Everyday questions › Work and money
Work and money
Earning, borrowing, saving and spending: mortgages, student loans, crypto, insurance, charging for religious teaching, zakat, and a job that clashes with prayer.
- Is a mortgage allowed if renting is not realistic where I live?
- Do I pay zakat on gold I never wear?
- Is investing in cryptocurrency gambling?
Example phrasings, not quotations. Each one runs a search.
Latest answers
62 segments in 27 recordings, newest first
5 Mar 2024Shorts
LatestWhich verse of the Quran promises more blessings for being grateful?
Mufti Abu Layth points to Quran 14:7: Allah promises abundance to the grateful, so by giving you receive.
machine59 s0:03on YouTube
2 Jun 2023video
LatestWhat can the death of a parent teach us?
Mufti Abu Layth says death is the greatest admonition and grief brings families together; one lesson may be to serve those who have no one around them.
machine4 min 28 s0:01on YouTube
10 Mar 2023video
Was Imam Malik an ascetic?
No: Imam Malik was a wealthy merchant who enjoyed fine clothes and daily meat, unlike the ascetic tradition, and was criticised for it.
machine2 min 34 s23:27on YouTube
16 Apr 2022Positive Faith
LatestAm I only praying because I fear God will punish me?
Mufti Abu Layth says praying only out of fear of punishment is unhealthy: salah is devotion that benefits us, bringing structure and order into our day.
machine8 min 20 s0:38on YouTube
29 Nov 2021video
LatestIs it wrong to joke about people who are seriously ill with covid?
Do not make fun of people who are ill with covid: it is a roll of the dice, as a neighbour's sudden death showed, and it should make us grateful.
machine5 min 17 s0:14on YouTube
4 Jul 2021Shorts
LatestIs it wrong to want to be rich?
Wanting to be rich or to build a lucrative business is not wrong in Islam. The balance is to hold wealth in your hands and not in your heart, keeping your purpose.
machine59 s0:00on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is Lupe Fiasco retiring from music?
The guest says he is not retiring but reorganising his life at forty around the metaphor of a garden, preparing for major technological change.
machine3 min 39 s1:58:29on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it wrong for a Muslim to want to make money?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says make money and enjoy what it brings, but do not love money for itself, and remember that giving opens the way to provision.
machine13 min 08 s3:08:42on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is forex trading halal or haram?
Mufti Abu Layth refers the question to his earlier videos and says inherited fiqh is so out of date that much of it can no longer be applied.
machine2 min 06 s21:11on YouTube
2 Mar 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is Cardano going to shoot up in value?
Mufti Abu Layth is suspicious of big announcements that funds will move money out of bitcoin into other coins, suspecting they may be ploys to move prices.
machine2 min 26 s12:56on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestCan I pray in my car if I don't feel safe praying outside?
Yes: in the worst case, if you need to or do not feel safe praying outside, you can pray in your car.
machine38 s2:37:32on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it wrong in Islam to want to be rich?
Mufti Abu Layth says Islam is not against wealth; what is haram is arrogance and looking down on others, and he encourages people to make money and enjoy it.
machine10 min 52 s1:44:53on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is trading covered calls on stocks halal?
Mufti Abu Layth says covered calls are halal, and he does not consider any of today's regulated trades haram.
machine1 min 18 s1:54:38on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestIs a mortgage riba?
The guest says a mortgage is not riba because the bank acts as an agent buying a specific house and then sells it on in instalments; riba is only a free loan repaid with extra.
machine7 min 51 s25:59on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Isn't calling a mortgage agency just a loophole for interest?
The guest says the loophole charge is backwards: what counts is what is technically happening, and a bank that also gives loans can still offer a permissible mortgage, as a pub also sells food.
machine2 min 40 s31:13on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
What happened when Shaykh Atabek wrote to Mufti Taqi Usmani about mortgages?
The guest says his respectful open letter to Mufti Taqi Usmani on mortgages got no reply, only an abusive reaction from students, which he does not think the mufti ordered.
machine5 min 45 s33:53on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Could a senior scholar ever publicly change his fatwa on mortgages?
Mufti Abu Layth doubts the jurist could ever publicly accept the guest's view; the guest says almost no scholar is fully independent of politics, audience or salary.
machine7 min 11 s40:13on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
If money was earned in a haram way, is it haram for whoever receives it?
Money is not haram in itself, Mufti Abu Layth says: the sin lies with whoever earned it unlawfully, not with someone who later receives it unknowingly.
machine7 min 31 s40:27on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestDo I pay zakat again on savings that haven't grown?
Zakat is due again each year on the same savings, Mufti Abu Layth says, giving it as what is technically said.
machine2 min 30 s2:32:30on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Staying positive: the 'Super Mario effect' and Pogba's advice
An interlude on positivity: learning as a game and a footballer's advice on gratitude and goals.
machine2 min 28 s1:28:13on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can I work as a recruiter if some of the jobs are in banking?
Yes, he says one may work as a recruiter for such a company; it is not haram in his understanding.
machine1 min 17 s1:40:51on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestHow do I deal with toxic people and negativity around me?
Leave toxic groups and block negativity, since people can never be pleased; he adds that he finds most religious circles toxic.
machine5 min 22 s31:00on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can I take a mortgage, and can I urinate standing up?
Bank interest is not the Quran's riba in his understanding, and urinating standing up is fine, with care over splashing.
machine3 min 42 s37:40on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
How can I make the new year a more positive one?
His tips for the year: speak positively, smile, leave toxic circles and start something new, whether a skill or an investment.
machine8 min 44 s1:35:51on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is Sharia-compliant investing really different from normal investing?
Mufti Abu Layth says ethical investing is fine, but interest loopholes are absurd: bank interest is not Quranic riba and mortgages are permissible.
machine9 min 53 s1:00:41on YouTube
1 Oct 2020video
Are tattoos haram, and can I work as a tattoo artist?
Some Maliki scholars held tattoos permissible on the body, forbidding them only on the face because of harm, and being a tattoo artist is not haram by default.
machine8 min 17 s2:01on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why isn't bank interest riba?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that today's bank interest is not the riba the Quran addresses, arguing that the usual definition of riba as 'something extra' does not hold together.
machine6 min 37 s15:18on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Should the zakat threshold be different in each country?
Mufti Abu Layth says regional thresholds make sense to him, since the nisab rests on weak hadith and the detailed zakat system was largely built by later scholars.
machine8 min 15 s50:33on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does paying taxes count as paying zakat?
Yes, he believes paying taxes suffices for zakat today, provided the person also gives charity at various points in the year.
machine1 min 58 s58:51on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does giving charity protect me from bad things happening?
Yes: he says giving brings good back, beginning with family, and recalls receiving much more after giving when money was tight.
machine3 min 12 s1:00:09on YouTube
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