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36 answers in 18 recordings, 2016 to 2021. 18 with a checked position in his own words.
Indexed so far: 259 of 1,859 recordings (1,904 answers, 2014 to 2025). Anything below may change as the rest are indexed. Limits of the data
Oldest first. A checked position shows what he holds, then the sentence he says, word for word from the transcript, with its moment. Years without one list the answers that have not been checked yet. Recordings not yet indexed may hold more.
· How do we know mental illnesses are not really jinn possessions?
Mufti Abu Layth says that explaining anything unexplained by the jinn is a one-size-fits-all paradigm like a child's conspiracy theory or Basil Mitchell's partisan, a non-propositional faith that no evidence or reason can touch.
“if you've just got one version to answer everything then yes you can do that but it doesn't make it true”
1:20:39TranscriptCite 2017-09-20-S16corrected
· How was the economy of the Prophet's time different from today's?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran was revealed in an economy of finite money, in which wealth could only grow by taking it from others, and that this changed entirely when money was dematerialised into paper a few hundred years ago.
“When the Quran was revealed in 7th century Arabia money was finite.”
33:05TranscriptCite 2017-10-19-S08corrected
· How did Adam Smith and industrialisation change attitudes to greed and lending?
Mufti Abu Layth says that before Adam Smith's promotion of the pursuit of self-interest greed was seen simply as evil, as it was when the Quran condemned riba, and that industrialisation brought a new promise of a better tomorrow, before which people would not lend money.
“So, when the Quran was condemning riba in the time of the Arabs of 7th century Arabia greed was just seen as an evil thing. But everything changes in the 18th century.”
37:43TranscriptCite 2017-10-19-S09corrected
· How do we know mental illness is not really jinn possession?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that using the jinn to explain anything unexplained is like a child's all-purpose conspiracy, an unfalsifiable non-propositional faith such as Basil Mitchell's partisan holds, which no evidence or reasoning can touch.
“if you've just got one version to answer everything then yes you can do that but it doesn't make it true”
30:09TranscriptCite 2018-04-15-S08corrected
· How should Muslims read the stories in the Quran?
Mufti Abu Layth says some stories in the Quran suggest supernatural events without explicitly stating them.
“some of these stories have been mentioned in ways at times that suggest suggest I'm using the word here suggest they don't usually explicitly say so but they tend to suggest a very supernatural”
3:50TranscriptCite 2019-01-08-S01corrected
· What does the Quran say about kings in the story of Sheba?
Mufti Abu Layth says kingship began when some person one day assumed the right to subjugate others, and it became a human legacy.
“right to sub subjugate and you guys on my subjects some person just assumed that one day and it became a human legacy”
26:48TranscriptCite 2019-01-08-S05corrected
· What is liberalism, and do liberals have to follow John Locke?
Mufti Abu Layth says liberalism is, in essence, simply a stance against authoritarianism.
“liberalism is simply a stance against authoritarianism that's all it is in essence”
7:01TranscriptCite 2019-08-04-S02corrected
· Ethics evolve: slavery, human agency and the genetic fallacy
Mufti Abu Layth says that human beings are very capable agents who construct their worldview as they go along, not people who adopt views because they read philosophers.
“human beings we are very capable agents we are constructing our worldview as we going along”
27:59TranscriptCite 2019-08-04-S05corrected
· Why did Islam not abolish slavery outright?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that Islam did not abolish slavery outright because the collective consciousness of the age could not yet perceive it as wrong, and that, now that it can be seen, owning another human being is a problem and slavery has always been wrong, though past societies cannot be held to account for a perception they lacked.
“now that we see it yes this is definitely wrong and it has been wrong but because Society and the collective consciousness wasn't perceiving it in that way we can't hold them to task”
18:18TranscriptCite 2020-04-28-S03corrected
· Are psychedelics like DMT haram in Islam?
Mufti Abu Layth says he does not feel psychedelics are haram.
“reality so i'm a huge advocate of that i don't feel it's haram and yes it does alter certain your states of mind”
36:44TranscriptCite 2020-08-24-S10corrected
· Is process theology compatible with the Quran?
Mufti Abu Layth says the process-relational idea that God is dependent on creation as creation is dependent on God is not the Quranic worldview.
“so god is kind of dependent on creation as creation is dependent on god that isn't the quranic worldview”
2:50:42TranscriptCite 2021-01-12-S37corrected
· Who was Ibn Rushd (Averroes)?
Mufti Abu Layth says it is a shame that Muslims ignored Ibn Rushd, since he was such a legend in philosophy.
“you see it's a shame that Muslims because he was such a legend in philosophy Muslims kind of turned a uh they they kind of ignored him”
2:07:04TranscriptCite 2021-01-19-S27corrected
· How did Ibn Rushd answer al-Ghazali's attack on the philosophers?
Mufti Abu Layth says it was true that al-Ghazali's sources on the philosophers had been ill-informed, because early translations mixed up Aristotle's and Plato's views.
“they've been ill informed and that was actually true because what happened in the early days when things were being translated”
2:17:53TranscriptCite 2021-01-19-S29corrected
· Could the hadith tradition evolve like a living organism?
Mufti Abu Layth suggests, as food for thought, that the hadith system behaves like an evolving organism that, without consciousness, drives those engaged with it to standardise and correct it so that it survives.
“as a kind of psychosocial organism this belief system it would be driven to make people do that to kind of ensure its longevity to survive”
2:19:52TranscriptCite 2021-01-26b-S27corrected
· Why does every spiritual awakening story have a time of withdrawal?
Mufti Abu Layth says the ascetic phase in awakening narratives is like an archetype.
“yeah i mean these are like archetypes ain't they that you have uh”
2:04:12TranscriptCite 2021-02-09-S25corrected
· Who is the Mufti's favourite Western philosopher?
Mufti Abu Layth says he feels that in some ways Muslims have been left out of philosophy in recent centuries, which is a shame.
“i feel in some ways that muslims have been kind of left out of philosophy recently in recent centuries which is a shame”
1:23:54TranscriptCite 2021-02-16-S26corrected
· What did Ibn Rushd mean by the 'double truth' of religion and philosophy?
Mufti Abu Layth says he agrees fully with Ibn Rushd that the sharia is designed for ordinary people, who need structured and visible religion, while those gifted with deeper understanding can discover its deeper meanings.
“so what ibn arush had said is that and i totally agree with that he said that in this world not everybody is a philosopher”
2:36:22TranscriptCite 2021-04-13-S39corrected
· How can I be sure my reason is not wrong?
Mufti Abu Layth says al-Ghazali resolved his doubt by reliance on God, that science has since taken us far beyond his time, and that for him the existence of consciousness is the sign of God.
“to me the fact that god is out there is through consciousness the fact that we are conscious to me is that sign”
2:56:43TranscriptCite 2021-04-13-S42corrected
How many of these answers cite each (guest speech left out). Cited means named as evidence or discussed, not necessarily accepted: open the answers to see which.
These answers state a view in order to discuss it, often to reject it. They are never read as his position.
Cite a statement by its id: Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment id, with the date and the address of its page. Citation formats
