# How should I deal with religious circles that pressure me into beliefs? *Bullying people into beliefs, leaving the religious bubble, and Usama Canon's regret* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ewmbn7jv9dk/s/3/ - Date: 2019-08-21 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Don't let people bully you into beliefs | Mufti Abu Layth (9:10–15:41) - Status: general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWmBN7JV9Dk&t=550s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ewmbn7jv9dk/ **Topics:** Cults, clergy and religious abuse; Views on contemporary scholars; Personal stories and reflections **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Leave the judgmental bubble of religious circles and be true to your faith and yourself rather than letting people bully you into beliefs. He cites a shaykh attacked for calling for updated thinking and Usama Canon's regret at having deprived himself for fear of what others said. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth advises religious people to expand and burst the 'religious people bubble', which he calls among the most judgmental places to be trapped in, and to be true to their faith and to themselves rather than be bullied into beliefs. **Evidence, his words at 10:17:** “if I could give you guys advice those of you that are religious gradually build you you know expand this bubble and then burst it and then just live your life” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWmBN7JV9Dk&t=617s) ## Longer summary Continuing the point raised at the end of the previous part, that these people bully one another into beliefs, Mufti Abu Layth says bullies in institutions, schools and workplaces are miserable, and that bullying people so that they cannot even be free in their beliefs is a miserable way to live. He says he is grateful that Allah gave him the circumstances to leave the 'religious people bubble', so that although his words affect it, his day-to-day life has nothing to do with it. His advice to religious viewers is to gradually expand that bubble and then burst it: to be true to their faith but to live their lives genuinely, since such bubbles are among the most judgmental places to be trapped in. He gives the example of a shaykh [?] who received a great deal of flak for saying that Islamic thought is institutionalised in a Newtonian way and needs upgrading for Einstein's world, and who will now have to perform gymnastics to justify it because he worries about the crowd; Mufti says to forget such people and be true to oneself, which he says is how Allah has granted him the love of many who find solace in his words. He then speaks of Usama Canon [?], an American teacher he calls an amazing inspiration who is suffering from ALS, which has impaired his speech; still active on social media, he has been exploring music and how it gives him solace, and has said that one of his greatest regrets is that for so long he deprived himself of this because of what shaykhs and mawlanas said. ## Sources and names cited - Usama Canon [?] ## Transcript (machine tier, 9:10–15:41) [9:00] believes people believes not even you know this bullying of all kinds this bullying of and bullies are always just evil right miserable low lives but this bullying in in institutions bullying in schools bullying in workplaces in in all kinds of environment this bullying of that nature that exists everywhere and this is to bully somebody so they they can't even be free in their beliefs how [9:37] miserable is that that they won't even they don't want people to be able to just believe for themselves like no no we must control this person's belief structure that is such a miserable existence to live like that and well why he one of the things I'm so grateful for is that I've kind that Allah gave me the circumstances to kind of leave this religious people bubble that I'm not really I mean I'm obviously what I say [10:17] impacts them and they have to respond to me and things like but my day-to-day life has nothing to do with like religious that religious people bubble at all and I love it honestly I'm so he is one of if I could give you guys advice those of you that are religious gradually build you you know expand this bubble and then burst it and then just live your life I mean be true to your faith but leave it being true and genuine to yourself don't be in these relate these [10:55] bubbles of religious people are them some of the most judgmental places to be trapped in honestly I'm and I'm being honest about this like I spoke last week about shell chaos and you know today I bumped into somebody and we at the hairdresser's I like you do and we had this brief chat about this and and we spoke about certain things and we mentioned this thing about sure here's our adi now share here sir called the just saying a few things and getting so much slack I can say anything I can do anything I [11:34] dress how I want I do what I want I believe what I want what makes sense to me I speak it I teach it I live it and I don't care and what these people have to say does not bother me and yet in this way with this attitude Allah has granted me that the love of so many people that they find solace in my words that yet these people in these bubbles they stay you have to watch every word so [12:13] carefully share here sir are they made a simple example of saying things like oh this the Islamic world and the Islamic world you know that kind of institutionalized ways like the Newtonian way and today it's like the you know we're in Einstein's world and we need to kind of upgrade our way of thinking and he got so much slack and he's probably gonna have to justify what he said and he's gonna have to kind of like play gymnastics and explain because he's worried about the crowd forget that crap forget these people man you [12:48] understand be true to who you are leave this this in in this world I tell you it will be the greatest regret that you have you know those of you that are familiar with star the Osama cannon a great you know an amazing inspiration from the states who unfortunately is suffering with a terminal illness ALS and going through which is a neuronal did [13:21] kind of illness now in his in current times it's impacted his his speech because it's kind of causing everything to dilapidate mela you know grant amis may allah grant his family ease he's an amazing he was an amazing person did great work and is doing great work now in in this time when his speech and these things have been impeded he's exploring so he's still on social media is still kind of active in and people write things up for him and things like [14:00] that and and he says that he's been exploring things like music and how it gives him solace and how it helps him and these kind of things and he's he said that you know one of these greatest kind of regrets if you like is the fact that for so long he deprived himself of being of of this just because of what others you know following what these shakes will say and what that mallanna will say and what this person will say and and any you know that in a way like expressing in a way that i wish i'd [14:39] never really just just lived real and true for myself that that's what this life is people that's what allah has given you as a gift he's giving you a mind use it leave it don't don't be trapped in this bubble don't let people bully you into believing things that oh if you don't believe this list of things we will believe you they can't believe you who do they this is twenty nineteen people you know we're not living in something like 1642 that this the audacity that people have and it is [15:18] exactly that very nature that monstrous nature that monstrosity that has chased chased people from what i believe is this beautiful theme it's chase people away from and people may say that I'm crazy and eccentric and I chat all kinds of things maybe I do but I can tell you that by nothing from what I've said has a person ever left this theme but many many have come back to it and found solace in the ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment EWmBN7JV9Dk/s/3. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ewmbn7jv9dk/s/3/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.