Mufti Abu Layth Archive: Ponderings on the Holy Quran

Why did Moses carry a staff?

2019-12-29T00:00:00Z

Why did Moses carry a staff?

Mufti Abu Layth says Moses' staff partly reflects the Pharaonic culture he grew up in, and that keeping cultural practices is fine without affiliating with paganism. Mufti Abu Layth says he thinks part of Moses' staff was the culture of the Pharaohs he grew up in, where the pine-cone staff symbolised Osiris.

Answer from 29 December 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Who is Uzair in the Quran? Ezra or Osiris? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 14:29)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir/contested-verses exists (19 August 2022): Is Quran 22:52 about the satanic verses incident?

Watch on YouTube at 14:29 · Open the segment

Why did the Israelites ask Moses for an idol after leaving Egypt?

2019-12-29T00:00:00Z

Why did the Israelites ask Moses for an idol after leaving Egypt?

Mufti Abu Layth says the Israelites' request for an idol in 7:138 shows the Egyptian culture they carried, which explains them calling Osiris a son of God. Mufti Abu Layth says the Israelites emerging from Egypt carried a huge cultural baggage.

Answer from 29 December 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Who is Uzair in the Quran? Ezra or Osiris? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 11:26)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir/contested-verses exists (19 August 2022): Is Quran 22:52 about the satanic verses incident?

Watch on YouTube at 11:26 · Open the segment

Could Uzair in the Quran be the Egyptian figure Osiris?

2019-12-29T00:00:00Z

Could Uzair in the Quran be the Egyptian figure Osiris?

Mufti Abu Layth says it now appears to him that Uzair is Osiris, a divine hero of Egyptian mythology who shaped the culture the Israelites grew up in. Mufti Abu Layth says that, having revisited the question, it appears Uzair in the verse is Osiris of Egyptian mythology rather than Ezra.

Answer from 29 December 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Who is Uzair in the Quran? Ezra or Osiris? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 5:45)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir/contested-verses exists (19 August 2022): Is Quran 22:52 about the satanic verses incident?

Watch on YouTube at 5:45 · Open the segment

Who is Uzair mentioned in the Quran?

2019-12-29T00:00:00Z

Who is Uzair mentioned in the Quran?

Mufti Abu Layth says the common reading of Uzair as Ezra does not really fit, since Jews never called Ezra the son of God. Mufti Abu Layth says the interpretation of Uzair as Ezra does not really fit the bill and can only be a forced fit.

Answer from 29 December 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Who is Uzair in the Quran? Ezra or Osiris? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir/contested-verses exists (19 August 2022): Is Quran 22:52 about the satanic verses incident?

Watch on YouTube at 0:33 · Open the segment

Is Islam supposed to feel like a burden?

2019-11-03T00:00:00Z

Is Islam supposed to feel like a burden?

The deen is one of ease and should complement a person's life rather than burden them with guilt and suffering. An interpretation of Islam that weighs people down is, in Mufti Abu Layth's view, not the one the religion came with. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the deen is one of ease that should complement a person's life rather than impede it, and that an interpretation of Islam which burdens people with guilt and suffering is not the one the religion came with.

Answer from 3 November 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Verse in Surah Al-Nur about the Hijab | Mufti Abu Layth (at 17:02)

A more recent answer on wellbeing/religious-guilt-and-scrupulosity exists (16 April 2022): Am I only praying because I fear God will punish me?

Watch on YouTube at 17:02 · Open the segment

Can a husband or father force a woman to wear hijab?

2019-11-03T00:00:00Z

Can a husband or father force a woman to wear hijab?

Forcing women to cover their hair is categorically wrong in Mufti Abu Layth's view and does greater harm. He attributes the pressure to men's insecurity about women and to guilt imposed through fatwas that curse men whose wives do not cover, both of which he calls wrong. Mufti Abu Layth holds that for men to coerce women into covering their hair is categorically wrong and does greater harm, and that the pressure to do so comes from male insecurity about women and from guilt imposed through fatwas, both of which he calls inaccurate and wrong.

Answer from 3 November 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Verse in Surah Al-Nur about the Hijab | Mufti Abu Layth (at 11:49)

A more recent answer on relationships/masculinity-and-gender-roles exists (9 May 2023): How did the Prophet balance gentleness and strength?

Watch on YouTube at 11:49 · Open the segment

Is it a sin for a Muslim woman not to cover her hair?

2019-11-03T00:00:00Z

Is it a sin for a Muslim woman not to cover her hair?

Contemporary scholars who say covering the hair is not obligatory hold a valid position, and not wearing hijab is an equally valid opinion to wearing it, which Mufti Abu Layth calls good as part of a woman's identity. What the Quran explicitly establishes is modesty, and the choice is a personal journey, not something to impose. Mufti Abu Layth holds that scholars who say covering the hair is not obligatory have a valid position, that wearing hijab is a good thing as part of a woman's identity, and that not wearing it is an equally valid opinion and not a matter of going to hell, since only modesty is explicitly established in the Quran and the sound Sunnah.

Answer from 3 November 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Verse in Surah Al-Nur about the Hijab | Mufti Abu Layth (at 9:10)

A more recent answer on fiqh/legal-theory exists (18 October 2025): If reason helps us understand the Quran, does the reasoning of earlier scholars matter too?

Watch on YouTube at 9:10 · Open the segment

Does the Quran actually tell women to cover their hair, or only their chest?

2019-11-03T00:00:00Z

Does the Quran actually tell women to cover their hair, or only their chest?

There is nothing explicit in the Quran or Sunnah about covering the head; the verse of al-Nur tells women to cover the jayb (the chest opening) with the khimar they already wore, and whether the khimar itself is obligatory or circumstantial is an open question. Covering the hair became the settled teaching within a generation of the companions. Mufti Abu Layth says there is nothing explicit in the Quran or the established Sunnah about covering the head: hijab is a modern term, the verse of al-Nur commands covering the jayb with the khimar women already wore, and whether the khimar itself is an obligation or a circumstance of the time is an open question.

Answer from 3 November 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Verse in Surah Al-Nur about the Hijab | Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:04)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir/contested-verses exists (19 August 2022): Is Quran 22:52 about the satanic verses incident?

Watch on YouTube at 0:04 · Open the segment

Why the Quran could not be corrupted like hadith, and the fashion for chains

2019-09-28T00:00:00Z

Why the Quran could not be corrupted like hadith, and the fashion for chains

Corrupting the Quran was next to impossible because it was recited en masse everywhere; hadith, written down a century later, were easy to fabricate, and chains for the Quran came later as a fashion. Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran was never transmitted through a sole transmitter but taught en masse, so problematising hadith does not problematise the Quran.

Answer from 28 September 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Does criticising Hadith transmission mean criticising the Quran tranmssion? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 12:47)

A more recent answer on hadith/mutawatir-and-epistemology exists (18 October 2025): Is the Quran-only position an argument from epistemology or from principle?

Watch on YouTube at 12:47 · Open the segment

Why people fabricated hadith: good intentions, false memories, money and politics

2019-09-28T00:00:00Z

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. Mufti Abu Layth says some people fabricated teachings with good intentions, saying they lied for the Prophet rather than against him.

