Rasheed Gonzales

There’s been a change in the line up for brother Jalal Abuarub’s debate. Sam Shamoun is out and David Wood and James White are in. Jalal has confirmed that this will be a two-on-one affair, with him debating both of these individuals. More info can be found on his site, IslamLife.com.

As promised, here’s some biographical information on Shaikh ‘Alî Hasan al-Halabî. First is a couple of quotes from Abū Asmâ’ ‘Atiyyah bin Sidqî ‘Alî Sâlim’s book, Safahât Baidâ’ min Hayâh al-Imam Muhammad Nâsir ad-Dîn al-Albânî, followed by a translation of the shaikh’s biography as found on his website.

In his book, Safahât Baidâ’ min Hayâh al-Imam Muhammad Nâsir ad-Dîn al-Albânî (pg. 56), Shaikh ‘Atiyyah Sâlim mentions,

‘Alî Hasan ‘Abdil-Hamîd al-Halabî al-Atharî: is the most prominent of the shaikh’s pupils today and from the strongest of today’s students of knowledge—I consider him as such and I do not vouch for him over Allah. [Very] well-read and credible, he has nice compilations and treatises. I met with him and sat with him a lot and found him [to be] sociable, easy-going, and always smiling.

He also mentions,

In the city of Abu Dhabi, Lu’ay bin ‘Abdir-Razzâq Nâsir ad-Dîn al-Albânî narrated to me saying that, “I heard ’Ubâdah—Shaikh al-Albânî’s grandson—asked his grandfather during his last months about the two most virtuous [people] in the science of Hadîth today. The shaikh said, ‘Alî Hasan al-Halabî and Abū Is·hâq al-Huwainî.’”

Source: Sâlim, ‘Atiyyah bin Sidqî ‘Alî. Safahât Baidâ’ min Hayâh al-Imam Muhammad Nâsir ad-Dîn al-Albânî. San’â’, Yemen: al-Maktabah al-Islamiyyah, 2001.

Read the rest of this entry »

After about 5 or 6 years since his last visit to Toronto, Shaikh ‘Alî Hasan al-Halabî is coming back! I, for one, am extremely excited to see the shaikh. The shaikh is one of my favourite authors and it’s always a pleasure listening to his lectures. It’s also always a joy to hang with him, although I’m not sure I’ll be getting that chance when he comes (it all depends on if the “boss” lets me pretend to be a bachelor for a few days).

We’re hoping to have the shaikh here for the Victoria Day long weekend in May (17-19). At the moment, the plan is for him to arrive here on the 15th for the QSSC event and stay through to the following weekend, giving lectures at various locations, as has been the usual practice whenever we have shaikhs coming to visit from overseas.

Allah willing, I’ll be posting up a brief biography of the shaikh probably later on today or tomorrow (or something like that).

Keep an eye on the QSSC site for info and updates.

I first translated this book roughly four years ago and I’ve re-edited and revised it for publication. There are already a couple of translations of this book available online, if I’m not mistaken, but what the hey. I thought I’d post it up anyhow. Allah willing, when the QSSC site is ready for all the articles I’ve done, you’ll be able to download them and print them from there. For the time being, however, I’ve got the security settings to restrict printing on all the QSS articles (this only applies to the QSS articles I’ve posted), so you’ll have to be content with just being able to download them and save them in digital format. Sorry, folks.

With Which Intellect & Religion Are Bombing & Destruction Jihad?! Woe to you … Wake Up, O Youth!! (PDF).

I had originally translated part of this article a few years back. I’ve re-edited it and corrected some mistakes I made in the translation as part of the project I mentioned in my previous blog entry (i.e., the re-edit of Shaikh ‘Abdul-Muhsin al-’Abbâd’s Rifqan Ahl as-Sunnah bi Ahl as-Sunnah). Since the over all work is still in the process of being checked and approved for online publishing, I thought I’d re-release this part of the book, along with the chapter before it, and publish the article here on my blog. These two chapters were originally part of the shaikh’s treatise, al-Hath ‘alâ Ittibâ’ as-Sunnah wat-Tahdhîr min al-Bida’ wa Bayân Khatarihâ and subsequently included in the second edition of Rifqan Ahl as-Sunnah with additional footnotes from the shaikh himself.

Allah willing, the full work will be made available soon. In the meantime however, here’s the article for your reading: Cautioning Against the Heresy & Tribulation of the Era (PDF).

I came across an interesting story on the TimesOnline titled, Going under cover: the Jewish women who are taking the veil, and thought I’d share it with those of you who visit this spot of mine.

From the article:

Several cars slow and one stops when Sarah walks down the street in her home town of Beit Shemesh, an ultra-orthodox Jewish enclave west of Jerusalem.

On this morning, the streets teem with women herding their children to school in the modest garb and head-coverings befitting their religious beliefs. For years, Sarah walked among them similarly dressed, but today a dark cloth is secured across her face, hiding everything save her eyes. It resembles the head-to-toe covering that is associated with religious Muslim women in the Gulf States.

…

“The full body, or full face covering that people think is only part of the Arab world actually started with Jewish women,” said a woman who asked to be identified by her first initial, M.

“Muslim women are imitating Jews to try to gain God’s favour with modesty. The truth is that the women of Israel are lessening in God’s eyes because the Arabs are more modest in dress. If the Jews want to conquer the Arabs in this land they must enhance their modesty,” added M, who covered her face for over a year, but currently wears just a loose cloak over her garments.

Read on … Going under cover: the Jewish women who are taking the veil.