By Stéphane Lacroix
When on the first of October 1999 Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani passed away at the age of 85, he was mourned by virtually everyone in the world of Salafi Islam. To many, he represented its third main contemporary reference, after ‘Abd al-’Aziz bin Baz (who himself had died a few months before) and Muhammad bin ‘Uthaymin (who would pass away in January 2001), both leading figures of the Saudi religious establishment. Salafi newspapers, journals, and websites celebrated this Syrian son of an Albanian clock-maker—whose family left Albania in 1923, when he was nine years old, and re-established itself in Damascus—who had become known as the muhaddith al-’asr (traditionist of the era), that is, the greatest hadith scholar of his generation.
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I just read this amazing article posted on Imam Suhaib Webb’s blog, “A Sufi Salafi Connection: Sh. Abdul Wahab [ra] and Muhammad Hayyat al-Sindi [ra]: Dr. John Voll“. It’s a long article, so I took my own notes highlighting what I thought was interesting and noteworthy.
Shaykh Muhammad Hayyat al-Sindi…
- was a Hanafi.
- was a Sufi in the Naqshabandiyya tariqa via ‘Abd al-Rahmin al-Saqqaf. Also possible affiliation with the Khalwatiyya.
- was born in Pakistan, moved to Madinah and studied there.
- studied under:
- Abi al-Hasan Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi al-Sindi, ‘Abdallah ibn Salim al-Bagri, Hasan ibn ‘li al-’Ajami, and Abi al-Tahir Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Kirini.
- 2 were Hanafi and 2 were Shafi
- six lines linking Muhammad Hayyat with al-Qashash
- Muhammad Hayyat had at least eight lines of connexion with al-Biibili
- other scholars too, check article.
Shaykh Muhammad Hayyat al-Sindi was the teacher of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab (alleged founder of Wahhabism). He taught Sh. ibn Abdul Wahhab “rejection of popular religious practices associated with ‘ saints ‘ and their tombs”. I guess this shows Sh. Muhammad Hayyat al-Sindi wasn’t an extreme Sufi.
Sh. Muhammad Hayyat had 20 students including Sh. ibn Abdul Wahhab:
- Twelve of them were Hanafi
- Five were Shafi
- One was a “Sufi recluse”
- Two Hanbalis (including Sh. ibn Abdul Wahhab).
- Out of the 20, 12 were directly connected to Sufism
- 7 identified with major Sufi tariqas
- 3 taught or wrote Sufi texts
- 1 was a Sufi miracle worker - the “Sufi recluse
- 5 of them were Sufi Shaykhs
So in other words, from what I understand in the article, these 20 brothers, scholars, students of knowledge were the classmates of Sh. ibn Abdul Wahhab. Regardless of what the students, followers of Sh. ibn Abdul Wahhab have to say about Sufism, it is clear that his classmates, teachers, friends, brothers, and people who he most likely “hung out” with were madhab-following sufis.
The author of the article is Dr. John Voll. He is a professor of Islamic history and the associate director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. You can find his profile here.
Source
The Question:
Is it allowable for one to ask where Allah is? Is Allah (May He be exalted) above His servants?
And is that understanding representative of anthropomorphism?
Also, what is our position towards those who say that such a question is not permissible and that Allah (swt) is above any place or location?
The Answer:
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Imam Suhaib Webb has posted a pledge entitled “Pledge of Mutual Respect and Cooperation Between Sunni Muslim Scholars, Organizations, and Students of Sacred Knowledge” in which scholars like Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, Shaykh Muhammad Alshareef, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, Shaykh Mokhtar Maghrouri, Imam Muhammad ibn Adam, Shaykh Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf, Imam Tahir Anwar, Dr. Abdal-Hakim Jackson, Shaykh Abdullah Adhami and others have signed.
Basically the pledge can be summarized into no condemning and “takfir’ing” of the different creeds, no attacks on scholars of different views from creed to fiqh to anything in Islam. In other words just love your Sunni brother and khalas! Imam Suhaib has added the list of scholars and activists who have signed it, so I’d like to make a list of all the Muslim bloggers around the world who endorse this pledge. Comment if your blog supports this pledge!
The story of the Pledge: How did it start?
There was a conference with a number of scholars in Wales in which Sh. Abdullah bin Bayyah was giving some lectures and presentations. After it was over the scholars including the above mentioned decided on what to do. The pledge idea came up and all the individual scholars thought of some points and it was compiled by Imam Zaid Shakir. It was then expanded with a mailing list and more scholars gave feedback and then it went public.
What you can do to help spread “The Sunni Unity Pledge”?
- Make dua and act upon it!
- Join the Muslim Unity Facebook Group!
- Joining the conversation (you should join too): Abs, Abu Easa, Ali Eteraz, Austrolabe, Danya, Ginny, HAhmed, iMuslim, Jinnzaman, Knowledge Seeker, Munzareen, MuslimMatters, Suhaib Webb, TheTranslators, Umar Lee, UmmZaid, Writeous Sister Speaks, Yahya Birt.
List of Muslim Bloggers/Blogs who endorse the Sunni Unity Pledge:
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Shaykh Hamza Yusuf at ISNA 2007, entitled “Upholding Faith, Serving Humanity”:
MashaAllah! Allah hu Akbar! First Imam Suhaib Webb and now Shaykh Hamza Yusuf calls for unity. May Allah (swt) give us (the students fo the various institues such as Al-Maghrib, SunniPath, Zaytuna, etc.) the ability to attain this unity and to be more accepting of our differences. Ameen!
More ISNA 2007 Video:
Alhamdulillah! Imam Suhaib Webb’s new article is much better. Check it out here.
Love this part:
For that reason it was a mistake to resign from Sunnipath. I will be contacting Sh. Faraz and hoping that, as I reach out my hand to his, as I’m sure, I will already find his waiting. Sunnipath is trying to move forward in developing a higher discourse, beyond the horrible nasty things that are going on amongst many so called religious people in our community. I support them 100% and encourage others to take advantage of their resources and benefit from them. Although, I must make this clear I differ with them on a number of major issues, I will forgo such differences to move forward and continue to foster a sense of unity. The same can be said of al-Maghrib, I don’t agree with everything they do or say, but will continue to work with both. Thus, inshallah, all is not lost.
May Allah preserve Imam Suhaib Webb.
