9).
15 Fatawa (p. 53).
16 Sahih al-Adab al-Mufrad (Introduction, p. 15, 20, 26).
17 Al-Silsila al-Da`ifa (1:76 #57).
18 Introduction to al-San`ani's Raf` al-Astar (p. 24-25).
19 Cf. al-Suyuti, Husn al-Muhadara (Cairo 1293 ed. 1:260) and al-Sakhawi,in A.J. Arberry, Sakhawiana: A Study Based on the Chester Beatty Ms. Arab.773 (London: Emery Walker Ltd., 1951, p. 5-9).
20 In his notes to Nu`man al-Alusi's al-Ayat al-Bayyinat (p. 88).
21 Mukhtasar al-`Uluw (p. 277).
22 In his notes on al-Qasimi's al-Mash `ala al-Jawrabayn (p. 38). On thehadith of Mu`adh see our May 1999 post titled, '[4] Probativeness of theSunna' and Note 5 in that post.
23 Tahrim Alat al-Tarab (p. 160). Clip grab for mac 10 11 6.
24 Al-Qurtubi, Tafsir (7:191).
Wal-'Aqibatu lil-Muttaqin.
GF Haddad ©
Typical response by H.A.M., a 'Salafiy',
not caring much about the evidence put forward, as above:
- Salaam,
What is all this nonsense on your website about refuting so andso??? Since when did the Prophet or his companions sit back behind theveil and slander their muslims brothers and sisters??? Where did youget this nonsense?
Fear Allah brother. A muslim does not attack his muslimbrother/sister. Didn't the Prophet say the one who testifies there isno god except Allah his life is sacred? So if his life is sacred, whatmakes you think you can sit up and slander him? In the grave, will notAllah punish those who slandered/backbited? So what makes you slanderthe righteous scholars of the ummah?
Do you know their relationship with Allah? It maybe so that theirrelationship with Allah is far more firmer than yours or mine, so holdthat tongue brother and Fear Allah.
Wa salaamu alaykum,
We are convinced that it is not slandering to say where one scholar has failed and iswrong andthat it is our duty to warn the Muslims about it
for the safeguarding of our doctrin and our dîn.
Concerning this typical reaction Shaykh Gibril F Haddad wrote the following:
“There are notable exceptions in the Law to the prohibitionof slander, i.e. of saying something unpleasant but true.
From the strictest viewpoint of the Law, the Prophet ﷺ upon himblessings and peace, did mention someone's bad characteristics to warnothers of the danger they represented. Another time he was reportedto say: 'Until when will you refrain from mentioning the wrongdoer[for the wrong they do]? Mention them so people can protect themselvesfrom them!' or something to that effect.
So the prohibition of slander and backbiting excludes those thatmake no effort whatsoever to hide their transgressions nor arethey repentent.
Furthermore, Allah Most High said:
{ Allah does not like the announcing of evil in public speech except by one who has been wronged; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing. }(4:148)
So the prohibition of slander and backbiting also excludeswarning about a wrongdoer by someone that has been wronged.
Most relevantly here, such prohibition also excludes warningabout innovators. As Imam Ahmad said, this is not backbiting norslander but obligatory nasiha by and for those that truly fearAllah Most High, was-Salam.”
Hajj Gibril
*The above text is further elaborated in
Shaykh Gibril F Haddad's book: 'Albani and His Friends',
• aqsapublications.com -- New revised edition, checked 2009-07-22
• xL =broken link 2020-10-01: http://www.bokus.com; /bok/9780954754006/albani-and-his-friends/'>bokus.com/bok/ from 2004-05-01
see also:
• Al-Albani's Revolutionary Approach to Hadith (pdf), S. Lacroix
…one of the most astonishing metropolitan novels of our time!
The New York Times Book Review
The sprawling, swampy, cacophonous city of Lagos, Nigeria, provides the backdrop to the story of Elvis, a teenage Elvis impersonator hoping to make his way out of the ghetto. Broke, beset by floods, and beatings by his alcoholic father, and with no job opportunities in sight, Elvis is tempted by a life of crime. Thus begins his odyssey into the dangerous underworld of Lagos, guided by his friend Redemption and accompanied by a restless hybrid of voices including The King of Beggars, Sunday, Innocent and Comfort. Young Elvis, drenched in reggae and jazz, and besotted with American film heroes and images, must find his way to a GraceLand of his own. Nuanced, lyrical, and pitch perfect, Abani has created a remarkable story of a son and his father, and an examination of postcolonial Nigeria where the trappings of American culture reign supreme.
2007 - Jamaican Observer Book Club Pick
2006 - Finalist, Dublin IMPAC Award
2005 - Today Show Book Club Pick
Winner 2005 - Hemingway/PEN Prize
Winner 2005 Silver Medal - California Book Awards
Winner 2005 - Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards for Debut Fiction
Shortlisted for Best Book Category (Africa Region) of The Commonwealth Writer’s Prize
Finalist 2005 - Los Angeles Times Book Prize
25 Best Books of 2004 - Los Angeles Times
Best Books of 2004 - San Francsico Chronicle
Barnes and Noble Discover Series Selection
New York Times Book Review Summer 2004 “Vacation Reading/Notable Books” Selection
Extraordinary…This book works brilliantly in two ways. As a convincing and unpatronizing record of life in a poor Nigerian slum, and as a frighteningly honest insight into a world skewed by casual violence, it’s wonderful…And for all the horrors, there are sweet scenes in graceland too, and they’re a thousand times better for being entirely unsentimental…Lovely.
The New York Times Book Review
Abani’s intensely visual style–and his sense of humor–convert the stuff of hopelessness into the stuff of hope.
