# Should Muslims judge their own sources by the standards they apply to other religions?

*Hold your own faith to the standard you apply to others*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/s/9/
- Date: 2021-04-13 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #210 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (33:26–36:04)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XuHMCz2N3U&t=2006s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/

**Topics:** Reason and revelation; Sahih al-Bukhari (BukhariGate)

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says Muslims should hold their own sources to the standard they use for others, giving the example of Bukhari resting on one unvouched-for transmitter.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says Muslims should apply to their own tradition the critical standards they apply to other faiths, noting that Sahih al-Bukhari rests on one transmitter whom no one vouched for for about 150 years.

**Evidence, his words at 34:56:** “but then when it comes to islam we completely just put blinkers on our eyes” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XuHMCz2N3U&t=2096s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth reads a message saying that his emphasis on reason and critical thought made the writer rethink whether their beliefs met the criteria they applied to other faiths. He says reason and critical thought are two sides of one coin, and that Muslims are very critical of other religions, asking how a scripture can be known to be unaltered or pointing out that the earliest gospel documents date from eighty years after Jesus, but put blinkers on for Islam. As an example he says that the one man who alone carries the transmission of Sahih al-Bukhari was not vouched for by anyone for around 150 years, and that people read horrendous reports and say it does not matter. He gives as a criterion always asking how one would hold someone of another faith to account, and checking whether one is being a hypocrite.

## Sources and names cited

- one standard for all religions
- Sahih al-Bukhari
- al-Firabri (referred to, not named: the sole transmitter of Sahih al-Bukhari)
- Isa (Jesus)

## Transcript (machine tier, 33:26–36:04)

[33:00] and that's usually only like one-on-ones i only raise so like i'm saying with my mind traps and um or just at other times as well when i have had um somebody really needs to talk to me i suppose if it's just somebody regular i may not but if it's like i don't know who they are but if it's somebody who i have somewhat of an understanding who these people are or they have they're in you know they have a standing in the in you know a stature of their own right one of the first things i have to say to them is look lis i say look just excuse my humor by the way please you know i know you've probably come across

[33:40] all this stuff i just go on about and your content is continuously thought provoking sugar and sugar right illuminati is illuminati that would be a scandal right there illuminate the path from the u.s how has mufti ji impacted your views right the emphasis on reason and critical thought was huge for me having to rethink what i believed and to see if it matched the same criteria i had i held others to in other faiths you know that is

[34:18] so important so so important i feel that you know these two things that reason the voice of reason and critical thought which are obviously really just different aspects of the same coin really different sides to it but we when we examine other faiths we are so critical that oh this doesn't make sense that doesn't make sense you know oh you think these this scripture survived like oh how do you know it hasn't been altered how do you know this how do you

[34:56] know that the gospels like when we say things like muslims will say oh the gospels the earliest kind of documentation was 80 years after jesus how do you expect us to believe that this kind of stuff but then when it comes to islam we completely just put blinkers on our eyes like the fact that you know the shocking fact that the person who solely carries the weight of sahil bukhari nobody vouched for him for you know between 1 to 200 years you know like 150

[35:36] years later or something we we won't it's it's not that it's that we won't even blink at that to us it'll be like just doesn't matter the fact that we'll read things which sound horrendous and we'll just be like oh it doesn't matter this is one of the best criteria always in your mind think how would i have held somebody of another faith to account

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 8XuHMCz2N3U/s/9. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/8xuhmcz2n3u/s/9/

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