Al-Albani

Albani was awarded the King Faisal International Prize in 1999 before his death for his contributions to Islamic studies. The award committee described him as "considered by many academics as probably the greatest Islamic scholar of the 20th Century."

Albani's own views on jurisprudence and dogma have been a matter of debate and discussion. During a 1989 visit to Saudi Arabia, Albani was asked if he adhered to the lesser-known Zahiri school of Islamic law; he responded affirmatively. Albani's opponents among the mainstream have affirmed this as a point of criticism. A number of Albani's students have denied his association with any formal school of jurisprudence.

Albani returned to Syria, where he was briefly jailed again in 1979. He moved to Jordan, living there for the remainder of his time. He died in 1999 at the age of 85.

In 1963, Albani left Saudi Arabia and returned to his studies and work in the Az-Zahiriyah library in Syria. He left his watch shop in the hands of one of his brothers.

Starting in 1954, Albani began delivering informal weekly lessons. By 1960, his popularity began to worry the government, and he was placed under surveillance. He was imprisoned twice in 1969. He was placed under house arrest more than once in the 1970s by the Ba'ath regime of Hafez al-Assad. The Syrian government accused Albani of "promoting the Wahhabi da'wa, which distorted Islam and confused Muslims."

Muhammad b. al-Haj Nuh b. Nijati b. Adam al-Ishqudri al-Albani al-Arnauti (Arabic: مُحَمَّد نَاصِر ٱلدِّيْن ٱلْأَلْبَانِي الأرنؤوط), better known simply as Al-Albani (August 16, 1914 – October 2, 1999), was an Albanian-born Islamic scholar and watchmaker, who in particular was a famous Salafi hadith scholar. A major figure of the Salafi methodology of Islam, he established his reputation in Syria, where his family had moved and where he was educated as a child.

Albani was born in 1914, into a poor Muslim family in the city of Shkodër. His father studied Fiqh in Istanbul, and was a leading scholar of Hanafi School of Thought in Albania. During the reign of the secularist Albanian leader Ahmet Zogu, and because Shkodra was completely devastated by earlier Montenegrin sieges, Al-Albani's family migrated to Damascus, Syria. In Damascus, Albani completed his primary education in Al Isaaf Charity School with distinction. and due to his father's opinions from religious viewpoint, his father created a curriculum for him focusing on religious education. – He was initially taught by his father – in the Quran, Tajwid, Al Nahwah. He memorized Quran, and studied numerous books such as 'Mukhtasar Al Quduri'. Hanafi Fiqh and further branches of the Islamic faith, also helped by native Syrian scholars. In the meantime, he earned a modest living as a carpenter before joining his father as a watchmaker.