San Francisco Chronicle
graceland amply demonstrates that Abani has the energy, ambition and compassion to create a novel that delineates and illuminates a complicated, dynamic, deeply fractured society.
Los Angeles Times
A wonderfully vivid evocation of a youth coming of age in a country unmoored from its old virtues…As for the talented Chris Abani…his imaginary Elvis is easily as memorable as the original.
Newsday
graceland teems with incident, from the seedy crime dens of Maroko to the family melodramas of the Oke clan. But throughout the novel’s action, Abani-an accomplished poet who published his own first novel at Elvis’s tender age of 16-keeps the reader’s gaze fixed firmly on the detailed and contradictory cast of everyday Nigerian life. Energetic and moving…Abani [is] a fluid, closely observant writer.
The Washington Post
A wonderfully vivid evocation of a youth coming of age in a country unmoored from its old virtues….As for the talented Abani, Nigeria’s loss is America’s gain. His imaginary Elvis is easily as memorable as the original.
Chicago Tribune
Abani… has written an exhilarating novel, all the more astonishing for its hard-won grace and, yes, redemption.
The Village Voice
Ambitious…a kind of small miracle.
John Freeman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It is to be hoped that Mr. Abani’s fine book finds its proper place in the world…[Abani’s] perception of the world is beyond or outside the common categories of contemporary fiction and he is able to describe what he perceives compellingly and effectively…The novel is a reflection of the chaos that reigned in Nigeria…on the broader tension between tradition and Western culture in postcolonial societies [and] on the trials a boy must face to become a man. .[Abani captures] the awful, mysterious refusal of life’s discrete pieces to fit
Tim Marchman, The New York Sun
An intensely vivid portrait of Nigeria that switches deftly between rural and urban life.
Boston Globe
Singular…Abani has created a charming and complex character, at once pragmatic and philosophical about his lot in life…Observes the chaotic tapestry of life in postcolonial Africa with the unjudging eye of a naive boy.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The imagery of the book is tremendous…a mesmerizing glimpse at a polarized society with an unbelievable ability to function…Abani’s debut is spectacular, and may be just the spark today’s Nigeria needs to undergo its own revival in stability, progress and culture.
The Univ of Wisconsin Daily Cardinal
[Abani’s novel is] deeply concerned with how Western colonialism transformed Africa in ways both major and minor…Abani masterfully gives us a young man who is simultaneously brave, heartless, bright, foolish, lustful, and sadly resigned to fate. In short, a perfectly drawn adolescent…Abani’s ear for dialogue and eye for observation lend a lyrical air…In depicting how deeply external politics can affect internal thinking, graceland announces itself as a worthy heir to Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Like that classic of Nigerian literature, it gives a multifaceted, human face to a culture struggling to find its own identity while living with somebody else’s.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
The next wave…of Nigerian literature.
America Magazine
Beautifully written, perceptive and painful…A serious and poignant novel about the problems in the postcolonial era in Nigeria.
Altar Magazine
graceland is an invaluable document.
The San Diego Union-Tribune
Remarkable….Chris Abani’s striking new novel, graceland, wins the reader with its concept-an Elvis impersonator in Nigeria-and keeps him with strong storytelling and characterization…. graceland marks the debut of a writer with something important to say.
New Orleans Times-Picayune
The novel is not just a politically charged coming of age story, but a tale of an entire nation’s loss of innocence represented in the life of one boy. And it is this thematic largesse and the stylistic demands to which Abani rises that puts graceland in the league of novels like Czeslaw Milosz’s The Issa Valley, Oe and even Marquez, each of which tries to describe the loss of an old world in the face of a new one…graceland is an overwhelming novel, and may well count as a major work of literature.
The Seattle Sinner
graceland paints an often horrific and sometimes profound portrait….Though a work of fiction, graceland also serves as a history far more powerful and fantastic than any official account of Nigeria’s teetering progress toward democracy.
Seattle Weekly
The book’s juxtaposition between innocence and bleak survival is heart-rending….Sharp, graphic, and impossible to dismiss.
The Seattle Times
Disturbing but hysterically funny, graceland is a poignant work of innocence robbed by endless corrupt and brutal forces.
India in New York
Chris Abani’s graceland is a richly detailed, poignant, and utterly fascinating look into another culture and how it is cross-pollinated by our own. It brings to mind the work of Ha Jin in its power and revelation of the new.
T.Coraghessan Boyle, Author of Drop City
To say that this is a Nigerian or African novel is to miss the point. This absolutely beautiful work of fiction is about complex and strained political structures, the irony of the West being a measure of civilization, and the tricky business of being a son. Abani’s language is beautiful and his story is important.
Percival Everett, Author Erasure: A Novel
graceland is a painful look at an urban culture seemingly always on the verge of complete societal breakdown. Chris Abani’s riveting novel is a superbly written, structurally fascinating work and I found myself captivated by the hilarity of some of the scenes, often as I found myself on the verge of tears. It is a stunning debut by an immensely talented writer.
Quincy Troupe, Author of Transcircularity, Miles: The Autobiograpy and Miles and Me
Albani And His Friends Pdf
This is a new kind of book. We will look back on its publication as a watershed moment in the history of postcolonial literature. It is, as the best of such novels are, hybrid, monstrous, exilic, an indictment of the global terrorism of capital, yet it is also something we have not seen before. In Elvis we meet an African man who suffers incandescently, who watches others suffer more, yet emerges not as another tragic masculinity, but as that rarest of creatures, a hero. This is Chris Abani’s gift, to transmute the harrowing into the transcendent. Believe it: Elvis is redemption.
Albani And His Friends Pdf Download
Wendy Belcher, Author of Honey From the Lion: An African Journey