Abu Talhah Dawud Burbank and his Wife have Died

[Abbas.Abu.Yahya]

Bismillah as-Salatu wa as-Sallamu ala Rasoolillaah
Amma Badu’

Our hearts are in severe pain and our eyes cannot contain their tears, the whole Salafi community globally is saddened by the demise of our beloved Dawood and his wife. Condolences are coming in from those who have only heard of him, imagine how those of us who have known him most of our lives feel, Allaah’s aid is sought.

Due to the hadeeth of the Messenger –SallAllaahu alayhi wa Sallam- in Saheeh Muslim: ‘You are the witnesses of Allaah on the earth.’ I feel that it is imperative for me to inform my brothers and sisters in Salafeeyah how Allaah had blessed this man, and only Allaah has knowledge of the hearts.

[Saheeh & Da’eef]

I remember the weekend (in the late 80’s) when Dawood finally came back to England from Madina University, after having met him during his holiday breaks. I eagerly asked one of the brothers what Dawood was saying, he answered that Dawood is saying you can’t follow any Ahadeeth, you have to follow those Ahadeeth that are authentic.

He was the first person – by Allaah’s permission - to introduce us to this distinction between Saheeh and Da’eef hadeeth. This was the beginning of us taking the correct path in learning the Sunnah correctly – may Allaah keep us on the correct path. This is probably the main reason why our hearts are in so much pain, and Allaah knows best.

[Tawheed]

The importance to Tawheed was given immediately, I remember he began translating benefits from Kitab al-Tawheed, and he gave it a lot of attention, which was something we had not done previously we had not taken it as seriously.

[Salafeeyah]

The Salaf used to regard being guided to the Sunnah as the greatest blessing upon them, Alhamdulillaah, after us having been guided to the Sunnah, Salafeeyah was injected – by Allaah’s permission – into our community through Dawood.

Dawood introduced us to Salafeeyah – by Allaah’s blessings – and also to taking the understanding of the Salafi scholars. When he first brought this principle we thought he had lost his mind, but this was the beginning of Allaah turning our hearts due to which we began to adhere to the correct understanding of Islaam – may Allaah keep us firm upon the way of the Salaf.

He introduced us to Shaykh Albaani and Shaykh Bin Baz, and we were amazed by this wonderful new wealth of knowledge.

[His Destination]

Allaah takes His slaves with His Mercy and Wisdom when and as He wishes, being parted from a beloved person is extremely difficult to bear but Allaah’s Wisdom is all-Perfect. Allaah returned him from where he made him.

From Abdullaah ibn Eesaa [who said]: Yahyaa al-Bukaa narrated to us from Ibn Umar that an Ethiopian was buried in Madeenah. So the Prophet of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
دُفِنَ فِيْ الطِّيْنَةِ الَّتِي خُلِقَ مِنْهَا

“He was buried in the clay from which he was created.”

And it has a supporting narration from the hadith of Abdullaah ibn Ja’far Najeeh [who said] my father narrated to me [saying that]: Unais ibn Abu Yahyaa narrated to me from his father from Abu Sa’eed [who said]:

‘That the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم passed by Al-Medinah and saw a group of people digging a grave. So he asked about it.

So they said, ‘An Ethiopian who came [here] and then died.’

So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, ‘None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah. He was led from his land and his sky to the soil that he was created from.’

Shaykh Albaani said:

‘So in my opinion, through all of its chains of narrations, the hadith is hasan. And Allaah knows best.’

As-Saheehah 1858.

We ask Allaah to have mercy on our Dawood and Umm Talha, and unite us with them in the gardens of Paradise, along with the Prophets, the righteous people and the martyrs.