Mufti Abu Layth Archive: fiqh/gender-interaction

Does a community gathering have to be gender segregated?

Tue, 13 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Does a community gathering have to be gender segregated?

No: Mufti Abu Layth says adults do not need micromanaging and a gathering of men and women need not be segregated. Mufti Abu Layth says adults do not need to be micromanaged and that the proposed get-together would not be gender segregated.

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 10:56)

Watch on YouTube at 10:56 · Open the segment

Is the hadith about a woman breastfeeding the adult Salim authentic?

Tue, 02 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Is the hadith about a woman breastfeeding the adult Salim authentic?

Mufti Abu Layth calls the report of the adult Salim being suckled fabricated and mocks al-Albani's fatwa permitting it directly, welcoming Mohammed Hijab's attack on it as a sign he is outgrowing Salafism. Mufti Abu Layth says the report that the Prophet told a woman to let the grown Salim drink her milk is fabricated, because it is ridiculous.

Answer from 2 March 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #204 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 3:21:30)

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 3:23:56 · Open the segment

Dawah Man on pigs, wife-sharing and handshakes, played and mocked

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Dawah Man on pigs, wife-sharing and handshakes, played and mocked

Mufti Abu Layth plays and mocks Dawah Man's claims about pigs and handshakes, and says shaking hands is not haram.

Answer from 5 January 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #196 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:00:54)

A more recent answer on dialogue/views-on-contemporary-scholars exists (22 February 2023): Should scholars publicly condemn a scholar said to have joined in a libation ritual?

Watch on YouTube at 1:00:54 · Open the segment

Is it haram to shake hands with women?

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Is it haram to shake hands with women?

Mufti Abu Layth defends a preacher caught on camera shaking a girl's hand and says shaking hands with women is not haram anyway.

Answer from 4 August 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth #176 *Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted!* 🤣 (at 2:38:23)

A more recent answer on dialogue/views-on-contemporary-scholars exists (22 February 2023): Should scholars publicly condemn a scholar said to have joined in a libation ritual?

Watch on YouTube at 2:39:37 · Open the segment

Mocking a reported fatwa permitting a kiss without lust, and chat banter

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Mocking a reported fatwa permitting a kiss without lust, and chat banter

Mufti Abu Layth jokes about a reported fatwa allowing a kiss without lust and replies to chat banter.

Answer from 4 August 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth #176 *Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted!* 🤣 (at 41:19)

A more recent answer on fiqh/gender-interaction exists (13 April 2021): Does a community gathering have to be gender segregated?

Watch on YouTube at 41:19 · Open the segment

Do non-Muslim women in a Muslim country have to cover up?

Sun, 19 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Do non-Muslim women in a Muslim country have to cover up?

The guest says early scholars held that non-Muslim women cannot be forced to cover and that the prohibition on looking was applied only to believing women.

Answer from 19 April 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Shaykh Kashif Khan | Policing thought, Pornography & Pandora's box | MindTrap with Mufti #15 (at 1:40:19)

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 1:40:19 · Open the segment

Does lowering the gaze apply to images and screens?

Sun, 19 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Does lowering the gaze apply to images and screens?

The guest says most classical scholars took the forbidden gaze to be the lustful one, and that jurists distinguished seeing a person in the flesh from a reflection or screen, a matter on which there are two opinions.

Answer from 19 April 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Shaykh Kashif Khan | Policing thought, Pornography & Pandora's box | MindTrap with Mufti #15 (at 1:32:23)

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 1:32:23 · Open the segment

Can women be stopped from going to the mosque because of fitnah?

Sun, 19 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Can women be stopped from going to the mosque because of fitnah?

The guest says there is no evidence for keeping women from the mosque beyond fear of fitnah, since even harassment in the Prophet's time did not lead to a ban; Mufti Abu Layth cites Malik's report of men and women making wudu together.

Answer from 19 April 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Shaykh Kashif Khan | Policing thought, Pornography & Pandora's box | MindTrap with Mufti #15 (at 29:14)

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 29:14 · Open the segment

Is it haram to kiss my wife in public?

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Is it haram to kiss my wife in public?

A greeting kiss on the cheek or forehead in public, as is common in the Gulf and seen in the Haram, is no problem because it is affectionate rather than sensual. A passionate kiss in public would be a problem. Mufti Abu Layth says a greeting kiss on the cheek or forehead in public, such as those exchanged in the Gulf and seen in the Haram between men and their wives or mahram women, is not sexual and is no problem, whereas a passionate kiss in public would be.

Answer from 12 December 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Is It Haram to Kiss in Public? -Mufti Abu Layhth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on fiqh/gender-interaction exists (13 April 2021): Does a community gathering have to be gender segregated?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Can I hug my female friends?

Thu, 10 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Can I hug my female friends?

No ruling is given: Mufti Abu Layth answers the question with jokes about the questioner being friend-zoned and declines to issue a fatwa. He moves on saying the questioner has bigger issues to worry about.

Answer from 10 October 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Can I hug friends of a different gender? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on fiqh/gender-interaction exists (13 April 2021): Does a community gathering have to be gender segregated?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Should I refuse to shake hands with the opposite sex where it is the custom?

