Mufti Abu Layth Archive: belief/unseen-beings

Are the devils really chained up during Ramadan?

2021-04-13T00:00:00Z

Are the devils really chained up during Ramadan?

No verse says so; Mufti Abu Layth reads the hadith on chained devils as meaning that good deeds become easier in Ramadan's shared spirit. Mufti Abu Layth says no verse speaks of hell during Ramadan, and that the hadith on the devils being chained means that doing good becomes easier in the shared spirit of the month.

Answer from 13 April 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #210 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:58:11)

A more recent answer on fiqh/fasting exists (26 April 2021): How is Lupe Fiasco finding Ramadan during Covid?

Watch on YouTube at 2:58:11 · Open the segment

Is the devil a real creature or a symbol of bad impulses?

2021-02-16T00:00:00Z

Is the devil a real creature or a symbol of bad impulses?

Mufti Abu Layth presents two readings of Shaytan, a literal creature or a personification of negative impulses, and refers viewers to his detailed video.

Answer from 16 February 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #202| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 42:20)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings exists (13 April 2021): Are the devils really chained up during Ramadan?

Watch on YouTube at 42:20 · Open the segment

Did the companions actually see the angel Jibril?

2021-02-16T00:00:00Z

Did the companions actually see the angel Jibril?

Mufti Abu Layth says the report that it was Jibril may be the companion's interpretation, not the Prophet's words; repeated 'he said' in Arabic narration makes the speaker unclear. Mufti Abu Layth says that, depending on how the report is read, its statement that the figure was Jibril is the companion's interpretation rather than something the Prophet taught them.

Answer from 16 February 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #202| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 39:54)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings exists (13 April 2021): Are the devils really chained up during Ramadan?

Watch on YouTube at 40:34 · Open the segment

Did the companions really see the angel Jibril as a man?

2021-02-09T00:00:00Z

Did the companions really see the angel Jibril as a man?

Mufti Abu Layth says only the Prophet saw Jibril, in a trance-like vision; companions who thought a stranger was Jibril were assuming. Mufti Abu Layth says that when the Prophet sees Jibril it is in a trance-like state, a vision the Prophet is having alone.

Answer from 9 February 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #201| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:10:12)

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 1:10:12 · Open the segment

Quick chat: LSD, paratha and nihari, and jinn as microbes

2021-01-26T00:00:00Z

Quick chat: LSD, paratha and nihari, and jinn as microbes

In quick chat replies he refers to his video on psychedelics, jokes about food, and says reading jinn as microbes is one interpretation, held by Rashid Rida.

Answer from 26 January 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #199 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:25:08)

A more recent answer on fiqh/intoxicants-and-substances/psychedelics exists (30 August 2021): Is a DMT ego death the same as the Sufi idea of fana?

Watch on YouTube at 2:25:08 · Open the segment

Are the jinn real, or a symbol?

2020-12-11T00:00:00Z

Are the jinn real, or a symbol?

The guest says the Quran rearticulated a late antique belief in jinn to subordinate them to God, that he does not literally believe in them, and that Shaytan personifies human evil; Mufti Abu Layth agrees that inner impulses are personified as good and bad forces.

Answer from 11 December 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Dr Javad T. Hashmi | Axis of Morality & Archetypal Myths in the Quran | MindTrap 46 |Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:41:04)

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 2:41:04 · Open the segment

What did classical scholars say about whether jinn can harm or possess people?

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

What did classical scholars say about whether jinn can harm or possess people?

Imam al-Shafi'i rejected the testimony of anyone claiming to see jinn, Ibn Hazm forbade adding to what Allah said about them, and al-Tahawi held that Satan can only insinuate, not harm; what is called possession is mental illness, and accepting it would void responsibility. Mufti Abu Layth cites al-Shafi'i's refusal of the testimony of anyone who claims to have seen the jinn, Ibn Hazm's ban on adding to what is soundly narrated about them and al-Tahawi's denial that Satan can cause actual harm, and says that what is called possession is mental illness and that accepting possession would leave no will and no taklif.

