The biography of one of the major students of Al Shaykh Al-Albani رحمه الله : the Syrian Shaykh Muhammad Nasib Al-Rifa’i - may Allah have mercy on him (d. 1412 AH 1991 AD)
Sheikh Muhammad Nasib Al-Rifa’i, may Allah have mercy on him, was initially a Sufi, and if he attended a dhikr or dance group, he would dance with the audience and recite dhikr with them, but inside himself he was not satisfied with that, and when these thoughts come to his mind, he would say:
“This is the religion, so I should remain silent and submit.”
He, may Allah have mercy on him, was against the French colonizers in Syria, so he joined the revolution against them. He was arrested in the early 1940s, and imprisoned in “Al-Mieyah Mieyah” detention center and then another jail called “Rashya Castle” in Lebanon with a number of fighters who fought for freedom, and among them was the poet and writer Omar Abu Al-Nasr, may Allah have mercy on him, and he was a writer who wrote Islamic booklets such as:
“Khalid ibn Al-Walid,” “Mu’ad ibn Jabal,” “Al-Hajjaj,”
and the like, and he used to carry with him in his prison cell a bag full of these letters and some books.
So Sheikh Al-Rifa’i, may Allah have mercy on him, began taking some these letters (in order to read them). So, whenever he finished reading a letter, he took another, and so on until the letters had ran out.
Then, Al-Rifai said to Abu Al-Nasr: “Professor! Find us here or there a book to read; for, the house of lion (meaning the prison) is not devoid of bones (I.e: something to read).”
He said: “In fact, I have one book left that you may not understand.” Al-Rifa’i said: “Why! Is it in French?!”
He said: “No, it’s in Arabic.”
He said: “Then bring it (to me).”
He said: “Maybe you won’t like it!”
He said: “Bring the book.”
Al-Rifa’i said: “I took the book, and I found out that the title of the book was: (A collection of letters and issues) by Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, so I grabbed it and opened it from the middle, and then I found the title: (Ibn Taymiyyah’s public debate with the Dajajilah Al-Bathaiyyah Al-Rifa’iyyah) [I.e: the deceivers from the Al-Bathaiyyah Al-Rifa’iyyah one of the well-known suffi sects], and the title fell on my head like a thunderbolt because I am from the Rifa'iyyah by lineage and method, so how could Ibn Taymiyyah describe us as Dajajilah “deceivers”?
So I started cursing and insulting ... Then I said - and curiosity prompted me -: Let's see what Ibn Taymiyyah says!! So I read the entire chapter, and when I finished it, I found myself submitting to Ibn Taymiyyah in what he mentioned, for this is the reality of the method, and I am its son, and (as it is said:) the owner of the house knows best what is in it.
So I said: I will read the book from the beginning, as this is a book that must be read.. So I began reading the book as a careful researcher who is looking for the truth, until I finished the book, and I was horrified by what Ibn Al-‘Arabi the Sultan of the Saints [a well known title given to him by the suffis] used to be like! And the disbelief that he has fallen into!
Sufism is full of innovations and myths, and here Ibn Taymiyyah supports his words in everything he says with a verse from the Quran, a hadith, and the clear proof that cannot be rejected. So I praised Allah and thanked Him for removing the veil from my eyes, and I saw the light of truth, and the darkness of falsehood lifted. I was a smoker that day, so I abstained from smoking and I began to save the money I used to buy cigarettes with, and when my family came to visit me, I would give them this money, and say: Bring me a book of Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, and so I began to follow the path of reading his books, until my faith was reformed, for he is the one who is most credited to me after Allah in following the approach of the Salaf in belief. Then I prayed two rak'ahs, and said: If Allah releases me from this prison, I will spread this truth and this method.”
.. and this is what happened...
May Allah have mercy on him, and one of his most famous books is: (Al-Tafseer Al-‘Azeem” The mighty Tafseer, a summary of the interpretation of Ibn Kathir). [ref: Pages from the life of the scholar Muhammad Nasib Al-Rifai].
🖋️ Sheikh Rabi’ al-Madkhali, may Allah protect him, said: (in his review on “Ibn Taymiyyah’s book on Tawassul and al-Wasilah):
“Sheikh Nasib Al-Rif’ai, one of the great students of Sheikh Al-Albani, wrote a book, “Attainment of the Reality of Tawassul,” in which he was very proficient and beneficial.”
[Qa'idah Jalilah fi al-Tawassul wa al-Wasilah, by Ibn Taymiyyah, 11]
Translated by Abu 'Amr Ibrahim al-Maghribi
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