Albani's Opposing of the Consensus of the Four Schools

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

يا نبي سلام عليك

The fitnah of la madhhabiyyah, or non-conformity to one of the established four schools of jurisprudence in Sunni Islam, is spreading like a cancer in the Muslim body.

Among the individuals who are most responsible for introducing this cancer to the masses in modern times was Nasir-ud-Din al-Albani (1914-1999), herein referred to simply as Albani.

The Sunni Muslims are agreed that it is impermissible and invalid to take any jurisprudential ruling or legal opinion which is in conflict with the consensus of the four schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali).

It is ironic that many so-called Salafis in our time disregard the four Imams and their schools, when they are all from the Salaf, including the great Imam Abu Hanifah, known as the Lamp of the Ummah.

While it is true that initially there were other schools of thought in jurisprudence, such as the Ishaqi school attributed to Ishaq bin Rahwayh, the Jariri school attributed to Ibn Jarir at-Tabari, the Awza’i school attributed to Abd ur-Rahman al-Awza’i, the Thawri school attributed to Sufyan ath-Thawri, and the Laythi school attributed to al-Layth bin Sa’d, these schools quickly dissipated and became defunct. It is not valid to revive them, or follow their distinctive legal opinions which conflict with the consensus of the four established schools.

Nor is it valid to follow those schools of thought which are not even Sunni, due to opposing the agreed upon methodology of Sunnism, such as the Zahiri school attributed to Dawud bin Ali and later Ibn Hazm. This school, in rejecting qiyas (analogical reasoning), taqlid, following of the Salaf and relying on an overly literal understanding of the texts of Quran and Sunnah, is surely invalid for any Sunni Muslim to take from due to its very principles.

Likewise, the so-called Ja’fari school attributed to Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq, is not valid for Sunni Muslims for it is a fabrication of the Rafidi Shiites.

A lesbian heretic, Irshad Manji, blatantly lied in her book “The Trouble with Islam” that there were once 135 different schools in the Muslim world but over time they were reduced to four, a lie she repeated in various interviews and lectures without any credible source or documentation.

The eminent scholar Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (d. 795 H) authored ar-Raddu man ittiba ghayr al-madhahib al-arba, the refutation of the one who follows other than the four schools:

Regrettably, from time to time, individuals arose ostensibly from the Sunni milieu who contradicted the consensus of the four schools in adopting a legal opinion at odds with all of them. Among them was the infamous Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 H), who despite generally adhering to the Hanbali school, advocated for certain legal opinions such as that the pronouncement of three divorces in a single sitting is tantamount to only a single divorce—an opinion rejected by all four schools though associated with the astray Shiites.

Coming back to Albani, this was an individual who spread much tribulation in our time by attempting to popularize certain views and legal opinions based on his independent analysis of the Hadith literature, without proper qualification or guidance. Here I shall mention some those notorious views and opinions of Albani which conflict with the consensus of the four schools in Sunni Islam.

Women Saying Talbiyah Loudly

The amal at-tawatur, or mass practice of the Muslims generation to generation going back to the time of the Salaf is that during Tawaf or circling of the sacred Ka’bah, men recite the Talbiyah loudly while women recite it silently. This is among the proofs that the rulings of the Shari’ah are not restricted to only the texts of Quran and Hadith but also based on the mass practice, called amal at-tawatur. In fact, the amal at-tawatur takes precedence over solitary narrations, akhbar al-ahad. This position that women recite the Talbiyah silently is also the consensus of the four schools. But Albani dissented from the consensus, based on his flawed methodology of ignoring the amal at-tawatur in favor of solitary narrations, even if the narration about reciting the Talbiyah loudly does not specify women. Albani said:

بحت أصواتنا هذا لا يشرع في غير التلبية شعيرة من شعائر الحج فيجب الجهر والصدع بها وأقول مستدركًا على نفسي فضلًا عن غيري حتى النساء تقبلوا ما تقبلوا على كيفكم هذا حكم الشرع حتى النساء يشرع لهن أن يرفعن أصواتهن

“Hoarseness of voice is not prescribed in any of the rites of Hajj other than the talbiyah. Therefore, it is obligatory to raise the voice and be bold with it. I say, correcting myself and others, that even women should accept what they have accepted regarding this matter, as this is the ruling of the Shari’ah. It is prescribed for women to raise their voices”

Masah on Sandals

The four schools are agreed that masah over sandals upon bare feet is not valid for wudu.

However, Albani dissented from this consensus and argued, on the basis of an isolated narration, that it is proper and valid to make masah over sandals (Tamam ul-Minnah, p.114)

Separate Ghusl for Janabah and Jumu’ah

The four schools are agreed that taking ghusl, or ritual bath, on the day of Jumu’ah is a highly-emphasized Sunnah but not an obligation. Albani not only considered it an obligation, but argued that if someone was in a state of janabah on the day of Jumu’ah he would have to take two separate baths, one to remove the janabah and another to fulfill the obligation of bathing on Jumu’ah, and that one bath would not suffice to fulfill both obligations:

فنحن نعتقد أن غسل الجمعة واجب فإذا كان رجل جنب فغسل الجنابة واجب باجماع المسلمين أما غسل الجمعة فمختلف فيها والراجح عندنا أن غسل الجمعة واجب وهذا صريح في قوله عليه السلام غسل الجمعة واجب على كل محتلم والمقصود بالمحتلم هنا هو الرجل البالغ وليس المحتلم الذي شاف منام لا فحينئذ نقول لا بد من غسلين لأنه واجب لا يقوم مقام واجب ثاني

“We believe that the ghusl for Jumu’ah is obligatory. If a man is in a state of janabah, the ghusl for janabah is obligatory by the consensus of the Muslims. As for the ghusl for Jumu’ah, there is disagreement on it, and the stronger view in our opinion is that the ghusl for Jumu’ah is obligatory. This is explicit in his statement (peace and blessings be upon him): Taking a bath (before coming to Friday prayers) is obligatory on every adult. The intended meaning of muhtalim here is the adult man, not the muhtalim who saw a wet dream; no. Therefore, we say that two ghusls are necessary, because an obligatory act does not take the place of a second obligatory act.”

Joining the Feet in Congregational Salah

None of the four schools obligate the actual physical joining of the feet between the musallis when standing during congregational Salah. The narrations to that effect are not to be understood literally, but rather for the purpose of emphasizing the necessity of standing close together and aligned, without any considerable gaps or unevenness of the rows. Albani notoriously made the physical touching of the feet in the congregational Salah an obligation. The Salafis who blind follow Albani often make fitnah in the Mosques by insisting on physically joining or touching their feet to those worshipping at their left and right. This is a phenomenon which causes discomfort and disturbance in the Salah, when the worshipper should be focusing on Allah and not his feet. Furthermore, by insisting on physically touching the feet of those to his right and to his left, the Salafi often spreads his legs far apart, and stands in an obscene manner during Salah, thus nullifying its very purpose, which is to stand before Allah with humility and respect.