# Can a woman become a mufti? *Can a woman become a mufti? A neglected field and dogmatic institutions* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/eokcnwggiba/s/15/ - Date: 2021-01-26 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #199 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (56:57–1:06:10) - Status: general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoKcNwGGIBA&t=3417s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/eokcnwggiba/ **Topics:** How to study Islam; Women in Islam **Question as asked:** Can a woman become a mufti? **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Yes: anyone, a woman included, can become a mufti, but must persevere through often dogmatic institutions, in a field he says is neglected and lacks support. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says a woman can become a mufti, that the field of Islamic scholarship is neglected and attracts little talent because it lacks support, and that anyone who wants to become a mufti must persevere through often dogmatic institutions. **Evidence, his words at 1:04:27:** “anybody can become a a mufti um you know but it does require going through the studies and then you got a soldier through it” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoKcNwGGIBA&t=3867s) ## Longer summary After telling a viewer not to worry about whether he will try psychedelics, Mufti Abu Layth answers that a woman can become a mufti, joking that one should not want it in order to insult people, and says it is good to see interest in a field he calls endangered. He says the Bollywood actress Sana Khan, by marrying a mufti, probably did more overnight for interest in becoming a mufti than the ulama did for centuries, and that the ulama are partly to blame for making it rigid and boring. Prompted by a supporter's message on Patreon, he says the field is not invested in and does not attract talent because there is no money or support, describing his own research as hours of following questions through the night, which he does out of passion. He says anybody can become a mufti, but must go through the studies and persevere through institutions that will often be very dogmatic, and only afterwards do their own thing; he then jokes about a flat-earth super chat. ## Sources and names cited - Sana Khan ## Transcript (machine tier, 56:57–1:06:10) [56:41] being a mufti as in would i consider going studying this is that what's being asked would i consider them being epic is that is that being asked i don't stop trying to trick me into thinking i'm i'm suffering from some kind of mental lapse here you guys are trying an experiment on me let's see what else is going on are you ever going to try psychedelics or cannabis charity don't you worry about me man [57:18] don't you worry man these are journeys these are this is what i call the path and we are all those who walk or we should be those who walk upon the path so what is going on mufti can a woman become a musty yeah a woman can become a mufti i want to become a mufti and give rulings and insult [Laughter] karema you're doing it you're doing it right that's not why one should want to become a multi to insult people i know i do it sometimes [57:57] but that was not how i set off upon this path um you know it's good to see honestly it's really good to see that some people have an interest in this stuff it's amazing you know we ah we're this field is so [Laughter] you make the person the emotional you know you know look this this thing this field this legacy [58:39] is really um it's a it's a it's a dying breed it's something that is a uh it's an endangered field and species of itself really it's amazing how certain things within the dunya sometimes can cast a light on i mean recently you i i spoke about and you guys probably remember that bollywood actress sana khan marrying a mufti and she probably did for mufti ship overnight what the mufti ulama [59:18] couldn't do for centuries [Laughter] the power the power that women have this [Laughter] but it's true i mean you know people were like whoa wow i want to become a mufti and it it's it's amazing that just the thought just the tight just being in the public sphere just this this idea of becoming a mufti yeah you know and and a lot of it is the fault of the ulama as well you know they don't do any favors because [59:56] obviously they turn it into something so rigid and horrible and boring who wants to become that yeah but you know i uh i want to speak about my give my afterthoughts on the discussion of bukhari gate but just getting to that following that discussion there was a um somebody sent me a message so they sent me on patreon um oh let me just take a moment to say my patrons ah you know i usually say miss patrioncitos [1:00:33] right which is just spanish for saying patrons [Laughter] somebody used to think this was who's this girl that most is always saying miss patrio on sitos [Laughter] so that's just patreons my patreons miss patrion sitos okay but so my patrons out there much love to you guys but somebody sent me a message on patreon and he said you know mufti i watched your thing and i really appreciate it and you know i signed up to your patreon thing and i'm not saying people need to sign up but [1:01:12] obviously if you are i'm not going to stop you [Laughter] but you know look i get it i get it everybody you know this world is a everybody's struggling in their own way and i'm not saying you need to but you know this this message had an important feature to i mean this point what the person had said you see one obviously the appreciation but two it's it's bigger than that and it's not just about me it's not about me you see the problem is that this field isn't invested in [1:01:51] and people are not enticed and they're not supported either to become let's say talented or really to excel so let's just say let's as an example let me just give an example now let's say i do this is just me i do research yeah my research is you usually like sporadic and spontaneous like one day i might hear something i might watch something i might think something and i might just go off into it like now somebody's asked me about jethro as an example let's just say now i think that's an interesting question let me [1:02:30] follow it through and now it just turns into a quest i will stop i'll be up for hours i'll kind of like be you know searching this i'll oh what's this what's this what's the i'll try and think of things i'll uh just kind of like cast a net and random questions oh what's that what's that and you'll kind of just ping ping ping and and somewhere you'll hit it and you'll be like oh that's interesting oh well what's this then you'll open another tab and you're reading this and what's this and you'll be reading now this is an example of researching going into something anything even like now [1:03:09] let's say i i've i did this bukhari there will be you know days nights you'll read question count a question come up with answers okay you're kind of trying to fight your own answers to come up with better on like so try and critique it and there is an effort involved and don't get me wrong it's a for me it's a passion i i do this because i enjoy it but it is true that it's not easy if people generally don't have the means to do it or they're not supported or they're not appreciated or they're not and you know [1:03:48] i suppose my lifestyle alhamdulillah kind of facilitates but let's say other people and that's the problem this field doesn't attract talent so people with talent don't you know they don't gravitate towards because there's no money there's no support there's no anything in this field of religion or islamic religion i mean you could especially if you want to think out of the box there's nothing you know if you want to be just something tag along and then maybe you know if you've got something about you but and that that this is why you know this person said this so it just reminded me [1:04:27] about that the importance of of why there needs to be support and i'm not saying this to you know to to most people maybe they're not in positions to really ever support these kind of fields or support people but yeah i think maybe some people maybe and these are it's food for thought it's food especially for future generations as well how what about them and yeah so that's the issue but you can anybody can become a a mufti um you know but it does require going through the studies and then you [1:05:07] got a soldier through it because you know it's gonna it's gonna frustrate you annoy you and you have to remember the institutions you're going through a lot of them will be very dogmatic so you have to kind of hold you have to hold hold because you know you can't break you understand and people because they'll be very dogmatic institutions and it's only once you come out the other end then you can kind of do your own thing um all right so earth is motionless and flat [1:05:44] and tanasa equals satan and that's isaiah who's super chatting that shukran isaiah you're satan so people what is going on let's take a look at uh let me just do a quick check on what the can you guys just who ban who ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment eoKcNwGGIBA/s/15. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/eokcnwggiba/s/15/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.