A dignified reminder of the virtues, courage, and scholarly legacy of Shaykh Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī, and his enduring service to the Salafī daʿwah.
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All praise belongs to Allah ﷻ, and peace and salutations be upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his Household, his Companions, and all those who follow him. To proceed:
While it is not possible to mention everything concerning the character and virtues of Shaykh Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī حفظه الله (born 1351 AH / 1932 CE) within such a short space, what follows is merely an informative indication and a reminder of some of the merits of this tremendous scholar. We ask Allah ﷻ to grant him complete cure and to bestow upon him a long life in obedience to Him.
His care and concern for the Salafī daʿwah in both the East and the West, and his open-hearted welcome of students of knowledge from every land, regardless of origin. He has served as a teacher, adviser, reformer, attentive listener, and debater. He is known for his strong memory, by which he recalls the names of those engaged in the daʿwah, along with their histories and stances towards the Salafī daʿwah, across many regions of the world.
His courage in aiding and giving victory to the truth. He has refuted numerous prominent figures, including those with vast followings and well-known names. He has angered countless individuals whose numbers cannot be enumerated, yet none of this deterred him or caused him concern. Had he produced no refutation other than his refutation of Sayyid Quṭb (d. 1386 AH / 1966 CE), it alone would have sufficed as a clear indication of his firm resolve during times of difficulty.
His prolific scholarly output, consisting of knowledge-based research across a wide range of disciplines, and authorship that is strong, firmly grounded, and unshakeable. The first collected edition of his works has been published in fifteen volumes.
His indifference to position and reputation. Rather, his preoccupation has always been the preservation of the Salafī ʿaqīdah and the refutation of those who oppose it, whether through teaching in the masājid or within private settings. He explained and taught numerous classical works of the scholars, including Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, al-Sharīʿah by al-Ājurrī (d. 360 AH / 970 CE), Uṣūl al-Sunnah by Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241 AH / 855 CE), and other works besides them.
His firm and sincere counsel to the Ummah, warning them against that which harms the Religion. He refuted the Rawāfiḍ, the Ṣūfīs, the Ikhwānīs, the Surūrīs, and the Ḥadādīs (the followers of Maḥmūd al-Ḥadād), as well as others such as Jews, Christians, and liberals. He undertook these refutations with both his speech and his pen.
What brings tranquillity to the heart of the believer, after witnessing the severity of the trials and hostility faced by this great scholar, is the realisation that these attempts to tarnish his character and to distance people from him, his manhaj, and that which Allah ﷻ has granted him of acceptance have not diminished his standing.
Indeed, Allah ﷻ has honoured him with widespread acceptance among the senior scholars, whose praise, recommendations, and attestations to his virtue, knowledge, and soundness of manhaj are numerous and well known. At the forefront of those who praised and affirmed him are the leading scholars of this era, including ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz (d. 1420 AH / 1999 CE), Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī (d. 1420 AH / 1999 CE), Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn (d. 1421 AH / 2001 CE), Muqbil ibn Hādī al-Wādiʿī (d. 1422 AH / 2001 CE), Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥammad al-Luḥaydān (d. 1443 AH / 2022 CE), ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Subayyil, Ṣāliḥ ibn Fawzān al-Fawzān, and others besides them.
We ask Allah ﷻ to preserve Shaykh Rabīʿ, to grant him a long life, to cure him of what afflicts him, and to reward him with the finest reward granted to scholars who act upon knowledge and sincerely advise the Ummah.
Dr. ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā al-Ḥadādī
14/12/1438 AH
haddady.com
Al-Ḥadādī, ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā. “Faḍāʾil al-Shaykh Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī.” Haddady.com. Published 14 Dhū al-Ḥijjah 1438 AH.
October 1, 2016
10 mins read
