How did you turn to the science of ḥadīth?
كيف توجَّهتم إلى علم الحديث مع أن الوالد كان حنفيًّا معتدًّا بالمذهب الحنفي؟
How did you turn to the science of ḥadīth when your father was a Ḥanafī who strongly adhered to the Ḥanafī madhhab, as I understood from you and from shaykh Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ?
السائل : طيب ؛ هنا مسألة تلفت النظر ؛ وهي كيف توجَّهت إلى الحديث ونحو ذلك مع أني يعني من خلال بعض كلماتكم وكلمات الشيخ شعيب أن الوالد كان حنفيًّا يعتدُّ بالمذهب الحنفي جدًّا ؟ فكيف أفلت من ؟
The Questioner: All right. Here is something that draws one's attention: how did you turn to ḥadīth and related studies when, even though - from some of your statements and those of Shaykh Shuʿayb - I understood that your father was a Ḥanafī who held strongly to the Ḥanafī mathhab? So how did you escape from that?
الشيخ : ذلك الفضل من الله ، لكن من حيث الأسباب أو السبب هو كما يقال إذا أراد الله أمرًا هيَّأ أسبابه،
The Shaykh: That favor was from Allāh. But as for the means, or the cause, it is as they say: when Allāh wills a matter, He prepares its causes.
أنا فعلًا كنت عيش في جو حنفي متعصب ، والدي كان يُعتبر خاصة بين الأرناؤوط هو أعلمهم في الفقه الحنفي ، وكان ملاذَهم ومرجعَهم ،
It is true that I lived in a fanatic Ḥanafī environment. My father was regarded, especially among the Arnaʾūṭ, as the most knowledgeable of them in Ḥanafī fiqh. He was their refuge and their point of reference.
فلما تخرَّجت من المدرسة الابتدائية ودرست على التفصيل السابق على بعض المشايخ كان لدي هواية في المطالعة بصورة غريبة جدًّا ،
After I graduated from elementary school and studied with some shaykhs as previously mentioned, I developed a very unusual passion for reading.
لكن مطالعة فيما يبدو للناظر لا فائدة منها ، بل قد يكون لها آثار ضارَّة ، لكن في ما بعد تبيَّن أثر هذه الدراسة في لغتي ، فقد قوَّت هذه اللغة في نطقي ،
It was reading that, to an observer, appeared to have no benefit, and perhaps even harmful effects. But later the effect of this reading became evident in my language, for it strengthened my command of Arabic and my expression.
فالغريب أني كنت مولعًا بقراءة الكتب العصرية الخيالية التي تُعرف بالروايات ، وبخاصة منها قصص اللص الأمريكي المشهور " آرسين لوبين " ،
Strangely enough, I was fascinated by reading contemporary fictional books, what are known as novels, especially the stories of the famous thief "Arsène Lupin".
فكنت مغرمًا فعلًا بقراءة هذا النوع من القصص والروايات ،
I was truly captivated by this type of stories and novels.
ثم وجدْتُني نقلت إلى مرحلة ثانية قد تكون خيرًا من تلك ؛ وهي دراسة القصص العربية ، ولو أنها خياليَّة ،
Then I found myself moving to a second stage, perhaps better than the first: reading Arabic stories, even though they were fictional.
فمثلًا قرأت " ألف ليلة وليلة " ، قرأت قصة " عنترة بن شداد " ، قصة " صلاح الدين الأيوبي " ، قصة " ذات الهمة والبطَّال " ، وهكذا كنت شغوفًا جدًّا بمثل هذه المطالعات والقراءات .
For example, I read 'One Thousand and One Nights', the story of 'ʿAntarah bnu Shaddād', the story of 'Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn al-Ayyūbī', the story of 'Thāt al-Himmah and al-Baṭṭāl', and so on. I was extremely passionate about such reading.
ثم من تمام تدبير الله - عز وجل - ولطفه بي أنني حينما غيَّرت مهنتي ولزمتُ والدي كان هناك وجد لي فراغ من الوقت ،
Then, from the perfection of Allāh's planning and His kindness to me, when I changed my trade and began working with my father, I found that I had some free time.