Answer from 28 September 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Does criticising Hadith transmission mean criticising the Quran tranmssion? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 7:38)

A more recent answer on hadith/false-and-fabricated exists (18 October 2025): Why does Mufti Abu Layth see the Quran-only movement as a reaction of anger?

Watch on YouTube at 7:38 · Open the segment

If some hadith are unreliable, doesn't that make the Quran unreliable too?

2019-09-28T00:00:00Z

If some hadith are unreliable, doesn't that make the Quran unreliable too?

No: the Quran was passed on en masse as a recited living tradition, so doubts about particular hadith chains do not carry over to it. Mufti Abu Layth says those who argue that weakening hadith weakens the Quran have not truly understood how the Quran was transmitted.

Answer from 28 September 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Does criticising Hadith transmission mean criticising the Quran tranmssion? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:01)

A more recent answer on hadith/bukhari exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth challenge hadith in BukhariGate, and can the Prophet be called the most beloved of creation?

Watch on YouTube at 1:58 · Open the segment

Is forcing your wife to have sex a sin in Islam?

2019-07-25T00:00:00Z

Is forcing your wife to have sex a sin in Islam?

Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says coercive sex with one's wife is haram, and that Muslims who deny this create the problem. He cites Imam Malik's saying that what set right the first of this umma will set right its last, meaning the independence to challenge inherited readings shaped by medieval patriarchy. Mufti Abu Layth holds that coercive sex with one's wife is haram, that Muslims who deny this are the problem, and that, following Imam Malik's saying, the umma is set right by the independence to challenge inherited readings shaped by the patriarchy of past ages.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 32:36)

A more recent answer on fiqh/legal-theory exists (18 October 2025): If reason helps us understand the Quran, does the reasoning of earlier scholars matter too?

Watch on YouTube at 32:36 · Open the segment

How does the rule that a clear verse overrides an ambiguous one apply to Quran 65:4?

2019-07-25T00:00:00Z

How does the rule that a clear verse overrides an ambiguous one apply to Quran 65:4?

By a principle of usul the ambiguous phrase 'those who have not menstruated' is read in the light of the clear opening term women, which cancels any reading that includes girls. The Quran could have said fatayat but addressed them as nisa. Mufti Abu Layth holds that by the usuli principle that a clear text governs an ambiguous one, the opening term nisa in Surah al-Talaq cancels any reading of 'those who have not menstruated' that would include girls.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 29:58)

A more recent answer on fiqh/legal-theory exists (18 October 2025): If reason helps us understand the Quran, does the reasoning of earlier scholars matter too?

Watch on YouTube at 29:58 · Open the segment

Did Imam Malik allow marriage to be consummated with a girl who was not yet nubile?

2019-07-25T00:00:00Z

Did Imam Malik allow marriage to be consummated with a girl who was not yet nubile?

No: Mufti Abu Layth says Imam Malik's fatwa was clear that sexual relations with a wife are haram unless she is nubile. Scholars who read 65:4 to include girls were men influenced by the patriarchy of their age and were wrong, while others such as Ibn Ashur, al-Samarqandi, Abu Hayyan and al-Alusi did not read it so. Mufti Abu Layth holds that Imam Malik ruled sexual relations with a wife haram unless she was nubile, and that the commentators who read 65:4 to include girls were wrong and influenced by the patriarchy of their age, which is not Islam.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 27:19)

A more recent answer on fiqh/legal-theory exists (18 October 2025): If reason helps us understand the Quran, does the reasoning of earlier scholars matter too?

Watch on YouTube at 27:19 · Open the segment

Does the word 'women' in Surah al-Talaq rule out children?

2019-07-25T00:00:00Z

Does the word 'women' in Surah al-Talaq rule out children?

Yes: the passage opens with nisa, women, a word never used of a six- or seven-year-old, just as boys are never called rijal, and the verses go on to envisage pregnancy, which nobody would expect of a child. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the word nisa with which the passage opens is never used of a little girl, any more than rijal is used of a boy, and that the passage's provision for pregnancy shows it concerns adult women.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 24:43)

A more recent answer on quran/arabic-language exists (18 October 2025): Is the 'light' that came with the clear book in 5:15 the Prophet or the Quran itself?

Watch on YouTube at 24:43 · Open the segment

Did classical scholars really say Quran 65:4 includes little girls?

2019-07-25T00:00:00Z

Did classical scholars really say Quran 65:4 includes little girls?

Yes, some did: Mufti Abu Layth concedes that commentators such as Ibn Kathir and al-Qurtubi wrote that the phrase can include little girls, which he condemns as a mistake. He says their saying so is not the Quran saying so, and the evidence lies in how the passage opens. Mufti Abu Layth concedes that commentators such as Ibn Kathir and al-Qurtubi wrote that 65:4 can include little girls, condemns this as a mistake, and holds that a commentator's reading does not make the Quran say it.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 22:06)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 22:06 · Open the segment

Does 'those who have not menstruated' in Quran 65:4 refer to little girls?

2019-07-25T00:00:00Z

Does 'those who have not menstruated' in Quran 65:4 refer to little girls?

No: Mufti Abu Layth says the phrase refers to women whose cycles are absent through illness or irregularity, as Abu Hayyan, Ibn Ashur, al-Samarqandi, Abu al-Su'ud and Ibn Atiyya read it. Al-Tha'labi records that the verse was revealed about a man who divorced his wife during her menses. Mufti Abu Layth holds that 'those who have not menstruated' in 65:4 refers to women whose cycles are absent through illness or irregularity, not to prepubescent girls, as Abu Hayyan, Ibn Ashur and other commentators read it.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 18:09)

A more recent answer on fiqh/divorce exists (10 March 2023): Why was Imam Malik flogged?

Watch on YouTube at 18:09 · Open the segment

What does Quran 65:4 say about the waiting period for women whose periods have stopped?

2019-07-25T00:00:00Z

What does Quran 65:4 say about the waiting period for women whose periods have stopped?

Women who have despaired of menstruation wait three months, a rule Mufti Abu Layth reads as addressed to men who are unsure whether a woman has reached the menopause, so that pregnancy can be excluded; the pregnant wait until childbirth. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the doubt in 65:4 is the men's doubt about whether a woman has reached the menopause, in which case her iddah is a flat three months so that pregnancy can be excluded.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 15:33)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir exists (18 October 2025): Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?

Watch on YouTube at 15:33 · Open the segment

What does the Quran say about how a divorce should end and about a divorced woman's future?

2019-07-25T00:00:00Z

What does the Quran say about how a divorce should end and about a divorced woman's future?

At the end of the iddah the couple must either reconcile or part with kindness before witnesses, and Mufti Abu Layth reads the promise that God makes a way out and provides from unexpected places as reassurance to the vulnerable party that she need not accept oppression for shelter. The objector, he says, skips all of this. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the promise in 65:2-3 that God makes a way out and provides from unexpected places is addressed to the vulnerable party in a divorce, who need not accept oppression for the sake of shelter and food.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 10:20)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir exists (18 October 2025): Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?

