# Why isn't the Mufti a Mu'tazili? *Why is he not a Mu'tazili? What defines the Shia, and mut'ah as propaganda* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/14/ - Date: 2021-02-16 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #202| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (44:58–51:46) - Status: general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=2698s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/ **Topics:** Creed and the schools of theology; Sunni-Shia dialogue; Polygamy and mut'ah **Question as asked:** Why aren't you a Mu'tazili [?] Muslim? **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says he is simply Sunni; sects are defined by core doctrines, the Shia by the sacred bloodline's right to rule, and mut'ah was pinned on them as propaganda. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says mut'ah had nothing to do with being a Shia, and that tying it to them was a propaganda campaign. **Evidence, his words at 50:32:** “this was just a propaganda compe campaign muta had nothing to do with being a shia shia was about who gets to rule” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=3032s) ## Longer summary Asked why he is not a Mu'tazili [?] (the captions render the word as 'Quran first'), Mufti Abu Layth says he is Sunni, and compares the question to asking someone who is not a Roman Catholic why he is not one. He says history is made to look neat in hindsight, that calling the Mu'tazila 'super rationalists' is later Sunni propaganda, and that like the Shia they were a clearly defined sect. He explains that the Shia split is about the right to rule remaining in the Prophet's sacred bloodline, which Sunnis do not believe in, with later disagreements over which line, the imams' powers and practices. He says mut'ah and wiping over the feet have nothing to do with being Shia but were used by Sunnis in a propaganda campaign, a theological turf war in which the public are casualties, noting that Ibn Abbas was a clear proponent of mut'ah. ## Sources and names cited - Mu'tazila - Shia - Ismaili - Sunni - Hasan ibn Ali - Husayn ibn Ali - the Fatimids [?] - mut'ah (temporary marriage) - wiping over the socks (mash ala al-khuffayn) - Ibn Abbas ## Transcript (machine tier, 44:58–51:46) [44:58] [Music] why aren't you a quran first muslim says because i'm sunni why should i be you know this is this is the problem people are not happy just letting you be they're like yeah why ain't you a roman catholic like because i'm not a roman but why ain't you a roman catholic you're like but i'm i'm not a roman catholic but but why aren't you acha but why you're protestant then [45:37] [Laughter] why you ismailia you uh seem to you know you have to remember look them were an extremist faction in islam they were heretics and they believed anybody who committed a sin was no longer a muslim you know later what happens is you see you have to understand something a lot of history [46:13] is it's made to look neat and it gets kind of streamlined and presented in a particular way where it looks as though it's it had a theme playing out but this is just in hindsight it doesn't really work like that this is just people's interpretation of what they talk um [46:45] who are amongst the early sects of islam you know today the mata zilla when people speak about them they assume that they're these they call them these super rationalists which is stupid calling them that this is just part of propaganda that later latter-day sunnis had to come up with to resolve certain crises that they were facing within theology [47:20] it's not look are a clearly defined sect clearly it's like the shia they are a sect in islam that are clearly defined and then they disagree amongst themselves over things so for example the shia are based the whole split is based on on the household of the prophet inherit the right to rule this is what it's based on the whole split of [47:58] sunnis is based on this factor who has the right to rule and they say that it must remain within the sacred bloodline that is what defines a shia sunnis do not believe in a sacred bloodline these are the demarcating factors now then shia will disagree amongst themselves which part of the bloodline does it go down does it go down hassan does it go down hussein is it going to end up the fatamine or is it going to end up [48:36] down here what are the rulings what what superpowers do these imams have are they infallible are they not infallible uh then they'll have things like you know little traditions when they pray they'll pray put a little rock and bow down on that but you know they some of them might kind of beat themselves in maharam some of them may visit certain shrines and these are permutations obviously of the shia tradition but then they may have certain so for example you could say well muthaa shia i've become identified uh with mutha temporary marriages [49:15] and they've also become identified with wiping over the feet as opposed to wiping over socks now in all honesty these things have got nothing to do with being a shia but sunnis kind of used this to try to lay a smack down and then they bolstered it and they you know put a whole propaganda campaign behind it to highlight it so it got popular now because you see you have to understand there is [49:53] you see the common public are just casualties of war nobody really you know they just they don't know what's going on there is a theological turf war that is taking place and the audience is the public and what these people do is they play dirty tactics and really they will manipulate the public so here let's say now temporary marriages so because this became something which [50:32] uh in society people you know even though people may do these things but in society they looked down upon it it became a taboo so therefore they whacked it onto the shia because the shiad said it was permissible anyway and something oh look at them look at them oh that's prostitution ha this was just a propaganda compe campaign muta had nothing to do with being a shia shia was about who gets to rule it was nothing about [51:09] how you practice islam so for example ibn abbas the companion was a clear proponent of mutha he he argued was halal many of the people after him argue this then it falls out of flavor with many of the people but the shia continue it so they're just getting targeted as as part of this theological turf war that hey look at them look at them prostitution blah blah blah blah blah you know temporary marriages so in a similar way the material ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment --PntsaR8ck/s/14. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/14/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.