Sources and names › Scholar › al-Shafi'i
Scholaral-Shafi'i
Cited in 41 segments across 30 recordings · 2015 to 2023 · scholar/scholar:al-shafii
Citing segments
Newest first. Each opens the whole segment, not a bare quote.
10 Mar 2023video
What is the difference between a hadith and the Sunnah in the Maliki school?
The school of Madinah is 'hadith relativist': it accepts a hadith where it matches the living Sunnah and not otherwise, since hadith is historical data and the Sunnah is the Prophet's teaching.
machine5 min 01 s37:24on YouTube
13 Feb 2023video
Orthodoxy and power: adding to the checklist, ijma and cancel culture
Once creed became a checklist, those in power could keep adding to it, as with ijma; everyone acts from power, even when sincere.
machine7 min 07 s19:10on YouTube
14 Mar 2021video
Why does Mufti Abu Layth say the Bukhari chain for Jesus's descent is unreliable?
The first Bukhari chain leaves two narrators' names ambiguous, a practice al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar record of al-Bukhari, and passes through al-Zuhri, whom the critics describe as inserting his own words into reports and making mursal reports reach the Prophet.
machine9 min 18 s1:35:56on YouTube
2 Mar 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is the hadith in Bukhari about Jesus coming down reliable?
The first Bukhari chain is doubtful: al-Bukhari left two narrators unnamed, which he is known to have done deliberately, and the chain runs through al-Zuhri, who was known to insert his own words into hadith.
machine9 min 33 s2:38:55on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Were some of the great imams autistic?
Mufti Abu Layth says he feels Imam Ahmad and Imam al-Shafi'i were autistic, and suspects Ibn Taymiyya had bipolar or a psychotic disorder.
machine2 min 33 s47:04on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Did the Prophet fall in love with Zaynab bint Jahsh?
No: he says the early hadith collections do not carry the love story, and it makes no sense given the Prophet had known Zaynab all his life.
machine7 min2:38:27on YouTube
10 Dec 2020video
Was the Quran always fixed word for word, or was it flexible at first?
Mufti Abu Layth holds the Quran was dynamic in the Prophet's time, with companions allowed to substitute synonyms, and that a fixed vowel-for-vowel text is a modern idea. Writing it down in a worldly script brought its own constraints.
machine8 min 51 s19:43on YouTube
10 Dec 2020video
Can we substitute words of the Quran today as the companions did?
No: the Quran was dynamic in the Prophet's time, but after Uthman's codex and the canonised readings it has reached us fixed, so changing it today would not be correct. He feels word substitution was the original default, not a mere dispensation.
machine6 min 25 s28:34on YouTube
21 Nov 2020video
What did classical scholars say about whether jinn can harm or possess people?
Imam al-Shafi'i rejected the testimony of anyone claiming to see jinn, Ibn Hazm forbade adding to what Allah said about them, and al-Tahawi held that Satan can only insinuate, not harm; what is called possession is mental illness, and accepting it would void responsibility.
machine7 min 46 s26:14on YouTube
21 Nov 2020video
Is the jinn exorcism and ruqya industry a fraud?
The ruqya industry is largely a fraud drenched in abuse; the Mu'tazila, who rejected possession, were never afflicted, and al-Jahiz already recorded a practitioner using a possession claim to explain away a lost virginity.
machine6 min 37 s43:12on YouTube
22 Sep 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can a Muslim woman marry a non-Muslim man?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that such a nikah would be valid, though not meeting every condition, but advises couples to think hard because faith often becomes a conflict once children arrive.
machine9 min 39 s1:05:38on YouTube
22 Sep 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is drawing lots or playing the lottery haram in Islam?
Mufti Abu Layth says drawing lots is an established principle of the Shari'ah, and that a small lottery stake is not haram, though he does not encourage it.
machine15 min 17 s1:42:38on YouTube
2 Sep 2020video
Does mushkil mean ambiguous or problematic?
Both sides have a point: mushkil was used technically for texts needing reconciliation and for the indeterminable, while Yasir Qadhi most likely meant it simply as 'problematic'.
machine4 min 06 s6:30on YouTube
4 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why did Imam Malik prefer the practice of Medina over hadith chains?
Mufti Abu Layth says the chain was once subordinate to the living tradition of Medina; al-Shafii's isnad project replaced regional trust with loyalty to the chain.
machine10 min 15 s2:04:25on YouTube
3 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Were the companions allowed to change words of the Quran, and was that only a temporary concession?
The guest argues the Prophet allowed multiple oral forms of the Quran; Mufti Abu Layth says this dynamism was the Quran's inherent nature, not a temporary concession.
machine6 min 54 s1:03:43on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does the Quran abrogate its own verses?