Watch on YouTube at 10:20 · Open the segment

What is the iddah after divorce and why does the Quran require it?

2019-07-25T00:00:00Z

What is the iddah after divorce and why does the Quran require it?

The iddah is a waiting period of one to three cycles after a divorce which establishes whether the woman is pregnant and prevents suspicion and conflict, and during it she keeps the right to stay in the home. Mufti Abu Layth reads this as the opening of the passage the objector quotes from. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the iddah in Surah al-Talaq serves to establish pregnancy and to prevent suspicion and conflict after a divorce, and that the divorced woman is entitled to remain in the home during it.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 6:26)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir exists (18 October 2025): Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?

Watch on YouTube at 6:26 · Open the segment

How should Muslims respond to an ex-Muslim who criticises the Quran?

2019-07-25T00:00:00Z

How should Muslims respond to an ex-Muslim who criticises the Quran?

Attack the argument, not the person: Mufti Abu Layth says a genuine seeker deserves respect, that the claim itself is false, and that Muslims who call the Prophet a mercy to the world must show it in how they respond. Mufti Abu Layth holds that people who are genuine in their search should be left to search wherever it takes them, and that Muslims should not attack an ex-Muslim critic as a person.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 5:07)

A more recent answer on society/dawah-and-debate-culture exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 5:07 · Open the segment

Who transmitted the hadith 'whoever changes his religion, kill him', and does the Quran punish apostasy?

2019-07-25T00:00:00Z

Who transmitted the hadith 'whoever changes his religion, kill him', and does the Quran punish apostasy?

Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran is ambivalent about those who leave Islam and that the call to kill apostates is nonsense; the report 'whoever changes his religion, kill him' in Bukhari rests solely on Ikrima, a Khariji whom Imam Malik and Ibn Umar distrusted. He introduces Abdullah Sameer's post as the subject he will answer. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the Quran is ambivalent towards those who leave Islam and prescribes no killing of apostates, and that the report 'whoever changes his religion, kill him' rests solely on Ikrima, a Khariji whom Imam Malik and companions distrusted.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on fiqh/public-law-and-governance/apostasy-and-blasphemy exists (29 September 2024): Is someone who says something wrong about the Prophet guilty of blasphemy?

Watch on YouTube at 1:18 · Open the segment

Does the Quran say there are three or five daily prayers?

2019-07-24T00:00:00Z

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. Mufti Abu Layth says he personally feels the Quran does not address how many daily prayers there are, and that the agreement of Sunnis, Shia and Ibadis on five prayers shows, in his understanding irrefutably, a proto-Sunnah living tradition that preceded the hadith books.

Answer from 24 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Does the Quran say how many Prayers? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:01)

A more recent answer on fiqh/prayer exists (18 October 2025): Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?

Watch on YouTube at 0:01 · Open the segment

Did the Prophet restore the original rituals of Ibrahim at the Kaaba?

2019-07-08T00:00:00Z

Did the Prophet restore the original rituals of Ibrahim at the Kaaba?

No: nothing was in Makkah when Ibrahim arrived, and although he and Ismail built the house of remembrance, Safa and Marwa are never linked to him. The Quran presents them only as symbols for remembering God, so there is no point guessing at older origins. Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet could not have restored original Abrahamic rituals of Safa and Marwa, since nothing was in Makkah when Ibrahim arrived and the Quran presents Safa and Marwa only as symbols for remembering God, without linking them to Ibrahim.

Answer from 8 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Between Authenticity & Paganism: The Black Stone and Safa & Marwa -Mufti Abu Layth (at 24:46)

A more recent answer on fiqh/hajj-and-umrah exists (18 October 2025): How do Quranists perform Hajj and apply Islam without the fiqh tradition?

Watch on YouTube at 24:46 · Open the segment

Is the story of Hajar running seven times between Safa and Marwa true?

2019-07-08T00:00:00Z

Is the story of Hajar running seven times between Safa and Marwa true?

Mufti Abu Layth thinks the story of Hajar running seven times between Safa and Marwa was most likely added later to give the ritual an Abrahamic link, though he believes the Zamzam story is true. The Quran mentions Safa and Marwa only as a remembrance of God, without linking them to Hajar or Abraham. Mufti Abu Layth says the story that Hajar ran seven times between Safa and Marwa was most likely invented later to give the ritual an Abrahamic link, while he believes the story of the Zamzam spring is most likely true.

Answer from 8 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Between Authenticity & Paganism: The Black Stone and Safa & Marwa -Mufti Abu Layth (at 15:38)

A more recent answer on fiqh/hajj-and-umrah exists (18 October 2025): How do Quranists perform Hajj and apply Islam without the fiqh tradition?

Watch on YouTube at 15:38 · Open the segment

Why did God stop Abraha's army but let the Qaramita steal the Black Stone?

2019-07-08T00:00:00Z

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. Mufti Abu Layth says the Black Stone has no sanctity in itself and was most likely a remnant of pre-Islamic pagan worship, kept by Muslims and kissed by the Prophet only as a ritual of submission to God, so its theft by the Qaramita, though not a good thing, was no great matter.

Answer from 8 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Between Authenticity & Paganism: The Black Stone and Safa & Marwa -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on fiqh/hajj-and-umrah exists (18 October 2025): How do Quranists perform Hajj and apply Islam without the fiqh tradition?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Does the Sana'a manuscript support or undermine the Muslim account of the Quran's history?

2019-03-01T00:00:00Z

Does the Sana'a manuscript support or undermine the Muslim account of the Quran's history?

The Sana'a find confirms the traditional account: a first-century Quran, companions who sometimes erred as the hadith say, and Uthman's standardisation of one reading. The largest discrepancy is a dropped word that exists elsewhere in the Quran. Mufti Abu Layth says the Sana'a find confirms the traditional account of the Quran's history, a first-century text, companions who sometimes misread, and Uthman's standardisation of one reading, and so vindicates the transparency of the Muslim tradition.

Answer from 1 March 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: The Sanaʽa Manuscript -Mufti Abu Layth (at 32:35)

A more recent answer on quran/preservation-and-qiraat exists (29 September 2024): Why is lanasfa'an in Quran 96:15 written with an alif, and is it a mistake?

Watch on YouTube at 32:35 · Open the segment

Does the Sana'a manuscript prove the Quran evolved over time?

2019-03-01T00:00:00Z

Does the Sana'a manuscript prove the Quran evolved over time?

The discrepancies in the Sana'a text are petty changes of pronouns and dropped words that serve no purpose, so they cannot be a deliberate evolution of the Quran, which nobody would have risked his life for. They are most likely a writer's mistaken notes. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the Sana'a discrepancies cannot be a deliberate evolution of the Quran, because they change nothing of substance and no one would have risked his life for such petty alterations.

Answer from 1 March 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: The Sanaʽa Manuscript -Mufti Abu Layth (at 28:39)

A more recent answer on quran/preservation-and-qiraat exists (29 September 2024): Why is lanasfa'an in Quran 96:15 written with an alif, and is it a mistake?

Watch on YouTube at 28:39 · Open the segment

How did Uthman standardise the Quran, and does that explain the Sana'a text?

