# Why did Imam Malik say nothing between spouses is haram and only pork is forbidden to eat?

*Imam Malik on sexual matters and food: no one may declare haram what Allah has not*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/3rpugpmwep0/s/2/
- Date: 2021-03-05 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Intoxicants: Imam Abu Hanifa vs the rest | Mufti Abu Layth (3:59–9:03)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rPUgpmWEp0&t=239s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/3rpugpmwep0/

**Topics:** Legal theory and method; Food and drink; Sexual ethics

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Imam Malik held that nothing sexual between spouses is haram and that no meat is haram in itself except pig, and Mufti Abu Layth says such rulings defend the principle that only Allah declares things haram. Saying something is not haram is not the same as recommending it.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says that imams such as Malik, in ruling that nothing sexual between spouses is haram and that no meat but pig is haram in itself, were not advocating those practices but defending the principle that no one may declare haram what Allah has not, since a scholar is not God.

**Evidence, his words at 4:21:** “what imam malik was doing was he was defending the principle it's not about whether people do these things or not” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rPUgpmWEp0&t=261s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth draws a parallel with Imam Malik's fatwa that nothing sexual between a couple is haram, including the question of anal sex, over which later Malikis became embarrassed and either turned away from the ruling or discussed it less. He says Malik was defending a principle, not a practice: do not declare haram what Allah has not declared haram, and do not for a moment think you are God with the right to forbid something because you find it disgusting, sick or a social problem. He gives Malik's food ruling as the same case: according to the Maliki school nothing is haram to eat except the pig, which the Quran names, apart from what was offered to other gods or found already dead, and no meat from sea, land or sky is haram in itself. Malik was not telling people to eat tigers, elephants or dogs; he said dogs are not haram to eat, not that one should eat them, just as soil is not haram to eat though it is not good to eat. He says the mullahs' problem is a God complex, declaring haram on Allah's behalf, and that whether the subject is Abu Hanifa on alcohol or Malik on sexual practices and diet, the imams were not advocating these things and would likely have found them disgusting, but held that nobody has the right to pretend to be God.

## Sources and names cited

- Imam Malik
- Maliki school
- Abu Hanifa
- fatwa
- haram
- no one may declare haram what Allah has not declared haram

## Transcript (machine tier, 3:59–9:03)

[3:53] okay it's like when imam malik spoke out about uh you know his fatwa on sexual matters that nothing sexual is haram obviously between a couple so and with the issue of anal sex at hand so later maliki became embarrassed it's like

[4:21] right so the they were too embarrassed so you know some of them started to turn away from me some of them started to pretend oh it wasn't there or discuss it less and the same kind of thing really but it's not you see what imam malik was doing was he was defending the principle it's not about whether people do these things or not but it's about you can't you know that do not uh that do not declare something that allah has not declared haram

[5:05] you know do not just you utter things stop don't for a moment think you are god you're not god you see so don't you just think you have the right to declare it haram just because you find it uh disgusting or sick or a deviant practice or you find this a problem in society and it may be these things to several people but still you're not god and that's the principle that these imams kind of stood by and hence when imam malik stood by the ruling that

[5:42] all that really when it comes to food not very few things are actually haram just pig is the only haram creature because it was mentioned in the quran nothing else was haram according to maliki fair so yes i don't mean if they've been offered to other gods and things like that then they are haram or if they'd already been killed and you found them dead because then this was more an issue of food poisoning and stuff like this but in and of themselves no meat

[6:19] was haram on earth whether it was from the sea the land or the sky nothing is haram bar pig in the maliki method and so you see imam malik wasn't trying to say go around eat tigers or you should eat lions or you should eat elephants or you know eating and like people start to say oh imam malik's saying oh you could eat dogs then

[6:50] imam ali is not saying go around eat dogs because he said dogs are not haram to eat you see i mean he never said dogs are not haram to eat but he said this principle that nothing is haram to eat except the pig so people say ah so not even a dog so you know so they say ah look what the maliki say you know it's like oh but this is not what he was saying he wasn't saying go around do these things you know soil is not haram to eat you know if you pick up soil and eat it it's not haram to eat doesn't mean it's good to eat so there's a difference between

[7:28] declaring something haram and between whether people eat it or not but just because you don't eat it don't for a moment not for a split second think you are god and thereby declare it don't do that this one not nice my friend right so and this is the problem that the mullahs had you see that they have this god complex they say allah never said is haram

[8:04] if god was busy don't worry they say i'm here i'll declare it haram and you think acha char so unless this is your dad's religion [Laughter] then uh you know it doesn't it doesn't really make sense so these are the important things to remember when when you're discussing alcohol or from imam abu hanifa's time or certain or sexual practices or dietary uh rulings from imam malik it's not that they are trying to advocate that people should be doing these things or eating these things or go around

[8:44] eating gorillas or eating monkeys or eating they would never and in fact they would have probably found these things disgusting but they wouldn't say that you know we it doesn't give us the right to declare to pretend we're god so that's an important point point

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 3rPUgpmWEp0/s/2. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/3rpugpmwep0/s/2/

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