Sources and names › Term › Shia
TermShia
Cited in 56 segments across 40 recordings · 2018 to 2023 · term/term:shia
Citing segments
Newest first. Each opens the whole segment, not a bare quote.
22 Feb 2023video
LatestShould Sunnis preach to Shia Muslims about what they get wrong?
Mufti Abu Layth says no: it only leads to sectarian fighting. Answer people who come asking, but Sunni-Shia debating does no good.
machine2 min 34 s36:24on YouTube
13 Feb 2023video
LatestThe birth of orthodoxy: a nameless main body and the hadith project
Orthodoxy means belief deemed correct by those with power. For two centuries the main body of Muslims had no name and was marked out by involvement in hadith.
machine5 min 46 s0:00on YouTube
13 Feb 2023video
Apophatic definition: the early main body defined by what it was not
Early Muslims had no creed checklist: you belonged to the main body as long as you did not hold the positions of the known sects.
machine5 min 03 s5:46on YouTube
22 Dec 2021video
What do Sunni Muslims think of the twelve Shia imams?
The Shia imams are generally respected in Sunni Islam but are not used as reference points; he suspects Ja'far al-Sadiq was closer to the Shia picture of him than Sunnis admit, as an assumption. Sunnis and Shia should agree to disagree and be fair to each other.
machine6 min 24 s0:00on YouTube
25 Oct 2021video
Will Allah judge someone who follows only the Quran by the Quran alone?
Mufti Abu Layth will not speak on who is saved: he finds it arrogant for a human to presume where anyone ends up, since Allah's mercy encompasses everything. We should concern ourselves with our own path.
machine4 min 30 s2:36on YouTube
25 Oct 2021video
Should I debate Quranists?
No: arguing never changes anyone's mind and only breeds hatred, so give your view if asked and see Quranists with compassion. He finds their case weaker than they think, since fiqh was built on the living tradition, not on hadith.
machine5 min 45 s7:07on YouTube
6 Oct 2021Malik Resources
Is there a sahih hadith on where to put my hands in salah?
There is no sahih hadith fixing where the hands go in salah; sadl, praying with the hands at the sides, is a sunnah of the school of Madinah without a hadith. Not every hadith is sunnah and not every sunnah was recorded in a hadith.
machine9 min 51 s0:00on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestWhere does the belief in the Mahdi come from?
The Mahdi belief is disrespectful to the Prophet, who was the rightly guided saviour, and entered Sunni Islam from early Shia political movements; the Mahdi hadith describe figures of that time.
machine8 min2:43:30on YouTube
16 Mar 2021video
LatestWho are the Ibadis and what do you think of Ibadism?
The Ibadis are an early, less extreme offshoot of the Khawarij who survive today in Oman and, as a small minority, became known for coexistence. Their independence from Sunnis and Shia helps corroborate early history, such as the place of Makkah.
machine6 min 16 s0:02on YouTube
15 Mar 2021video
What actually separates Sunnis and Shia, and is mut'ah really a Shia thing?
The Sunni-Shia split is only about who has the right to rule, the Shia holding it stays in the Prophet's bloodline. Mut'ah and wiping the feet have nothing to do with being Shia; Sunnis used them as propaganda.
machine4 min 34 s2:24on YouTube
2 Mar 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestWas Ali born inside the Kaaba?
It may have happened but is uncertain, and most likely means the homes of Banu Hashim attached to the Kaaba rather than the cube itself; Ali's greatness does not depend on it.
machine6 min 27 s16:03on YouTube
2 Mar 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Do I have to believe Umar and Uthman were better than Ali?
No: preferring one close companion over another is a personal preference, and he calls arguing over the ranking childish; treating Ali as infallible is equally wrong.
machine2 min 37 s21:49on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why isn't the Mufti a Mu'tazili?
Mufti Abu Layth says he is simply Sunni; sects are defined by core doctrines, the Shia by the sacred bloodline's right to rule, and mut'ah was pinned on them as propaganda.
machine6 min 48 s44:58on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Who are the Ibadis and what does the Mufti think of them?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Ibadis, an early and now peaceful offshoot of the Khawarij based in Oman, give a third tradition by which to cross-check claims, such as the Petra thesis.
machine6 min 22 s2:31:10on YouTube
15 Feb 2021video
Why does Bukhari accept a narrator who praised Ali's killer while Shia narrators are rejected?
Mufti Abu Layth calls it a double standard that al-Bukhari accepts as trustworthy a narrator who praised Ibn Muljam for killing Ali, while reports from Imam Jafar and other Shia imams are rejected because of their source.
machine3 min 33 s0:00on YouTube
26 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
How could Abu Hurayra narrate 5,000 hadith after only two years with the Prophet?
