Mufti Abu Layth Archive: history/sirah/defending-the-prophet

Should loyalty to a scholar ever come before the honour of the Prophet?

2022-08-19T00:00:00Z

Should loyalty to a scholar ever come before the honour of the Prophet?

No: he says loyalty belongs first to the Prophet, so a report that disparages him must be rejected whoever accepted it, citing Imam Malik's maxim that everyone's words can be accepted or rejected except the Prophet's. Mufti Abu Layth says that when a report disparages the Prophet, loyalty belongs to the Prophet rather than to any scholar who accepted it, and that everyone's words may be accepted or rejected except the Prophet's.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Salman Rushdie & The Satanic Verses | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:47:24)

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 1:47:24 · Open the segment

Is Quran 22:52 about the satanic verses incident?

2022-08-19T00:00:00Z

Is Quran 22:52 about the satanic verses incident?

No: he rejects the link to 22:52, noting that Surah al-Hajj is Madinan, that the Prophet refused the Makkans' offers of compromise, and that the Quran calls the idols mere stone. Mufti Abu Layth says the story that the Prophet praised the idols, or that Satan spoke in his voice, is absurd, and that 22:52, in a Madinan surah, has nothing to do with it.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Salman Rushdie & The Satanic Verses | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:09:22)

Watch on YouTube at 1:09:22 · Open the segment

What are the satanic verses in Islamic history?

2022-08-19T00:00:00Z

What are the satanic verses in Islamic history?

Mufti Abu Layth explains that the Prophet's recitation of Surah al-Najm and the prostration of everyone present are documented, but that the added story of him praising the three goddesses is false. Mufti Abu Layth says the prostration of everyone present when the Prophet recited Surah al-Najm is documented, possibly out of respect at the mention of their gods, but that the narrations claiming the Prophet praised the three goddesses are false.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Salman Rushdie & The Satanic Verses | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:00:37)

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

Watch on YouTube at 1:00:37 · Open the segment

Why do Mufti Abu Layth's critics defend Bukhari reports that demean the Prophet?

2021-04-19T00:00:00Z

Why do Mufti Abu Layth's critics defend Bukhari reports that demean the Prophet?

Critics who defend Bukhari reports Mufti Abu Layth regards as insulting to the Prophet, such as marrying a child, forcing Safiyya, forgetting the Quran or being made impotent by magic, cannot claim to love the Prophet. Mariya al-Qibtiyya was a wife, not a concubine, and the critics' real concern is a fantasy caliphate and power. Mufti Abu Layth holds that Mariya al-Qibtiyya was a wife of the Prophet and not a concubine, and calls nonsense the teachings, some of them in Sahih al-Bukhari, that the Prophet married a child, forcibly took Safiyya, tried to force himself on a woman, forgot the Quran or was made impotent by magic.

Answer from 19 April 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Saudi Arabia & Sahih Al-Bukhari | Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:04)

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 0:04 · Open the segment

Did the Prophet order a scribe killed for leaving Islam?

2021-02-16T00:00:00Z

Did the Prophet order a scribe killed for leaving Islam?

Not for apostasy, he says: the scribe was not executed, and the issue was treason, since he exposed Madinah's weak points to its enemies; apostasy laws were treason laws. Mufti Abu Layth says the apostasy laws of that time were in essence treason laws.

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 1:11:59)

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

Watch on YouTube at 1:11:59 · Open the segment

Did the Prophet fall in love with Zaynab bint Jahsh?

2021-01-05T00:00:00Z

Did the Prophet fall in love with Zaynab bint Jahsh?

No: he says the early hadith collections do not carry the love story, and it makes no sense given the Prophet had known Zaynab all his life. Mufti Abu Layth says that many of the major early muhaddithun, including Malik, do not transmit the love story of the Prophet and Zaynab.

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 2:38:27)

A more recent answer on history/sirah/defending-the-prophet exists (19 August 2022): Should loyalty to a scholar ever come before the honour of the Prophet?

Watch on YouTube at 2:38:27 · Open the segment

Did Patricia Crone accept that the Prophet Muhammad existed?

