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Recordings › Psychedelics are NOT haram | Mufti Abu Layth · 17 Oct 2020 › Segment 8 of 8

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Does the Quran or Sunnah say anything against psychedelics?

muftis halal halaal lawful haraam forbidden sunna sunnat sunan prophetic practice koran quraan al-quran

Nothing in the Quran or Sunnah forbids them: non-addictive, therapeutic, and unlike alcohol

LessonRecorded 17 Oct 2020Segment 8 of 8 in the recording2020-10-17-S08

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This segment36:01 to 39:44 · 3 min 43 sGeneral teaching

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Nothing in the Quran or Sunnah forbids psychedelics, which existed for Allah to prohibit had he wished; Mufti Abu Layth says they are non-addictive and therapeutic, unlike alcohol, and are about connecting to God.

In more detail

Mufti Abu Layth argues that there is nothing in the Quran or Sunnah to say psychedelics are not permitted: these plants, mushrooms with psilocybin and DMT have existed for millions of years and been consumed by humans and animals, so had Allah wanted to make them haram he could have, and to say he did not know of them or chose not to mention them makes no sense; they open and expand rather than dumb down. He calls it absurd that politicians have a say on consciousness, and says that these entheogens are not addictive, create no physiological dependency, have never been directly linked to deaths, have cured depression and addiction, made people more loving and helped palliative patients come to terms with death, losing the fear of it not in a daredevil way but by embracing nature. Against the objection that someone might harm others under their influence, he says this does not happen and laws exist anyway, whereas alcohol causes deaths, fights and road accidents without being banned; he says this should be put to Boris Johnson and whoever follows him. He closes by saying this is not about fun, though some use it that way, but about connecting human beings to God through a greater consciousness, and that not enough people have said it.

Position stated

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Mufti Abu Layth holds that nothing in the Quran or Sunnah forbids psychedelics, that Allah could have forbidden these natural substances had he wished, and that they are non-addictive and therapeutic, unlike alcohol, which causes deaths yet is not banned.

In his words

“if Allah wanted to make them haram he could have made them haram they they are part of nature”

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Transcript

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35:40

have been maybe part of the grain maybe it was urgatized grain maybe they were consuming these these things which were natural. They didn't understand that these things would and when it's consumed with a particular grain, it would have a certain um you know it would have a certain eruption of consciousness. So yeah these are and when you look at the Quran was sunnah there is nothing I would argue that these verses of the Quran resonate with that but there is nothing to say this is not okay this is not of the Quran did exist these things existed by the way if Allah wanted to

36:18

make them haram he could have made them haram they they are part of nature they're not something which we've only discovered today this is things like DMT and these plants and whether It's uh mushrooms, psilocybin and these the these things have been around for millions of years and human beings have been consuming them. Animals have been consuming them.

36:41

So to say that well oh that Allah never knew about them or decided not to mention it. It doesn't make any sense and it is once again it is something which opens and expands not something which dumbs you down. So yeah that I wanted to share that and I hope it can be of some help to people. Obviously I do highlight I understand that these are issues of legality which I actually think is absurd that in this day and age people you know certain politicians um you know have a say on consciousness.

37:20

[laughter] No s you know these drugs they call them drugs. These enthogens are not addictive. They do not have a um a physiological dependency do not create physiological dependency. They have not been direct deaths ever linked to them. There have not been you know when you look at it they they've cured depression. They've cured addiction.

37:44

They've people who've experienced them have just become more loving caring people. um they they they've been very helpful for paleotative treatment in coming to terms with death. People lose a fear of death when they experience these things. Not in a bad way, not in a a daredevil way, but in a way that they embrace nature and they embrace death as a uh and you know some person sitting in in in I don't know parliament or sitting somewhere in a political seat has a say

38:23

on [laughter] it's absurd. And yet alcohol which causes deaths cuz people could say oh but if you took a psychoactive element well you you could do something. Let's us say that doesn't happen necessarily like that but let's say they said oh you could harm someone. Let's say you lost control and you attacked someone. That does not happen. But let's say but then there's laws in place for that.

38:50

What about with alcohol? With alcohol people drink alcohol and then there's laws. If a person drinks an alcohol and murders someone, in fact, there's so many fights that are created with alcohol. So many road traffic accidents that are a result of alcohol. It's yet people don't say, "Well, because it causes these things, they should be." But that's a separate argument and it's presented to Boris Johnson and whoever [laughter] takes his place that they really need to revisit these things that these are are are not really recreational stuff.

39:23

This is not fun. Although people do use it for fun as well, but this is really about connecting human beings to to God via a greater consciousness. But yeah, I wanted to share that because I don't feel enough people have actually said it. [laughter] Let's

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Cite this segment

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Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 2020-10-17-S08, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7skyphqzdy8/s/8/ (accessed 1 November 2026)

APA 7
Mufti Abu Layth. (2020, October 17). Does the Quran or Sunnah say anything against psychedelics? [Video, segment 2020-10-17-S08, auto-transcribed, may contain errors]. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7skyphqzdy8/s/8/
Chicago author-date
Mufti Abu Layth. 2020. "Does the Quran or Sunnah say anything against psychedelics?" Video, segment 2020-10-17-S08, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Recorded October 17, 2020. Accessed November 1, 2026. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7skyphqzdy8/s/8/
BibTeX
@misc{abulayth-2020-10-17-S08,
  author = {Mufti Abu Layth},
  title = {{Does the Quran or Sunnah say anything against psychedelics?}},
  year = {2020},
  month = {10},
  date = {2020-10-17},
  howpublished = {\url{https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7skyphqzdy8/s/8/}},
  url = {https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7skyphqzdy8/s/8/},
  organization = {Mufti Abu Layth Archive},
  urldate = {2026-11-01},
  note = {Segment 2020-10-17-S08, auto-transcribed, may contain errors}
}
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