كنا نتبادل الجلوس في دكانه ، فهو يأتي وأنا معه صباحًا حتى يصلي الظهر ، فإذا صلى الظهر ذهب إلى الدار يستريح وبقيت أنا في الدكان ، ويأتي بعد صلاة العصر ،
We would take turns in his shop. He and I would be there from the morning until he prayed ẓuhr. Then he would go home to rest, while I remained in the shop, and he would return after ʿaṣr.
نحن شغِّيلان ، كان أحيانًا يوجد لدي فراغ من الوقت ما في ساعات أصلحها ،
We were both watch repairers, and sometimes I would have free time because there were no watches to repair.
فأستأذن من والدي بأن أخرج ، وإلى أين ؟ وهذا - أيضًا - توفيق من الله ، أذهب إلى المسجد الأموي أحضر هناك بعض الدروس العامة ،
So I would ask my father's permission to go out. And where would I go? This too was from Allāh's favor. I would go to the Umayyad Masjid and attend some of the public lessons there.
وتأثَّرت بشيء منها من الناحية الفكرية بعضها صواب فيما تبيَّن لي فيما بعد ، وبعضها خطأ ، وهذا الخطأ يتعلَّق بنوعين التقليد والتصوُّف ،
I was influenced by some of them intellectually. Some of what I heard later proved to be correct, while some proved to be mistaken. Those mistakes related to two matters: taqlīd and taṣawwuf.
ثم في فسحتي هذه التي أخرج فيها من دكان أبي قيَّض الله لي رجلًا مصريًّا كهلًا ، كان يشتري بعض التركات من الكتب ، ويعرضها أمام دكان له تجاه الباب الغربي من المسجد الأموي ،
Then, during those periods when I left my father's shop, Allāh brought into my path an elderly Egyptian man. He used to buy collections of books from estates and display them in front of a small shop opposite the western gate of the Umayyad Masjid.
فكنت أمرُّ على الكوم من الكتب التي كان يبسطها أمام دكَّانه الصغير ، فأقلِّب فأجد فيها من تلك الروايات ما شئتُ ، فأستأجر منه وأقرأ وأُعيد وهكذا ،
I would pass by the piles of books he spread out before his little shop. I would browse through them and find whatever novels I wanted. I would rent them from him, read them, return them, and continue like that.
ذات يوم وجدت عنده بعض الأعداد من " مجلة المنار " ،
One day I found several issues of 'al-Manār Magazine' among his books.
فأذكر جيِّدًا أني قرأت فيه فصلًا بقلم السيد رشيد رضا - رحمه الله - يتكلم عن مزايا كتاب " الإحياء " للغزالي ، وينقده من بعض النواحي كصوفياته - مثلًا - ، وكأحاديثه الضعيفة والواهية ،
I remember well reading an article by Sayyid Rashīd Riḍā(1), may Allāh have mercy on him, discussing the merits of al-Ghazālī's 'al-Iḥyāʾ', while also criticizing it in certain respects, such as its Ṣūfī elements and its weak and unsound ḥadīths.
وبهذه المناسبة ذكر أن لأبي الفضل زين الدين العراقي كتابًا وضعه على " الإحياء " خرَّج فيه أحاديثه وميَّز صحيحها من ضعيفها ،
In that connection he mentioned that Abū al-Faḍl Zayn ad-Dīn al-ʿIrāqī had authored a work on 'al-Iḥyāʾ' in which he traced its ḥadīths and distinguished the authentic from the weak.
وهو المسمَّى بـ " المغني عن حمل الأسفار في الأسفار في تخريج ما في الإحياء من الأخبار " ،
The title of that work was 'al-Mughnī ʿan Ḥaml al-Asfār fī al-Asfār fī Takhrīj Mā fī al-Iḥyāʾ min al-Akhbār' (That which makes carrying books unnecessary while travelling).
فتلهَّفت نفسي جدًّا لهذا الكتاب ، فنزلت إلى السوق أسأل عنه كالعاشق الولهان أين هذا الكتاب ؟
I became intensely eager for this book. I went down to the marketplace asking about it like a lovestruck man: "Where is this book?"
