# Is everything halal unless proven haram?

*Things are halal by default, and saying 'in my understanding'*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/s/16/
- Date: 2021-04-13 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #210 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (1:03:39–1:06:16)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XuHMCz2N3U&t=3819s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/

**Topics:** Legal theory and method

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says things are halal by default and prohibiting is a heavy task, and teachers should say 'in my understanding' because they could be wrong.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says things are halal by default and declaring something haram is a heavy task, and that a teacher should present rulings as his own understanding of what God wants, acknowledging that he could be wrong.

**Evidence, his words at 1:03:47:** “i don't make things halal things are halal by default i say that making something haram is so such a difficult task” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XuHMCz2N3U&t=3827s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth reads a message thanking him for making the writer more rational and taking away the belief that everything is haram, and says this hurts people. He says he does not make things halal: things are halal by default and making something haram is a difficult task, but people are trigger-happy in declaring things haram. He mentions a clip by a critic who mocked him for always saying 'I think', 'in my opinion' and 'in my understanding', and says that is how it ought to be: a teacher should humble himself and say that this is how he understands God would want something, not that it is God's understanding. He calls the refusal to admit 'I could be wrong' a key stumbling block of many institutionalised religions.

## Sources and names cited

- everything is permissible by default until proven otherwise (al-asl al-ibaha)
- halal
- haram

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:03:39–1:06:16)

[1:03:09] adapt give it five years from today and watch all of that you know if you continue to appear as this kind of like uh untidy um this kind of like you know kalahari bushmen i mean the kalahari bushmen seem you know if they came across the kalahari bushmen the kalahari bushmen would start studying them for anthropology they'd be like yeah i think we need to study these people realize the human journey [Laughter]

[1:03:47] right jamal from australia you know this is just people because we're gonna obviously june ramadan not have monday nights we'll have other things but i feel that it's it's only right to share this love right so made me this is jamal from australia made me more rational and took me away from believing that literally everything is haram as made out to be this is another thing that really hurts people that why is everything not haram [Laughter] it hurts people that you know why does this guy make things halal i don't make things halal things are

[1:04:26] halal by default i say that making something haram is so such a difficult task you know but people are trigger happy on the haramber you know i i saw this somebody sent me this clip of some i don't know who this person is but obviously condemning me and he said and this is something that they all say by the way they say watch this he will always say i think i feel in my opinion in my understanding [Laughter] and and and this is what they're attacking they're saying

[1:05:05] see see he is the jal i i just don't get that because that's like i'm thinking that's actually how it ought to be because you ought to humble yourself that this whatever you're teaching is ultimately your understanding just be honest don't say this is god's understanding this is how god wants it say that this is how i understand that god would want this just humble yourself a bit but that arrogance is this this

[1:05:43] is a you know one of the key stumbling blocks that unfortunately not just islam but many institutionalized religions have that people refuse to kind of like humble that self that i could be wrong because when i say to you look in my opinion in my understanding what i'm ultimately saying is you know this is my take this is how i see it i could be wrong

[1:06:14] is there anything you want to let him know love you bhaijan ave i love you too salim from the uk would like to given me the freedom to think with my own rationale and not just believe in something because someone has a b someone with a beard told me to exactly exactly i love the fact that we can in this day and age you know we can once again take ownership of our own faith i we don't need this is not a you know a papacy we don't need to go through the pope information is online and nobody can stop it

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 8XuHMCz2N3U/s/16. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/s/16/

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