بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم السنة مثل سفينة نوح من ركبها نجا ومن تخلف عنها هلك The Sunnah is like the Ark of Noah! Who embarks upon it, is saved and he who abandons it, is destroyed. السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته, All perfect and complete praise is absolutely and solely for Allah, and may the Salaah & Salaam of Allah, the Most High,- separated from His creation in a manner that befits His majesty- descend on the Messenger of Allah. As to what proceeds, Abdullah ibn Amr reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah, may the Salaah & Salaam of Allah, descend on him, عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ انْتِزَاعًا يَنْتَزِعُهُ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَلَكِنْ يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ بِقَبْضِ الْعُلَمَاءِ حَتَّى إِذَا لَمْ يَتْرُكْ عَالِمًا اتَّخَذَ النَّاسُ رؤوسا جُهَّالاً فَسُئِلُوا فَأَفْتَوْا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ فَضَلُّوا وَأَضَلُّوا “Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from people but He takes away knowledge with the death of the scholars, such that when He leaves no scholar left, the people will turn to the ignorant as their leaders. Then they are asked to give religious judgments without knowledge, thus they are led astray and lead others astray.” (Sahih Muslim 2673) Today on the 7th Muharram 1435 AH corresponding to 10th November 2013 AH, the noble scholar and Muhadeeth of Pakistan, Sheikh Zubair Ali Za’ee has passed away. We ask Allah, to forgive him and grant him admittance in Jannatul-Firdous, ameen. Today is a day of sorrow for the Ahlul-Hadeeth, and a day of rejoice for the people of innovation in the Deen, like the Barailwees & Deobandees all over the globe and in particular in Pakistan. I had the honour and privilege of hosting Sheikh Zubair Ali Za’ee rahimahullah, twice in Madeenah, the first time for a period of up to three weeks, and the second time for a period of up to two weeks. During his stay at my house in Madeenah, I compiled many benefits from him, benefited from him immensely, and read different texts and passages from books of Hadeeth. I intend to share the benefits in the near future with Allah’s permission. During his last visit a few months back, the Sheikh visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to make Umrah, the sheikh was extremely affectionate and caring just like a father is to his son, and little did I know that this would be my last meeting with him on this earth and this is what Allah, the Most High had decreed. Upon his arrival in Madeenah, with great love he gave me the responsibility to organise his programmes and sittings and gave me first choice over everybody to the extent that when people would ring him to organise a meeting with him he would refer them to me to give consent and co-ordinate his programmes. This showed his love for me greatly. I requested him to have a Maq’raah of the Thulaathiyaat of Sahih Bukhari at my house and that I would read the narrations to him to get an official Ijaazah. He accepted the request, and this was conducted at my house in Madeenah, with the presence of some of the British students studying at the Islamic University of Madeenah, who came to visit the Sheikh to ask him questions and benefit from him. Amongst them were two of my students from Leicester, Umar Muqaddam and Hussain Abdus-Sattar. Before his departure, Sheikh Zubair Ali Za’ee and I agreed on publishing some of his works, which included editing manuscripts of Hadeeth and checking and verifying narrations from the books of the Salaf. I had the privilege of having some of his works in manuscript form that Sheikh Zubair Ali Za’ee personally gave me that include: 1. Ithbaatu-Adhaabil-al-Qabr of Imam Bayhaqi. (on the issue of punishment of the grave) 2. Checking of all the narrations of Seerah Ibn Hishaam. 3. At-Tafseerus-Saheeh of Juzz Amma with narrations of the Salaf. 4. Anwaarus-Sunnan Fee Tahqiq ‘A’thaarus-Sunan’ of Maulana Shawq an-Nimawee Hanafee. This book is the most eminent book of the Hanafee Deobandi Barailwees in terms of fiqh combined with Hadeeth and narrations; it is considered a replacement of ‘Bulugul-Muraam’ of Haafidh Ibn Hajar, for the Hanafees in their institutes and was written with that intent. The great scholar of Hadeeth, the Imam of his time in India, Allamah Abdur-Rahman al-Mubrakpuree refuted this book known as ‘Ibkaarul-Minan’ which refuted the aspect of Hadeeth and Fiqh Issues, as Maulana Shawq Nimawee was his contemporary. However, Allamah Abdur-Rahman al-Mubrakpuree did not complete his refutation as he died before Shaykh Shawq an-Nimawee completed his edition. Sheikh Zubair Ali Za’ee decided to complete the task of Allamah Abdur-Rahman Mubrakpuree by completing the verification of the Hadeeth and its grading and pointing out the mistakes of Maulana Shawq an-Nimawee. With the mercy of Allah, the Most High, this task has been completed and the only remaining debt upon the Ahlul-Hadeeth is to answer the issues of Fiqh. We ask Allah that may a scholar of Hadeeth or a strong student of knowledge complete this task. 5. ‘Al-Asaaneedus-as-Saheehah an Akhbaari Abee Haneefah’. This book is a compilation of all the narrations that have been narrated concerning Imam Abu Haneefah with its verification and authenticity. Imam Badeedud-Deen Sindhi had encouraged him to write such a treatise and Sheikh Zubair Ali Za’ee showed him passages of it and Imam Badeeud-Deen Sindhi praised it, Sheikh Zubair Ali Za’ee himself narrated this to me. The sheikh was known for defending the Salafee Manhaj and refuting Bidah in the Deen. He was not affiliated to any Jam’eeyah in Pakistan. He was firm upon the Manhaj and the Deobandis made two attempted assassinations upon him that I know of. I asked him once who is the greatest scholar of Hadeeth that you ever met and studied with, he responded by saying: If I was to take an oath between the (Yemeni) corner and the Maqām (of Ibrahim opposite the Ka‘bah), I would swear that that I do not anyone more knowledgeable than ‘Imam Badeeud-Deen Sindhi.” This statement is a replicate of what Imam Ali ibn al-Madīni, the great teacher of Imām al-Bukhāri, said about Imam Abdur-Rahman al-Mahdi. May Allah, the Most High forgive his sins, save him from the punishment of the grave, and grants him Jannah. Ameen. I conclude with what he would constantly say to me, his famous statement: ‘Do not blind-follow, blind following is absolutely haram for everybody in the Deen, and Itibaa has only been prescribed in the Deen. Every single scholar his opinion is rejected or accepted except for the Messenger of Allah, may the Salaah & Salaam of Allah descend on him.’ We love Sheikh Zubair Ali Za’ee but will not blindly follow him like he taught us, we will not exaggerate in his love and he was a scholar from amongst the scholars of the Ahlul-Hadeeth, and we love them all in moderation. Zulfiker Ibrahim Memon al-Atharee Head of MSL. وصلى الله تعالى على نبينا محمّد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين Who and What is Markaz-us-Sunnah Leicester? youtube/watch?v=FCpwsagNBws
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 12:52:22 +0000