# Are near-death experiences real or just chemicals in the brain? *Are near-death experiences real or just brain chemistry?* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ijwbevcc6o8/s/5/ - Date: 2021-02-02 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #200| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (26:13–31:34) - Status: general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijwBevcC6o8&t=1573s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ijwbevcc6o8/ **Topics:** Soul, nafs and consciousness; Spiritual experience and psychedelics **Question as asked:** What is your opinion on near-death experiences (NDEs): a gateway, or just chemicals in the brain? **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth feels near-death experiences are real portals, not just brain chemistry, pointing to cardiac-arrest studies. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says he definitely feels near-death experiences are valid portals and not just chemicals in the brain. **Evidence, his words at 26:48:** “NDEs near-death experiences I definitely feel these are valid portals. These are not just” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijwBevcC6o8&t=1608s) ## Longer summary A super chat asks for Mufti Abu Layth's opinion on near-death experiences, on a person the chat names, and on bringing the LGBT community to Islam. Mufti says he feels near-death experiences are valid portals and not just chemicals in the brain. He shows the book Consciousness Beyond Life by a leading cardiologist whose presentation he attended, describing studies of cardiac-arrest patients in hospital who, regardless of religion, reported overlapping experiences such as a light and a tunnel while brain activity had almost ceased. Mufti adds that psychedelics such as DMT and psilocybin can mimic a sense of dying, which can be meaningful and relieving. He says he does not know enough about the named person to comment. ## Sources and names cited - Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience - DMT - psilocybin ## Transcript (machine tier, 26:13–31:34) [26:12] Much love. Much love. Opinion on near-death experience. NDEs. NDEs people. NDEs. Gateway to a or just chemicals in the brain. An opinion on mangi and how to convince LGBT to Islam. [laughter] Chip. Chip is on a mission to get the whole LGBT community [laughter] and bring them into Islam. [26:48] H right so uh first of all NDEs near-death experiences I definitely feel these are valid portals. These are not just [snorts] um you know some chemicals in the brain. Um I don't let me This is actually a good book if you're interested in that. [27:17] I don't know if you can see it from there. Um but it's called A Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience by Pin Vanam LL. So that's Pim Van L. and I went to his presentation and he demonstrates how uh he's one of the leading cardiologists in the world and he shows several um he has certain I believe in the book he does as well. [27:49] Yeah, he does have certain kind of chart MRI scans and I'm just trying to see if in his presentation he had loads, but he has one or two in here as well. But the point is that what he's showing is that these people who went into cardiac arrest um whilst in hospital, so they were already there. [28:17] they managed to uh they would have a lot of in this critical ward they would have a lot of that um the facilities the machinery and uh appar to be conducting um electrongrams [laughter] you think I don't know what an electrongram is [laughter] so these EECGs where they are basically reading the brain waves and uh doing all this kind of stuff and scanning these people and doing all kinds but and he has many many participants and you they vary the tests and but basically what [28:56] they find is from these people who report a near-death experience there's a huge overlap in in the findings and including atheists or regardless of their religion race faith gender any you name it regardless of all of that they still had very similar experiences. Now things like for example the light, seeing a light, moving towards it, a tunnel, stuff like this. [29:25] These are very overlapping kind of uh experiences that these people have. The other very interesting thing is he demonstrates how brain activity had almost ceased in most of these people. So how were they having these experiences? So, but I mean you can read his book and uh look into that. But I definitely yeah I'm I'm very um you know I do feel that these things are a portal and NDE near-death experience that's obviously a very um intense and that's the final [30:03] [laughter] frontier before death. So yeah, but not many people would experience that to that extent. But other things like uh psychedelics and DMT for example, ego death, even with psilocybin and stuff like this, they also can mimic a kind of near-death experience or this sense where people experience a sense of dying. [30:31] And it's it's very overwhelming. It's not um but it you know if a person has the breakthrough in it it can be very um it it can be not just peaceful but it can it can be very meaningful to the to the person because and and and a huge sense of relief can be experienced but yeah so these are [31:08] things I definitely that's my take on mangi I you know what I I haven't I I don't really know much about it's a her I take it yeah I don't really know much about her I'll have to um I'll have to check out some stuff and then comment on mangi Right. ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment ijwBevcC6o8/s/5. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ijwbevcc6o8/s/5/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.