Mufti Abu Layth Archive: hadith/collections-and-compilation

Is the Muwatta of Imam Malik more authentic than Sahih al-Bukhari?

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Is the Muwatta of Imam Malik more authentic than Sahih al-Bukhari?

The Muwatta, with Malik's 'golden chain', is arguably the most authentic book of hadith and predates al-Bukhari, though others do not rank it first. Mufti Abu Layth says the Muwatta is arguably the most authentic book of hadith from a hadith perspective.

Answer from 10 March 2023 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: The Legendary Imam Malik Ibn Anas | Mufti Abu Layth (at 26:01)

A more recent answer on history/scholars-and-imams/imam-malik exists (19 April 2023): Did Imam Malik reject the hadith he did not act on?

Watch on YouTube at 26:01 · Open the segment

Who are the problematic narrators in the Sahih Muslim reports on Jesus's return?

Sun, 14 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Who are the problematic narrators in the Sahih Muslim reports on Jesus's return?

The Sahih Muslim chains include a narrator who suffered memory loss, a narrator who cannot be identified and could not have met Abu Hurayra, a major mudallis whose reports some critics discarded as fabrications, and Abu al-Zubayr, whom Abu Hatim did not consider reliable. Mufti Abu Layth says the Sahih Muslim chains for Jesus's return include a narrator who suffered memory loss, a narrator who cannot be identified and could not have met Abu Hurayra, a major mudallis whose reports some critics discarded as fabrications, and Abu al-Zubayr, whom Abu Hatim did not consider reliable.

Answer from 14 March 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Reply to Yasir Qadhi's False Claims on 2nd Coming of Jesus | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:50:30)

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 1:50:30 · Open the segment

What problems does Mufti Abu Layth find in the Sahih Muslim chains for Jesus's return?

Sun, 14 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

What problems does Mufti Abu Layth find in the Sahih Muslim chains for Jesus's return?

The second Bukhari chain passes through Qutayba, who once concealed a known forger in a chain, and the Sahih Muslim chains pass through narrators faulted for lax or inaccurate transmission from al-Zuhri, notably Yunus ibn Yazid, with al-Zuhri himself recurring in each. Mufti Abu Layth says the second Bukhari chain passes through Qutayba, who once concealed a known forger in a chain and presented the report as heard from al-Layth, and that the Sahih Muslim chains pass through Yunus ibn Yazid and other narrators whose transmission from al-Zuhri the critics faulted, with al-Zuhri recurring in each.

Answer from 14 March 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Reply to Yasir Qadhi's False Claims on 2nd Coming of Jesus | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:45:14)

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 1:45:14 · Open the segment

Are the Sahih Muslim reports about Jesus's return reliable?

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

Are the Sahih Muslim reports about Jesus's return reliable?

Further Sahih Muslim chains contain a narrator with memory loss, an unidentifiable narrator who could not have met Abu Hurayra, Ibn Jurayj, whom he calls a major mudallis, and Abu al-Zubayr. Mufti Abu Layth says one narrator from Abu Hurayra in a Sahih Muslim chain for the return transmits no other hadith and is a ghost who does not exist.

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 2:54:10)

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 2:54:10 · Open the segment

What is wrong with the other Bukhari and Muslim chains on Jesus's return?

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

What is wrong with the other Bukhari and Muslim chains on Jesus's return?

The second Bukhari chain passes through Qutayba, who once concealed a forger, and al-Zuhri; the Sahih Muslim chains include Harmala, Yunus ibn Yazid and others the critics faulted. Mufti Abu Layth says Qutayba heard a fabricated hadith from a known forger, dropped him and presented it as heard from al-Layth, which puts at least a question mark over him.

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 2:48:28)

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 2:48:28 · Open the segment

What is wijada, and why does it matter for the hadith on killing apostates?

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

What is wijada, and why does it matter for the hadith on killing apostates?

The guest says the apostasy hadith cannot justify killing, since its own wording is not followed and it reaches us only by wijada; Mufti Abu Layth blames the Salafi call for putting raw hadith in place of the madhhabs.

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 1:06:26)

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 1:06:26 · Open the segment

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

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

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

Could the hadith tradition evolve like a living organism?

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Could the hadith tradition evolve like a living organism?

