Mufti Abu Layth Archive: hadith/authentication

Why did Ibn Hajar say the satanic verses story has some basis?

2022-08-19T00:00:00Z

Why did Ibn Hajar say the satanic verses story has some basis?

Mufti Abu Layth says Ibn Hajar wrongly argued that the many weak chains give the story a basis, and attributes the mistake to passion for the hadith project rather than malice. Mufti Abu Layth says Ibn Hajar was wrong to argue that the many weak chains give the satanic verses story a basis, a mistake he attributes to passion for the hadith project rather than to malice.

Answer from 19 August 2022 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Salman Rushdie & The Satanic Verses | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:18:40)

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 1:18:40 · Open the segment

Is the Musnad really Imam Ahmad's book, and is it authentic?

2021-01-29T00:00:00Z

Is the Musnad really Imam Ahmad's book, and is it authentic?

The guest says the Musnad is Imam Ahmad's draft but cannot be authentic by its own rules, since it reached us by wijada with additions by his son; Mufti Abu Layth holds that it was not Ahmad's book at all.

Answer from 29 January 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Shaykh Atabek Shukurov | Mortgages, Madhabs & Molvi-ism | MindTrap 48 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 54:39)

A more recent answer on hadith/collections-and-compilation exists (10 March 2023): Is the Muwatta of Imam Malik more authentic than Sahih al-Bukhari?

Watch on YouTube at 55:06 · Open the segment

Am I doing wrong if I follow a minority opinion?

2021-01-12T00:00:00Z

Am I doing wrong if I follow a minority opinion?

No: the hadith is weak, and even its valid meaning is about the whole ummah agreeing, not about majorities, so following a minority view is not doom. Mufti Abu Layth says the hadith that the ummah will not agree upon misguidance is unfortunately weak, although its meaning is kind of valid.

Answer from 12 January 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #197 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:37:49)

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 1:38:29 · Open the segment

Do any authentic hadith prove jinn possession?

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

Do any authentic hadith prove jinn possession?

The hadith cited for possession prove nothing: the Bukhari report that Satan runs in the veins concerns suspicion, the Bukhari report of the epileptic woman treats epilepsy as an illness to be borne patiently, and the remaining reports are weak. Mufti Abu Layth says the hadith cited for possession prove nothing: the Bukhari report that Satan runs in the veins concerns suspicion, the Bukhari report of the epileptic woman treats epilepsy as an illness to be borne patiently, and the remaining reports in Ibn Majah and elsewhere are weak.

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 34:00)

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 34:00 · Open the segment

Should the zakat threshold be different in each country?

2020-08-24T00:00:00Z

Should the zakat threshold be different in each country?

Mufti Abu Layth says regional thresholds make sense to him, since the nisab rests on weak hadith and the detailed zakat system was largely built by later scholars. Mufti Abu Layth says there is no real sahih hadith on the nisab of zakat, all the reports being weak.

Answer from 24 August 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #179 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 49:56)

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 50:33 · Open the segment

How did hadith scholars know narrators who died a century earlier were reliable?

2020-08-04T00:00:00Z

How did hadith scholars know narrators who died a century earlier were reliable?

Mufti Abu Layth says later hadith critics never disclosed how they knew long-dead narrators were reliable, leaving gaps in an impressive system. Mufti Abu Layth says the later hadith critics, when declaring narrators trustworthy, do not say how they came to know that.

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 2:13:00)

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

Watch on YouTube at 2:13:00 · Open the segment

Why did Imam Malik prefer the practice of Medina over hadith chains?

2020-08-04T00:00:00Z

Why did Imam Malik prefer the practice of Medina over hadith chains?

Mufti Abu Layth says the chain was once subordinate to the living tradition of Medina; al-Shafii's isnad project replaced regional trust with loyalty to the chain. Mufti Abu Layth says that in Imam Malik's time the chain was still subservient to the living tradition.

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 2:02:45)

A more recent answer on hadith/sunnah-versus-hadith exists (18 October 2025): Does the Muwatta show that the Companions' practice had already changed by Malik's time?

Watch on YouTube at 2:04:25 · Open the segment

Is the hadith that the Quran was revealed in seven ahruf authentic, and what does it mean?

2020-06-19T00:00:00Z

Is the hadith that the Quran was revealed in seven ahruf authentic, and what does it mean?

The guest says the seven-ahruf hadith is ambiguous, as al-Suyuti admitted, that its forty-odd interpretations are inconsistent and its versions unsoundly reported and contradictory, so they cancel each other out. He refrains from guessing what the Prophet originally said.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Dr. Shehzad Saleem | the Preservation of the Quran & the Problem of Qira'at | MindTrap with Mufti#26 (at 36:47)

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 38:06 · Open the segment

Is the hadith that singing breeds hypocrisy in the heart authentic?