2019-03-01T00:00:00Z

How did Uthman standardise the Quran, and does that explain the Sana'a text?

Uthman locked in one reading in an undotted script that still allowed the known variant readings, so the lower text is either a person's mistaken note or, less likely, a reading not locked in at that time. Mufti Abu Layth prefers the first, as simple human error from memory. Mufti Abu Layth says Uthman standardised a single reading whose undotted script still allowed the variant readings, and that the Sana'a lower text is either a mistaken personal reading, which he thinks more likely, or a reading from the Prophet's time that was not locked in.

Answer from 1 March 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: The Sanaʽa Manuscript -Mufti Abu Layth (at 24:43)

A more recent answer on quran/preservation-and-qiraat exists (29 September 2024): Why is lanasfa'an in Quran 96:15 written with an alif, and is it a mistake?

Watch on YouTube at 24:43 · Open the segment

What are the differences between the Sana'a lower text and today's Quran?

2019-03-01T00:00:00Z

What are the differences between the Sana'a lower text and today's Quran?

The lower text differs from today's Quran in twenty to thirty mostly small ways, such as a missing word or a changed pronoun. Mufti Abu Layth's assessment is that it is one person's, possibly a companion's, personal notes written from a mistaken or personal reading. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the lower text of the Sana'a palimpsest is most likely someone's personal notes, possibly a companion's, written from his own and probably mistaken reading, rather than an alternative Quran.

Answer from 1 March 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: The Sanaʽa Manuscript -Mufti Abu Layth (at 22:07)

A more recent answer on quran/preservation-and-qiraat exists (29 September 2024): Why is lanasfa'an in Quran 96:15 written with an alif, and is it a mistake?

Watch on YouTube at 22:07 · Open the segment

Was the Sana'a palimpsest an official copy of the Quran or someone's personal notes?

2019-03-01T00:00:00Z

Was the Sana'a palimpsest an official copy of the Quran or someone's personal notes?

The lower text contains notes such as 'do not say bismillah here' before Surat al-Tawba, which shows it was someone's personal script, as Asma Hilali argues, and not a standard copy sent out to communities. Mufti Abu Layth finds no evidence for the Puins' view that it was official. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the lower text of the Sana'a palimpsest is somebody's personal script with his own notes, not a standard manuscript, and that there is no evidence for the view that it was an official copy.

Answer from 1 March 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: The Sanaʽa Manuscript -Mufti Abu Layth (at 19:34)

A more recent answer on quran/preservation-and-qiraat exists (29 September 2024): Why is lanasfa'an in Quran 96:15 written with an alif, and is it a mistake?

Watch on YouTube at 19:34 · Open the segment

Why might an early Arab have written a Quranic word differently?

2019-03-01T00:00:00Z

Why might an early Arab have written a Quranic word differently?

The companions spoke classical Arabic as their everyday language, so substituting a word from memory was far easier for them than for later Muslims who memorise Quranic Arabic as a separate language. Tribal pronunciation differences were known and are not the issue; the general transmission is.

Answer from 1 March 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: The Sanaʽa Manuscript -Mufti Abu Layth (at 16:56)

A more recent answer on quran/arabic-language exists (18 October 2025): Is the 'light' that came with the clear book in 5:15 the Prophet or the Quran itself?

Watch on YouTube at 16:56 · Open the segment

Did the companions ever read or understand the Quran differently from each other?

2019-03-01T00:00:00Z

Did the companions ever read or understand the Quran differently from each other?

Muslims already accept that the Quran was revealed with fluidity: the Prophet approved different recitations, and the tradition openly records companions such as Ibn Mas'ud holding mistaken views about what was part of the Quran and pronouncing letters by their tribal dialect. None of this is a shock to Muslims. Mufti Abu Layth says the tradition itself records that the Prophet approved different recitations and that companions such as Ibn Mas'ud sometimes held mistaken views about what belonged to the Quran, so variant readings in an early manuscript are nothing new to Muslims.

Answer from 1 March 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: The Sanaʽa Manuscript -Mufti Abu Layth (at 13:02)

A more recent answer on quran/preservation-and-qiraat exists (29 September 2024): Why is lanasfa'an in Quran 96:15 written with an alif, and is it a mistake?

Watch on YouTube at 13:02 · Open the segment

Does the Sana'a manuscript show that the Quran was changed?

2019-03-01T00:00:00Z

Does the Sana'a manuscript show that the Quran was changed?

The Sana'a manuscript and others such as the Birmingham manuscript date to the first century of Islam, when the Quran was the one text Muslims documented and taught everywhere. The Quran was too widespread and too distinctive in style to corrupt profitably, which is why fabrication targeted hadith instead. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the Sana'a find does not show an evolving Quran: the manuscript dates to the first century like others, the Quran was the one text documented and taught everywhere from the start, and it was too widespread and too distinctive in style to corrupt, so fabrication targeted hadith instead.

Answer from 1 March 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: The Sanaʽa Manuscript -Mufti Abu Layth (at 7:47)

A more recent answer on hadith/false-and-fabricated exists (18 October 2025): Why does Mufti Abu Layth see the Quran-only movement as a reaction of anger?

Watch on YouTube at 7:47 · Open the segment

Who has studied the Sana'a palimpsest and what is the controversy about?

2019-03-01T00:00:00Z

Who has studied the Sana'a palimpsest and what is the controversy about?

The Sana'a manuscript is a palimpsest studied by the Puins, Asma Hilali, Sadeghi and Goudarzi, and people online have used it to claim that the Quran Muslims have is not the original. Mufti Abu Layth sets out to answer that claim.

Answer from 1 March 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: The Sanaʽa Manuscript -Mufti Abu Layth (at 5:10)

A more recent answer on quran/preservation-and-qiraat exists (29 September 2024): Why is lanasfa'an in Quran 96:15 written with an alif, and is it a mistake?

Watch on YouTube at 5:10 · Open the segment

Why does the Sana'a manuscript have two layers of text?

2019-03-01T00:00:00Z

Why does the Sana'a manuscript have two layers of text?

The Sana'a parchment is a reused sheet: an earlier Quranic text was wiped and written over, as was common before paper, and modern imaging has recovered the lower text. That lower text differs in some ways from the Quran as read today.

Answer from 1 March 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: The Sanaʽa Manuscript -Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:36)

A more recent answer on quran/preservation-and-qiraat exists (29 September 2024): Why is lanasfa'an in Quran 96:15 written with an alif, and is it a mistake?

Watch on YouTube at 2:36 · Open the segment

What are the Sana'a manuscripts and how were they discovered?

2019-03-01T00:00:00Z

What are the Sana'a manuscripts and how were they discovered?

The Sana'a manuscripts are parchment pages of the Quran, including much of Surat al-Tawba, found in the 1970s in the loft of a mosque dome in Sana'a, where old sacred texts had been stored and forgotten. Storing texts this way was a common practice.

Answer from 1 March 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: The Sanaʽa Manuscript -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on quran/preservation-and-qiraat exists (29 September 2024): Why is lanasfa'an in Quran 96:15 written with an alif, and is it a mistake?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

What does it mean that Jesus spoke to people in the cradle and in old age?