Fri, 04 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Should I refuse to shake hands with the opposite sex where it is the custom?

Follow the convention you are in: where people do not shake hands, do not; where they do, you may act on the fatwa of the scholars who permit it, since no clear verse or hadith forbids it. Losing citizenship over a handshake was not a battle worth choosing. His own understanding is that one follows the convention of one's society: where people do not shake hands one does not, following the general ulama, but where it is the convention one may act on the fatwa of the scholars who permit it, since, as many ulama say, no clear verse or hadith makes it haram, and Muslims should choose their battles wisely.

Answer from 4 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Hadith Analysis: Why men and women CAN shake hands -Mufti Abu Layth (at 9:10)

A more recent answer on society/islam-and-modernity exists (19 August 2022): Should all religions be free to compete without state backing?

Watch on YouTube at 9:10 · Open the segment

What evidence do scholars use to allow men and women to shake hands?

Fri, 04 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

What evidence do scholars use to allow men and women to shake hands?

Scholars who permit it cite 'do not frighten people away', the verse on returning greetings, Abu Musa having a woman comb his hair on Hajj, and the Sahih report that Umm Haram combed the Prophet's hair and let him nap at her house. The Umm Haram report is one scholars struggled with.

Answer from 4 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Hadith Analysis: Why men and women CAN shake hands -Mufti Abu Layth (at 6:33)

A more recent answer on fiqh/gender-interaction exists (13 April 2021): Does a community gathering have to be gender segregated?

Watch on YouTube at 6:33 · Open the segment

Which scholars say men and women may shake hands, and what about 'I do not shake hands with women'?

Fri, 04 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Which scholars say men and women may shake hands, and what about 'I do not shake hands with women'?

The hadith 'I do not shake hands with women' is set against Umm Atiyya's narrations of the women's pledge, which some read as the Prophet shaking hands. Contemporary scholars including the Shaykh of al-Azhar, Bin Bayyah and the European fatwa council have ruled that shaking hands is permitted.

Answer from 4 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Hadith Analysis: Why men and women CAN shake hands -Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:36)

A more recent answer on fiqh/madhhabs-and-following exists (10 December 2022): What did Abu Hanifa say about Imam Malik?

Watch on YouTube at 2:36 · Open the segment

Is it haram for men and women to shake hands?

Fri, 04 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Is it haram for men and women to shake hands?

Nothing in the Quran or Sunnah explicitly says shaking hands with the opposite sex is haram; that is a popular convention, not an established ruling. The iron-rod hadith is not authentic as claimed, and many scholars read its 'touch' as a euphemism for sex. Mufti Abu Layth says that nothing in the Quran or Sunnah explicitly and clearly proves that shaking hands with the opposite gender is haram, and that the report preferring an iron rod in the head to touching a woman is not authentic as people would like and was understood by many ulama as a euphemism for sex.

Answer from 4 May 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Hadith Analysis: Why men and women CAN shake hands -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on hadith/authentication exists (19 August 2022): Why did Ibn Hajar say the satanic verses story has some basis?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Is it safe and allowed for a woman to fly alone?

Sun, 22 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Is it safe and allowed for a woman to fly alone?

Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says a woman may travel alone, including by air, since the ruling was always about safety, and rejects the claim that only a husband can protect her. Mufti Abu Layth says it is absolutely fine for a woman to travel on her own, the key thing having been safety.

Answer from 22 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Hadith Analysis & Fatwa: Women Can Travel Without a Mahram - Mufti Abu Layth (at 35:07)

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 35:07 · Open the segment

What did the Maliki scholars say about women travelling with a safe group?

Sun, 22 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

What did the Maliki scholars say about women travelling with a safe group?

Mufti Abu Layth cites al-Baji that a woman is safe without a mahram in large caravans and busy highways, and reads Imam Malik's ordering of the hadith as showing they were about safety. Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet's calling two travellers devils was religious rhetoric used in that age to safeguard people in hostile territory.

Answer from 22 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Hadith Analysis & Fatwa: Women Can Travel Without a Mahram - Mufti Abu Layth (at 30:39)

A more recent answer on fiqh/maliki-school/muwatta-and-mudawwana exists (18 October 2025): Does the Muwatta show that the Companions' practice had already changed by Malik's time?

Watch on YouTube at 30:39 · Open the segment

Did the Prophet foresee women travelling alone safely?

Sun, 22 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Did the Prophet foresee women travelling alone safely?

Yes: Mufti Abu Layth cites the Prophet's prophecy to Adi ibn Hatim of a lone woman travelling from Iraq to Makkah, which Adi lived to see. Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet's prophecy to Adi ibn Hatim of a woman travelling alone from al-Hira to Makkah came true as stability came to the region.

Answer from 22 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Hadith Analysis & Fatwa: Women Can Travel Without a Mahram - Mufti Abu Layth (at 27:28)

A more recent answer on history/sirah exists (9 May 2023): How did the Prophet balance gentleness and strength?

Watch on YouTube at 27:28 · Open the segment

Why did the Prophet say women should not travel without a mahram?