As food for thought, he suggests that the hadith system, like other belief systems, behaves like an evolving organism that drives people to standardise and preserve it. Mufti Abu Layth suggests, as food for thought, that the hadith system behaves like an evolving organism that, without consciousness, drives those engaged with it to standardise and correct it so that it survives.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #199 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:12:03)

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 2:12:03 · Open the segment

How could hadith chains and texts have been standardised over time?

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

How could hadith chains and texts have been standardised over time?

Mufti Abu Layth says editors who standardised variant chains and texts, as Ahmad Shakir did with Ibn Jurayj's version, erased how reports were really transmitted, and that this may have happened unnoticed in the classical collections. Mufti Abu Layth says editors who standardise variant chains and texts to match the majority, even with good intentions, erase evidence of how reports were actually transmitted, and that this may also have happened unnoticed with the classical hadith collections.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #199 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:04:13)

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 2:04:13 · Open the segment

If a hadith is also in other books besides Bukhari, does that confirm it?

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

If a hadith is also in other books besides Bukhari, does that confirm it?

Not necessarily: he says transmitters and editors, often with good intentions, aligned names and texts with versions they knew, as Ahmad Shakir did in al-Muhalla, so parallel versions may not be independent. Mufti Abu Layth says that later transmitters and editors, even with good intentions, may have altered reports and names to match versions they knew, so that the same hadith appearing in other books need not be independent of al-Bukhari.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #199 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:56:22)

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 1:56:22 · Open the segment

Is Mufti Abu Layth against Imam Bukhari?

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Is Mufti Abu Layth against Imam Bukhari?

No: he says he respects al-Bukhari as an outstanding hadith scholar, though not infallible, but holds that the book reaching us was altered in transmission, so troubling reports deserve caution. Mufti Abu Layth says he has never been against Imam Bukhari, whom he regards as an outstanding though fallible hadith scholar, but holds that the book reaching us was altered in transmission, so reports in it that disrespect the prophets or concern killing should be treated with caution.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #199 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:32:28)

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 1:32:28 · Open the segment

How did the BukhariGate discussion go on manuscripts and problematic hadith?

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

How did the BukhariGate discussion go on manuscripts and problematic hadith?

Mufti Abu Layth says the guest did not contest the manuscript evidence, and that defending the problematic reports amounts to claiming the Prophet could err but al-Bukhari could not. Mufti Abu Layth says that defending reports in Bukhari which portray the Prophet as bewitched or forgetting the Quran amounts to claiming the Prophet could err but al-Bukhari could not, when errors in the book's transmission are far more likely.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #199 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:21:59)

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 1:21:59 · Open the segment

Will you critique Sahih Muslim like you did al-Bukhari?

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Will you critique Sahih Muslim like you did al-Bukhari?

Mufti Abu Layth chose al-Bukhari, not Muslim or others, because it is the symbol of the Salafi-Wahhabi legacy; that is the fortress he wanted to take on. Mufti Abu Layth says he went for al-Bukhari because it has become the symbol of the legacy of Islam as promoted by the Salafis and Wahhabis.

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 1:13:01)

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 1:13:41 · Open the segment

Which hadith book is the most authentic?

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

Which hadith book is the most authentic?

Mufti Abu Layth takes each hadith on its merits rather than trusting one book; if anything, he would call Imam Malik's Muwatta the most authentic. Mufti Abu Layth says he would not single out a particular hadith book, taking each hadith on its merits, but if anything he supposes he would call the Muwatta of Imam Malik the most authentic.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #196 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 17:21)

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 17:21 · Open the segment

Did Imam Malik and Abu Hanifa study under Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, and what did they learn from him?

Sun, 06 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Did Imam Malik and Abu Hanifa study under Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, and what did they learn from him?

Malik and Abu Hanifa kept Imam Jafar's company and attended his circles but transmitted nothing from him, which Mufti Abu Layth explains by their disagreement with teaching that largely reflected the Shia da'wah. He calls the claim that they took only 'spirituality' from him absurd. Mufti Abu Layth thinks Imam Malik and Abu Hanifa attended Imam Jafar's circles and kept his company but transmitted nothing from him to Sunni circles because the bulk of his teaching reflected the Shia da'wah, which they did not agree with, and he calls the explanation that they took only 'spirituality' from him absurd.

Answer from 6 December 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Why don't sunni imams transmit from Imam Jafar? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 6:37)

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 6:37 · Open the segment

Why don't Sunni imams like Malik and Abu Hanifa transmit from Imam Jafar al-Sadiq?

