Recordings › Unanswered Questions- An interview with Mufti Abu Layth · 6 Apr 2015 › Segment 10 of 15
Is extremism among Muslims really on the rise?
salat salaah namaz salaat namaaz as-salah al-salah salawat muftis haraam forbidden sunna sunnat sunan prophetic practice riba ribaa sood usury kufr kuffar kafir kaafir kaafirun disbeliefIs radicalisation rising? Depends on the lens: a far greater rise in traditional Islam
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This segment35:25 to 39:21 · 3 min 56 sGeneral teaching
The answer in brief
machinesummary, machine-writtenIn one sense yes, since groups like ISIS did not exist in this form two decades ago, but he says the far greater rise is in Muslims awakening to traditional Islam, with some bad elements awoken alongside it.
In more detail
Asked whether he agrees with the media narrative that extremism and radicalisation are rising, Mufti Abu Layth says yes in some ways and no in others. He dislikes words like Islamism, which taint Islam, but allows that if one compares today with two decades ago, groups like Boko Haram, ISIS and those in Libya and the Middle East did not exist in the same way, so from that lens there has been a rise. From another lens, however, he sees a much greater rise towards true traditional Islam among Muslims in general: a worldwide awakening and collective consciousness about Islam, countless books brought back to light after centuries, and engagement in discourse down to minute detail, such as whether raising the hands in prayer is sunnah, an interest that did not exist a few decades ago. With this social awakening, he says, some bad elements are also awoken, political groups making all sorts of cries and takfiris who excommunicate Muslims, so from one perspective one may see a rise in radicalisation, but on the other hand the majority of Muslims have awoken to the true, traditional spirit of Islam.
Question as read aloud · questioner not identifiedThe media says there is a rise in extremism and radicalisation. Would you agree?
- The question was reconstructed from Mufti Abu Layth's restatement; the questioner's own words are not in the recording
Position stated
Mufti Abu Layth says that while militant groups have risen compared with two decades ago, the far greater rise is a worldwide awakening of Muslims to traditional Islam, of which some extremist elements are a side effect.
“I think there is a much greater rise towards true traditional Islam uh by the Muslims in large and in general as opposed to what there was let's say two decades ago”
Category: other
Kind: general teachingTranscript
machine35:25 to 39:21 · click a time to seek · dotted terms open the glossary
Isis appealing so I think you know may Allah give us toi to really reclaim traditional Islam I mean and to you know to really uh help and Aid the spread of the true harmonious message of this thing uh I think it's a it's it's an interesting question that the media suggest toward the general narrative out there um or a narrative rather out there suggests that there is a rise in radicalization do I agree with this
um May maybe in some ways yes some ways know that I think um I think there is a much greater rise towards true traditional Islam uh by the Muslims in large and in general as opposed to what there was let's say two decades ago so it it depends it all comes down to the lens by which you're viewing the scenario if you're going to say look two decades ago there wasn't um I mean I don't want I don't like words like islamism and stuff like this I think that's actually tainting Islam in a negative way but if you're going to say
radicalization or or militant this type of militant Islam that people are using when they're saying radicalization or extremism if you're going to say well two decades ago this wasn't there the way it is today therefore it's risen from that lens okay it may make sense you're right obviously they weren't these in in a similar light like the way you've got worldwide boo Haram you've got whether it's going to be the things taking place in Libya whether it's going to be the things in in the Middle East Isis all these type of groups yes so you from that perspect however to decades ago there wasn't that Islam itself
wasn't kind of um I don't know people weren't Awakening to Islam the way they are today so there seems to be a lot more of a spirit of Islam worldwide this Consciousness which almost surprisingly I mean Allah uh and you know you know everything is from Allah that um we see that there seems to be this Collective Consciousness that people are gaining about Islam and there seems to be an interest and whether you want to look at an academic level so for example we have many countless books that have been brought back into that have seen the light of day after centuries
centuries and centuries and now we have them uh whether you want to look at things like the level of scholarship the level of discussions when I say scholarship people may question that you know true that historically there were people with sometimes much greater talent in in the sense of what their memory allowed them and things like this but today the engagement in discourse so if you're going to say I don't know like people discussing at a very small level and I know it may seem irrelevant but let's say people discussing things like oh is itah to do or not to do Salah
is it Sunnah to I know that may be seen as a useless question as in whether it's Sunnah to raise the hands in Salah or not but the point is this interest did not exist a few decades ago now the collective Consciousness seems to have risen where people have an interest to minute detail they have an interest to these type of things so with that so because there seems to be this Awakening this social Awakening to Islam with with it you will also get some bad elements that are also awoken and therefore you will get certain political groups that will make all sorts of cries you will
get takies who turn against Muslims who call all Muslim excommunicate them call them kufar you'll get all sorts and so from a perspective I could agree that okay you know if you're seeing it from that lens you may see that there has been a rise in uh you know an extremist type of uh radicalization but on from the other hand know that I feel that many many many more Muslims the majority of Muslims have kind of awoken to a true spirit and a traditional Spirit of Islam okay the question on speaking of traditional Islam that I've been branded
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Cite this segment
Stable id, transcript version and tier are part of the citation. Every change to a transcript is logged.Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 2015-04-06-S10, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vzrrlx3livk/s/10/ (accessed 1 November 2026)
- APA 7
Mufti Abu Layth. (2015, April 6). Is extremism among Muslims really on the rise? [Video, segment 2015-04-06-S10, auto-transcribed, may contain errors]. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vzrrlx3livk/s/10/
- Chicago author-date
Mufti Abu Layth. 2015. "Is extremism among Muslims really on the rise?" Video, segment 2015-04-06-S10, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Recorded April 6, 2015. Accessed November 1, 2026. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vzrrlx3livk/s/10/
- BibTeX
@misc{abulayth-2015-04-06-S10, author = {Mufti Abu Layth}, title = {{Is extremism among Muslims really on the rise?}}, year = {2015}, month = {4}, date = {2015-04-06}, howpublished = {\url{https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vzrrlx3livk/s/10/}}, url = {https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vzrrlx3livk/s/10/}, organization = {Mufti Abu Layth Archive}, urldate = {2026-11-01}, note = {Segment 2015-04-06-S10, auto-transcribed, may contain errors} }
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