Gifts of Knowledge

“He, may Allaah have mercy on him, used to cry a lot when listening to the Noble Quraan, whatever the voice of the reciter was like or however good or not so good his recitation was.

[Added some audio files to this article where the Shaikh is crying, here he was crying over hearing some verses from Surah Shooraa during one of his lessons]

And he used to cry when he would hear something from the Prophetic Sunnah.

[Here he was crying out of love for the Prophet ﷺ saying that not celebrating the Prophet’s Birthday ﷺ does not mean we don’t love him]

I saw him more than one time crying when he would hear the biography of a scholar mentioned in Al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah, or Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb or Siyar A’laam an-Nubalaa.

He also used to cry when he would hear about the persecution and torture that Muslims were enduring in some countries.

When he would cry he would do so with a very faint sound, the effects would be seen on his face, or tears could be seen flowing from his eyes, he didn’t like that the voice be raised when crying.

He used to cry a lot when he would talk about his Shaikh, His Eminence Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim, may Allaah have mercy on him, in fact he wouldn’t be able to continue talking about him [and would have to stop].

[Here he was crying when talking about his Shaikh Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim, the Mufti of Saudi Arabia before him]

He would cry a lot upon hearing something mentioning the glorification of the Quraan or the Sunnah. I remember reading the book, Al-Qawl al-Qaweem, by the Shaikh, the ’Allaamah Humood at-Tawaijiri, to him during which we came across what Shaikh Humood had said about glorifiying the Sunnah, so I looked at him and His Eminence’s tears were flowing down his cheeks.

[Here he was crying over the incident of the Ansaar’s pledge of allegiance to the Prophet ﷺ]

When he would be invited somewhere as a guest, it was His Excellency’s habit to ask someone present to recite some aayahs in order to beautify the gathering[’s atmosphere], and then he would explain them—many times I would notice him crying, [and his] tears and a change in his voice.

He would cry a lot when one of the well-known scholars or someone distinguished in their service to Islaam would pass away, he cried when Shaikh Saalih al-’Ali an-Naasir passed away, and Shaikh Hamood at-Tuwaijiri, and Shaikh Saalih ibn Ghasoon, and he also cried when the Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq passed away, may Allaah have mercy on them all.

When some of the poor and needy or some of the oppressed people would present their situations to him he would be affected by it and feel compassion and at times cry.

When he would hear news about the affliction and harshness that Muslims were facing he would cry and his voice would change.

He would cry many times when he would lead the people in prayer but he would control himself.

He would also cry when supplicating, I used to look at his face very carefully when he would supplicate at ’Arafah or at Safa and Marwah, and I would find tears flowing down his cheeks and would notice a change in his voice.

Many times he would cry during his lessons, and so would stop for a short while until what he felt had passed, but sometimes he would be overcome.

And he would cry many times upon hearing the story of the slander against Aishah [may Allaah be pleased with her], or the story of the three Companions who remained behind.

[Here is the recording of him crying over the incident of the slander of Aishah, may Allaah be pleased with her]

I used to read Al-Jawaab al-Kaafi of Ibn al-Qayyim to him during many sittings, and he would cry during some of the moving parts in the book.

Dr. Muhammad ash-Shawai’ir used to read Al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah to him and he would cry when he would hear what was written in connection to wars especially when it involved the killing of many Muslims.

And he would sometimes cry when he would hear moving poetry calling to virtue and excellence …”

[Crying at Minaa during Hajj in 1996]

[When relating the story of the death of the Prophet ﷺ]

[Reciting Surah al-Layl]

[The Hadith of Abu Hurairah when the Prophet ﷺ went to the Graveyard]

Jawaanib min Seeratil-Imaam ’Abdul-’Aziz Ibn Baaz, pp. 118-120.