Mufti Abu Layth Archive: relationships/marriage/abuse-and-marital-rape

Does the Quran allow a husband to hit his wife?

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

Does the Quran allow a husband to hit his wife?

The guest reads 4:34 as telling a persistently flirting wife to leave rather than as permission to beat, and says four words in the verse were mistranslated to create male authority. Mufti Abu Layth says the statement that men provide is descriptive, not prescriptive.

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

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Prof. Edip Yuksel | Rejecting Hadith, Rashad Khalifa & Realizing '19' | MindTrap with Mufti #27 (at 2:04:43)

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 2:04:43 · Open the segment

Is forcing your wife to have sex a sin in Islam?

Thu, 25 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Is forcing your wife to have sex a sin in Islam?

Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says coercive sex with one's wife is haram, and that Muslims who deny this create the problem. He cites Imam Malik's saying that what set right the first of this umma will set right its last, meaning the independence to challenge inherited readings shaped by medieval patriarchy. Mufti Abu Layth holds that coercive sex with one's wife is haram, that Muslims who deny this are the problem, and that, following Imam Malik's saying, the umma is set right by the independence to challenge inherited readings shaped by the patriarchy of past ages.

Answer from 25 July 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: A Reply to Abdullah Sameer's Allegation: The Quran Teaches Paedophilia | Mufti Abu Layth (at 32:36)

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 32:36 · Open the segment

Is there an authentic hadith that a wife may never refuse her husband sex?

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

Is there an authentic hadith that a wife may never refuse her husband sex?

Mufti Abu Layth says no version of the report that a wife cannot refuse her husband is free of criticism, since its chains run through al-A'mash and Qatada and carry hidden defects. He challenges his critics to produce one that cannot be faulted. Mufti Abu Layth says that the report that a woman may not refuse her husband cannot be attributed to the Prophet without blasphemy, and challenges his critics to bring one version of it whose chain he cannot show to carry weakness or hidden defects.

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 3:50)

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 3:50 · Open the segment

Is it haram to pressure a wife into sex by saying God will be angry?

Sun, 08 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Is it haram to pressure a wife into sex by saying God will be angry?

Yes: marital rape is categorically haram, and so is religious blackmail, using God's anger to get sex. He reads the hadith of the angels cursing a refusing wife as justifying that. Mufti Abu Layth says, repeating what he said in an earlier session, that marital rape is categorically haram and that this includes religious blackmail.

Answer from 8 July 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Reply to Sunni (Wahhabi) Defence Pt. II -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on dialogue/responses-to-critics exists (6 April 2021): Donors, deathbed remarks and 'no hatred': an invitation to the critic

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Critics silent on marital rape, and a story about research and conclusions

Sun, 08 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Critics silent on marital rape, and a story about research and conclusions

Mufti Abu Layth says his critics avoid the real issue of marital rape, and challenges them to produce a sound chain for the hadith.

Answer from 8 July 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Reply to Sunni (Wahhabi) Defence Pt. III -Mufti Abu Layth (at 12:34)

A more recent answer on dialogue/responses-to-critics exists (6 April 2021): Donors, deathbed remarks and 'no hatred': an invitation to the critic

Watch on YouTube at 12:34 · Open the segment

Do the angels curse a wife who refuses her husband in bed?

Sun, 08 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Do the angels curse a wife who refuses her husband in bed?

No: Mufti Abu Layth holds the hadith is weak, resting on narrators who practised tadlis, and clashes with the Quran's command to treat wives with kindness. Mufti Abu Layth says he believes the hadith about a wife who stays away from her husband's bed is weak and unacceptable, clashing with the Quran.

Answer from 8 July 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Reply to Sunni (Wahhabi) Defence Pt. III -Mufti Abu Layth (at 3:12)

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 3:12 · Open the segment

Is it rape if a husband uses religion to pressure his wife into sex?

Sun, 08 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Is it rape if a husband uses religion to pressure his wife into sex?

Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says using religious threats to pressure a wife into sex is still rape and categorically haram. Mufti Abu Layth says that pressuring a wife into sex by threatening her with Allah's punishment is no less rape than threatening to beat her.

Answer from 8 July 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Reply to Sunni (Wahhabi) Defence Pt. III -Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on dialogue/responses-to-critics exists (6 April 2021): Donors, deathbed remarks and 'no hatred': an invitation to the critic

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment