Muhammad Nasir ad-Din al-Albani

Muhammad Nasir ad-Din ibn Nuh Najati al-Albani (1914-1999 CE / 1332-1420 AH) was one of the most influential hadith scholars of the modern era. Born in Shkodra, Albania, his family emigrated to Damascus when he was a child. He learned watchmaking from his father and was largely self-taught in the Islamic sciences, spending years studying hadith manuscripts in the Zahiriyyah Library of Damascus, where he developed his extraordinary expertise in hadith authentication.

Al-Albani's scholarly output was immense and transformative. His most important works include Silsilat al-Ahadith as-Sahihah (Series of Authentic Hadith) and Silsilat al-Ahadith ad-Da'ifah (Series of Weak Hadith), which together comprise thousands of hadith with detailed authentication. He also produced authenticated editions of the major hadith collections: Sahih and Da'if Sunan Abi Dawud, Sahih and Da'if Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Sahih and Da'if Sunan an-Nasa'i, Sahih and Da'if Sunan Ibn Majah, and Sahih al-Jami as-Saghir. His Irwa al-Ghalil verified the hadith evidence behind Hanbali fiqh rulings, and Sifat Salat an-Nabi described the Prophet's prayer based on authenticated evidence.

Al-Albani spent periods teaching at the Islamic University of Madinah and later settled in Amman, Jordan, where he continued his research until his death. He was awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies in 1999. His methodology of evaluating hadith according to their chain of narration, independent of the opinions of any legal school, revitalized the science of hadith criticism in the modern era. His gradings are widely referenced by scholars and students worldwide, and he is considered alongside Ibn Baz and Ibn al-Uthaymeen as one of the three most influential Sunni scholars of the late 20th century.