Sun, 06 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Why don't Sunni imams like Malik and Abu Hanifa transmit from Imam Jafar al-Sadiq?

Mufti Abu Layth's theory is that the early imams of the Ahl al-Bayt were for the most part as the Shia describe them, so Malik and Abu Hanifa, though respectful of them, did not transmit from them because it would have caused a political storm. He adds that this does not make the Shia theological claims more authentic. Mufti Abu Layth offers as his own theory that the early imams of the Ahl al-Bayt up to Jafar al-Sadiq were for the most part as the Shia describe them rather than Sunni, and that Imam Malik and Abu Hanifa, though on good terms with them, did not transmit from them because their views would have caused a political storm, while adding that this does not in his view make the Shia theological claims more authentic.

Answer from 6 December 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Why don't sunni imams transmit from Imam Jafar? | Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:02)

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 0:02 · Open the segment

Was the hadith literature a conspiracy against the Quran?

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Was the hadith literature a conspiracy against the Quran?

The guest says the hadith corpus is a deliberate conspiracy against the Quran by its enemies, including the Umayyads, and that reports such as the Banu Qurayza massacre and the killing of a woman critic were fabricated to justify later rulers' crimes.

Answer from 26 June 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

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

Recording: Prof. Edip Yuksel | Rejecting Hadith, Rashad Khalifa & Realizing '19' | MindTrap with Mufti #27 (at 21:29)

A more recent answer on hadith/quran-only-movement exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 21:29 · Open the segment

How did the earlier recitation and other readings get mixed up with the Quran?

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

How did the earlier recitation and other readings get mixed up with the Quran?

The guest names four sources of the variant readings: remnants of the earlier revelatory sequence kept by the companions and later blurred with the Quran under al-Shafi'i's scholarly transmission, the mixing of similar passages, companions' explanatory synonyms taken as readings, and fabrication in the second and third centuries.

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

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

Recording: Dr. Shehzad Saleem | the Preservation of the Quran & the Problem of Qira'at | MindTrap with Mufti#26 (at 28:54)

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 28:54 · Open the segment

Did the Prophet leave a written Quran, and what did the caliphs really do?

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Did the Prophet leave a written Quran, and what did the caliphs really do?

At the Prophet's death the Quran lived in the community's recitation, teaching and notes; he deliberately left no official codex. The caliphs merely spread copies, and the guest says the Bukhari narratives about their compilation are weak in chain and content.

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

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

Recording: Dr. Shehzad Saleem | the Preservation of the Quran & the Problem of Qira'at | MindTrap with Mufti#26 (at 21:00)

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 21:00 · Open the segment

Is criticising Sahih al-Bukhari an attack on Imam al-Bukhari?

Wed, 22 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Is criticising Sahih al-Bukhari an attack on Imam al-Bukhari?

Imam al-Bukhari deserves credit for sifting hadith and his shorter narratives are usually the more authentic, but he was a human being and his book is not the Quran. Mufti Abu Layth says BukhariGate critiques the myth of an untouchable gold standard, not the man.

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 1:11:36)

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 1:11:36 · Open the segment

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

Sat, 28 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

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

What is BukhariGate and why does Mufti Abu Layth say Sahih al-Bukhari is not reliable?

Sat, 01 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0000

What is BukhariGate and why does Mufti Abu Layth say Sahih al-Bukhari is not reliable?

Sahih al-Bukhari cannot reliably be traced to its author because it reaches us through one transmitter, al-Farabri, whom nobody vouched for in his lifetime, and because transmission and memory reconstruct what they pass on. Mufti Abu Layth accepts hadith by the scholars' own standards, that a report not contradict reason, the Quran or an Islamic principle, while relying on the living tradition that Imam Malik called the Sunnah. Mufti Abu Layth holds that Sahih al-Bukhari cannot reliably be traced to al-Bukhari because it reaches us through al-Farabri alone, whom nobody vouched for in his lifetime, that the deen is conveyed by the living tradition which Imam Malik distinguished from hadith, and that he accepts hadith only by the muhaddithin's own standards: a report must not contradict reason, the Quran and transmitted sources, or an Islamic principle.