2019-02-23T00:00:00Z

What does it mean that Jesus spoke to people in the cradle and in old age?

Mufti Abu Layth says the verse means Jesus would relate to people of every age when he preached, not that he spoke as a baby; that story likely came from apocryphal infancy gospels. Mufti Abu Layth says the verse means that Jesus, when he preached, would have such wisdom that he could relate to people of every age, from the very young to the old.

Answer from 23 February 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Did Jesus (a.s.) Speak in the Cradle? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 13:57)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir/contested-verses exists (19 August 2022): Is Quran 22:52 about the satanic verses incident?

Watch on YouTube at 13:57 · Open the segment

Did Jesus really speak as a baby in the cradle?

2019-02-23T00:00:00Z

Did Jesus really speak as a baby in the cradle?

Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran does not say Jesus spoke as a baby; the Maryam passage most likely refers to Jesus at twelve debating the priests in the Temple, as in Luke. Mufti Abu Layth says that the popular story of the baby Jesus speaking to save Mary from being stoned is, in his understanding, not true at all.

Answer from 23 February 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Did Jesus (a.s.) Speak in the Cradle? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:02)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir/contested-verses exists (19 August 2022): Is Quran 22:52 about the satanic verses incident?

Watch on YouTube at 1:15 · Open the segment

Closing: removing the cobwebs of folklore, and sign-off

2019-01-14T00:00:00Z

Closing: removing the cobwebs of folklore, and sign-off

Sign-off: Muslims should be confident in their faith and clear away folklore and superstition.

Answer from 14 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Recording: Who Was Khidr (a.s.)? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 29:07)

Watch on YouTube at 29:07 · Open the segment

Is al-Khidr a real person who is still alive?

2019-01-14T00:00:00Z

Is al-Khidr a real person who is still alive?

No: he reads al-Khidr as part of a vision shown to Musa, whose three events mirrored Musa's own life and mission. The boy was not really killed, and al-Khidr does not roam the earth. Mufti Abu Layth says al-Khidr was part of Musa's vision and not actually a real person who roams among us.

Answer from 14 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Who Was Khidr (a.s.)? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 22:48)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 22:48 · Open the segment

Is al-Khidr a prophet, and is he still alive?

2019-01-14T00:00:00Z

Is al-Khidr a prophet, and is he still alive?

Classical scholars disagreed on whether al-Khidr was a prophet or a saint, and many held he is still alive while others denied it. Mufti Abu Layth likens the stories of his appearances to saint legends in other religions.

Answer from 14 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Who Was Khidr (a.s.)? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 14:02)

A more recent answer on belief/sufism exists (28 February 2024): A fate worse than death: each of us is a mirror for divine potential

Watch on YouTube at 14:02 · Open the segment

Was the story of Musa and al-Khidr a dream?

2019-01-14T00:00:00Z

Was the story of Musa and al-Khidr a dream?

Mufti Abu Layth reads everything after Musa and his companion fell asleep at the rock as a vision, which explains its strange details. Scholars who read it literally struggled to explain them. Mufti Abu Layth says that he feels earlier scholars overlooked that everything after Musa and his companion fell asleep at the rock happened in a vision.

Answer from 14 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Who Was Khidr (a.s.)? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 8:22)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 8:22 · Open the segment

What happened between Musa and al-Khidr in Surat al-Kahf?

2019-01-14T00:00:00Z

What happened between Musa and al-Khidr in Surat al-Kahf?

Musa and his companion travel to the meeting of two seas, meet a servant of Allah who damages a ship, kills a boy and repairs a wall, and is rebuked by Musa each time. Al-Bukhari's hadith adds the detail that Musa had claimed to be the most knowledgeable of people.

Answer from 14 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Who Was Khidr (a.s.)? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:35)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir exists (18 October 2025): Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?

Watch on YouTube at 2:35 · Open the segment

Who was al-Khidr and why is he called the green one?

2019-01-14T00:00:00Z

Who was al-Khidr and why is he called the green one?

Al-Khidr is a figure of Islamic literature and folk belief whose name means the green one, said to be because the ground turned green where he sat. Earlier scholars preferred the pronunciation al-Khadir.

Answer from 14 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Who Was Khidr (a.s.)? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on quran/stories-of-the-prophets exists (13 April 2021): What was the real crime of the people of Lut?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Did Jesus really speak as a baby in the cradle?

2019-01-08T00:00:00Z

Did Jesus really speak as a baby in the cradle?

Mufti Abu Layth reads it as Jesus aged about twelve debating the Temple elders, as in the Gospel of Luke, which fits the history better than a speaking baby. Mufti Abu Layth says the interpretation that Jesus was a boy debating the Temple elders fits with reality better than a speaking baby.

Answer from 8 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: Sulaiman (a.s.), the Throne of Sheba, and Miracles in the Quran -Mufti Abu Layth (at 45:09)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 45:09 · Open the segment

What happened when the Queen of Sheba came to Sulayman?

2019-01-08T00:00:00Z

What happened when the Queen of Sheba came to Sulayman?

She was shown a throne grander than hers in a mere waiting room and humbled, then became Muslim; her uncovering her legs on the glass floor was no obscenity. Mufti Abu Layth says that if the Queen of Sheba uncovering her lower legs had been an obscenity, it would not be stated in the Quran.

Answer from 8 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: Sulaiman (a.s.), the Throne of Sheba, and Miracles in the Quran -Mufti Abu Layth (at 40:51)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 40:51 · Open the segment

Did Prophet Sulayman steal the Queen of Sheba's throne?

2019-01-08T00:00:00Z

Did Prophet Sulayman steal the Queen of Sheba's throne?

No: he reads the story as Sulayman having a grander replica made from a detailed description, since prophets do not steal thrones. Mufti Abu Layth says it does not befit prophets to steal thrones.

Answer from 8 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: Sulaiman (a.s.), the Throne of Sheba, and Miracles in the Quran -Mufti Abu Layth (at 33:54)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 33:54 · Open the segment

Did a jinn really bring the Queen of Sheba's throne to Sulayman?

2019-01-08T00:00:00Z

Did a jinn really bring the Queen of Sheba's throne to Sulayman?

Mufti Abu Layth doubts it: following Athari's tafsir, the 'jinn' here were a division of Sulayman's forces, one of three branches of his state. Mufti Abu Layth says the reading that a demon from the jinn would bring the throne does not, in his understanding, make much sense.

Answer from 8 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: Sulaiman (a.s.), the Throne of Sheba, and Miracles in the Quran -Mufti Abu Layth (at 27:28)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 27:28 · Open the segment

What does the Quran say about kings in the story of Sheba?

2019-01-08T00:00:00Z

What does the Quran say about kings in the story of Sheba?

The Queen's saying that kings ruin the towns they enter raises the question of what gives anyone the right to rule others. Mufti Abu Layth says kingship began when some person one day assumed the right to subjugate others, and it became a human legacy.

Answer from 8 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: Sulaiman (a.s.), the Throne of Sheba, and Miracles in the Quran -Mufti Abu Layth (at 24:54)

A more recent answer on fiqh/public-law-and-governance exists (26 April 2021): Why does China try to control who becomes the Dalai Lama?