2019-09-18T00:00:00Z

Is the hadith that singing breeds hypocrisy in the heart authentic?

The hadith that singing breeds hypocrisy in the heart is weak in every one of its chains, which run from Ibn Mas'ud to the Prophet in some versions and stop at Ibn Mas'ud in others. Mufti Abu Layth restates that nothing categorically proves music haram and that lyrics do not make it so. Mufti Abu Layth says nothing categorically proves music to be haram and that lyrics do not make something haram even when they speak of sex or fighting, though one may not want to listen to them or let one's children do so.

Answer from 18 September 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: In Depth: Is Music allowed in Islam? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:04)

A more recent answer on fiqh/entertainment/music exists (10 March 2023): Is it haram for men to wear earrings?

Watch on YouTube at 0:04 · Open the segment

Does Islam say homosexuals should be thrown off buildings or executed?

2018-12-20T00:00:00Z

Does Islam say homosexuals should be thrown off buildings or executed?

There is no sahih hadith in which the Prophet spoke about homosexuals, the reports of Ali ordering executions are not authentic in Mufti Abu Layth's view, and the early jurists disagreed, with the Hanafis holding it is not a hadd offence. The claim of a consensus that homosexual acts deserve death is false. Mufti Abu Layth says there is no sahih hadith in which the Prophet spoke about homosexuals, that he does not believe the reports of Ali ordering executions to be authentic, and that the claim of a consensus that anyone who commits homosexual acts deserves death is false, since the jurists disagreed and the Hanafis held it is not a hadd.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Homosexuality and Islam -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on relationships/sexuality-and-orientation exists (22 February 2023): Is it okay for adults or children to change gender?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Imam Bukhari's own practice: transmission by meaning, hidden names, a Khariji narrator

2018-08-30T00:00:00Z

Imam Bukhari's own practice: transmission by meaning, hidden names, a Khariji narrator

Imam Bukhari set a gold standard but did not always apply it: he transmitted by meaning, hid the names of problematic teachers and narrated from a Khariji who praised Ali's killer. Mufti Abu Layth's quarrel is not with Bukhari himself but with how the book is treated. Mufti Abu Layth says Imam Bukhari set a gold standard for authenticity but did not always apply it himself, since he transmitted by meaning, concealed the names of problematic teachers and narrated from a Khariji, so the narrators of his book are not all beyond question.

Answer from 30 August 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: BukhariGate Part 1: Sahih Bukhari is NOT so Sahih -Mufti Abu Layth (at 47:51)

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 47:51 · Open the segment

Is it haram for men and women to shake hands?

2018-05-04T00:00:00Z

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

Are there authentic hadith showing the Prophet casting out jinn?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Are there authentic hadith showing the Prophet casting out jinn?

No report of the Prophet expelling a jinn is free of criticism: the Ya'la ibn Murra and Umm Aban reports are weak, and the sound version of Uthman ibn Abi al-As's story in Sahih Muslim mentions no jinn at all, as al-Nawawi points out. Mufti Abu Layth asks why a Prophet sent as a mercy would never have taught about so common a danger. Mufti Abu Layth holds that no hadith cited for jinn possession is free of criticism, that the sound version of Uthman ibn Abi al-As's complaint in Sahih Muslim mentions no jinn, as al-Nawawi notes, and that the Prophet, sent as a mercy to mankind, never taught about so ubiquitous a danger in any sound transmission.

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 13:03)

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 13:03 · Open the segment

Three conditions for accepting a hadith; Ibn Uthaymin and the Jassasa report

2018-03-13T00:00:00Z

Three conditions for accepting a hadith; Ibn Uthaymin and the Jassasa report

A hadith is accepted only if it does not contradict reason, the Quran and established Sunnah, or uproot a principle of Islam; the Jesus reports fail this test, and even Ibn Uthaymin rejected a sahih Dajjal report on such grounds. Mufti Abu Layth holds that a hadith is accepted only if it does not go against reason, does not contradict the Quran and established Sunnah, and does not uproot a principle of Islam, and that the hadith of Jesus's return fail these tests.

Answer from 13 March 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: PRELUDE: Why There Is NO 2nd Coming Of Jesus (as) In Islam- Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:20:19)

A more recent answer on hadith/authentication/text-criticism-and-reason exists (19 August 2022): What does the Quran say against the satanic verses story?

Watch on YouTube at 1:20:19 · Open the segment

When and how did Safiyya actually marry the Prophet?

2018-02-21T00:00:00Z

When and how did Safiyya actually marry the Prophet?

She embraced Islam in the months after Khaybar, became interested in the Prophet herself and married him with her consent, not on the night of the battle. Abu Hurayra reported that nothing was taken from Khaybar but clothing, cattle and sheep. Mufti Abu Layth holds that Safiyya embraced Islam in the months after Khaybar and then married the Prophet with her consent, and that Abu Hurayra's report that no spoils but clothing, cattle and sheep were taken from Khaybar tells against the story of captives and slaves.

Answer from 21 February 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: The Story of Safiyya: the Prophet's Jewish wife -Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki (at 32:35)

A more recent answer on fiqh/marriage-contracts exists (10 December 2022): How did Abu Hanifa solve the case of two brides sent to the wrong grooms?

Watch on YouTube at 32:35 · Open the segment

Why do the hadith about Safiyya's marriage contradict each other?

2018-02-21T00:00:00Z

Why do the hadith about Safiyya's marriage contradict each other?

Nearly all the reports come through one companion, Anas ibn Malik, who was a teenager at Khaybar and died decades later, and they contradict each other on almost every detail, so none can be taken as it stands. Only two facts are certain: Safiyya left with the Muslims and later became the Prophet's wife. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the narrations about Safiyya's marriage, almost all transmitted through Anas ibn Malik, conflict so heavily that none is reliable as it stands, though they contain truths distorted over a long chain of transmission by meaning.

Answer from 21 February 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: The Story of Safiyya: the Prophet's Jewish wife -Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki (at 11:37)

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 11:37 · Open the segment

Are the Jabir chains for the crying-tree hadith through Isra'il, Abd al-Razzaq and Ibn Jurayj sound?

2018-02-21T00:00:00Z

Are the Jabir chains for the crying-tree hadith through Isra'il, Abd al-Razzaq and Ibn Jurayj sound?

Mufti Abu Layth argues they are not: one chain rests on Isra'il, whom Yahya ibn Sa'id and Ibn al-Madini weakened, and an unknown narrator; the other on Abd al-Razzaq, criticised for errors from memory, and Ibn Jurayj, a mudallis whose 'akhbarani' referred to books rather than hearing.

Answer from 21 February 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Reply to Sunni (Wahhabi) Defence Pt.I -Mufti Abu Layth (at 31:15)

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

Watch on YouTube at 31:15 · Open the segment

Is the chain Hammad ibn Salama from Thabit from Anas for the crying-tree hadith sound?

2018-02-21T00:00:00Z

Is the chain Hammad ibn Salama from Thabit from Anas for the crying-tree hadith sound?

Mufti Abu Layth argues it is not: critics report that Hammad ibn Salama's memory failed late in life, that Bukhari did not transmit from him, and that Thabit was not the most reliable transmitter from Anas, Qatada and Humayd al-Tawil being ranked above him.

Answer from 21 February 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Reply to Sunni (Wahhabi) Defence Pt.I -Mufti Abu Layth (at 24:42)

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

Watch on YouTube at 26:01 · Open the segment

Is every hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari authentic?

2018-02-09T00:00:00Z

Is every hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari authentic?

Not necessarily: Mufti Abu Layth says al-Bukhari did an excellent job, a hundred unreliable reports among eight thousand would be no big deal, and great scholars disagreed in their rulings. Mufti Abu Layth says that if even a hundred of al-Bukhari's narrations were found unreliable it would be no big deal compared with the eight thousand he has.

Answer from 9 February 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Hadiths on Prophetic Miracles and Responding to Claims of Blasphemy - Mufti Abu Layth al Maliki (at 4:30)

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 4:30 · Open the segment

Anal intercourse: the difference of opinion and the chains of the critic's hadith

2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

Anal intercourse: the difference of opinion and the chains of the critic's hadith

On anal intercourse Mufti Abu Layth says only that there is a difference of opinion: the majority held it haram, many Malikis did not and disliked it for hygiene. He argues that every hadith the critic quoted against it has a weak or disconnected chain.

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

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

Recording: Reply to Abu Ibraheem (Salafi)- By Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki (at 24:50)

A more recent answer on fiqh/sexual-ethics exists (22 February 2023): Did some Muslim scholars say homosexuality is not haram?

Watch on YouTube at 24:50 · Open the segment

Music: the hadith on singing and hypocrisy, and scholars who permitted music

2018-01-02T00:00:00Z

Music: the hadith on singing and hypocrisy, and scholars who permitted music

Nothing proven categorically makes music haram, and lyrics by themselves do not make listening haram. The hadith the critic cited on singing and hypocrisy is weak in every chain, and he lists scholars who said no sahih report forbids music. Nothing proven categorically demonstrates that music is haram, lyrics by themselves do not make listening haram, and the hadith brought to forbid it, that singing breeds hypocrisy in the heart, is weak in every chain.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Reply to Abu Ibraheem (Salafi)- By Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki (at 14:24)

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 14:24 · Open the segment

Are there authentic hadith of the Prophet casting a jinn out of someone?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Are there authentic hadith of the Prophet casting a jinn out of someone?

