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Name:
Shaykh Sulayman Wahbi al-Ghawji al-Albani |
Shaykh Wahbi ibn Sulayman ibn Khalil Ghawji al-Albani was born in 1932 CE (1343) in Skudera, the former capital city of Albania. He attended classes and learnt the Qur'an and what is called "the science of states, `Ilm al-Hal,which includes the books of doctrine and morals for us Hanafis." His first teacher and certifier in the Islamic Sciences was his father Shaykh Sulayman, who narrates from the Shuyukh of Albania.
His secondary studies came to an end when King Ahmad Tughu made it the law for students to wear European hats. He said: "My father sent me to Egypt and I stayed there for ten years. I learnt Arabic and received a degree from the Faculty of Shari`a and a specialized degree in Islamic judgeship. I attended the courses of Imam Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari (in exile from Turkey) whose hand I was honored to kiss and who handed me his thabat or record of authorities (al-Tahrir al-Wajiz fi-ma Yabtaghihi al-Mustajiz). However, I narrate from him only through the intermediaries of Shaykh Muhammad `Ali al-Murad al-Hamawi and Shaykh `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda al-Halabi, Allah have mercy on all of them!" He described al-Kawthari as "a Sign of Allah in learning, modesty and abstinence, as if he were a king walking in the street." This is how we see Shaykh Ghawji also.
In 1948 CE he was appointed as a religious teacher in the governmental schools in Damascus, a post he retained until 1980 CE, at which time he left Syria and moved to the H.ijaz. After several years in al-Madinat al-Munawwara he moved to the United Arab Emirates where he was appointed a lecturer at the Faculty of Islamic Studies and Arabic in Dubai. In 2000 CE he returned to Damascus where he has been living since, teaching at Ma`had al-Fath al-Islami and striving to support da`wa in Albania.
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