Watch on YouTube at 24:54 · Open the segment

Was the hoopoe in the story of Sulayman really a bird?

2019-01-08T00:00:00Z

Was the hoopoe in the story of Sulayman really a bird?

Probably not, in his reading: the Arabic used of it is used only for humans, so the tafsir that it was one of Sulayman's intelligence agents makes sense. Mufti Abu Layth says the reading of the hudhud as one of Sulayman's intelligence agents makes sense given the verbs used, which refer to human beings.

Answer from 8 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: Sulaiman (a.s.), the Throne of Sheba, and Miracles in the Quran -Mufti Abu Layth (at 18:30)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 18:30 · Open the segment

Does the Quran criticise the Queen of Sheba for ruling over men?

2019-01-08T00:00:00Z

Does the Quran criticise the Queen of Sheba for ruling over men?

No: the Quran portrays her as a woman of great power over male ministers and never rebukes her for it. Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran does not rebuke the Queen of Sheba in any sense for her power over an administration of men.

Answer from 8 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: Sulaiman (a.s.), the Throne of Sheba, and Miracles in the Quran -Mufti Abu Layth (at 15:58)

A more recent answer on society/women-and-gender exists (10 March 2023): Who carried on Imam Malik's teaching after him?

Watch on YouTube at 15:58 · Open the segment

If God can do anything, why not take the miracles in Quranic stories literally?

2019-01-08T00:00:00Z

If God can do anything, why not take the miracles in Quranic stories literally?

Reading the stories as suspensions of natural law means ditching reason, which leaves no ground to reject any myth; reason must be all in, though the prophets were real people. Mufti Abu Layth says reason is either all in or out, and one cannot follow it only ninety per cent of the time.

Answer from 8 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: Sulaiman (a.s.), the Throne of Sheba, and Miracles in the Quran -Mufti Abu Layth (at 9:32)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 9:32 · Open the segment

How should Muslims read the stories in the Quran?

2019-01-08T00:00:00Z

How should Muslims read the stories in the Quran?

Quranic stories can be read as narrative and for lessons, but where they suggest the supernatural we must ask how to read them, unlike myths we never take as real. Mufti Abu Layth says some stories in the Quran suggest supernatural events without explicitly stating them.

Answer from 8 January 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: Sulaiman (a.s.), the Throne of Sheba, and Miracles in the Quran -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 1:57 · Open the segment

Why did Khidr kill the boy in Surah al-Kahf?

2018-12-24T00:00:00Z

Why did Khidr kill the boy in Surah al-Kahf?

Mufti Abu Layth reads the ship, the boy and the wall as a vision mirroring Musa's mission; no child was really killed, since God would never allow that. Mufti Abu Layth says the boy was not killed in reality, since God would never allow anybody to murder a child.

Answer from 24 December 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: The Story Explained: Did Musa & Khidr (a.s.) Kill a Child? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 11:22)

A more recent answer on quran/stories-of-the-prophets/moses exists (19 February 2022): What do you think of the rational readings of the Quran on the Marvelous Quran channel?

Watch on YouTube at 11:22 · Open the segment

Did the journey of Musa and Khidr really happen, or was it a vision?

2018-12-24T00:00:00Z

Did the journey of Musa and Khidr really happen, or was it a vision?

Mufti Abu Layth holds that everything after Musa and Joshua slept at the rock happened in a vision, which explains the story's strange shifts. Mufti Abu Layth says that he feels earlier scholars overlooked that everything after Musa and his companion fell asleep at the rock happened in a vision.

Answer from 24 December 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: The Story Explained: Did Musa & Khidr (a.s.) Kill a Child? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 5:31)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir/contested-verses exists (19 August 2022): Is Quran 22:52 about the satanic verses incident?

Watch on YouTube at 5:31 · Open the segment

The story of Musa and the servant of Allah in Surah al-Kahf and al-Bukhari

2018-12-24T00:00:00Z

The story of Musa and the servant of Allah in Surah al-Kahf and al-Bukhari

Mufti Abu Layth outlines the story of Musa and the servant of Allah from Surah al-Kahf 18:60 onwards and its fuller telling in al-Bukhari's hadith 4725.

Answer from 24 December 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: The Story Explained: Did Musa & Khidr (a.s.) Kill a Child? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:01)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir exists (18 October 2025): Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?

Watch on YouTube at 0:01 · Open the segment

Does the Quran support human evolution?

2018-12-06T00:00:00Z

Does the Quran support human evolution?

Mufti Abu Layth reads several verses as arguing for evolution and says Eve is not named in the Quran. No one has to accept evolution, but those who do should not be called heretics. Mufti Abu Layth says that, while people may believe what they want about evolution, these Quranic verses clearly argue for it.

Answer from 6 December 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: The Quran and Evolution -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on quran/quran-and-science/evolution exists (19 January 2022): Where do Neanderthals fit in the Islamic story of Adam?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

What verses do Muslims use to argue Jesus had a natural birth with a father?

2018-10-25T00:00:00Z

What verses do Muslims use to argue Jesus had a natural birth with a father?

The Quran implies a virgin conception but never states it, and the scholars who held Jesus had a father argue from 6:85-87 and 6:101. People may believe either, but calling those scholars deviant is a huge stretch. Mufti Abu Layth says that declaring those who read the Quran as not teaching a virgin birth deviant or no longer mainstream Muslims is a huge stretch, when the Quran itself does not actually say it.

Answer from 25 October 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Does the Quran Mention a Virgin Birth for Jesus (a.s.)? - Mufti Abu Layth (at 11:43)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 11:43 · Open the segment

Does the Quran actually say Mary had a virgin birth?

2018-10-25T00:00:00Z

Does the Quran actually say Mary had a virgin birth?

No verse of the Quran directly says Jesus was born of a virgin; a verse implies it, and Muslims have differed on it. Mary was married, is never called the Virgin Mary in Islam, and most likely did not remain a virgin all her life. Mufti Abu Layth says that no verse of the Quran directly says that Mary's was a virgin birth, though a verse implies it.

Answer from 25 October 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Does the Quran Mention a Virgin Birth for Jesus (a.s.)? - Mufti Abu Layth (at 6:33)

A more recent answer on quran/stories-of-the-prophets/jesus exists (19 February 2022): What do you think of the rational readings of the Quran on the Marvelous Quran channel?

Watch on YouTube at 6:33 · Open the segment

Why does the Quran call Jesus the Word of God and mention the Holy Spirit with him?

2018-10-25T00:00:00Z

Why does the Quran call Jesus the Word of God and mention the Holy Spirit with him?

The Quran uses terms of Jesus that it uses of no other prophet, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, which Muslims do not take literally. He suggests this Christian rhetoric was perhaps meant to build bridges with Christians. Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran uses Christian rhetoric about Jesus, such as the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, perhaps in order to build bridges between the Muslim and Christian communities.

Answer from 25 October 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Does the Quran Mention a Virgin Birth for Jesus (a.s.)? - Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:05)

A more recent answer on quran/stories-of-the-prophets/jesus exists (19 February 2022): What do you think of the rational readings of the Quran on the Marvelous Quran channel?

