Thabt Muallafat al-Albani - Abd Allah al-Shamrani - (6)

Thabt Muallafat al-AlbaniAbd Allah al-Shamrani

And how was it that the Arabs deferred to a non-Arab in the task of authenticating and classifying hadiths as sound or weak (1)?

(2) This man was the son of a Hanafi jurist, and he himself began as a Hanafi, studying under the Hanafi school (2), yet he later emerged as a reviving hadith scholar.
How did that happen?
How did he abandon the path of jurisprudence based on imitation to follow the way of hadith through independent inquiry?
And did his father accept this from him, or did conflict arise between them?

(3) The Shaykh appeared at a time when the four schools held undisputed sway over the ummah; scarcely a single scholar could be found who did not adhere to one of them and issue fatwas—purely by imitation—according to its principles.
What was his attitude toward those who clung fanatically to their schools, and what was their attitude toward him?

(4) The Shaykh lived in the Levant, a land rife with religious innovations and their proponents; indeed, he met some of the very leaders of those movements.
Did he accommodate them despite the differences between them, or did he debate them and write refutations against them?
And did they leave him alone, or did they plot against him and have him imprisoned?

(5) He was a poor man who first worked as a carpenter, then left that trade and settled on repairing watches (3)—a line of work notorious for its meagre earnings.
How was he content with it, and how did he move from the humble craft of watch-repair to become a master of hadith whose expertise the entire ummah acknowledged?

(1) A respected scholar answered this question by saying: “Just as you have already conceded this point with regard to al-Bukhari and Muslim.” (2) In the margin of al-Radd al-Ilmi ʿala Habib al-Rahman al-Aʿzami, 2/64, it states: “Anyone who examines some of his early books will find written on them: ‘From the books of Muhammad Nasir al-Din b. Nuh, Hanafi in madhhab (legal school), born in Ashqudra.’” (3) Woe to whoever brands the shaykh with this occupation and belittles him for it. By Him besides Whom there is no deity: a watch-repairer of sound creed is, in Allah’s sight, better than one who innovates in the religion, rejects His attributes, and denies that Allah is above the heaven, established upon His Throne, distinct from His creation—as the clear, authentic texts affirm—and better than any decrepit grave-worshiper who repudiates tawhid (pure monotheism) and hates its adherents, whoever he may be.

وكيف سلّم (العربُ) لـ: (أعجمي) القول بالتصحيح والتضعيف (١) ؟ (٢) كان هذا الرجل ابناً لفقيهٍ حنفي، وكان هو كذلك حنفياً، تتلمذ على المذهب الحنفي (٢) ، ثم أصبح محدثاًُ مجدداً. فكيف كان ذلك؟ وكيف ترك سبيل الفقه (تقليداً) ، ليسلك طريق الحديث (اجتهاداً) ؟ وهل سلَّمَ له أبوه بذلك؟ أو دار بينهما خلاف؟ (٣) خرج الشيخ في وقتٍ سيطرت فيه المذاهب على الأمة، فما من عالمٍ إلا وله مذهبٌ فقهي يسير عليه، ويفتي ـ تقليداً ـ من خلال أصوله. فما موقفه من المتعصبين منهم؟ وما موقفهم منه؟ (٤) كانت حياة الشيخ في: ”الشام”، وفيه الكثير من البدع، وأهلها، بل التقى برؤوس دعاتها. فهل جاملهم على ما بينهم من خلاف؟ أو ناظرهم، وألَّف في الردِّ عليهم؟ وهل سكتوا عنه؟ أو كادوا له، وسجنوه؟ (٥) كان الرجل فقيراً سلك مهنة النجارة، ثم تركها، واستقر به الأمر إلى إصلاح الساعات (٣) ، وهي أسوأ مهنة من حيث الربح. فيكف رضي بها؟ وكيف انتقل من مهنة إصلاح الساعات، إلى محدثٍ ضليع خضعت لعلمه الأمة؟

(١) أجاب أحد الأفاضل عن هذا السؤال بقوله: (كما سلَّمَت لـ: البخاري، ومسلم من قبل) . (٢) جاء في هامش: ’’الرد العلمي على حبيب الرحمن الأعظمي’’ (٢/٦٤) : (إنَّ الناظر في بعض كتبه القديمة يرى أنَّه كتب عليها: ’’من كُتُبِ محمد ناصر الدين بن نوح، الحنفي مذهباً، الأشقودري مولداً’’) . (٣) تباً لمن نبزَ الشيخ بهذه المهنة، وغمَزَه بذلك، فوالذي لا إله غيره: إنَّ مصلح ساعاتٍ نقي العقيدة، خيرٌ عند الله مِمَّن ابتدع في دين الله، وأنكر صفاته، وأنكر أنَّ الله في السماء، مستوٍ على عرشه، بائن من خلقه، كما جاءت بذلك النصوص الصحيحة الصريحة، وخيرٌ من قبوري خَرِبٍ، جاحدٍ للتوحيد، مبغض لأهله، كائناً من كان.