Answer from 21 November 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 26:14)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 26:14 · Open the segment

Are jinn just archetypes in our unconscious mind?

2020-10-27T00:00:00Z

Are jinn just archetypes in our unconscious mind?

Mufti Abu Layth thinks the jinn are beings in a dimension of consciousness we cannot normally reach, not mental archetypes. Mufti Abu Layth says he thinks the jinn are things that exist in a dimension of consciousness that we generally do not have access to.

Answer from 27 October 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #188 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:33:46)

A more recent answer on belief/spiritual-experience-and-psychedelics exists (30 August 2021): Is a DMT ego death the same as the Sufi idea of fana?

Watch on YouTube at 1:34:18 · Open the segment

What is the hadith of the night of the jinn, and was it a psychoactive experience?

2020-10-17T00:00:00Z

What is the hadith of the night of the jinn, and was it a psychoactive experience?

The Tirmidhi report of Ibn Mas'ud's night of the jinn, in which he carried nabidh and saw strange figures, would most likely describe a psychoactive experience if true, and the report praising harmala shows such a narrative existed in early Muslim society. Mufti Abu Layth says that the Tirmidhi report of Ibn Mas'ud's night of the jinn, if true, most likely describes a psychoactive experience connected with the nabidh he carried, and that the report praising the harmala seed, though not authentic, shows that such a narrative existed in early Muslim society.

Answer from 17 October 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Psychedelics are NOT haram | Mufti Abu Layth (at 22:07)

A more recent answer on belief/spiritual-experience-and-psychedelics exists (30 August 2021): Is a DMT ego death the same as the Sufi idea of fana?

Watch on YouTube at 22:07 · Open the segment

Was Iblis condemned for using his reason?

2020-10-13T00:00:00Z

Was Iblis condemned for using his reason?

No: Iblis was condemned for arrogance and stubbornness, not reason, and much of what people picture about angels is imagination filling in the Quran's outline. Mufti Abu Layth says Iblis was never condemned for using reason; the problem was his arrogance and stubbornness.

Answer from 13 October 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Discussion on Miracles: A fallacy against God | Mufti Abu Layth (at 3:56)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 4:34 · Open the segment

Does the Quran support the idea that Shaytan or jinn can control a person?

2020-04-22T00:00:00Z

Does the Quran support the idea that Shaytan or jinn can control a person?

The verse cited for possession is about rising on the Day of Judgment, and the Quran as a whole gives Shaytan only the power to whisper and no authority over Allah's servants. Possession would also destroy personal responsibility and let any criminal evade punishment, and Mufti Abu Layth says the claim that jinn can take any form makes the whole idea absurd.

Answer from 22 April 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Shaykh Dr. Shabir Ally | Juxtaposing the Quran, Jumbling Aisha's age & Jinn Possession | MindTrap#16 (at 1:20:45)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 1:20:45 · Open the segment

Does Islam teach that jinn can possess people?

2020-04-22T00:00:00Z

Does Islam teach that jinn can possess people?

Mufti Abu Layth does not believe in jinn possession, saying the Quran and Sunnah do not support it. The guest recounts a young man at his da'wah centre whose 'possession' appeared only around believers in it and vanished in front of doctors, which he reads as a psychological phenomenon rather than a jinn.

Answer from 22 April 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Shaykh Dr. Shabir Ally | Juxtaposing the Quran, Jumbling Aisha's age & Jinn Possession | MindTrap#16 (at 1:15:32)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 1:15:32 · Open the segment

Did angels really fight at the Battle of Badr?

2019-12-31T00:00:00Z

Did angels really fight at the Battle of Badr?

Mufti Abu Layth says many take the angelic help at Badr as symbolic language for strengthened resolve, and the companions' later descriptions as storytelling or what they felt they saw. Mufti Abu Layth says the evidence suggests the Quraysh army at Badr was probably at least a thousand strong, outnumbering the believers.

