al-Radd ala al-Taaqib al-Hathith lil-Shaykh Abd Allah al-Habashi
- Author died
- 1420 AH
- Editions
- Matba'at al-Taraqqi
al-Radd ala al-Taaqib al-Hathith lil-Shaykh Abd Allah al-Habashi (Arabic: الرد على التعقيب الحثيث للشيخ عبد الله الحبشي, lit. 'The Refutation of the Swift Follow-Up of Shaykh Abd Allah al-Habashi') is a treatise in hadith criticism written by the Syrian scholar Nasir al-Din al-Albani (1332–1420 AH / 1914–1999 CE) . The work is a polemical response concerning the legal status of using prayer beads (al-subhah) and the authenticity of hadiths related to counting glorification (tasbih) with pebbles and date stones .
Background and Composition
The treatise originated from an intellectual dispute between al-Albani and the Ethiopian-born scholar Abd Allah al-Habashi (al-Harari) in Damascus . Al-Albani had previously evaluated several narrations regarding prayer beads in his ongoing column on weak and fabricated hadiths published in the journal Majallat al-Tamaddun al-Islami . In those articles, al-Albani declared the hadith نعم المذكر السبحة ("What an excellent reminder is the prayer beads") to be fabricated (mawdu'), and judged the chains of two reports attributed to Safiyyah bint Huyayy and Sad ibn Abi Waqqas about counting tasbih with pebbles or date stones to be weak (da'if) .
In response, al-Habashi authored a treatise titled al-Taaqqub al-Hathith ala man Tana fima Sahha min al-Hadith (also titled Tahqiq al-Bayan fi Ithbat Subhat Ahl al-Iman), in which he argued that the first narration was merely weak rather than fabricated, asserted that the narrations of Safiyyah and Sa'd were authentic (sahih), and concluded that using prayer beads is legally sanctioned and an emblem of the believers .
Al-Albani responded by writing a series of critical articles published consecutively in Majallat al-Tamaddun al-Islami in 1376–1377 AH (1958 CE) . The author completed the introduction in Damascus on 22 Dhu al-Qadah 1377 AH . The articles were subsequently compiled and published as a standalone work under the title al-Radd ala Risalat al-Taaqib al-Hathith (also referred to as Naqd al-Taaqib al-Hathith) .
Contents and Arguments
The work focuses on hadith methodology (mustalah al-hadith) and critical analysis of the narrations invoked in favor of prayer beads:
- Analysis of Prophetic reports: Al-Albani defends his original grading of نعم المذكر السبحة as fabricated and critiques al-Habashi's application of hadith rules . He also examines the narrations of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas and Safiyyah, maintaining that their chains of transmission are defective and that the specific mention of pebbles or date stones within them is unproven .
- Critique of supporting historical reports: In the conclusion of the treatise (Khatimat al-Radd), al-Albani replies to an epilogue appended by the publisher of al-Habashi's tract that cited Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's treatise al-Minhah fi al-Subhah . The publisher listed reports claiming that early figures—including Safiyyah, Abu Safiyyah, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, Fatimah bint al-Husayn, and Abu Hurayrah—used beads or counting stones . Al-Albani argues that none of the chains for these reports are sound and counters with reports of Companions who strongly disapproved of counting dhikr with pebbles, foremost among them Abd Allah ibn Masud .
Answer updated