# Did Dr Abdul Majid refute Mufti Abu Layth's BukhariGate arguments?

*Did Dr Abdul Majid refute BukhariGate? Qat'i or zanni, and one transmitter*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/s/31/
- Date: 2021-04-13 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #210 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (1:52:38–1:59:15)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XuHMCz2N3U&t=6758s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/

**Topics:** Sahih al-Bukhari (BukhariGate); Debate challenges and reviews

**Question as asked:** Dr Abdul Majid did do a good job at refuting your points, didn't he?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** No: Mufti Abu Layth says Dr Abdul Majid accepted Bukhari because other scholars had and did not answer the points on its transmission, though he respects him for having the dialogue.

## Longer summary

After saying he looks drained because he has been unwell, Mufti Abu Layth reads a comment that Dr Abdul Majid did a good job of refuting his points. He says he has love and respect for him and enjoyed their conversation, but does not think he tackled the BukhariGate points, and sums up his answers as accepting Sahih al-Bukhari because other scholars have. He says he opened by asking whether Bukhari is qat'i or zanni: if it is as conclusive as the Quran the debate is lost, and if it is ahad there is admittedly a margin of doubt. He says his account of how Bukhari was transmitted was not addressed, including that so large a thing rests on one unvouched-for man, which Sunni dogmatists would seize on in any other religion, and he mentions discussing content he calls blasphemous and factual errors, such as a mistake in a hadith [?] that scholars themselves acknowledge. He thanks Dr Abdul Majid as the first imam to accept such a dialogue and says they parted with more respect for each other.

## Sources and names cited

- Dr Abdul Majid
- Sahih al-Bukhari
- al-Firabri (referred to, not named: the sole transmitter of Sahih al-Bukhari)
- qat'i (conclusive)
- zanni (probable)
- khabar al-ahad

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:52:38–1:59:15)

[1:52:24] that's all yes musty look drained yeah i i i told you that i you know these past from the weekend i wasn't feeling too well and i kind of just been trying to rest it out and today i did have some life back in me so i went to the gym but my whole schedule was on its head and so yeah i was a bit rinsed and then i was kind of dazed so yep well spotted well spotted elias are from yeah but you

[1:53:02] i don't know what this says right okay so right so dr abdulmajid did do a good job at refuting my points there you go there's a clear hater look i actually have love for dr abdul majid i actually do i have uh respect for him in my heart and i thoroughly enjoyed our conversation i don't think uh in my perspective

[1:53:41] perspective that dr abdul majid successfully uh tackled the points of bukhari but i am glad he at least came to the discourse and you know said his peace i'm really glad he did that and if some of you watch that and you feel that you know oh we hated mufflates buhari gate and now that you know somebody has tackled him and you find solace in his answers fine i mean i i to be honest his answers were just generally um

[1:54:20] saying that if i was to sum up his answers i do have a video summing it up but to sum it up his answers were uh in essence i would feel you could summarize them to saying well i i am okay with sahil bukhari because other scholars have been okay with it so you know i accept that you have these views but because other scholars have been okay with it i'm okay with it and i'm okay with you having this view but i'm i think that kind of just summed up the entire you know if you were to just you had to

[1:54:58] put the powers into one sentence it would just be that because otherwise when i began i mentioned that i will be approaching this from i and i i quoted the poet poe and i said like from a phenomenological perspective and ontological perspective and an epistemological perspective and i break those down into what they are and i begin the discussion by saying will you first of all tell me is your take that bukhari's katahi or is it zanny and you know the moment you begin just that question kills the

[1:55:36] debate but obviously the problem is a lot of people who watch this aren't familiar maybe with technical terms so they don't fully appreciate what's just happened because once you say it's it's conclusive as the quran right you have kind of lost already and if you say it's hadith actually are which means that you know it's it has obviously we can't say it's as conclusive as the quran it's not been transmitted like that then you admit by default that there is a margin of doubt in this

[1:56:14] even if you say it's doubt which i'm happy to ignore but it's still doubt and and then you go into the actual discussion so my discussion on the transmission of bukhari wasn't tackled at all i don't in that discussion when you watch it i don't even think uh in that part there was any it was just me explaining and and i think we just moved on then there was no because what can you say i'm actually breaking down how it was transmitted and the differences what can you say to that what can you say no it wasn't because i actually say if you disagree with these version

[1:56:53] of historical events provide yours i'll listen to it but you and everybody who studied bukhari and its historicity knows this because this is the history of it and and that key point that how can such a big thing rest on the shoulder of one man for every who is unvouched for is a huge huge huge problem for really you know this for sunni dogmatists it's a huge problem which they choose to ignore and was if this was any other religion they would have crushed this point that how can you

[1:57:33] rest your entire thing on the back of one man you know if this was christianity they would have gone to town on this point but obviously because of you know being biased for them they just ignore it but that's such a huge claim and then when we went into the actual um you know the ontological nature of it and looked at the topics within bukhari and the blasphemy and the disrespect to prophets and god and all of this stuff and even factual errors like my discussion with the mistake in the hadith of israel that even all the scholars themselves say this is a mistake

[1:58:12] [Laughter] i i'm really grateful to dr abdul majes for having that discussion with me because one allowed me to have that discussion with an imam because no imam tildate has had the courage to accept my discussion on it to even accept a dialogue you know people will they they're just too intimidated they are way too intimidated because they know they don't have the research and they and they know that they will be they they won't be able to provide any answers so they're too embarrassed um but i'm really grateful he did that

[1:58:50] and we actually walked away having more respect for each other that's how i feel i i walked away having you know much more respect for him so yeah um right back to companions at best we have nothing that goes by outside one of the narration it's all companions i'm not sure what that means john but yeah sure what do i think of dr adnan ibrahim i think dr adnan ibrahim

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 8XuHMCz2N3U/s/31. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/s/31/

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