Research › Belief and theology
85 answers in 50 recordings, 2015 to 2023. 46 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.
· What does Mufti Abu Layth think of ISIS?
Mufti Abu Layth says ISIS is a ruthless takfiri ideology that threatens Muslims and non-Muslims alike, that holding Muslims collectively guilty for it is unfair, and that Western foreign policy, including the prisons of the war in Iraq, contributed to its creation.
“so it's not that they're just a threat to non-muslims they're a threat to each and all really they do have a mentality that um shows no mercy”
28:51TranscriptCite 2015-04-06-S08corrected
· Is extremism among Muslims really on the rise?
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”
35:54TranscriptCite 2015-04-06-S10corrected
· How does he view the Salafi movement, and is hadith narrator criticism a divine science?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Salafi movement, having begun as a courageous iconoclastic rejection of tradition, became as dogmatic as what it opposed once established, and that narrator criticism (ilm al-rijal) is a human science open to revision and disagreement rather than a divine one.
“it is not a divine science it is something that men have come up with”
14:06TranscriptCite 2018-02-21-S04corrected
· We are all seeking the truth: disagree without takfir
Mufti Abu Layth says Muslims who disagree on interpretation should treat each other gently as fellow seekers of the truth, without labels or takfir.
“disagree all you like but we as Muslims can at least talk about Islam amongst ourselves don't kind of insult throw labels try to declare each of the kaffir”
31:06TranscriptCite 2018-03-13-S08corrected
· Why do other scholars not see what Mufti Abu Layth sees about the return of Jesus?
Mufti Abu Layth says that belonging to no sect frees him to follow whatever makes sense in light of the Quran and Sunnah, while scholars bound to a group fear expressing views their group rejects.
“then you have no allegiance to a group think tality all you then need is for something to make sense to you like I don't fear a group backlash against me”
32:23TranscriptCite 2018-03-13-S09corrected
· Give glad tidings, make things easy: the hadith behind his approach; do not intimidate
Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet's instruction to give glad tidings and make things easy is the pillar of his understanding of Islam, and that intimidating people into beliefs contradicts the Prophet's way and Imam Malik's.
“this hadith that I learned I must have been seventeen i memorize that hadith that became the backdrop and the kind of pillar upon which my understanding of Islam has been”
1:44:53TranscriptCite 2018-03-13-S27corrected
· Everyone picks and chooses: later scholars on mawlid, shrines, hadra and the Jesus hadith
Mufti Abu Layth says everyone, Salafis included, picks and chooses between early and later scholars, so rejecting the Jesus hadith on the authority of later scholars is no different from what others do.
“so why is it that all of a sudden it's okay to go against the majority if it's for you but if somebody else goes against the majority then they must be deviants”
1:59:51TranscriptCite 2018-03-13-S31corrected
· The Creed of Tahawi is not the Quran; Ash'aris do not make takfir of ahl al-qiblah
Mufti Abu Layth says the Creed of al-Tahawi was written some 250 years after the Prophet and objects to treating the denial of a line of it as unbelief.
“he's writing this almost at least over 250 years after the Prophet why is he such a great Hojo love a sudden you know we don't accept him in anything else”
2:07:31TranscriptCite 2018-03-13-S34corrected
· Why great scholars accepted it: sectarian turf war with the Mu'tazila
Mufti Abu Layth says the narrative that the Prophet had magic done on him was retrospectively reinforced to support a sectarian turf war with the Mu'tazila.
“even the Prophet had magic done unto him you see this was retrospectively reinforced as a narrative to support the sectarian turf war that was going on”
35:15TranscriptCite 2018-04-15b-S06corrected
· Why does Mufti Abu Layth say BukhariGate matters?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that BukhariGate matters because the whole of Sahih al-Bukhari rests on al-Farabri alone and because its reports repay the Prophet, Umar and Aisha with disrespect, and he attributes the circulation of these reports to Wahhabis and their sympathisers, whom he calls haters of the Prophet.
“this is why Buhari gate was so important and we have to remember this whole book transmitted on the back of one man robbery robbery”
30:22TranscriptCite 2018-09-01-S10corrected
· What is Yasir Qadhi's background, and where does the Salafi movement come from?
Mufti Abu Layth says Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was a deviant because he held it permissible to kill Muslims he deemed disbelievers, enslave their wives and take their wealth, including pilgrims on Hajj, and that Wahhabism is in essence a doctrine of literalism and dogmatism hostile to reason.