Mufti Abu Layth says it is implausible that Abu Hurayra narrated so much after about two years with the Prophet, that Umar restrained him, and that impossible reports such as the Ruqayya comb story should be rejected by Sunnis themselves.
machine9 min 15 s2:50:05on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
How can we stop Salafi ideas from dominating how people see Islam?
Denounce every preacher of hatred, Shia or Salafi, and spread a reasoned narrative; he feels the Salafi dawah is already losing ground.
machine6 min 25 s54:50on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Did early Muslims really not count Ali as the fourth rightly guided caliph?
Ali is a hero of Islam and preferring him is a personal matter, but he rejects the story of Umar burning Fatima's door and urges moving on.
machine8 min 09 s2:05:48on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Do Shia scholars treat ordinary people better than Salafi scholars do?
The problem lies in the extremes of both; from the few clips he has seen he cannot promote Ammar Nakshawani, though he may be wrong.
machine2 min 26 s2:14:41on YouTube
6 Dec 2020video
Why don't Sunni imams like Malik and Abu Hanifa transmit from Imam Jafar al-Sadiq?
Mufti Abu Layth's theory is that the early imams of the Ahl al-Bayt were for the most part as the Shia describe them, so Malik and Abu Hanifa, though respectful of them, did not transmit from them because it would have caused a political storm. He adds that this does not make the Shia theological claims more authentic.
machine6 min 35 s0:02on YouTube
6 Dec 2020video
Did Imam Malik and Abu Hanifa study under Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, and what did they learn from him?
Malik and Abu Hanifa kept Imam Jafar's company and attended his circles but transmitted nothing from him, which Mufti Abu Layth explains by their disagreement with teaching that largely reflected the Shia da'wah. He calls the claim that they took only 'spirituality' from him absurd.
machine2 min 09 s6:37on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Mufti Abu Layth's chat round: answering critics, soft drinks and Syrian rue
Mufti Abu Layth says he only answers persistent public critics, that non-alcoholic drinks are halal, and that he has not read the reports on Syrian rue.
machine3 min 27 s46:55on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Are there other narrations of Aisha's age besides Bukhari's?
Mufti Abu Layth says every chain on Aisha's age was engineered, with Hisham as the common link and Iraqi narrators throughout.
machine5 min 56 s1:27:50on YouTube
20 Oct 2020video
Who vouched for al-Farabri, the transmitter of Sahih al-Bukhari?
Sahih al-Bukhari reaches us through al-Farabri alone, and nobody who knew him vouched for him, so Mufti Abu Layth says the whole edifice rests on one man. Critics who only know how to debate the Shia avoid this question.
machine2 min 38 s3:59on YouTube
16 Oct 2020video
Who were the Shia who invited Husayn to Kufa?
The Shia who invited Husayn to Kufa were a political faction favouring Ali, not today's sect; a force of perhaps a couple of hundred under Umar ibn Sa'd intercepted him at Karbala.
machine4 min 35 s1:50on YouTube
16 Oct 2020video
Why did Husayn go to Kufa when he was warned not to?
Mufti Abu Layth says Husayn was invited by thousands in Kufa but warned by his relatives and Ibn Abbas, who urged Yemen instead, while Ibn al-Zubayr resisted Yazid from Makkah.
machine4 min 19 s40:51on YouTube
16 Oct 2020video
Are the stories that Husayn's family was denied water at Karbala true?
Mufti Abu Layth doubts many details of the Karbala story, including the denial of water, and thinks Yazid did not want Husayn killed but was not troubled that it happened.
machine4 min 35 s50:20on YouTube
16 Oct 2020video
Should Muslims mourn Husayn every year on Ashura?
Mufti Abu Layth does not see annual mourning for Husayn as an Islamic practice and does not do it, but he does not condemn those who do.
machine1 min 56 s54:55on YouTube
16 Oct 2020video
Who was really responsible for the killing of Husayn at Karbala?
Mufti Abu Layth blames first the Shia who invited Husayn, then Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad as the active agent, and Yazid as the passive one.
machine1 min 53 s1:00:00on YouTube
16 Oct 2020video
Is it right to curse the companions or beat oneself in mourning for Husayn?
Mufti Abu Layth condemns using Husayn's mourning to curse the companions, a disservice to Husayn, and calls self-flagellation ignorance that many Shia authorities also reject.
machine2 min 10 s1:01:53on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Was the ifk in Surat al-Nur really about Aisha?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that the Quran's ifk verses were revealed about rumours concerning Mariya, though he believes an earlier incident with Aisha also happened.
machine6 min 09 s2:26:25on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Where did the idea that Aisha was six or nine come from?
