# If Mufti Abu Layth admires Qadi Iyad, must he accept everything in al-Shifa?

*Qadi Iyad and al-Shifa: rating a scholar is not following him in everything*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/uuldzklvxvo/s/18/
- Date: 2018-04-09 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: The Role Of Reason In Religion - Mufti Abu Layth (1:19:39–1:23:36)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuLDZkLvxvo&t=4779s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/uuldzklvxvo/

**Topics:** Scholars and imams of the past; Responses to critics; False and fabricated hadith

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** No: Mufti Abu Layth says al-Shifa was written to instil love of the Prophet in a context of insults and knowingly includes weak and fabricated reports, and that admiring Qadi Iyad, who himself disagreed with Malik, does not make him a clone.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says that rating Qadi Iyad highly does not oblige him to accept every report in al-Shifa, which was written to instil love of the Prophet in a context of insults and knowingly includes weak and fabricated reports, and that Qadi Iyad himself disagreed with Malik on several matters.

**Evidence, his words at 1:22:36:** “he brought that for a reason because he wasn't trying to have an academic debate he was trying to instill the love of the Prophet in the hearts of people” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuLDZkLvxvo&t=4956s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says his critics found Qadi Iyad, the Maliki scholar of Muslim Spain whom he calls a legend, and quoted him as affirming the crying tree, as though praising a scholar made Mufti his clone. He replies that this is cult thinking: the critics themselves do not follow Qadi Iyad in everything, Qadi Iyad disagreed with Imam Malik on several matters, as did the Maliki scholars of al-Andalus, and he was a product of his age and as much a victim of sectarian warfare as people today. He explains the context: in North Africa, closely connected to Muslim Spain, movements whose name is garbled in the transcript (the Ubaydids [?]) included people who were not Muslim and who insulted and cursed the Prophet in Arabic poetry, which Qadi Iyad records in Tartib al-Madarik [?], and in that culture he wrote a book on why Muslims should love the Prophet. Starting from below zero, he says, Qadi Iyad included in al-Shifa reports that scholars have called weak and even fabricated, not for an academic debate but to instil love of the Prophet, as one tells stories to the young, so the book cannot now be used as a yardstick. Rating Qadi Iyad does not mean adopting every narrative in a two-volume work written for that purpose.

## Sources and names cited

- Qadi Iyad
- Imam Malik
- al-Shifa (Qadi Iyad)
- Tartib al-Madarik [?]
- the Ubaydids [?] (name garbled in the transcript)
- Maliki school

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:19:39–1:23:36)

[1:19:20] and they've made this whole kind of all these kind of reputations and and people bring up all this well oh oh my god you know well if you're gonna if you're gonna say if you're gonna also this is it almost lost my train of thought so so what they did is they found this scholar that I normally rate as an example I called the EON now he's an amazing scholar from the Maliki method from Muslim Spain and I always kind of big up laughs colors of the past but I you know some of these Don's of Muslim Spain I'm a huge fan of so I said yeah you know I'll say yeah at the dawn the legend

[1:19:59] called it they go oh that and it's the dawn let's look at what the dawn who moved here believe calls the dawn says oh look what call the Oh call the earth below see oh look at the dawn saying it now you know um seriously does this get any dumber than this because I'm sorry is this a cult like because I love somebody or rate somebody and I say oh this person is a legend does it mean I become a clone I'll be yard is a legend

[1:20:37] but to start off with I said and they start all of some rating called the yard like all the odd the great Harvey the master of hadith I supposed to start off with you don't follow him in anything like you don't even follow this guy like you don't even accept everything he talks about you seem to reject and you've got an issue with me disagreeing with him on one or two things he himself disagrees with Imam Malik on several things as did the ulama of under loose of Muslim Spain or the Maliki's of mustard look this isn't we're not clones this isn't a cult Islam yes there's a tradition we are part of that tradition but it doesn't mean now oh my god

[1:21:17] because I rate somebody I can't think I can't disagree with them he was a product of his age he was as much a victim of sectarian warfare as we are today as people are today he was by the way in call the yards time that the thing that led up to God the yard there was a huge there was in North Africa he was in Muslim Spain but it was very connected to North Africa there was these movements of like the Oh baby in and stuff like this and these people were some of them were like vicious and some of them were weren't Muslim and they used to do things like insult the Prophet and called the yard brings in

[1:21:56] his book 30 Burma Tarek some of the Arabic poetry that they wrote insulting the Prophet and cursing him and stuff like this now this culture did exist the generations after in the generations that come after car the yard emerges he writes a book on know we as Muslims should love the Prophet now naturally look when you're gonna write a book now look at where the person's coming from he's not trying to say he doesn't start from like Ground Zero he's starting sub-zero he's starting from with his people who have with this a history of people insulting the prophets we and these were people amongst Muslims Arabic

[1:22:36] speaking kind of like a bathing in and these kind of people now he's so he's saying look the Prophet is the greatest of people which Muslims say anyway but then he starts to bring so many things in this book like he would tell people like you would tell sometimes young people like when you're telling a story you'll say things oh do you know this he said this the Prophet the Prophet wants he said this he brings hadith which people have said on modul are fabricated in there's a few he brings in the Chiffre which people they are fabricated he brought that for a reason because he wasn't trying to have an academic debate he was trying to instill the love of the Prophet in the hearts of people and

[1:23:15] amongst a big book which was essentially in two whole volumes and now it's kind of obviously modern-day printing yes he will mention certain things amongst there which are just narratives just to kind of add that love oh do you know this and do you know this happen and do you know this happened so people are now using that as the yardstick to say well call the yard said these well okay fine he said in this time but we have to be people of reason we can't be swayed with emotions so I hope these words kind of make sense I could see some people thinking well what on earth is he is he on about well so I hope these words kind

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment UuLDZkLvxvo/s/18. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/uuldzklvxvo/s/18/

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