Answer from 1 September 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: BukhariGate Part 2: Sahih Bukhari is NOT so Sahih -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

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 0:00 · Open the segment

Farabri's incomplete copy, the differing student copies and the manuscript patchwork

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Farabri's incomplete copy, the differing student copies and the manuscript patchwork

Farabri's copy was incomplete and rearranged, his students' copies differ in chains and hadith, and every later manuscript down to the Sultaniyya edition was a patchwork that needed correction. Mufti Abu Layth says Farabri's own copy was incomplete and rearranged by his students, their copies differ in chains and hadith, and every later manuscript down to the Sultaniyya edition is a patchwork that still needed correction.

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 1:26:03)

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 1:26:03 · Open the segment

Ibn Hajar and Ibn Rushayd on the transmissions: Farabri alone, found copies not taught

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Ibn Hajar and Ibn Rushayd on the transmissions: Farabri alone, found copies not taught

Ibn Hajar and Ibn Rushayd both record that Farabri's is the only transmission that reached later generations through teaching. Copies found centuries later cannot be taught from, so claims of independent connected transmissions are not honest. Mufti Abu Layth says the only transmission of Sahih al-Bukhari that reached later generations through teaching is Farabri's, and that copies found without teaching cannot be used to claim an independent connected transmission.

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 1:10:18)

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 1:10:18 · Open the segment

Bukhari in his own chain, and the other students whose copies did not reach us

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Bukhari in his own chain, and the other students whose copies did not reach us

Sahih al-Bukhari reaches us through Farabri alone, although other students transmitted it. Nasafi's copy survives only in a summary of twelve hundred hadith, little of Hammad ibn Shakir's remains, Bazdawi's did not reach us, and Bukhari even appears in a chain in his own book. Mufti Abu Layth says that although Bukhari had other students who transmitted the Sahih, their versions were incomplete or did not reach later generations, so the book in fact reaches us through Farabri alone.

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 1:02:26)

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 1:02:26 · Open the segment

The third problem: can Bukhari be traced to its author? The bullet points

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The third problem: can Bukhari be traced to its author? The bullet points

Sahih al-Bukhari cannot be traced to its author beyond reasonable doubt. It rests on one unvouched transmitter, his students admit an incomplete and altered copy, their copies disagree, and later editions needed correction. Mufti Abu Layth says the transmission of Sahih al-Bukhari cannot be established back to its author beyond reasonable doubt, because it rests on one unvouched transmitter whose students admit the copy was incomplete and altered, and whose copies disagree with one another.

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 11:50)

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 11:50 · Open the segment

Can Sahih al-Bukhari be proven to go back to Imam al-Bukhari?

Fri, 03 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Can Sahih al-Bukhari be proven to go back to Imam al-Bukhari?

Mufti Abu Layth says it cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt: the printed Sultaniyya rests on the lost Yuniniyya, the copies disagree, al-Saghani's claimed copy of Farabri's text is unseen, and Farabri himself was vouched for only centuries later. He challenges his critics to prove otherwise. Mufti Abu Layth holds that Sahih al-Bukhari cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt to go back to Imam al-Bukhari, since the Sultaniyya edition rests on the lost Yuniniyya, the recensions disagree, and the book's transmission depends on Farabri, whom no contemporary vouched for.

Answer from 3 August 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Reply to Sunni (Wahhabi) Defence Pt. IV -Mufti Abu Layth (at 9:05)

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 9:05 · Open the segment

Why hadith, not the Quran or fiqh, was corrupted: Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, Zuhri and forged chains

Tue, 13 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Why hadith, not the Quran or fiqh, was corrupted: Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, Zuhri and forged chains

Mufti Abu Layth holds that early opponents corrupted hadith, not the Quran or fiqh, in the century before chains were demanded; this is why Malik relied on inherited practice and treated isolated reports as information, not creed. Mufti Abu Layth holds that people hostile to Islam brought the belief in Jesus's return in as Christian propaganda through hadith, which went undocumented for about a century and whose chains could be copied, and that this is why Imam Malik told people to rely on inherited practice over isolated reports.

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 1:26:52)

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 1:26:52 · Open the segment

How could fabricated hadith have crept into mainstream Islam?

Tue, 13 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

How could fabricated hadith have crept into mainstream Islam?

Fear of questioning drives the backlash; Mufti Abu Layth says the murder of Uthman, Karbala, the sack of Madinah and the catapulting of the Kaaba all happened within decades, long before hadith were documented, so corruption of reports was possible.

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 1:22:57)

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 1:24:13 · Open the segment