حتى وجدته عند أحدهم ، فإذا به أربع مجلدات طبعة البابي الحلبي ، وعلى ورق أصفر ناعم ،
Eventually I found it with a bookseller. It was a four-volume edition printed by al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī on soft yellow paper.
لكني كنت فقيرًا كأبي لا أقدر على شراء هذا الكتاب فاتَّفقت مع مالكه على أن أستأجره منه ، ما أذكر الآن لمدة سنة أو أقل أو أكثر .
But I was poor, like my father, and could not afford to buy it. So I arranged with its owner to rent it from him. I no longer remember whether it was for a year, or less, or more.
[Unclear speech]
الشيخ : أجرة ، أستأجره منه ، ففعلت وأخذت الكتاب وأنا أكاد أطير فرحًا ، وذهبت به إلى الدكان ،
The Shaykh: Yes, I rented it from him. I took the book and was nearly flying with joy. Then I brought it to the shop.
فكنت اغتنم فرصة غياب والدي بعد الظهر فأخلو بكتابي ،
I would seize the opportunity of my father's absence in the afternoon to be alone with my book.
وخطَّطت خطَّة لنسخ " المغني تخريج الإحياء " ، فبدأت أنسخ ، واشتريت ورقًا ، واتخذت لي مسطِّرة ،
And I devised a plan to copy 'al-Mughnī', the takhrīj (tracing and evaluating narrations) of 'al-Iḥyāʾ'. So I began copying it. I bought paper and made for myself a ruler.
وهي عبارة عن مقوَّى كرتون ، يُخيَّط بخطوط متوازية من الخيطان من الوجهين .
He says it was a piece of stiff cardboard stitched with parallel threads on both sides.
الحويني : طيب ؛ قبل أن أنسى شيخنا ، ذاك سنة كم بداية قرأت في " المنار " ؟
Al-Ḥuwaynī: Before I forget, our shaykh, about what age were you when you first read 'al-Manār'?
الشيخ : طبعًا دون العشرين يمكن يكون 17 ، 18 هكذا .
The Shaykh: Certainly under twenty. Perhaps seventeen or eighteen, something like that.
فآخذ هالمسطِّرة هذه وأضعها في الطَّبق وأضغط على الخيطان ، وإذا الصحيفة ... أصلًا لا تُرى ، لأنُّو ليست مسوَّدة ، وذلك لتقويم خطِّي ،
I would place this guide beneath the sheet and press it against the threads. The lines would not actually be visible because the paper was not ruled. I did this to straighten my handwriting.
فبدأت أكتب حتى نسَّقت الجزء الأول ،
So I began writing until I completed the first volume.
لما وسطْت ... خطرت في بالي خاطرة ، أنُّو أنا الآن مبتدي في طلب العلم ، ثانيًا أعجمي ألباني كثيرًا ما تمرُّ بي بعض الأحاديث ما أفقهها .
When I was partway through it, a thought occurred to me: I was still a beginner in seeking knowledge, and secondly I was a non-Arab, an Albanian. Many ḥadīths would pass by me that I did not understand.
الحويني : وعليكم السلام .
Al-Ḥuwaynī: And peace be upon you.
الشيخ : - وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته - ، أو تغمض عليَّ بعض الألفاظ الغريبة ، التي عرفت فيما بعد بأنها من غريب الحديث ،
The Shaykh: And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allāh and His blessings(2). Or there would be unfamiliar words that puzzled me, words that I later learned belonged to what is known as Gharīb al-Ḥadīth (strange/unfamiliar words in ḥadīth).
فقلت لماذا أنا لا أستعين ببعض الكتب التي كانت في حوزة أو في مكتبة والدي لشرح هذه الكلمات التي تغمض عليَّ ، ففعلتُ ،
So I said to myself: why not turn to some of the books in my father’s possession, or in his library, to clarify these words that were unclear to me. So I did.
لكن ما كدتُ أعلِّق بعض التعليقات إلا رجعت ، رجعتُ ألوم نفسي وأقبِّح صنعي ؛
But as soon as I began adding some notes, I drew back and started blaming myself, even condemning what I had done.
