A Biography of Shaykh Muhammad Amaan Al-Jaamee

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

The great scholar, the imaam, Aboo Ahmad Muhammad Amaan ibn ‘Alee was originally from a village in Ethiopia called Taghaa Taab near or within the Harar region of Ethiopia, about 100 miles west of the Somali border. His family name, al-Jaamee, is an ascription to an Ethiopian village named Jaamaa.

He was born in the year 1349 amidst local political turmoil and tribal feuds. He began studying the Arabic Language from Shaykh Muhammad Ameen al-Hararee in Taghaa Taab. There he also completed memorizing the Quran and began studying the locally favored Shaafi’ee math-hab. He made his way to nearby villages to seek knowledge, and then nearby cities, into Somalia, and then across the Gulf of Aden into Yemen. He traveled impoverished, once spending his only amount of money on a single book. He eventually ventured north on foot, and offered the rites of Hajj in the year 1369.

After Hajj, he remained in Makkah, seeking knowledge at the study circles of the Sacred Haram Mosque at the Ka’bah. There, against the advice of some of his previous teachers, he reluctantly read the book, Al-Usool ath-Thalaathah of Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Wahhaab (may Allaah have Mercy on him), through which Allaah guided him to abandon the innovations of the Soofee-Ash’aree cults that influenced his earlier studies. He then enrolled in Daar al-Arqam in Makkah, along with the likes of another future scholar, Shaykh Yahyaa ibn ‘Uthmaan al-Mudarris. Daar al-Arqam later became known as Daar al-Hadeeth.

In Makkah, he studied under the great scholar, Shaykh ‘Abdul-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have Mercy on him), whom he accompanied back to Riyadh in the early 1370’s, to attend the new academic institute there, along with other future scholars, such as Continue reading

The Ruling on Saying “Allaah and His Messenger Know Best”

 In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

The Permanent Committee of Scholars in Saudi Arabia has issued a verdict stating that saying “Allaah and His Messenger know best” was for the lifetime of the Messenger.  After his death (sallallaahu alayhe wa sallam), “Allaah knows best” is to be used. This was signed by Shaykh Ibn Baaz, Shaykh Ghudayyaan, and Shaykh Abdur-Razzaaq ‘Afeefee (may Allaah have Mercy on them).

What seems to be correct based on the overall practice of the Companions and the early scholars is to refrain from saying “Allaah and His Messenger knows best” after his death, and rather say, “Allaah knows best.”

“…Because the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhe wa sallam) is not aware of what is happening after his death.”

Source: Verdicts of the Permanent Committee (2/163) [English translation]

In addition, Shaykh Saalih al-Fowzaan, Shaykh Bakr Aboo Zayd, and others mentioned that saying “Allaah and His Messenger know best” was for his lifetime, and that after his death (sallallaahu alayhe wa sallam), “Allaah knows best” is to be used.

Refer to: I’aanat al-Mustafeed (1/44), Mu’jam al-Manaahee al-Lafthiyyah (p.128).

However, some scholars allowed saying “Allaah and His Messenger know best” after his death (sallallaahu alayhe wa sallam), like Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have Mercy on him) and some of the explainers of Kitaab at-Towheed, relying on a passage from the Nooniyyah of Ibn al-Qayyim: Continue reading

Referring to the Quran as a Form of “Music” or Describing it as “Musical”

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

From the unique writings of the late scholar, Shaykh Bakr Aboo Zayd (may Allaah have Mercy on him), is a beneficial 700-page dictionary of “bad language” called “Mu’jam al-Manaahee al-Lafthiyyah” in which he identified and refuted incorrect, inappropriate, and/or impermissible words and phrases that some people use.

In this book (p.117), he included how some people refer to the Quran as “music” or “musical”, or having musical tones or rhythms, and commented:

These are unacceptable descriptions because of three issues:

[1] This is claiming a likeness between Quranic Verses and impermissible musical instruments.

[2] Music is an art form that draws people into disobedience and wickedness, so how could it resemble the Magnificent Quran, the Speech of the Lord of all the worlds, that which guides to eemaan (statements, actions, and beliefs of faith) and the Straight Path?!

[3] Allaah the Exalted has refuted the idea of the Quran being poetry and exonerated it above that (claim), so how could it (the Quran) then resemble the voices and instruments of musicians?! (something far worse)

As the Arabs who have picked up these kinds of repugnant phrases from books that the scholars have been warning against (like Sayyid Qutb’s “Thilaal” for example), it is also hoped that Continue reading