Research › Dialogue and responses
39 answers in 23 recordings, 2018 to 2021. 10 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.
· Replies to critics: Jonathan Brown, academic dialogue, going public, the Aisha debate
Mufti Abu Layth says the problems with Sahih al-Bukhari should be discussed openly rather than hidden from ordinary Muslims, because concealing them is what causes people to lose their faith.
“if we were just honest from the beginning people wouldn't lose their faith”
1:43:39TranscriptCite 2018-08-30-S16corrected
· Did the topic of Tawhid versus the Trinity favour the Muslim side, and how well prepared was Hijab?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that when one side of a debate appeals to reason and the other defends what it calls irrational truths, the side of reason will generally prevail, so the topic favoured Hijab, whose biblical research he nonetheless credits as impressive.
“whenever you're debating something that way one side appeals to reason and the other doesn't the reason side will always make sense and prevail generally speaking as a rule of thumb”
3:07TranscriptCite 2018-12-24b-S02corrected
· If Muslims accept miracles that defy reason, can they still object that the Trinity is irrational?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that Muslims must believe the Quran to be in line with the voice of reason, since accepting miracles that make no sense would leave no ground to object that three cannot equal one, and he says that some Muslims did hold anthropomorphic beliefs about God, which he does not share.
“I feel especially in this day and age that Muslims we do believe in the Quran to be in line with the voice of reason otherwise these arguments don't actually stand”
15:14TranscriptCite 2018-12-24b-S06corrected
· What should Muslims learn from the Wood versus Hijab debate?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that Muslims must be consistent in following the voice of reason, because if they say the laws of nature do not matter when it comes to miracles they lose any ground for saying that three cannot equal one, and that Muslims also need to raise their adab in debate.
“what we can't do is have irrational beliefs ourselves and then condemn other people for irrational beliefs like we must be consistent”
29:31TranscriptCite 2018-12-24b-S09corrected
· 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
· Who is Dr Abdul Majid, your Mind Trap guest?
Mufti Abu Layth says swearing is not haram.
“it's not like I say I don't swear I've said openly swearing is not Haram I mean I'm not swearing at someone”
52:27TranscriptCite 2021-01-19-S14corrected
· Did the debate with Dr Abdullah Abdul Majid answer the BukhariGate challenge?
Mufti Abu Layth says the discussion did not put BukhariGate to rest but further cemented it, and that because Sahih al-Bukhari cannot be shown with certainty to reach us exactly from its author, reports in it that contradict reason, the Quran or Islam's principles should be set aside.
“if we can't establish with utter certainty which we can't that this book reaches us exactly from let's say source a which is allegedly imam bukhari himself”
1:21:10TranscriptCite 2021-01-26b-S18corrected
· How did the BukhariGate discussion go on manuscripts and problematic hadith?
Mufti Abu Layth says that defending reports in Bukhari which portray the Prophet as bewitched or forgetting the Quran amounts to claiming the Prophet could err but al-Bukhari could not, when errors in the book's transmission are far more likely.
“the prophet could forget the quran the prophet could be clumsy the prophet could forget surahs and verses the prophet could do all of these things but bukhari could never have made a mistake”
1:31:23TranscriptCite 2021-01-26b-S19corrected
· Do Muslims have to believe that Jesus will come back?
Mufti Abu Layth says the hadith of Jesus descending as a judge on earth was made up from Christian belief taken from the Bible.
“which is the verse out of the bible by the way and it's christian belief and that's how this hadith was made up through abu hurairah and through those people who mixed it up”
5:45TranscriptCite 2021-02-14-S01corrected
· 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
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
