Abu Talhah Dawud Burbank and his Wife have Died

[SunnahPublishing.Net]

On the Death of Abu Talhah Dawud Burbank
rahimahullaah

Hammaad Ibn Zayd (d.181H) mentioned that Ayoob as-Sakhtiyaanee (d.131H) said, “When I am informed of the death of a man from the people of the Sunnah, it is as if I have lost one of my limbs.” Refer to Sharh Usoolul-I’tiqaad of al-Laalikaa‘ee (1/66). It was this narration that was from the first that came to mind upon hearing of the death of our beloved brother Abu Talhah Dawud Ibn Ronald Burbank—may Allaah have mercy upon him. I thank Allaah that I had the opportunity to meet him for the first time two years ago on our first visit to the United Kingdom. Even in this first encounter, I found him a very humble and kind brother who demonstrated great concern for the Da’watus-Salafiyyah in the United States. We spoke about a number of topics; from them his days in the Islamic University of al-Madeenah and his close relationship with our brother Abu Uwais—may Allaah have mercy upon him. He spoke lovingly about Abu Uwais and expressed how many students from the West were benefited by Abu Uwais’ tireless efforts in defense of the Salafee methodology and calling his classmates to sit at the feet of the Scholars. One could feel the love and great respect Abu Talhah had for Abu Uwais; it was touching to see this level of honour for one’s brothers and it made the eyes well up with tears. That one short meeting with Abu Talhah two years ago had a profound effect upon me; it cemented for me everything I had heard about him over the years from our brothers in the UK, from them his shyness and humble disposition, not to mention his great diligence in teaching and meticulousness in translating classical works that have been from the greatest contributions to the Salafee call in the English speaking world. One can never underestimate the great service of Abu Talhah’s many translations; for indeed translation is a form of transmission of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam). One need only look at the narration collected by Imaam al-Bukhaaree (d.256H) in his Saheeh regarding Heraclius when the letters of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) were sent to the non-Arab rulers of the time; it mentions what Aboo Sufyaan (radiyallaahu ’anhu) narrated regarding their encounter. The narration is on the authority of Ibn Abbaas (radiyallaahu ’anhu) who said, “Aboo Sufyaan Ibn Harb informed me that Heraclius had sent a messenger to him while he had been accompanying a caravan from Quraysh. They were merchants doing business in Shaam at the time when Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) had a truce with Aboo Sufyaan and the Quraysh infidels. So Aboo Sufyaan and his companions went to Heraclius at Ilya (Jerusalem). Heraclius called them in the court and he had all the senior Roman dignitaries around him. He called for his translator who, translating Heraclius’s question said to them, “Who amongst you is closely related to that man who claims to be a Prophet?” Aboo Sufyaan replied, "I am the nearest relative to him (amongst the group).” The point of benefit we wanted to extract from this narration was the fact that Heraclius, and the other non-Arab kings who the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) sent letters to, were in need of translators to convey and transmit the meaning of the letters sent by the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) calling them to the worship of Allaah alone. It is because of this that Ibn Hajr (d.852H) says in Nuzhatun-Nadhr, “As for relating [ahaadeeth] by their meaning, then the difference of opinion in this matter is well known, and the majority [of the Scholars] are of the opinion that it is permissible; and from the strongest of their proofs is the consensus [of the people of knowledge] regarding the permissibility of clarifying the Islamic Legislation for the non-Arabs in their language. So if it is permissible to change it into another language, then it is permissible to do so (i.e. narrate it by its meaning) in the Arabic language for all the more reason.” So as we have mentioned, one could never underestimate the great service of Abu Talhah’s translations to the English world. I say this because not only were we witnesses to the great need of those translations, but we were also beneficiaries. I recall that in the nineties, in the days of hard fought battles with the people of innovation and misguidance, that it was Abu Talhah’s translation of Imaam al-Barbahaaree’s Sharhus-Sunnah (Explanation of the Creed) that was a weapon of razor-sharpness upon the necks of the people of desires. I can also recall at that time teaching the book in Germantown Masjid in our city of Philadelphia and looking out into the crowd seeing Abu Talhah’s translation in the hands of many of the students. The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) says in the authentic hadeeth collected by Muslim upon the authority of Aboo Hurayrah (radiyallaahu ’anhu), “When a person dies, his deeds are cut off except three: some ongoing charity, some beneficial knowledge or righteous offspring to supplicate for him.” I have rarely gone into the house of a Salafee in the last ten years or so and not seen this book upon the shelf, and I pray that this effort is weighty in his scales of good on the Day of Resurrection. I was humbled the day I met Abu Talhah in Birmingham due to what I witnessed from humility and modesty - as I am saddened at the news of his loss today, but as the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said in the authentic narration after the death of his son Ibraaheem, “Indeed the eyes shed tears, and the hearts feel sadness, but we only say that which pleases our Lord.” From Allaah we come and unto Him we return. I ask Allah by His Lofty Attributes and Beautiful Names to have mercy upon our brother and Umm Talhah and that He bless them with Jannatul-Firdaws. Abul-Hasan Malik Adam al-Akhdar