Mufti Abu Layth says the six-and-nine narration seems to originate with Aisha's nephew Urwa, countering rumours spread against her, and that every chain runs through him.
machine4 min 19 s54:44on YouTube
19 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
How did Dr Shehzad Saleem come to research the history of the Quran?
Teaching the history of the Quran at Al-Mawrid in 1999, the guest was shocked by questions in the Muslim sources themselves: multiple extant readings, reports of a lost rajm verse, compilation by two witnesses, differing companion codices and the Shia account. His book is the result of the quest that followed.
machine7 min 36 s4:02on YouTube
9 Jun 2020video
What does Mufti Abu Layth think of Hasan Farhan al-Maliki?
Mufti Abu Layth admires Hasan Farhan al-Maliki's open-minded rejection of folkloric Islam but disagrees with his dismissive, Shia-inclined stance on companions such as Mu'awiya.
machine2 min 24 s0:00on YouTube
6 Apr 2020video
What was in the letter attacking Shaykh al-Yaqoubi, and who sent it?
A Bradford-based board wrote to Shaykh al-Yaqoubi demanding he declare Shia, Deobandi and Salafi figures kafir and condemn The Study Quran and Hamza Yusuf, which Mufti Abu Layth calls a sectarian bullying session. He recognised only two signatories and was surprised to see Pir Saqib Shaami's name.
machine5 min 14 s2:37on YouTube
22 Mar 2020On Current Events
Abdul Raheem Limbada and the dream of the coronavirus as a man
Mufti Abu Layth mocks a preacher's account of a dream in which the coronavirus appeared as a man sent to punish, calling it nonsense that people are preaching and sharing.
machine10 min 12 s0:01on YouTube
28 Feb 2020From the Mind of a Mufti
Why did Abu Bakr refuse to give Fadak to Fatima?
Abu Bakr cited the hadith that prophets leave no inheritance; Shia sources say Fadak had been gifted to Fatima, while Sunni sources say the Prophet did not give it to her.
machine6 min 24 s10:15on YouTube
28 Feb 2020From the Mind of a Mufti
Why didn't Ali take back Fadak when he became caliph?
Mufti Abu Layth finds it a huge open question that Ali never reclaimed Fadak as caliph, and says the Shia answers he heard did not make sense to him.
machine5 min 13 s19:52on YouTube
4 Nov 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Is mut'ah (temporary marriage) haram?
Mut'ah is not haram in his understanding: the reports prohibiting it are contradictory and it is very hard to prove haram. Nobody is obliged to do it, and much of the hostility to it is anti-Shia sentiment.
machine8 min 47 s0:03on YouTube
3 Nov 2019Responding to Refutations
Do most Sunnis consider Wahhabis and Salafis to be Sunni?
Mufti Abu Layth says it is ironic for a Wahhabi to expel others from Sunni Islam, since most Sunnis do not count Wahhabis as Sunni, while he himself is among the few who do.
machine3 min 04 s22:29on YouTube
28 Sep 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Why people fabricated hadith: good intentions, false memories, money and politics
Hadith were fabricated for many reasons: pious intentions, false memories, malice, commercial interests, and political and sectarian aims on all sides.
machine5 min 09 s7:38on YouTube
19 Sep 2019On the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Is it okay to criticise the companions of the Prophet?
Mufti Abu Layth advises most people to view the companions with veneration, but says anyone who chooses critical, academic study must apply it to every companion, Ali included, rather than selectively.
machine13 min 28 s1:19on YouTube
4 Aug 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Mohammed Hijab's liberalism lecture argues like a sectarian polemic
Mufti Abu Layth turns to a university lecture by Mohammed Hijab on liberalism, which people had sent him and which claimed liberalism is baseless. He says the lecture seemed aimed at a Muslim audience and that, since Mohammed Hijab is intelligent, he is unsure whether he has not grasped the concept or is deliberately arguing to win points, but calls it a very poor job. He explains that the lecture argues against liberalism the way Muslims conduct sectarian debates: finding a figure the opponent supposedly reveres, such as Abu Hanifa, Ibn Taymiyya, Imam Malik or a Shia ayatollah, and quoting him to corner the opponent through compelling authority. He says this tactic makes no sense outside religion, where people do not feel bound by allegiance to such figures.
machine6 min 24 s0:00on YouTube
2 Aug 2019Amigo-Enemigo: A Sunni-Shia Dialogue
Rumours of a Sunni-Shia debate, and building bridges with the Shia
Mufti Abu Layth is not interested in Sunni-Shia debates: he believes the split is permanent and prefers building bridges, avoiding contested questions such as who was the better caliph.
machine5 min 23 s0:01on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Does the Quran say there are three or five daily prayers?
