# Should I study at Dar al-Mustafa in Yemen or at al-Azhar?

*Studying at Dar al-Mustafa in Yemen or al-Azhar?*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/1zghntbmpis/s/21/
- Date: 2021-01-12 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #197 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (1:24:32–1:28:13)
- Status: answer to a specific questioner, not a general ruling
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zgHntbMPis&t=5072s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/1zghntbmpis/

**Topics:** How to study Islam

**Question as asked:** Would you recommend studying at Dar al-Mustafa in Yemen or al-Azhar?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth would not go to Yemen now because it is unstable; al-Azhar is still an option, and short stints abroad after local study may be best.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says Yemen is not a very stable location right now and he does not think it would be very wise to go there.

**Evidence, his words at 1:25:11:** “is not a very stable location so um i don't i don't think it'd be very wise going there and you'd probably just be stuck” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zgHntbMPis&t=5111s)

## Longer summary

A chat question asks whether he would recommend studying at Dar al-Mustafa in Yemen or al-Azhar. Mufti Abu Layth says he has not heard much about these institutes in years, so he does not really know what to advise, but that Yemen is not a stable location right now and he does not think going there would be wise. He says al-Azhar is still an option, as Egypt remains active. He suggests studying locally for two or three years and then going abroad, or studying abroad for three months at a time in different places, which also broadens one's experience. He warns that some institutions turn out graduates who are 'just one of them', with a joke about a Tablighi translator.

## Sources and names cited

- Dar al-Mustafa (Tarim, Yemen)
- al-Azhar
- Tablighi Jamaat

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:24:32–1:28:13)

[1:23:53] sodomy is always prohibited it was prohibited in my understanding to kind of force people into marrying to procreate to set up a society because people weren't prepared to undertake the responsibility so in order to force them to undertake it it had to prohibit other opportunities and it obviously prohibited just general sexual liaisons and so on and this fell under that that's my understanding of it cool mufti would you recommend studying at darul mustafa

[1:24:31] in yemen or al-azhar right so now is that the one in in tamim right so uh uh i'm sorry tanim uh right i i to be honest i'm so i haven't heard much about the that institute or these institutes in years so i don't really know what to advise you to study if you want to go to yemen yemen right now

[1:25:11] is not a very stable location so um i don't i don't think it'd be very wise going there and you'd probably just be stuck al-azhar is still interesting yeah one could go to a lazar fair enough egypt is still quite active if you want to study it's just the landscape is all changing now isn't it it's very interesting i mean one could study here i mean if you wanted you know you could study locally or you know get maybe two years out the way three years out the way

[1:25:48] then maybe to a year or two abroad in some of these kind of um institutes mat hards or different things or or even maybe if you've done a certain amount of studies here maybe just take uh three months out and then come back and then periodically i did suggest to one person that look why don't you uh because he had learned a certain amount already and done a certain amount of studies and i said well why don't you um study abroad for three months come back here catch up with your work and your money and then go to a different location for three months and

[1:26:26] come back and then different location and what you're actually doing is enhancing your life's experiences because you're staying in different locations of the world you're encountering different people i mean wow you know it's something you'll remember later on but i it's hard because the whole landscape is changing now so i don't know what to advise it's it's a bit of a tricky one yeah and some of these places the problem is you go to them and you might come out just one of them and that's another no-no you know you go to a madrasa and you

[1:27:03] come out as one of these maulanas like what to do oh what to do has the you know the tabliki's they you know they used to have their beyonds yeah so one of them whilst he's giving the bayern they used to have like in different corners of the mosque people translating so they had uh so you know that the bleakies they they had this kind of slogan about the effort that he had

[1:27:35] [Laughter] you know so and the person translating it he says do do die die do do do die die die do you know that's the [Laughter] what to do do do die did i do so people let's see what's going on zebra jesus yes they are it's all about who did love

[1:28:12] indeed indeed indeed so what is going on uh i like what do you think about your naughty naughty meme speaking about that i did have uh was it over i know your pain i know you're hurt right so i had an election this is a trump go home it was a landslide election this you know this is actually something interesting i was watching this um it's uh if you want to check it out on a side note

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 1zgHntbMPis/s/21. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/1zghntbmpis/s/21/

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