بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

A statement (or “saying”, “view”) has emerged among some youth whose suggestion (or “meaning”) is that Shaikh Al-Albani, may Allah have mercy on him, is lenient in his judgments on men. Has your study confirmed that he is like this?

I do not know this about Al-Albani, may Allah have mercy on him; rather, he was among the scholars of Ijtihad, the Imams of Sunnah, and one of those who gave the greatest service to the Sunnah of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and service to the Salafi creed. However, indeed, no one is exempt from criticism. Al-Bukhari was criticised by Abu Hatim in … even though Al-Bukhari is the leader of the believers in Hadith, [من أحفظ حفاظ الدنيا – one of the most able with regards to memorisation of hadith, both its text and chain of transmission, hidden defects if present, as well as knowledge regarding the reliability of narrations and their levels]. Al-Tirmidhi is known for his leniency, and Al-Hakim, Ibn Hibban, and Ibn Khuzaymah also exhibit some leniency. [Now you come along to speak ill of Shaikh Al-Albani regarding this issue, whereas the most critical his image can be is that of these people (i.e. Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Hakim, Ibn Hibban, and Ibn Khuzaymah)] despite his stature and leadership in the religion, may Allah have mercy on him. He is not immune to criticism, but we do not speak ill of him. [I mean, what is aim behind the speech of the questioner and other than him]? Their intent is defamation and ill speech. [paraphrased]

I ask Allah to bless my two colleagues at the Salafi institutions, Ustadh Zaid Khalid and Ustadh Ahmad Qasim, for their help with certain sections of this post.

https://rabee.net/alfatawi/%D8%B8%D9%87%D8%B1-%D8%B9%D9%86%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%B6-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A3%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%8A/