# Is it haram to hit someone in the face in boxing or MMA training?

*Is hitting the face in martial arts training haram?*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/l4n4wd2jjps/s/27/
- Date: 2021-02-09 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #201| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (2:10:39–2:14:22)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4n4wD2jjps&t=7839s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/l4n4wd2jjps/

**Topics:** Entertainment, sport and leisure; Raising children

**Question as asked:** What is the ruling on not hitting the face? Is it haram in the context of training?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth says hitting the face in sparring is fine; the hadith against striking the face concerned discipline, not fighting practice.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the hadith about not hitting the face was about discipline, not about training or practising the art of fighting.

**Evidence, his words at 2:13:41:** “speaking on discipline mentioned that you shouldn't hit the face of each other oh it didn't say overchampion hit the face or just even casually with people but it wasn't talking about war training” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4n4wD2jjps&t=8021s)

## Longer summary

A super chat asks what proved Islam true before modern prophecies were seen, which is not taken up, and another asks whether hitting the face is haram in the context of training. Mufti Abu Layth refers to his clip saying boxing and MMA are absolutely permissible, and says the hadith against hitting the face was about discipline, not about training or the art of fighting. Mufti says harsh discipline of children is not necessarily abuse, recalls from his teaching days that English law allowed reasonable force by a parent but not against another's child, and says ideally children are raised so that it is never needed.

## Sources and names cited

- report: when one of you strikes he should avoid the face

## Transcript (machine tier, 2:10:39–2:14:22)

[2:09:59] and al-qaeda and daesh and these people they find they can camouflage amongst normal salafis because they are also selfie but they are the jihadi salafis and so even though all selfies are not jihadi but they can just normally mingle with them and you can't tell that who's who so it's like that you see yeah if that makes any any sense right what is going on people what is going on uh mufti would be branded a heretic i'd definitely be branded a heretic

[2:10:38] [Laughter] uh right let me see trying to check if i've missed any super chats uh right jerry idris had super chatty shukran mufti what proved islam was true before we knew about the prophecies that we see like tall buildings and and so on um right there's also what is the ruling on not hitting the face is it haram to do uh in the context of training do watch my clip on

[2:11:16] is boxing uh permissible or mma and it is permissible absolutely the those things were not talking about this they were talking about discipline when you're disciplining people so culturally people will discipline sometimes children um you know if they told it like it happens still in most part of the world it's you see it depends it's not right it doesn't necessarily fall under abuse okay some versions of it can be clear abuse some versions of it could just be a kind of a harsh discipline which

[2:11:56] you wouldn't really you know maybe you wouldn't do but i don't think it's necessarily abuse either so it's different when it's done to your own children and to other children so even in this country there is a difference between so when it's your own children unless they've changed the law recently and i'm not aware that they have but when we were when i was a teacher and we were going over these laws they mentioned that you see with your own child um there has to be it like if any force is used with your own child it is

[2:12:35] reasonable force they had this this this caveat of um or this proviso that it was reasonable but any against somebody else's child would be deemed an offense but not against your own unless it was unreasonable so this is why the and i think recently in scotland they may have changed that law but in england i don't think it's changed yet because look sometimes some children they need i mean hopefully if you can raise your children in a way that you never ever need to do that that is really the way but you know you

[2:13:14] see some people's kids and you think you know you watch some of these programs and some of these kids wow man honestly and and some of them not to be kind of stereotypical but they usually often like white kids and the way they speak to their parents and they bully the appearance man and and they then you should see the things they the tantrums they throw and you think that would

[2:13:41] we would fix that in a dizzy household within seconds that would just never happen you know it's like uh so i think there's there's a a difference so like this anyway the hadith uh back then you know for speaking on discipline mentioned that you shouldn't hit the face of each other oh it didn't say overchampion hit the face or just even casually with people but it wasn't talking about war training or learning how to fight or practicing the art of fighting because that's obviously uh that's what people do in those things

[2:14:21] but you can watch my um khalib nur is the prophet's parents going to heaven or hell see the prophet's parents the question i understand you're asking genuinely but it is quite absurd the prophet's parents are unquestionably from people of salvation just as anybody before the prophet sallallahu alaihi islam uh la or somebody had asked look his super chat i can't really see it i've been through all the super chats here um

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment l4n4wD2jjps/s/27. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/l4n4wd2jjps/s/27/

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