لأنُّو ظهر الآن المجلد الأول متناقض الأسلوب ، القسم الأول ليس فيه تعليق ، والقسم الثاني فيه تعليق ،
Leaning on the fact that the first volume now appeared inconsistent in style: the first part had no annotations, while the second part did.
فما أعجبني هذا التباين ، فألغيتُ ما فعلتُ ، واستأنفتُ الكتابة من جديد على طريقة التعليق من أول الكتاب عند اللزوم ،
I did not like this inconsistency, so I discarded what I had done and started over, annotating from the beginning whenever necessary(3).
وهكذا انتهى المجلد الأول وبدأت في الثاني ، ويظهر الفرق واضحًا جدًّا بين المجلد الأول من حيث التعليق عليه وبين المجلد الأخير وما قبله ؛
Thus the first volume was completed and I began the second. The difference became very obvious between the first volume and the later ones in terms of annotation.
لأنك ترى في المجلد الأول أكثر الصفحات هي " المغني " ، وقليل من التعليقات ، بينما فيما بعد انعكس الأمر تمامًا ؛
In the first volume, most of the page consisted of the text of 'al-Mughnī' with only a few notes. Later the situation became the exact opposite.
فكنت ترى بعض الصفحات سطر واحد فوق وتحت كله حاشية ، وبخط دقيق جدًّا ؛
You would see some pages with only a line or two of the main text, while everything above and below was footnotes written in an extremely fine script.
كان عندنا في سوريا رِيَش للكتابة ، قسم منها بالخطِّ العربي ، وقسم منها للخطِّ الإفرنسي ،
In Syria we had writing nibs. Some were for Arabic script, and some were for French script.
... هذه بالرِّيش الإفرنسية بأنها دقيقة الرأس جدًّا ،
... The French nibs had very fine points.
فأنا كنت أكتب في التعليق بالأحرف العربية بالريشة الفرنسية تمييزًا للحاشية عن الأصل ،
So I would write the annotations in Arabic letters using the French nib, distinguishing the marginal notes from the main text.
كتبت صفحة كلها ممتلئة بهذا الخطِّ الدقيق وفوق بالريشة العربية سطر أو سطرين وهكذا ،
I would write an entire page filled with this tiny script, while the main text at the top occupied only a line or two written with the Arabic nib.
فأنا شعرت أني استفدت جدًّا من هذه المراجعات لسدِّ النقص الذي كنت أشعر به بسبب ابتدائي في العلم أولًا ، وبسبب عجمتي ثانيًا ،
I felt that I benefited enormously from these reviews and annotations in filling the deficiencies I sensed in myself, first because I was still a beginner in knowledge, and second because I was a non-Arab(4).
فاستفدت من هذا العمل كثيرًا وكثيرًا جدًّا ، وهو موجود عندي - والحمد لله - كأثر في هذا العمل .
I benefited from this work greatly, indeed very greatly. And it still remains with me, praise be to Allāh, as a lasting trace of that effort(5).
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(1): Al-Albānī said: "I was speaking about Sayyid Rashīd Riḍā and that I benefited from him, but I also saw he had some deviations". Source: Silsilat al-Hudā wa an-Nūr – Tape: 226, timestamp: 00:12:34, https://www.al-albany.com/audios/content/919/
(2): Al-Albānī was famous for his ability to continue his speech no matter what interrupts him, as if nothing happened, he would resume the exact word that follows to the point you could remove the filler and it would appear as if nothing happened. "Many ḥadīths would pass by me that I did not understand…or there would be unfamiliar words that puzzled me".
(3): This should not be read as perfectionism, but as the immediate enforcement of consistency: once he detected a structural mismatch, he did not hesitate or refine, he simply discarded the mixed version and rebuilt it cleanly from the start.
(4): Al-Albānī was a great example of humility and self-awareness, which are two extremely necessary ingredients for autodidacts and all knowledge seekers.
(5): Notice that this man had this intellectual fluidity while raised in an atmosphere the exact opposite. He was a beautiful delicate flower that grew from between the rocks. May Allāh have mercy on him. An inspiration to anyone who slows down to see.
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