Sun, 22 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Why did the Prophet say women should not travel without a mahram?

For their safety: Mufti Abu Layth says the limits tracked how far the safe zone around Madinah reached, widening as treaties spread, not a rule to confine women. Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet was not setting boundaries to confine women in these hadith but was trying to safeguard them.

Answer from 22 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Hadith Analysis & Fatwa: Women Can Travel Without a Mahram - Mufti Abu Layth (at 23:01)

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 23:01 · Open the segment

What do Saudi scholars say about women travelling without a mahram?

Sun, 22 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

What do Saudi scholars say about women travelling without a mahram?

Mufti Abu Layth reports the Saudi fatwa board and Ibn Baz forbidding any journey without a mahram, even a short staff bus trip, and mocks the strictness.

Answer from 22 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Hadith Analysis & Fatwa: Women Can Travel Without a Mahram - Mufti Abu Layth (at 19:38)

A more recent answer on belief/sectarianism-and-takfir/salafism-and-wahhabism exists (19 August 2022): What does the Mufti think of Ibn Taymiyya and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab?

Watch on YouTube at 19:38 · Open the segment

Is it haram for a woman to travel more than 48 miles alone?

Sun, 22 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Is it haram for a woman to travel more than 48 miles alone?

No: Mufti Abu Layth calls the 48-mile rule absurd, a later Hanafi hardening of Abu Hanifa's three-day limit, which was itself meant to ease things for women. Mufti Abu Layth says forbidding a woman to travel 48 miles is absurd and makes a mockery of the religion.

Answer from 22 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Hadith Analysis & Fatwa: Women Can Travel Without a Mahram - Mufti Abu Layth (at 15:45)

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 15:45 · Open the segment

Must a kidnapped woman have a mahram to escape?

Sun, 22 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Must a kidnapped woman have a mahram to escape?

Mufti Abu Layth ridicules the classical debate over whether a captive woman may flee without a mahram, saying past scholars reasoned within their own environment. Mufti Abu Layth says scholars of the past did not always think the way we do, but were thinking within their own environment.

Answer from 22 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Hadith Analysis & Fatwa: Women Can Travel Without a Mahram - Mufti Abu Layth (at 12:03)

A more recent answer on fiqh/madhhabs-and-following/hanafi-school exists (10 December 2022): What did Abu Hanifa say about Imam Malik?

Watch on YouTube at 12:03 · Open the segment

Can a woman go on Hajj without a mahram?

Sun, 22 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Can a woman go on Hajj without a mahram?

Mufti Abu Layth reports that al-Shafi'i allowed a woman to go with a group of women and Imam Malik with any safe company, while Abu Hanifa required a mahram for journeys over three days.

Answer from 22 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Hadith Analysis & Fatwa: Women Can Travel Without a Mahram - Mufti Abu Layth (at 9:31)

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 9:31 · Open the segment

Can a woman travel without a mahram?

Sun, 22 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Can a woman travel without a mahram?

Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says a woman can travel without a mahram, since the ruling was about safety. The reports behind it disagree on how long a journey they mean. Mufti Abu Layth says that of course a woman can travel without a mahram, the ruling having been simply about safety.

Answer from 22 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Hadith Analysis & Fatwa: Women Can Travel Without a Mahram - Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

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 1:12 · Open the segment

Is a relationship between a leader and a follower automatically abuse?

Fri, 29 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Is a relationship between a leader and a follower automatically abuse?

A consensual relationship between adults is not abuse just because one has status, and Mufti Abu Layth calls the contrary claim insulting to women. Abuse of power is coercion, such as a boss demanding sexual acts to keep a job; Khadijah's marriage to the Prophet who worked for her is his first counter-example. Mufti Abu Layth holds that a consensual relationship between adults is not abuse merely because one party has status, and that abuse of power means coercion such as a boss demanding sexual acts from a worker to keep her job.

Answer from 29 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Propaganda against Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan - Mufti Abu Layth (at 23:33)

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 23:33 · Open the segment

Can a woman go out of the house without a need?

Fri, 09 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Can a woman go out of the house without a need?

One speaker holds women went out only for need; the other that hadith and Maliki texts show women in public and travelling, with no text forbidding going out.

Answer from 9 May 2014 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Mufti Abu Layth & Ustadh AbdusShakur Brooks: A discussion on Maliki Fiqh (at 22:26)

A more recent answer on fiqh/maliki-school exists (19 April 2023): Why does the practice of Madinah matter more than a single hadith?

Watch on YouTube at 22:26 · Open the segment

Did Imam Malik allow a woman to show her face to her husband's friends?

Fri, 09 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Did Imam Malik allow a woman to show her face to her husband's friends?

One speaker reads Imam Malik's fatwa allowing a woman to eat with her husband's friends as proof that the face is uncovered; the other cites the later split between young and older women.

Answer from 9 May 2014 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Mufti Abu Layth & Ustadh AbdusShakur Brooks: A discussion on Maliki Fiqh (at 11:31)

A more recent answer on fiqh/maliki-school exists (19 April 2023): Why does the practice of Madinah matter more than a single hadith?

Watch on YouTube at 11:31 · Open the segment