A dialogue between the eminent scholar S͟hayk͟h ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ ʾAbū G̶h̶uddah and al-ʾAlbānī.
Taken from https://drwaleedbinalsalah.com
Sh Walīd Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ says:
S͟hayk͟h ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ ʾAbū G̶h̶uddah, the Ḥalabī (from Aleppo), a scholar of ḥadīt͟h and principles of jurisprudence, engaged in a discussion with al-ʾAlbānī. This dialogue was narrated by my brother, Shaykh Muḥammad Munīr (may Allāh have mercy on him), before his death in S̶h̶aʿbān, when he visited Madīnah al-Munawwarah. He told me verbatim:
They debated in Riyadh. S͟hayk͟h ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ asked him: “Are you a muḥaddit̶h̶ and an expert in the science of ḥadīt͟h?” Al-ʾAlbānī replied: “That is what they say.” S͟hayk͟h ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ asked: “From whom did you receive the chains of transmission (ʾasānīd)? From which scholars?” Al-ʾAlbānī replied: “From books.” S͟hayk͟h ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ responded:
“This does not make someone a muḥaddit̶h̶ unless they receive it from the people of ḥadīt͟h. Whoever has not received it from its people cannot claim expertise. Are you knowledgeable in grammar, morphology, and the other sciences?” Then he said: “Bring us Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buk̶h̶ārī.”
They brought the book. S͟hayk͟h ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ opened it to a ḥadīt͟h related to one of the battles, where the Prophet (ﷺ) instructed the companions with a phrase meaning: Go calmly (irbiʿū)’. S͟hayk͟h ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ handed the book to al-ʾAlbānī and asked him to read it. Al-ʾAlbānī began reading the ḥadīt͟h and reached the word ‘irbiʿū’ (اِرْبَعُوا). However, he pronounced it ‘arbaʿū’ (أَرْبَعُوا) with a fatḥah (a) on the hamzah. S͟hayk͟h ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ explained: “The meaning of ‘arbaʿū’ with a fatḥah is: ‘walk on all fours.’ But with a kasrah (i) on the hamzah, ‘irbiʿū’, it means: ‘proceed calmly.’”
S͟hayk͟h ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ said to him: “Enough! You are walking on all fours! Enough ignorance from someone who walks on all fours. Go and learn the language, and then concern yourself with ḥadīt͟h. How can such a person emerge as ‘the unique scholar of his time’?” He then remarked: “Unfortunately, the officials do not have those who truly know the science of ḥadīt͟h, so they appointed him as a teacher of ḥadīt͟h at the ʾIslāmic University for a time.”