“he was definitely I mean I would categorically say he was a deviant”
18:27TranscriptCite 2018-10-20-S04corrected
· Final thoughts: mental health, persecution, free speech and the victim card
Mufti Abu Layth condemns any persecution of Ahmadis but holds that criticising their beliefs is free speech, not persecution, and that not declaring them Muslims does not add to their persecution.
“i don't justify and i condem any persecution of them i condemn that but i'm being honest look just playing the victim card all the time it's just nonsense”
36:38TranscriptCite 2019-01-15-S06corrected
· Rumours of a Sunni-Shia debate, and building bridges with the Shia
Mufti Abu Layth says he personally believes the Sunni-Shia split is there for good and will not go away.
“I personally believe that the Shia Sunni split is there for good and it's not something that's never gonna go away”
0:39TranscriptCite 2019-08-02-S01corrected
· Do most Sunnis consider Wahhabis and Salafis to be Sunni?
Mufti Abu Layth says he is among the minority who hold that Salafis too should be considered part of the Sunni majority of Muslims.
“it's only a few the minority and amongst at minorities me that says no Salafis too should be park should be considered part of the Sunni majority of Muslims”
23:46TranscriptCite 2019-11-03b-S06corrected
· Did the Salafi movement play a part in producing modern extremism?
Mufti Abu Layth says that, although Salafis today are against terrorism, a huge part of the terrorism seen today came from these Wahhabis.
“I accept that these selfies are anti-terrorism yeah I accept this but it was only yesterday that these people gave birth to terrorism this terrorism that we seen today a huge part of it is only from these wahhabis”
41:16TranscriptCite 2019-11-03b-S10corrected
· What is the difference between the Ash'ari and Athari (Hanbali) creeds?
Mufti Abu Layth dismisses the Athari (Hanbali) creed, which he says attributes body parts to God, says he would broadly align himself with the Ash'ari school while disagreeing with it on certain points, and ranks the philosophers above all the theologians.
“broadly speaking I would align myself with a shoddy even though I would disagree on certain things that they say”
3:47TranscriptCite 2019-11-05-S01corrected
· Is al-wala wal-bara, loving and hating for the sake of Allah, part of Islam?
Mufti Abu Layth says the doctrine of loving and hating for the sake of God, al-wala wal-bara, does not exist in the tradition but is a Wahhabi innovation written about only by Saudi, Gulf and Wahhabi scholars, and that the Quranic bara'a means detachment of association rather than hatred.
“for the sake of God is it's an innovation in Islam and it is nothing but kind of selfie stroke Wahhabi propaganda”
10:18TranscriptCite 2019-12-12-S04corrected
· What does Mufti Abu Layth think of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab?
Mufti Abu Layth says that, forced to choose, he would probably classify Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab as negative, a puritan dogmatist allied with the Saud family who demolished tombs and killed pilgrims, and that the Salafi movement he inspired did more harm than good and is the number one springboard for extremism, though it also revived hadith and challenged blind following and superstition.
“if I was to group him in one and I could only group him in negative or positive then at a simple level I would probably put him in negative”
0:00TranscriptCite 2020-04-19-S01corrected
· Will there be a video on the Zaydi and Ibadi sects?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Sunnis, the Shia and the Ibadis, who cannot tolerate each other, would never have co-conspired over the original Kaaba and would have exposed each other.
“they would never have agreed like they you know cannot tolerate each other. Um so they would never have co-conspired to arrive at the original Kaa.”
25:43TranscriptCite 2020-08-04-S06corrected
· Why do Salafis ignore Imam Malik's Muwatta?
Mufti Abu Layth says he feels that deep down Salafis struggle with Imam Malik, who is an unquestionable authority in hadith yet rejects hadith that go against certain practices.
“i feel that the selfies because they i think deep down the salafi struggle with imam malik”
0:01TranscriptCite 2020-08-23-S01corrected
· Is the hadith that Aisha was married at six authentic?
Mufti Abu Layth says the hadith on Aisha's age at marriage is fabricated, attributing it to Hisham and noting that all its transmitters at the lower level are Iraqi.
“you need to think for yourself see the evidence and realize that look it's true this hadith is fabricated it's been fabricated by hisham all the people that transmit it are iraqi”
1:17:12TranscriptCite 2020-08-24-S20corrected
· Who were the Murji'a and why do Salafis talk about them so much?
Mufti Abu Layth says Ibn Taymiyya suffered from a lot of mental health issues.
