that Shaykh al-Albani allowed himself, people would soon begin to repudiate the works of the early generations—indeed, most of them—for many of those books no longer possess uninterrupted chains of transmission today. Their authenticity is recognized only through attribution, wide circulation, and the fact that they have been received generation after generation. The same applies to the bulk of the scholars’ writings that followed: they, too, lack continuous isnāds and are known through reception, attribution, and diffusion, as well as by the congruence of the author’s style and the coherence of one passage with another. The people of knowledge have always deemed such reception and widespread acceptance sufficient for ascribing books to their authors, while rejecting any work whose contents fail to harmonize with what is reliably known of that author’s speech or contradict his positions in fundamentals or subsidiary matters.
Whoever reflects on Imām Aḥmad’s epistle—may Allah have mercy on him—will find it in full agreement with his statements and consonant with his school. Anyone who denies it, or rejects any portion of it for that reason, does so only because he knows little of Aḥmad’s words and his jurisprudential method. One’s amazement never ceases at the brazen audacity of Shaykh al-Albani and his readiness to disparage that noble treatise without proof. Allah is the One whose help is sought, upon Him we rely; there is no power and no might except with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great. He is sufficient for us and the best trustee. May blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, upon his family and his Companions, and upon all who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment; and may abundant salutations be bestowed upon them.
The drafting of these remarks was completed during the year 1376 AH, and this copy was finished on Friday, the sixteenth of Rabīʿ al-Awwal, 1382 AH, by its scribe and compiler, the servant in need of Allah Almighty, Ḥamūd ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Tuwajirī—may Allah forgive him, his parents, and all Muslim men and women, both the living and the deceased. All praise is for Allah; by His favor righteous deeds are perfected.
Completed—praise be to Allah.