None of the hadith cited for possession is free of criticism; the only sound version, Uthman ibn Abi al-As in Sahih Muslim, mentions no jinn, as al-Nawawi notes, and the 'come out, enemy of Allah' reports are weak. The Prophet, a mercy to mankind, would not have left such a thing untaught. Mufti Abu Layth says not a single hadith cited for possession is free of criticism, that the sound version of Uthman ibn Abi al-As's report in Sahih Muslim mentions no jinn, as al-Nawawi notes, and that a Prophet sent as a mercy would not have left a phenomenon affecting everyone untaught.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:02:31)

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 1:02:31 · Open the segment

Is judging hadith by their content a modern invention of jurists rather than hadith scholars?

2017-01-11T00:00:00Z

Is judging hadith by their content a modern invention of jurists rather than hadith scholars?

Judging a report by its content is not modern; it goes back to Ibn Abbas and Imam Malik, who left authentic reports they did not hold to be the sunnah. Hadith absolutism displaced it only at times. Mufti Abu Layth holds that reasoning with the content of hadith is not a modern approach but one practised by the companions and Imam Malik from the beginning.

Answer from 11 January 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Age of Aisha (ra)- Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:49:58)

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 1:49:58 · Open the segment

Can an ordinary Muslim reject a hadith that seems irrational?

2017-01-11T00:00:00Z

Can an ordinary Muslim reject a hadith that seems irrational?

An ordinary Muslim should refer puzzling hadith to scholars rather than reject them, but may decline to act on a report that clearly clashes with Islam's universal teachings. Going through the hadith books one by one is not the duty of the unskilled. Mufti Abu Layth holds that ordinary Muslims should refer puzzling reports to scholars but may decline to act on a report that plainly clashes with Islam's universal teachings.

Answer from 11 January 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Age of Aisha (ra)- Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:42:08)

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 1:42:08 · Open the segment

The reports: Hisham's Iraqi transmission, Madinan silence and Asma's age

2017-01-11T00:00:00Z

The reports: Hisham's Iraqi transmission, Madinan silence and Asma's age

The six-and-nine report rests on Hisham ibn Urwa's later Iraqi transmission and no Madinan compiler carries it. Asma's reported age makes Aisha about eighteen at her marriage. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the six-and-nine report rests on Hisham ibn Urwa's later Iraqi transmission, is not transmitted by any Madinan compiler, and is contradicted by Asma's reported age, which puts Aisha at about eighteen.

Answer from 11 January 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Age of Aisha (ra)- Mufti Abu Layth (at 57:37)

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 57:37 · Open the segment

The reports: Bukhari's six and nine against three other Bukhari reports

2017-01-11T00:00:00Z

The reports: Bukhari's six and nine against three other Bukhari reports

The six-and-nine report conflicts with three other Bukhari reports: Aisha as a jariyah at an early revelation, her memory of her parents' Islam and Abu Bakr's migration, and her presence at Uhud when a fourteen-year-old boy was refused. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the six-and-nine report conflicts with at least three other reports in Sahih al-Bukhari about Aisha's age.

Answer from 11 January 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Age of Aisha (ra)- Mufti Abu Layth (at 47:06)

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 47:06 · Open the segment

Unacceptable reports in the Sahihayn and judging a hadith by its content

2017-01-11T00:00:00Z

Unacceptable reports in the Sahihayn and judging a hadith by its content

Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim contain some reports scholars reject as wrong, so a report is judged by its content as well as its chain. Their sanctification came centuries later. Mufti Abu Layth holds that Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim contain some reports that are not acceptable, and that a report should be judged by its content as well as its chain.

Answer from 11 January 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Age of Aisha (ra)- Mufti Abu Layth (at 30:00)

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 30:00 · Open the segment

Premise two: hadith absolutism versus hadith relativism

2017-01-11T00:00:00Z

Premise two: hadith absolutism versus hadith relativism

Scholars were divided from the start between treating every authenticated hadith as binding and reading it against Islam's wider principles. Imam Malik and the school of Madinah left many sound-chained reports they did not hold to be the sunnah. Mufti Abu Layth says that from the earliest period many scholars, Imam Malik and the school of Madinah among them, treated hadith as relative to the wider principles of Islam and left reports with sound chains that they did not hold to be the sunnah.

Answer from 11 January 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Age of Aisha (ra)- Mufti Abu Layth (at 16:58)

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 16:58 · Open the segment