2020-09-22T00:00:00Z

Did Patricia Crone accept that the Prophet Muhammad existed?

Mufti Abu Layth agrees with Patricia Crone that the Prophet's existence is certain, since sources document him from his last year or just after. Agreeing with Patricia Crone, Mufti Abu Layth holds that it is very clear the Prophet existed, because he is documented in sources from his final year or a couple of years after.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #183 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:17:16)

A more recent answer on history/sirah/defending-the-prophet exists (19 August 2022): Should loyalty to a scholar ever come before the honour of the Prophet?

Watch on YouTube at 1:17:16 · Open the segment

Are there enemies of Islam today?

2020-09-22T00:00:00Z

Are there enemies of Islam today?

Mufti Abu Layth says some people do hate Islam, but criticising or leaving Islam is not the same as hating it, and he will not engage those driven by hatred. Mufti Abu Layth says that a person criticising Islam does not, to him, mean that the person hates Islam.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #183 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 57:56)

A more recent answer on society/technology-and-media exists (22 February 2023): Is there an LGBTQ push in media and schools?

Watch on YouTube at 58:35 · Open the segment

Did the Prophet Muhammad ever kill anyone himself?

2020-07-14T00:00:00Z

Did the Prophet Muhammad ever kill anyone himself?

Mufti Abu Layth is not aware of such a killing and doubts the usual example, though it may have happened in battle; the Prophet's battles were all defensive in essence. Mufti Abu Layth says all of the Prophet's battles were in essence defensive, even if pre-emptively defensive.

Answer from 14 July 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth 173 (at 40:56)

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

Watch on YouTube at 40:56 · Open the segment

Does the Mufti teach disrespect for the Prophet?

2020-04-07T00:00:00Z

Does the Mufti teach disrespect for the Prophet?

No: he says he has repeatedly defended the Prophet, denying that he married a child and rejecting narrations he finds insulting. Those accusing him took none of these stances. Mufti Abu Layth says he has stood up for years and said that the Prophet did not marry a child.

Answer from 7 April 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Misrepresenting Mufti | Mufti Abu Layth (at 8:19)

A more recent answer on history/sirah/age-of-aisha exists (18 October 2025): Why does Mufti Abu Layth see the Quran-only movement as a reaction of anger?

Watch on YouTube at 8:19 · Open the segment

How old was Aisha when she married the Prophet?

2019-09-19T00:00:00Z

How old was Aisha when she married the Prophet?

Mufti Abu Layth says the report that Aisha was six or nine is false and that she was in her late teens, about seventeen to nineteen. Promoting the child-marriage story and then taking offence at the charge of paedophilia is irresponsible. Mufti Abu Layth says the story that Aisha was six, seven or nine is not true and that she would have been in her late teens.

Answer from 19 September 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A reply to Asadulah Al-Andalusi on the age of Aisha (r) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:30)

A more recent answer on history/sirah/age-of-aisha exists (18 October 2025): Why does Mufti Abu Layth see the Quran-only movement as a reaction of anger?

Watch on YouTube at 2:30 · Open the segment

Why should Muslims reject the hadith that the Prophet died of poison?

2018-09-17T00:00:00Z

Why should Muslims reject the hadith that the Prophet died of poison?

Following Imam Malik, a hadith that contradicts the overall message of the Quran is set aside; Mufti Abu Layth rules the poisoning report false on chain and content and says that calling the Prophet's death a poisoning insults Islam, God and the Prophet. Mufti Abu Layth holds that a hadith contradicting the overall message of the Quran must be set aside, as Imam Malik did, and that saying the Prophet died of poisoning insults Islam, God and the Prophet.

Answer from 17 September 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: False Hadith: The Prophet ﷺ Was Poisoned Before He Died (at 12:47)

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 12:47 · Open the segment

Does the hadith that the Prophet died of poison contradict the Quran?

2018-09-17T00:00:00Z

Does the hadith that the Prophet died of poison contradict the Quran?

