# Are DMT and magic mushrooms haram?

*DMT and psilocybin are not haram, and the evidence from brain studies*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/54/
- Date: 2021-02-16 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #202| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (3:08:23–3:10:59)
- Status: a more recent answer exists: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/oyiipehuiha/s/12/; general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=11303s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/

**Topics:** Psychedelics; Spiritual experience and psychedelics; Soul, nafs and consciousness

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** DMT and psilocybin are not haram, he says, though they raise legal issues; brain studies give abundant evidence of their effect on consciousness.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says DMT is definitely not haram, nor is psilocybin, though these are issues of legality.

**Evidence, his words at 3:08:23:** “so that is the understanding as to dmt that is definitely not haram um neither is psilocybin and stuff like that mushrooms but these things are issues of legality” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=11303s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says DMT is definitely not haram, nor are psilocybin mushrooms, though they are issues of legality, and that in his understanding they are portals for connecting seriously with consciousness. Against the preacher's claim of no scientific proof, he says there is an abundance of it: studies of the brain on psychedelics, among them LSD, psilocybin and DMT, show regions activated that normally are not and brain waves at high, gamma-level frequencies at which breakthroughs happen. He says years of meditation might mimic this, though he doubts it would be the same, while what is attained through meditation has a longer-lasting effect than a shortcut. He says many religious people downplay these experiences because admitting them would seem to make their own practice amount to nothing, so they have a vested interest.

## Sources and names cited

- DMT
- psilocybin
- LSD

## Transcript (machine tier, 3:08:23–3:10:59)

[3:07:42] in fact would kill you more easily if you were to binge on junk food and you could just watch the documentary of the guy who ate uh just full mac meals three times a day for a month and then went into cardiac arrest so and you know because that's what it would do anything in excessive means like like that would could potentially destroy people but it doesn't mean that thing is haram there is a sense of personal liability and responsibility upon the individual to in what they do obviously these are

[3:08:22] issues of legality as well so that is the understanding as to dmt that is definitely not haram um neither is psilocybin and stuff like that mushrooms but these things are issues of legality but they are portals into to connect seriously with consciousness or what uh or right translate would be in arabic okay in my understanding but it definitely in a scientific sense him you know what he said there's no scientific proof there's an abundance of scientific proof i don't know what he's been looking at

[3:09:02] all you have to do is look at the studies of the human brain on um on hallucinogenics or on these this kind of psychoactive substances whether it's going to be things like even lsd but psilocybin especially psilocybin or mushrooms or dmt you have the regions of the brain that are activated are not normally activated and the level at which the brain waves are operating is a very high um you know at a high kind of hurts it's usually there will be certain stages where they

[3:09:40] may be above 35 hertz to 100 some people define as gamma at the kind of gamma level but and great breakthroughs happen at these kind of stages of the brain that is not just attained just like this you can't just i'm not saying it's impossible you could through years of meditation attain that as well but the effect of dmt and psilocybin maybe years of meditation could mimic it but i don't think it would be the same it would be very difficult to be the same but obviously what is attained through years of

[3:10:19] meditation would have a much longer lasting effect as opposed to a quick shortcut that is unquestionable also the fact that many religious people downplay these things because they feel it downplays religiosity and spirituality because if you if you admit that yes this is just a window into that then all their practice kind of amounts to nothing so there's a vested interest to kind of speak against these things the other thing i wanted to say is that in all honesty how can you know this is the hypocrisy how can sheikha seriously

[3:10:58] go live and declare these things to be haram when he publicly in a live video drank poison and then said drinking poison was not haram drinking poison is categorically haram in islam it is there's no ifs no but and if you can do that publicly live in a way to encourage people and irresponsibly encourage young people to do it just to somehow believe that this is a way to determine the truth i'm upon the heart let me drink poison

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment --PntsaR8ck/s/54. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/54/

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