Watch on YouTube at 0:05 · Open the segment

Do Muslims really get 72 virgins in Paradise?

2018-10-08T00:00:00Z

Do Muslims really get 72 virgins in Paradise?

The number 72 or 73 has no basis and comes from a fabricated or very weak report that became an old wives' tale. The Quran does mention women and virgins in Paradise in modest terms, and some non-sahih reports speak of sexual relations there. Mufti Abu Layth says there is no mention anywhere of a number of 72 or 73 virgins, which he thinks may come from a fabricated or extremely weak report, while the Quran does mention women and virgins in Paradise in modest terms and some non-sahih reports speak of sexual relations there.

Answer from 8 October 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: What Islam says about '72 Virgins' in Paradise -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on hadith/false-and-fabricated exists (18 October 2025): Why does Mufti Abu Layth see the Quran-only movement as a reaction of anger?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Why does the Quran call the ruler in Yusuf's story a king but Musa's a Pharaoh?

2018-08-11T00:00:00Z

Why does the Quran call the ruler in Yusuf's story a king but Musa's a Pharaoh?

The thousand sana follow the counting of Nuh's own people and the fifty 'am are years as we count them. The Quran relates narratives in the terms of their own time, as when Yusuf's ruler is a king and Musa's is Pharaoh. Mufti Abu Layth holds that in Quran 29:14 the thousand sana follow the counting of Nuh's own people while the fifty 'am are years as we count them, and that the Quran relates narratives in the terms of their own time, as when the ruler in Yusuf's story is called a king and not a pharaoh.

Answer from 11 August 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: The Prophet Noah (a.s.) Did Not Live for 950 Years -Mufti Abu Layth (at 9:09)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 9:09 · Open the segment

Why do ancient texts say people lived for hundreds or thousands of years?

2018-08-11T00:00:00Z

Why do ancient texts say people lived for hundreds or thousands of years?

The enormous reigns in the Sumerian king lists reflect a different counting system, likely based on sixty, and the numbers shorten after the flood. Mufti Abu Layth believes the Old Testament's long lifespans were inherited from this Babylonian material. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the enormous reigns in the Sumerian king lists reflect a different counting system and that the long lifespans in the Old Testament were inherited from this Babylonian material.

Answer from 11 August 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: The Prophet Noah (a.s.) Did Not Live for 950 Years -Mufti Abu Layth (at 3:53)

A more recent answer on history/ancient-near-east-and-scripture exists (15 May 2021): Is there archaeological evidence for David's kingdom, and how did Jerusalem become holy for Muslims?

Watch on YouTube at 3:53 · Open the segment

Did the Prophet Nuh really live for 950 years?

2018-08-11T00:00:00Z

Did the Prophet Nuh really live for 950 years?

Nuh did not literally live 950 years, Mufti Abu Layth says. The verse's use of two different words for year, sana and 'am, is deliberate and not just rhetorical variation. Mufti Abu Layth holds that Nuh did not literally live for nine hundred and fifty years and that the Quran's use of two different words for year in 29:14, sana and 'am, is deliberate rather than mere rhetorical variation.

Answer from 11 August 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: The Prophet Noah (a.s.) Did Not Live for 950 Years -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Are the descriptions of paradise in the Quran meant literally?

2018-07-02T00:00:00Z

Are the descriptions of paradise in the Quran meant literally?

The afterlife is real, but he believes the Quran's imagery of paradise was an encouragement suited to its first audience rather than a literal description. Anyone who takes it literally is free to do so. Mufti Abu Layth says the afterlife itself is literal but he does not personally believe the Quran's imagery of paradise is, thinking it was just an encouragement.

Answer from 2 July 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jannah & Jahannum: Their Reality Between Literalism and Symbolism -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on quran/hermeneutics exists (18 October 2025): Does 3:188 mean everyone who likes praise will be punished?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Is it possible for Prophet Yunus to have survived inside a whale?

2018-05-26T00:00:00Z

Is it possible for Prophet Yunus to have survived inside a whale?

Highly unlikely but not impossible: the Quran describes no superhuman feat, only that he was swallowed and thrown out very sick. Mufti Abu Layth says Yunus being swallowed and surviving was a very unlikely event but not impossible.

Answer from 26 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Was Prophet Yunus (a.s.) Swallowed by a Whale? Is that Possible in Nature? -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on quran/stories-of-the-prophets exists (13 April 2021): What was the real crime of the people of Lut?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

How should Muslims treat people who leave Islam?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

How should Muslims treat people who leave Islam?

People who leave Islam should be left alone, since that is between them and God; those who misrepresent the Prophet bear blame for people's hatred, and the Prophet's way was gentleness, not coercion or a state. Mufti Abu Layth says that whether a person leaves Islam is between them and God and they should be left alone, and that those who have given a distorted image of the Prophet bear the blame for people's hatred of him.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 53:42)

A more recent answer on fiqh/public-law-and-governance/apostasy-and-blasphemy exists (29 September 2024): Is someone who says something wrong about the Prophet guilty of blasphemy?

Watch on YouTube at 53:42 · Open the segment

Can a life be taken on the basis of a doubtful hadith?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

Can a life be taken on the basis of a doubtful hadith?

There is no verse and no conclusively established hadith for killing apostates, and a life, whose sanctity is conclusive, cannot be taken on isolated reports that carry doubt; defending it while demanding religious freedom in the West is a double standard. Mufti Abu Layth says there is no verse and no conclusively established hadith for killing apostates, and that life, whose sanctity is conclusive, cannot be taken on the basis of isolated reports that carry doubt.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 48:25)

A more recent answer on hadith/mutawatir-and-epistemology exists (18 October 2025): Is the Quran-only position an argument from epistemology or from principle?

Watch on YouTube at 48:25 · Open the segment

Why would an apostate deserve death, and what about the three days to repent?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

Why would an apostate deserve death, and what about the three days to repent?

An apostate cannot be killed for disbelief, since that would condemn every disbeliever, and the 'three days to return to Islam' is absurd: it coerces people into hypocrisy and belittles the Prophet's thirteen years of preaching. Mufti Abu Layth says an apostate cannot be killed for disbelief, since that would make every disbeliever deserving of death, and that giving an apostate three days to return on pain of death is absurd, coerces hypocrisy and belittles the Prophet's thirteen years of preaching in Makkah.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 43:11)

A more recent answer on society/dawah-and-debate-culture exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 43:11 · Open the segment

Are the Abu Hurayra and Hamza al-Aslami narrations on apostasy authentic?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

Are the Abu Hurayra and Hamza al-Aslami narrations on apostasy authentic?

The other narrations used for killing apostates, from Abu Hurayra and Hamza al-Aslami, also have problems in their chains: rejected or unknown narrators and a known mudallis.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 39:14)

A more recent answer on fiqh/public-law-and-governance/apostasy-and-blasphemy exists (29 September 2024): Is someone who says something wrong about the Prophet guilty of blasphemy?

Watch on YouTube at 39:14 · Open the segment

Is the chain of the apostasy hadith through Anas reliable?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

Is the chain of the apostasy hadith through Anas reliable?