“but he you have to understand he was he suffered from a lot of mental health issues”
1:22:15TranscriptCite 2020-09-22-S15corrected
· What do you think of the Mu'tazila?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Mu'tazila were an ancient sect that has not existed for something like six or seven hundred years.
“they don't really exist they haven't existed for something like six seven hundred years if not more they've been non-existent they were an extremist sect”
2:06:56TranscriptCite 2020-09-22-S21corrected
· Are Muslims who believe God commanded the sacrifice guilty of blasphemy?
Mufti Abu Layth says that he does not accuse individual Muslims who hold the belief of blasphemy, since they repeat an inherited story without having thought about it.
“look this belief is blasphemous but i'm not saying to individual muslims you guys are blaspheming because i genuinely don't think that they've thought about it”
23:45TranscriptCite 2020-10-28-S08corrected
· Would the Mufti debate a Salafi scholar on aqidah?
Mufti Abu Layth says he guarantees that no Salafi scholar can clearly prove from the Quran alone that the Salafi aqidah, as they preach it, is valid and a must.
“i guarantee you they won't be able to prove their ah either from the quran quran only”
1:25TranscriptCite 2020-11-17-S01corrected
· What would jinn gain by possessing people, and what follows if they could?
Mufti Abu Layth says that if jinn could possess people or take any form, as Ibn Taymiyya held, nothing in Islam could be trusted and no one would be responsible for their crimes, and he notes that only Muslims who believe in possession seem to be afflicted by it.
“if you accept jin possession everything in islam becomes redundant this screen that you're watching now”
15:28TranscriptCite 2020-11-21-S04corrected
· Has the Salafi movement done more good or harm?
Mufti Abu Layth says the biggest problem of the Salafi dawah was that it dislodged the entire tradition that was the general understanding of Islam.
“the biggest problem of the salafi dawa was to dislodge the entire tradition of which was our general understanding of islam”
33:53TranscriptCite 2021-01-12-S07corrected
· Why was Ibn Taymiyya put in prison?
Mufti Abu Layth says Ibn Taymiyya was imprisoned over his fatwa that one may not travel to visit the Prophet, an opinion he calls foolish but says should not be punished, since people should not be persecuted over religious differences.
“although i disagree with locking people up and stuff like that and i i do feel his opinion is dumb but i don't feel you can punish them over it”
7:32TranscriptCite 2021-01-12b-S01corrected
· How does Ibn Rushd compare to other critical-minded scholars?
Mufti Abu Layth says Ibn Rushd is more inclined towards reason than the other critical-minded scholars he was asked about, though all of them are critical-minded.
“I Rush is more inclined towards reason than the others the others are all of these are inclined to some reason”
2:28:03TranscriptCite 2021-01-19-S31corrected
· Why does Birmingham have so many different Muslim sects?
Mufti Abu Layth says that in Birmingham every sect has a strong presence, and that he thinks that is a good thing.
“you've got everybody here you know and and i think that's a good thing because there's certain towns like leicester is close to birmingham which is heavily diopandi”
1:36:08TranscriptCite 2021-02-09-S19corrected
· What was Mufti Abu Layth's madrasa in Pakistan like?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Barelvi scene in Pakistan has only recently become extreme.
“you understand like so the brillvi scene in pakistan has only recently become extreme”
2:06:08TranscriptCite 2021-02-09-S26corrected
· Do Ash'aris believe the Quran is created?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Ash'aris believe the Quran was created but, embarrassed by it, hide the wording behind terms the public would not understand.
“ashadis believe that now but i've mentioned this before you see what they do is they're embarrassed of it so they hide the wording and replace it with words that the common public wouldn't understand”
59:57TranscriptCite 2021-02-16-S17corrected
· Who are the Ibadis and what does the Mufti think of them?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Ibadis help form a kind of triangulation method in Islam because they are very early.
“you see ibadis do help form a kind of triangulation method if we want in islam because they are very early”
2:31:10TranscriptCite 2021-02-16-S46corrected
· An invitation to MindTrap on aqidah and Bukhari, and an open challenge to Salafi imams
Mufti Abu Layth says his challenge is that Salafi imams will not be able to prove their aqidah from the Quran or Sunnah alone.
“any salafi Imam on the rakida that we can have a discussion they have to be able to prove there are either just from the Quran or Sunnah and Mike challenge is that they won't be able to”
12:03TranscriptCite 2021-02-22-S03corrected
· Is the hadith about a woman breastfeeding the adult Salim authentic?
