Hadiths on which Shaykh al-Albānī later revised his judgment—whether from authenticity to weakness or the reverse
Dear brothers,
The material below is a study prepared by one of the brothers that I came across on an internet forum. It collates the hadiths that the eminent scholar, Shaykh Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī, had once declared weak but later authenticated in volume 7 of al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah.
The brother’s list contained fifteen narrations. Because of the importance of the subject I was greatly impressed, so I appended my own notes. While working on the verification of Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ and with the help of the valuable computer program al-Janā al-Dānī, I managed to compile several times that number. I recorded them and integrated them into the brother’s research.
To determine the Shaykh’s final opinion I relied on the chronological order of his writings. I shall therefore post the study here in instalments, beginning with the dates I have been able to establish for his publications.
I ask Allah to make it beneficial.
Written by
Khayrī Saʿīd
Munyat Samnūd – Dakahlia – Egypt
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In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
Chronology of Shaykh al-Albānī’s Works
Note:
“Date of composition” refers to the date of the last preface the Shaykh wrote for the book. Anything preceded by “(ṭ)” indicates the date of the first printed edition.
Total works: 56 books
Date of composition / publication — Title of the book
1366–1370 AH — al-Thamar al-Mustaṭāb fī Fiqh al-Sunnah wa-l-Kitāb
1372 AH — Naṣb al-Manjānīq
1378 AH — al-Ṣaḥīḥah 1
1379 AH — al-Ḍaʿīfah 1
1384 AH — Ḥujjat al-Nabī (The Prophet’s Proof)
1385 AH — Ḥijāb al-Marʾah al-Muslimah; al-Īmān by Ibn Abī Shaybah; al-Kalīm al-Ṭayyib
1386 AH — al-Tankīl
1387 AH — Naqd Nuṣūṣ Ḥadīthiyyah
1388 AH — Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ; Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ; Ādāb al-Zifāf
1388 AH — Aḥkām al-Janāʾiz
1389 AH — Mukhtaṣar Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim; Khuṭbat al-Ḥājah
1390 AH — Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kalīm al-Ṭayyib; Iṣlāḥ al-Masājid
1392 AH — Taḥdhīr al-Sājid; Mukhtaṣar al-ʿUlū; al-Ṣaḥīḥah 2
1397 AH — Difāʿ ʿan al-Ḥadīth al-Nabawī
1398 AH — al-Ḍaʿīfah 2
1399 AH — Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl; Mukhtaṣar Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī; Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ
(ṭ) 1400 AH — al-Sunnah by Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim
1401 AH — al-Āyāt al-Bayyināt; Rafʿ al-Astār; Bidāyat al-Sūl
1402 AH — Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb wa-l-Tarhīb (first ed.); Mukhtaṣar al-Shamāʾil
1404 AH — al-Ṣaḥīḥah 4
1406 AH — al-Ṣaḥīḥah 3; Ṣaḥīḥ Sunan al-Tirmidhī; Ḍaʿīf Sunan al-Tirmidhī; Ṣaḥīḥ Sunan Ibn Mājah; Ḍaʿīf Sunan Ibn Mājah; Qiyām Ramaḍān
1407 AH — al-Ḍaʿīfah 3; al-Ḍaʿīfah 4
1408 AH — Ṣaḥīḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd; Ghāyat al-Marām; al-ʿIlm by al-Nasāʾī
1409 AH — al-Ṣaḥīḥah 5; Ṣaḥīḥ Sunan al-Nasāʾī; al-Ajwibah al-Nāfiʿah
1410 AH — Ḍaʿīf Sunan Abī Dāwūd; Ḍaʿīf Sunan al-Nasāʾī; Ṣifat al-Ṣalāh (Dar al-Maʿārif ed.)
1412 AH — Jilbāb al-Marʾah al-Muslimah
1415 AH — al-Ṣaḥīḥah 6; Taḥrīm Ālāt al-Ṭarb
1420 AH — al-Ḍaʿīfah 5; al-Ḍaʿīfah 7
1421 AH — al-Ḍaʿīfah 9; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Sīrah
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In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
Hadiths for Which Shaykh al-Albānī Retracted His Earlier Grading of Weakness or Authenticity
1/ Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhri relates that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Ḥaḍramawt is among the best of Banū al-Ḥārith.”
• Sound due to corroboration (ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrihi).
• Place where he had graded this route weak: Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ 2726.
• Place where he retracted that verdict: al-Ṣaḥīḥah 7/120–121, no. 3051.