The alternative chain of the apostasy hadith through Anas is also weak: it includes a narrator with Mu'tazili tendencies and Qatada, who is known for tadlis, and the report clashes with reason, the Quran and the Prophet's life. Mufti Abu Layth says the chain of the apostasy report through Anas is also problematic, because of a narrator with Mu'tazili tendencies and Qatada's known tadlis, and that the report clashes with reason, the Quran, the Prophet's life and the principles of Islam.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 35:16)

A more recent answer on fiqh/public-law-and-governance/apostasy-and-blasphemy exists (29 September 2024): Is someone who says something wrong about the Prophet guilty of blasphemy?

Watch on YouTube at 35:16 · Open the segment

Is Ikrima, the narrator of the apostasy hadith, reliable?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

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.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 28:42)

A more recent answer on fiqh/public-law-and-governance/apostasy-and-blasphemy exists (29 September 2024): Is someone who says something wrong about the Prophet guilty of blasphemy?

Watch on YouTube at 28:42 · Open the segment

What is the context of the hadith 'whoever changes his religion, kill him'?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

What is the context of the hadith 'whoever changes his religion, kill him'?

The report 'whoever changes his religion, kill him' clashes with the Quran, and in full it is Ikrima's account of Ali burning people alive and Ibn Abbas objecting that he should have executed them instead. Mufti Abu Layth says the report 'whoever changes his religion, kill him' clashes with the absolute verse of the Quran on freedom of belief and must be read in its full context of Ali burning people alive and Ibn Abbas objecting.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 26:06)

A more recent answer on fiqh/public-law-and-governance/apostasy-and-blasphemy exists (29 September 2024): Is someone who says something wrong about the Prophet guilty of blasphemy?

Watch on YouTube at 26:06 · Open the segment

Which hadith are used to justify killing apostates, and were the scholars who used them right?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

Which hadith are used to justify killing apostates, and were the scholars who used them right?

Some scholars did rule that apostates be killed, and he says they were clearly wrong, products of a ruthless age; the time given to apostates in the reports makes sense only as time to withdraw from rebellion. Mufti Abu Layth says that scholars who ruled that apostates be executed unless they returned to Islam were clearly and categorically wrong, being products of an age that placed little value on human life.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 23:28)

A more recent answer on hadith/hadith-in-legal-reasoning exists (18 October 2025): Is there a middle way between rejecting all hadith and accepting every hadith?

Watch on YouTube at 23:28 · Open the segment

Were apostates punished for disbelief or for fighting against Muslims?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

Were apostates punished for disbelief or for fighting against Muslims?

The classical punishment targeted apostates who took up arms against the community, not disbelief itself: Umar preferred to restrain and persuade, al-Tahawi tied it to waging war, and the Hanafis exempted women because they were not combatants. Mufti Abu Layth argues that the practice of giving an apostate the chance to return, and the Hanafi exemption of the female apostate, show that the classical punishment was aimed at armed rebellion against the community rather than at disbelief.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 15:42)

A more recent answer on hadith/hadith-in-legal-reasoning exists (18 October 2025): Is there a middle way between rejecting all hadith and accepting every hadith?

Watch on YouTube at 15:42 · Open the segment

Did the Prophet ever execute anyone for leaving Islam?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

Did the Prophet ever execute anyone for leaving Islam?

The Prophet never executed anyone for disbelief or apostasy: he spared the hypocrite Abdullah ibn Ubayy, traded with Jews until his death, did not act against Ibn Sayyad and pardoned Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh. Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet never executed anyone for disbelief or apostasy, pointing to his treatment of Abdullah ibn Ubayy, his dealings with Jews until his death, Ibn Sayyad and his pardon of Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 11:49)

A more recent answer on fiqh/public-law-and-governance/apostasy-and-blasphemy exists (29 September 2024): Is someone who says something wrong about the Prophet guilty of blasphemy?

Watch on YouTube at 11:49 · Open the segment

Why did some classical scholars rule that apostates be executed?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

Why did some classical scholars rule that apostates be executed?

Where classical scholars ruled that apostates be executed, they were dealing with what would now be treason or armed rebellion in a very different world; those rulings do not apply today, and their prevalence then did not make them right. Mufti Abu Layth says that where classical scholars prescribed capital punishment they were addressing what would today be treason or rebellion in a very different world, that those rulings do not apply today, and that the whole world doing the same then does not make them right.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 7:52)

A more recent answer on fiqh/public-law-and-governance/apostasy-and-blasphemy exists (29 September 2024): Is someone who says something wrong about the Prophet guilty of blasphemy?

Watch on YouTube at 7:52 · Open the segment

Does the sanctity of life in Islam rule out killing apostates?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

Does the sanctity of life in Islam rule out killing apostates?

Life has conclusive sanctity in Islam, and preserving life and freedom of religion for everyone are among the aims of the shari'ah. Mufti Abu Layth says the sanctity of life is conclusive in Islam and that the preservation of life and freedom of religion for everyone are among the aims of the shari'ah.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 5:16)

A more recent answer on fiqh/legal-theory exists (18 October 2025): If reason helps us understand the Quran, does the reasoning of earlier scholars matter too?

Watch on YouTube at 5:16 · Open the segment

Does Islam punish someone for leaving the faith?

2018-05-10T00:00:00Z

Does Islam punish someone for leaving the faith?

Islam gives freedom of belief: the Quran says there is no compulsion in religion and leaves belief to choice, and neither the Quran nor the established Sunnah says an apostate must be killed. Mufti Abu Layth says Islam gives freedom of faith and condemns coercion, and that neither the Quran nor the established Sunnah says an apostate must be killed.

Answer from 10 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Apostasy has NO punishment in Islam: A Qur'an & Sunnah Analysis by Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir exists (18 October 2025): Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Did Musa beat Pharaoh's magicians with stronger magic?

2018-04-20T00:00:00Z

Did Musa beat Pharaoh's magicians with stronger magic?

No: Mufti Abu Layth prefers the reading that Musa's staff exposed the magicians' trickery, since out-doing their magic would only teach that might is right. Mufti Abu Layth says that Musa exposing the magicians' trickery, rather than outperforming their magic, sits better with his understanding.

Answer from 20 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Did the Staff of Moses (AS) really turn into a snake? - Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki (at 6:16)

A more recent answer on belief/prophethood-and-miracles exists (18 October 2025): Can the Quran be used to call the Prophet the best of creation?

Watch on YouTube at 6:16 · Open the segment

Did Musa's staff really turn into a snake?

2018-04-20T00:00:00Z

Did Musa's staff really turn into a snake?

No: Mufti Abu Layth holds the staff was described as moving as though it were a snake, while the magicians' sticks moved by a chemical trick. Mufti Abu Layth says that in his understanding the staff of Musa was not an actual snake but was described as though it were one.

Answer from 20 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Did the Staff of Moses (AS) really turn into a snake? - Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki (at 0:01)

A more recent answer on belief/prophethood-and-miracles exists (18 October 2025): Can the Quran be used to call the Prophet the best of creation?

Watch on YouTube at 0:01 · Open the segment