Mufti Abu Layth says the report that the Prophet told a woman to let the grown Salim drink her milk is fabricated, because it is ridiculous.
“allegedly the prophet said well why don't you let him drink your milk now he doesn't mention how to drink that milk and this hadith is fabricated anyway because it's ridiculous”
3:23:55TranscriptCite 2021-03-02-S43corrected
· Who are the Ibadis and what do you think of Ibadism?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Ibadis moved away from extremism as time went by, and suggests that this may just have been adaptation.
“but as time went by they did uh move remove themselves from that extremist um kind of manifesto so they stopped because you see maybe that's just uh maybe that's just adaptation”
2:33TranscriptCite 2021-03-16b-S01corrected
· Do I need a religious authority to own my faith?
Mufti Abu Layth says Muslims can take ownership of their own faith, since Islam has no papacy and no one can expel a person from the deen.
“we can once again take ownership of our own faith i we don't need this is not a you know a papacy we don't need to go through the pope”
1:06:16TranscriptCite 2021-04-13-S17corrected
· Is Mufti Abu Layth against Salafis?
Mufti Abu Layth says his objection is not to Salafis as a denomination but to dogmatic, cult-like mentality in any group, which he says suffocates religion.
“it's not about by the way it's not about speaking against a denomination per se it's more about the cult-like mentality”
1:18:59TranscriptCite 2021-04-13-S21corrected
· Why is Salafi content so dominant online?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Najdi or Salafi dawah is a cultish puritanism sustained by oil money, followed by perhaps three percent of Muslims, but dominating Islamic content online because others did not invest in it.
“the najdi dawa is just a cultish you know it's just a it's a cultish puritanism that's all it is but it has recently um you know being reinvigorated by petrol dollars”
1:28:55TranscriptCite 2021-04-13-S24corrected
· Why do Mufti Abu Layth's critics defend Bukhari reports that demean the Prophet?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that Mariya al-Qibtiyya was a wife of the Prophet and not a concubine, and calls nonsense the teachings, some of them in Sahih al-Bukhari, that the Prophet married a child, forcibly took Safiyya, tried to force himself on a woman, forgot the Quran or was made impotent by magic.
“she was the only wife of the prophet alaihi wasallam that brought him a child that lived in this world after prophethood”
1:11TranscriptCite 2021-04-19-S01corrected
· Does today's Hanafi madhhab reflect Imam Abu Hanifa?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Hanafi madhhab as it is today is like a Frankenstein compared to what Imam Abu Hanifa was.
“the math hub itself is it's like a completely it's a it's a different it's like a frankenstein uh to what imam of hanifa was”
1:57TranscriptCite 2021-04-27-S01corrected
· Can I pray while carrying my child?
Mufti Abu Layth says rulings such as prayer breaking after three consecutive movements are made up.
“if you do more than three consecutive movements in salah your salah breaks obviously needless to say all these things are made up”
6:20TranscriptCite 2021-04-27-S02corrected
· Which scholars accepted the satanic verses story and which rejected it?
Mufti Abu Layth says the satanic verses story was fabricated by people unhappy with Islam, as Ibn Khuzayma said, and that Ibn Taymiyya and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab were wrong to incline towards accepting it.
“who clearly said look this was people who weren't happy with islam just kind of built on that story that was about all the people prostrating”
1:40:57TranscriptCite 2022-08-19-S18corrected
· What does the Mufti think of Ibn Taymiyya and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab?
Mufti Abu Layth says Ibn Hajar and al-Suyuti contributed greatly to Islam and Ibn Taymiyya to a lesser degree, while Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, in his view not a scholar of depth, had a misplaced zeal that did great harm to Muslims.
“misplaced passion like his passion was very passionate about islam wanted to do something but ended up doing a lot of harm”
1:44:46TranscriptCite 2022-08-19-S19corrected
· Apophatic definition: the early main body defined by what it was not
Mufti Abu Layth says that in the time of the salaf the main body of Muslims was identified by contrast with outgroups, with no checklist of what to believe.
“there is no checklist to believe there is only the in-group is identified in contrast to the elk group”
8:14TranscriptCite 2023-02-13-S02corrected
· Should Sunnis preach to Shia Muslims about what they get wrong?
Mufti Abu Layth says he is not personally for Sunni-Shia debating because he feels it does no good and only does harm.
“I'm not personally for all the kind of Sunni Shia debating thing because I feel it does no good it just does harm”
37:02TranscriptCite 2023-02-22-S07corrected
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