Yes, in Mufti Abu Layth's view: the Quran promises that Allah will protect the Prophet from the people, and it describes cutting the aorta as the punishment for one who forges revelation, so a report that the Prophet died that way humiliates him. Mufti Abu Layth says the poisoning report clashes with the Quran's promise to protect the Prophet from the people and makes the Prophet's death resemble the punishment described in the Quran for one who forges revelation.

Answer from 17 September 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: False Hadith: The Prophet ﷺ Was Poisoned Before He Died (at 10:31)

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 10:31 · Open the segment

Was the Prophet Muhammad poisoned, and did he die from it?

2018-09-17T00:00:00Z

Was the Prophet Muhammad poisoned, and did he die from it?

No: Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet did not die of poisoning. The report in Bukhari that he felt the poison cutting his aorta in his final illness is, in his view, a fabricated story that contradicts itself and fails on its chain. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the Prophet did not die of poisoning and that the report in which the Prophet says in his final illness that he feels the poison cutting his aorta is a fabricated story.

Answer from 17 September 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: False Hadith: The Prophet ﷺ Was Poisoned Before He Died (at 0:01)

A more recent answer on hadith/false-and-fabricated/about-the-prophet exists (19 August 2022): Recap: the novel, insult versus critique, and the false story summarised

Watch on YouTube at 0:01 · Open the segment

What does Mufti Abu Layth say about the Bukhari report of the Prophet falling unconscious when he uncovered himself?

2018-09-01T00:00:00Z

What does Mufti Abu Layth say about the Bukhari report of the Prophet falling unconscious when he uncovered himself?

The Bukhari report that the Prophet removed his izar while carrying stones for the Kaaba, fell unconscious and was never seen naked again is, in Mufti Abu Layth's words, nonsense that disrespects the Prophet, and he dismisses the scholars' attempts to soften it. Mufti Abu Layth says the Bukhari report that the Prophet fell unconscious after removing his izar to carry stones for the Kaaba and was never seen naked again is nonsense that disrespects the Prophet, and that the scholars' efforts to soften it contradict its own wording.

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 10:23)

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 10:23 · Open the segment

Why does Mufti Abu Layth call the Sunni Defence channel blasphemous?

2018-08-03T00:00:00Z

Why does Mufti Abu Layth call the Sunni Defence channel blasphemous?

Mufti Abu Layth says the group's own words, asking what is wrong with the Prophet being sexually impotent and defending the report of Musa running naked, are blasphemous. That, he says, is why he described them as he did.

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 0:00)

A more recent answer on hadith/false-and-fabricated/about-the-prophet exists (19 August 2022): Recap: the novel, insult versus critique, and the false story summarised

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Did the Prophet marry Safiyya on the same night she was captured?

2018-02-28T00:00:00Z

Did the Prophet marry Safiyya on the same night she was captured?

No: Mufti Abu Layth says Safiyya was a Muslim when the Prophet married her and so had to observe a waiting period, which rules out a marriage on the night of her capture. Mufti Abu Layth says the claim that the Prophet took Safiyya and married her on the same night cannot stand, since as a Muslim she was bound by the waiting period, and even a single menstrual cycle could not have passed in one or two nights.

Answer from 28 February 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A response to Hamza Maqbool (Deobandi/Maliki) - Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki (at 2:28)

A more recent answer on history/sirah/defending-the-prophet exists (19 August 2022): Should loyalty to a scholar ever come before the honour of the Prophet?

Watch on YouTube at 2:28 · Open the segment

How should Muslims judge hadith that say the Prophet took Safiyya on the night of Khaybar?

2018-02-21T00:00:00Z

How should Muslims judge hadith that say the Prophet took Safiyya on the night of Khaybar?

Weigh them against the Quran and the Prophet's character: the story contradicts the widow's waiting period, the verse on no compulsion and everything known of his conduct, and all its versions come from one conflicting source. Mufti Abu Layth says relaying it is a lie against the Prophet and the picture it draws is rape. Mufti Abu Layth holds that conflicting historical hadith must be weighed against the Quran and the Prophet's character, that the story of Safiyya taken on the night of Khaybar fails both tests and amounts to a lie against the Prophet, and that Muslims who relay it are degrading his honour.