The Quran does not spell out the number of prayers, but Sunnis, Shia and Ibadis all hold there are five, which Mufti Abu Layth takes as proof of an early living tradition that preceded the hadith books. The Shia combine the five rather than reducing them to three.
machine3 min 21 s0:01on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
Did men and boys wear earrings in the time of the Prophet and the early Muslims?
In the Prophet's society and among the Salaf boys commonly wore earrings, and many considered it sunnah for a boy. Later Sunni clergy prohibited the practice, perhaps influenced by the Christian church, while the Shia kept it alive.
machine2 min 38 s10:22on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
Can reports from Shia sources about Hasan and Husayn be trusted?
Mufti Abu Layth accepts the reports as factual, saying the Shia had no reason to invent earrings for their own Imams, and calls it hypocrisy that Sunnis accept Imran ibn Hittan, a Khariji who praised Ali's killer, as a narrator in Sahih al-Bukhari while rejecting anything from Imam Jafar al-Sadiq.
machine5 min 16 s31:22on YouTube
19 Jul 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Was the first qibla really Petra, as Dan Gibson claims?
Mufti Abu Layth is not convinced that the first qibla was Petra: the statistical argument is a fallacy and Sunnis, Shia and Khawarij would never all have agreed on the Ka'bah. He still finds revisionist research compelling on some other matters and says Muslims should engage with it.
machine6 min 45 s0:00on YouTube
8 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Why did God stop Abraha's army but let the Qaramita steal the Black Stone?
The Black Stone has no sanctity of its own: it was most likely a remnant of pre-Islamic stone worship that Islam kept as a ritual of submission to God, so its theft by the Qaramita, though wrong, was no great matter. Umar himself said it was only a stone that can neither harm nor benefit.
machine15 min 38 s0:00on YouTube
1 Sep 2018BukhariGate: Issues with Sahih al-Bukhari
What is the Bukhari deathbed report in which the companions ask whether the Prophet is delirious?
The Bukhari deathbed report in which the companions dispute and ask whether the Prophet is speaking deliriously portrays the companions badly and is not true, Mufti Abu Layth says, and Sunnis hand the Shia a weapon by accepting it.
machine2 min 37 s15:38on YouTube
21 Jul 2018From the Mind of a Mufti
Is mut'ah a matter of belief that divides Sunnis and Shia?
No: accepting temporary marriage or not is a question of fiqh, not belief, so Sunnis are unfair to attack the Shia over mut'ah.
machine3 min 15 s0:00on 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
15 Apr 2018Debunking Myths On: Jinns, Magic, the Evil Eye, and Superstitions
Why great scholars accepted it: sectarian turf war with the Mu'tazila
Mufti Abu Layth argues that belief in magic, even on the Prophet, hardened as a sectarian reaction against the Mu'tazila, just as other issues hardened against Salafis or Shia.
machine10 min 12 s30:12on YouTube
1 Apr 2018Islamic Eschatology
Does it matter that the second coming of Jesus is the majority opinion and Mufti Abu Layth's view a minority one?
If every detail of the second-coming hadith is a metaphor, Mufti Abu Layth asks why Jesus himself is not. Majority and minority opinions are decided later by power and politics, as Abu Hanifa's case shows: condemned as a deviant by his contemporaries, his school spread when Abu Yusuf appointed only Hanafi judges.
machine5 min 13 s5:13on YouTube
1 Apr 2018Islamic Eschatology
If I doubt one hadith in Bukhari, will I end up doubting the Quran?
The warning that doubting one hadith leads to doubting the Quran is scare-mongering: Bukhari and Muslim are not the word of God, some of their reports must be rejected, and the deen does not fall apart from questioning. Mufti Abu Layth says Jesus is not going to come but treats the matter as a difference of opinion, not a sectarian one.
machine5 min 12 s22:12on YouTube
15 Mar 2018Responding to Refutations
Is someone who denies a line of al-Tahawi's creed a kafir?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says this makes al-Tahawi rather than the Quran the standard, that Elmasry himself departs from al-Tahawi on several points, that Ash'ari creed does not make takfir of the people of the qibla, and that al-Tahawi wrote 250 years after the Prophet and is not an Ash'ari authority.
machine2 min 37 s2:36on YouTube