Answer from 31 December 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Did the angels assist in the Battle of Badr? | 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

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 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

Can a jinn fall in love with someone or break up a marriage?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Can a jinn fall in love with someone or break up a marriage?

No, in Mufti Abu Layth's view: jinn, if they exist, would be as different from humans as extremophile bacteria, and nobody thinks a bacterium is jealous of their marriage. Relationships end through human behaviour, and people should own that rather than blame the jinn. Mufti Abu Layth holds that even if the jinn exist they would belong to a domain of life as remote from humans as archaea, so the idea of a jinn falling in love with someone or wrecking a marriage is absurd, and people must take responsibility for their own relationships.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 58:57)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 58:57 · Open the segment

What does the hadith 'Satan flows through the son of Adam like blood' mean?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

What does the hadith 'Satan flows through the son of Adam like blood' mean?

In context it is about suspicion: the Prophet said it after explaining to some men that the woman with him was his wife Safiyya, so it refers to the insinuations that pass through human minds, not to possession. Mufti Abu Layth adds that the exorcism trade is a large industry whose practitioners may nonetheless be sincere. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the hadith that Satan flows through the son of Adam like blood, read in its context with Safiyya, concerns human suspicion and insinuation, since the men addressed were not possessed, and that it does not support possession.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 22:09)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 22:09 · Open the segment

Does jinn possession exist in Islam?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Does jinn possession exist in Islam?

Not as popularly pictured, Mufti Abu Layth holds: the idea of demons taking over a body and causing illness and insanity does not survive the Quran, the authentic Sunnah and reason. He asks what the jinn would even gain by it and sets out to trace where the belief comes from. Mufti Abu Layth holds that jinn or demonic possession, as popularly pictured, does not exist when examined against the Quran, the authentic Sunnah and reason, and that the first question to ask is what objective the jinn would have in possessing anyone.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

What do people mean when they say someone is possessed by a jinn?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

What do people mean when they say someone is possessed by a jinn?

The popular picture is that a jinn or demon takes over a person's mind or body, causing illness, obsessive or insane behaviour and broken relationships, supposedly to create mischief. Mufti Abu Layth presents this as the urban myth he will test against the Quran, the authentic Sunnah and reason, after the guest's closing call to disbelieve the whole business.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 49:23)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 49:23 · Open the segment

If doctors cannot explain an illness, could it be a jinn?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

If doctors cannot explain an illness, could it be a jinn?

An illness doctors cannot explain is not thereby a jinn; that is a story made up without proof. The Quran attributes harm to Shaytan only in the sense that people follow his whispering, as in Ayyub's prayer, and forbids claiming what one has no knowledge of.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 19:40)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 19:40 · Open the segment

Is there any sound hadith that a jinn possessed someone?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Is there any sound hadith that a jinn possessed someone?

There is no sound hadith of Shaytan possessing anyone; the Ibn Mas'ud report shows the jinn as a lowly creation fed on bones, not masters over humans. The guest's own investigations of 'haunted' houses and 'possessed' women found tricks and nothing else, and exorcism has become a big business.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 13:06)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 13:06 · Open the segment

Does the Quran say that Shaytan or the jinn can possess or control a person?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Does the Quran say that Shaytan or the jinn can possess or control a person?

The Quran never says people lose their will; it commands believers not to follow Shaytan's footsteps, which presupposes the will and power to refuse. On the Day of Judgement Shaytan himself says he had no authority except to call people, so he teaches and whispers but never forces.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 7:53)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 7:53 · Open the segment

What are the jinn and what can Shaytan actually do to people?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

What are the jinn and what can Shaytan actually do to people?

Jinn exist and Shaytan is a clear enemy, but his only power is to whisper, as human misleaders do, and Allah gave people the fitra and reason to resist. Any claim about the jinn must be met by asking for its proof in the Quran and Sunnah and weighing its consequences; an unexplained illness is not proof of a jinn.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:04)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 0:04 · Open the segment