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 35:13)

A more recent answer on history/sirah/defending-the-prophet exists (19 August 2022): Should loyalty to a scholar ever come before the honour of the Prophet?

Watch on YouTube at 35:13 · Open the segment

What is the common story about how the Prophet married Safiyya?

2018-02-21T00:00:00Z

What is the common story about how the Prophet married Safiyya?

The circulated story is that after Khaybar the Prophet executed Safiyya's husband and father, took her from Dihya al-Kalbi for her beauty, gave her the choice of slavery or marriage and consummated it that night. Mufti Abu Layth says every part of this is false. Mufti Abu Layth says the circulating account that the Prophet had Safiyya's husband and father executed, took her from Dihya al-Kalbi for her beauty, offered her marriage or slavery and consummated the marriage that night is untrue.

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 9:06)

A more recent answer on history/sirah/defending-the-prophet exists (19 August 2022): Should loyalty to a scholar ever come before the honour of the Prophet?

Watch on YouTube at 9:06 · Open the segment

Did the Prophet take Safiyya the night her husband was killed, as the Tommy Robinson clip claims?

2018-02-21T00:00:00Z

Did the Prophet take Safiyya the night her husband was killed, as the Tommy Robinson clip claims?

No: Mufti Abu Layth says the story conceded by the Muslim debater is false and that, as described, it would be rape, so conceding it and arguing over the word is indefensible. Muslims who have not studied Islamic history should not debate these subjects. Mufti Abu Layth says that Muslims who have not studied Islam should not debate far-right figures, and that the scenario the debater conceded, killing Safiyya's husband and father and taking her that night, can only be described as rape and is not what happened.

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 0:00)

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

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

What does he say to critics who accept that the Prophet was impotent, married a nine-year-old or was bewitched into clumsiness?

2018-02-21T00:00:00Z

What does he say to critics who accept that the Prophet was impotent, married a nine-year-old or was bewitched into clumsiness?

Mufti Abu Layth says these claims are untrue attacks on the Prophet's honour, resting on reports whose chains he has shown to be defective, and that critics who affirm them to win an argument are themselves being blasphemous. He adds that he does not support capital punishment for such speech. Mufti Abu Layth says the claims that the Prophet was sexually impotent, married a nine-year-old or became clumsy under a spell are untrue and an attack on the Prophet's honour, that he has shown the reports on the marriage to have problems in their chains, and that those who affirm such claims are themselves being blasphemous.

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 40:19)

A more recent answer on history/sirah/defending-the-prophet exists (19 August 2022): Should loyalty to a scholar ever come before the honour of the Prophet?

Watch on YouTube at 42:14 · Open the segment

How old was Aisha when she married the Prophet?

2018-02-09T00:00:00Z

How old was Aisha when she married the Prophet?

Mufti Abu Layth holds that the evidence shows Aisha married in her late teens, and warns that reports of a child marriage feed Islamophobes. Mufti Abu Layth says all the evidence demonstrates that Aisha was in her late teens when she got married.

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 26:22)

A more recent answer on history/sirah/age-of-aisha exists (18 October 2025): Why does Mufti Abu Layth see the Quran-only movement as a reaction of anger?

Watch on YouTube at 26:22 · Open the segment

Are some hadith about the Prophet actually blasphemous?

2018-02-09T00:00:00Z

Are some hadith about the Prophet actually blasphemous?

Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says reports that the Prophet married a nine-year-old, was bewitched or became impotent are the real blasphemy, and urges scholars to denounce them. Mufti Abu Layth says that reports such as the Prophet having relations with a nine-year-old or becoming impotent are rubbish that should be denounced as blasphemy.

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 18:41)

A more recent answer on history/sirah/defending-the-prophet exists (19 August 2022): Should loyalty to a scholar ever come before the honour of the Prophet?

Watch on YouTube at 18:41 · Open the segment