# Is Sidrat al-Muntaha a real tree?

*The lote tree is symbolic: there is no tree*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/33/
- Date: 2021-02-16 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #202| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (1:48:43–1:50:00)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=6523s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/

**Topics:** Isra and Mi'raj; How to read the Quran

**Question as asked:** Is there a reason outside of hadith why the figure at the lote tree was determined to be Gabriel and not a theophany?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says the lote tree, Sidrat al-Muntaha, is symbolic language and there is no literal tree.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the language of the lote tree, Sidrat al-Muntaha, is all symbolic and there is no tree.

**Evidence, his words at 1:48:43:** “sidratul muntaha this kind of language is all really symbolic there's nothing um it's just symbolism there is no tree people” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=6523s)

## Longer summary

Asked whether there is a reason outside hadith why the figure at the lote tree was taken to be Jibril and not a theophany, Mufti Abu Layth says the language of Sidrat al-Muntaha is all symbolic and there is no tree. He recalls that when Mohammed Hijab came for a dialogue a couple of years ago he asked him what this tree at the end of creation does there, and got no answer. He says that sometimes we have not been asking the right questions, and the truth is often hidden in plain sight.

## Sources and names cited

- Sidrat al-Muntaha (the lote tree)
- Jibril
- Mohammed Hijab

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:48:43–1:50:00)

[1:48:06] doing it you're doing it rami all right when you get a chance i've already answered that at sam teller it also doesn't make sense that the whole countries would throw away their cultures and tradition for this foreign religion exactly they wouldn't ex and that absolutely correct rami you're doing it you're doing it salaam mufti is there a reason outside of hadith why the figure at the lottery was determined to be gabriel and not a theophany rather rather the figure at the lottery

[1:48:43] sidratul muntaha this kind of language is all really symbolic there's nothing um it's just symbolism there is no tree people [Laughter] you know i remember a couple of years ago when muhammad hijab had come to have a a dialogue i can't remember how we ended up on that point but he mentioned the lottery

[1:49:20] sidratul muntaha so i asked him i said what is this [Laughter] he said is this tree sidra tree i said at the end of creation and he said and i said so what does this tree do there and you know there was this huh what and all of them you know ali and all they were like i was like so what does this tree do at the end of creation so there's like nothing and there's a tree [Laughter]

[1:49:59] ah sometimes it's just that we've not been asking the right questions people the truth is often hidden in plain sight remember that how did the maliki mother move from the fair of central arabia to the fair of north africa the maliki method had spread in imam malik's lifetime all the way to the iberian peninsula which was spain it went through via north africa but it also spread into the middle east into iraq and there were many major malekies in iraq bashara was actually heavily maliki as in not heavily maliki but it had a

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment --PntsaR8ck/s/33. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/33/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.