The guest denies abrogation, reading 2:106 as about miracles replaced over time, since ayah in the singular never means a verse. Mufti Abu Layth says he is not against abrogation in principle but that 2:106 does not prove it and that no verse was ever lifted from the Quran.
machine9 min 12 s59:27on YouTube
19 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
How did the earlier recitation and other readings get mixed up with the Quran?
The guest names four sources of the variant readings: remnants of the earlier revelatory sequence kept by the companions and later blurred with the Quran under al-Shafi'i's scholarly transmission, the mixing of similar passages, companions' explanatory synonyms taken as readings, and fabrication in the second and third centuries.
machine7 min 53 s28:54on YouTube
19 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
What was the qira'a al-'amma, and why does Morocco recite a different reading?
The common reading of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali and the companions, al-qira'a al-'amma, is the mushaf we have, while the other readings stayed in scholars' books; Morocco reads Nafi' only because a third-century ruler imposed it on account of Imam Malik's preference. Mufti Abu Layth adds that the early generations were more secure in their faith than later, institutionalised Islam.
machine5 min 14 s48:32on YouTube
19 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
How did the seven canonical readings of the Quran come about?
In the second and third centuries leading reciters were given the privilege of ikhtiyar, choosing one of the inherited variants for each verse by their own criteria, and Ibn Mujahid later popularised seven of them. Mufti Abu Layth says he agrees these readings are not mutawatir and not on the level of the common reading.
machine5 min 16 s53:49on YouTube
19 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Isn't it too convenient that the one preserved reading is exactly the Hafs Quran we have?
Mufti Abu Layth states his own view that the Quran was always dynamic and allowed some flexibility of wording, as Imam Malik and al-Shafi'i held companions could substitute words. The guest answers the convenience objection by saying the reasoning, not the result, should be judged, and that later scholars missed the verses of al-Qiyamah because of a flawed report from Ibn Abbas and a hadith-centric mindset.
machine5 min 12 s1:18:35on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Were the people who refused zakah after the Prophet's death apostates?
The guest says taxes that fund welfare can count as zakah, and that the refusers fought by Abu Bakr were rebels against the state rather than apostates; Mufti Abu Layth says he is inclined to that view.
machine7 min 47 s47:29on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why do people get so upset about Islamic rulings on sex?
The guest blames a culture of shame in the subcontinent, and says the classical scholars and al-Bukhari show there is no shyness in learning the religion and that legitimate differences cannot be denounced.
machine7 min 41 s2:13:27on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Isn't it better to feel guilty when sinning so that you repent?
The guest says most scholars hold watching pornography is haram and people should not watch it, while academically the evidence resembles Imam Ahmad's 'I dislike it but do not say it is haram'.
machine2 min 23 s2:33:37on YouTube
24 Dec 2018From the Mind of a Mufti
If Muslims accept miracles that defy reason, can they still object that the Trinity is irrational?
Muslims must hold the Quran to be in line with reason, because accepting miracles that make no sense removes any ground for objecting that three cannot equal one; consistency is all or nothing. Hijab denied that Muslims ever held anthropomorphic beliefs, but some did, though Mufti Abu Layth does not share them.
machine2 min 24 s15:14on YouTube
20 Dec 2018From the Mind of a Mufti
Does Islam say homosexuals should be thrown off buildings or executed?
There is no sahih hadith in which the Prophet spoke about homosexuals, the reports of Ali ordering executions are not authentic in Mufti Abu Layth's view, and the early jurists disagreed, with the Hanafis holding it is not a hadd offence. The claim of a consensus that homosexual acts deserve death is false.
machine7 min 56 s0:00on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Is Ikrima, the narrator of the apostasy hadith, reliable?
The main chains of 'whoever changes his religion, kill him' run through Ikrima, whom he describes as a Khariji, and whom Imam Malik and many early authorities rejected or called a liar.
machine6 min 34 s28:42on YouTube
22 Apr 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Can a woman go on Hajj without a mahram?
Mufti Abu Layth reports that al-Shafi'i allowed a woman to go with a group of women and Imam Malik with any safe company, while Abu Hanifa required a mahram for journeys over three days.
machine2 min 32 s9:31on YouTube
20 Apr 2018From the Mind of a Mufti
Was Abu Hanifa considered a deviant by the scholars of his time?
Many leading scholars of Abu Hanifa's time considered him misguided. His school rose to dominance because his student Abu Yusuf became chief judge and appointed only Hanafis, which Mufti Abu Layth says shows that power, not evidence, often decides which views prevail.
machine3 min 57 s0:00on YouTube
13 Mar 2018Islamic Eschatology
Shawkani against claimed consensus: music, following a madhhab, four wives, raf' al-yadayn
Those who cite Shawkani's claim that the return is mutawatir do not follow him when he rejects other consensuses or calls raf' al-yadayn mutawatir; claimed consensuses have been overturned before.
machine3 min 55 s1:53:04on YouTube
28 Feb 2018Responding to Refutations
What do the classical Maliki books say about witnesses in a marriage?
The Maliki authorities he reads hold that a marriage without witnesses is valid unless it is meant to be secret; witnesses or an announcement are required before consummation.
machine9 min 11 s9:00on YouTube
21 Feb 2018Responding to Refutations
Did Ibn Ma'in consider Isma'il ibn Abi Uways and his family reliable?
Mufti Abu Layth says that although one transmitted opinion of Ibn Ma'in accepts him, Ibn Ma'in is also transmitted as counting the household of Abu Uways among the weak. He adds that Abu al-Zubayr was weakened by several critics, so none of the chains the critics brought is conclusive.
machine3 min 51 s36:28on YouTube
9 Feb 2018On the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Is the hadith of the crying tree trunk authentic?
No: Mufti Abu Layth finds weak narrators in each chain, including those in al-Bukhari, and says only the Quran is preserved in its entirety.
machine8 min 52 s7:38on YouTube
20 Sep 2017Debunking Myths On: Jinns, Magic, the Evil Eye, and Superstitions
Which classical scholars denied that jinn can possess people?
Ibn Hazm held that claiming possession is a claim without knowledge and haram, since the Prophet spoke only of whispering; al-Tahawi noted that every taught du'a is against whispering, al-Razi said Shaytan cannot cause illness, and al-Shafi'i rejected the testimony of anyone claiming to see jinn, which only prophets can.
machine7 min 53 s23:06on YouTube
14 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Can Islamic punishments like stoning and cutting off hands change with time?
Yes, in his understanding: the Sharia itself asks for punishments fitting the age, so today they would be replaced by penalties such as prison, following Maliki and other precedents.
machine5 min 03 s0:00on YouTube
9 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Did the Prophet migrate to Madinah to set up a state, and when did the khilafah end?
The guest says the Prophet left Makkah because he was forced out, not to found a state, and the khilafah rashidah ended with Ali, after which Umayyads and Abbasids were kings in all but name. The Quranic promise of khilafah was for the first generation only, and the 1924 abolition ended a powerless kingship, not a khilafah.
machine3 min 01 s2:10on YouTube
6 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Should scholars give fatwas based on minority opinions if it makes life easier?
In this clip Shaykh Akram Nadwi says scholars may give fatwas on easier minority opinions in minor matters of fiqh, since ease has always guided the jurists. Mufti Abu Layth speaks only at the end.
machine5 min 27 s0:00on YouTube
6 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Is choosing the easier scholarly opinion just following my desires?
In this clip Shaykh Akram Nadwi gives examples of al-Shafi'i, Abu Hanifa and al-Tabari giving easier minority rulings, and says choosing among the jurists' opinions is not following one's nafs. Mufti Abu Layth only asks the question.
machine4 min 21 s8:07on YouTube
11 Jan 2017Mothers of the Believers: The Wives of the Blessed Prophet ﷺ
The ramifications: jurists on marrying a minor, and the conclusion
Aisha was in her late teens, most likely eighteen or nineteen, Mufti Abu Layth concludes. Jurists from early on held marriage impermissible with a girl incapable of it, and the Ottomans set a minimum age of fifteen.
machine11 min 49 s1:02:49on YouTube
11 Jan 2017Mothers of the Believers: The Wives of the Blessed Prophet ﷺ
Why did jurists like Imam Malik let a father marry off his young daughter without her consent?
Marrying off an underage girl is impermissible today. Imam Malik's exception was a contract only, without intimacy, tied to welfare in his own circumstances and not based on a clear verse or report.
machine9 min 07 s2:00:23on YouTube
3 Mar 2015video
What did Imam Malik say about bid'ah?
Imam Malik rejected any 'good' bid'ah and called innovations misguidance, yet he often ruled a given innovation only discouraged (makruh), not haram.
machine4 min 28 s1:58on YouTube
3 Mar 2015video
Is making group dua after every salah a bid'ah?
Group dua after every prayer is not from the Sunnah; the Hanafis and Shafi'is count such acts as recommended under general commands to do good, while the other side sees a new practice.
machine6 min 25 s6:26on YouTube