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Research › Dialogue and responses

Responses to critics

192 answers in 46 recordings, 2018 to 2021. 73 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

Thought Evolution

2018answers checked positions2021

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.

  1. 201869 answers · 40 checked

    · Is the Quran created or uncreated? Why he calls the debate absurd

    The debate over whether the Quran is created or uncreated is absurd and without meaningful outcome: the Companions never discussed it, and it arose as a political dispute over the caliphs' authority in the time of al-Ma'mun.

    “the question is is the Quran created uncreated and I said that this the whole discussion is absurd which I stand by today and I say it's absurd”

    3:56TranscriptCite 2018-01-02-S02corrected

    · Music: the hadith on singing and hypocrisy, and scholars who permitted music

    Nothing proven categorically demonstrates that music is haram, lyrics by themselves do not make listening haram, and the hadith brought to forbid it, that singing breeds hypocrisy in the heart, is weak in every chain.

    “there's nothing proven to categorically to demonstrate music is Haram and I think that's what I say enough and yes I add that lyrics do not make something Haram”

    14:28TranscriptCite 2018-01-02-S04corrected

    · Refute me with sahih evidence: lying about the Prophet and the charge of misguidance

    Mufti Abu Layth says anyone may try to prove him wrong but must bring categorical evidence from the Quran and the Sunnah, and that quoting weak reports as the Prophet's words is attributing lies to him.

    “you and any of anybody else out there is most welcome to prove concepts prove me wrong but bring me categorical evidences from the kitab it was sooner and prove your point”

    40:04TranscriptCite 2018-01-02-S06corrected

    37 more checked positions in 2018

    · Ruqya and the Quran as a cure: spiritual diseases, not cancer

    The Quran's description of itself as a cure refers to the spiritual diseases of the heart, not to physical illness, for which the Prophet instructed people to seek medicine.

    “if a person has cancer you don't say I know let's sit down and read the Quran in the cancer will go away the Prophet never taught you to do that”

    43:12TranscriptCite 2018-01-02-S07corrected

    · Why does he reject the hadith of the tree crying for the Prophet?

    Mufti Abu Layth holds that the religion is built on reason, so a Muslim must apply one set of standards: a report that a tree reasoned and cried cannot be accepted while the claims of other religions are rejected as absurd.

    “you must have one set of standards and you must put Islam to that test as well then you are true in your faith”

    6:24TranscriptCite 2018-02-21-S02corrected

    · Does he believe in miracles?

    Mufti Abu Layth holds that miracles exist on a spectrum but that no miracle ever defied God's own laws: rare events can happen, but they always have a cause and a means through nature and the laws of physics, whether or not it is known.

    “I believe that yes miracles is there like a spectrum okay so miracles did exist but what do miracles mean I don't believe there was ever a miracle that defies God's laws”

    8:59TranscriptCite 2018-02-21-S03corrected

    · 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

    · Is it acceptable to criticise a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari?

    Mufti Abu Layth says that criticising reports in Sahih al-Bukhari cannot make a person a deviant when al-Albani rejected around a dozen of them, and that the salaf understood the Quran's miracles in several ways, miracles always having causes within God's law of nature.

    “criticized several hadith in Bukhari probably just close to a dozen or so and clasp them as weak and rejected them”

    14:23TranscriptCite 2018-02-21-S05corrected

    · Does the Maliki school distinguish between hadith and Sunnah, and did Imam Malik ever reject a hadith?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the school of Madinah distinguishes hadith from Sunnah, embracing the Sunnah while remaining critical of individual hadith, and that Imam Malik did reject several hadith when the practice of Madinah did not reflect them.

    “I said that the school of Medina in mal Malik differentiates between hadith and Sunnah we wholeheartedly embraced the Sunnah we are critical when it comes to hadith”

    17:03TranscriptCite 2018-02-21-S06corrected

    · Can a hadith narrated by Jabir alone be mutawatir?

    Mufti Abu Layth says hadith grading is not settled by a majority, so that he is entitled to follow the hadith critic who weakened a narrator rather than those who graded him reliable.

    “why should I go with majority why I mean why is this a democracy all of a sudden”

    19:41TranscriptCite 2018-02-21-S07corrected

    · What does he say to critics who accept that the Prophet was impotent, married a nine-year-old or was bewitched into clumsiness?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the claims that the Prophet was sexually impotent, married a nine-year-old or became clumsy under a spell are untrue and an attack on the Prophet's honour, that he has shown the reports on the marriage to have problems in their chains, and that those who affirm such claims are themselves being blasphemous.

    “of course is wrong because it's not true it's an attack on the honor of the Prophet what is wrong with you”

    43:30TranscriptCite 2018-02-21-S11corrected

    · Are witnesses required for a nikah in the Maliki school?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the Maliki school does not require witnesses for a valid nikah, only witnesses or a public announcement before the marriage is consummated, and that many of the Prophet's marriages were not witnessed.

    “many of the prophets marriages were not witnessed and people like the school of Medina the the whole Maliki method says you don't need witnesses for a marriage”

    5:06TranscriptCite 2018-02-28-S03corrected

    · What do the classical Maliki books say about witnesses in a marriage?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the standard Maliki texts, including al-Kafi, the Mudawwana as quoted by Ibn Yunus, and later authorities, state that a nikah without witnesses is valid provided it is not meant to be secret, witnessing being a condition of consummation rather than of validity.

    “that this is the measure of our method that it is not a condition in the Maliki method for the validity of getting married”

    16:50TranscriptCite 2018-02-28-S04corrected

    · Why would Jesus need to return if the Prophet Muhammad completed the religion?

    Mufti Abu Layth says he does not accept the hadith of Jesus's descent because they clash with the Quran and with other hadith, not because of any misunderstanding of the Arabic yanzilu.

    “no it's not that I don't understand the word yinz Luffy come it's that I don't accept these are these because they clash with the Quran and with other hadith”

    46:30TranscriptCite 2018-03-13-S13corrected

    · Is the second coming of Jesus proven by the Quran or by the fact that most Muslims believe it?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the second coming of Jesus cannot be clearly proven from the Quran, that majority belief in it reflects childhood indoctrination rather than proof, and that the hadith on it have chain problems and contain details, such as Jesus forcing people to become Muslim, that clash with Islam.

    “the issue here is that the details inside these hadith clash with Islam stuff like Jesus will force people to become Muslim”

    4:27TranscriptCite 2018-04-01-S02corrected

    · Did a tree really cry for the Prophet, and why does Mufti Abu Layth reject the hadith?

    Mufti Abu Layth holds that the report of the tree crying for the Prophet is not established, that its chains are problematic and it clashes with the principle that such things do not happen, and that Muslims cannot dismiss other religions' miracle stories as absurd while accepting their own.

    “I said this is not established and I don't believe this to be sahi why because how can we hold things like stones and monkeys and elephants not doing these kind of things and hold that as absurd”

    1:17:24TranscriptCite 2018-04-09-S17corrected

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

    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.

    “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”

    1:22:36TranscriptCite 2018-04-09-S18corrected

    · Is it rape if a husband uses religion to pressure his wife into sex?

    Mufti Abu Layth says that pressuring a wife into sex by threatening her with Allah's punishment is no less rape than threatening to beat her.

    “that is no less rape that's just like saying in other words a deferred beating so that's just threatening her still because it's still a threat but it's a threat with a deferred punishment”

    2:33TranscriptCite 2018-07-08-S01corrected

    · Thanks for the correction, but the chain is still flawed

    Mufti Abu Layth says that one should be grateful when people point things out.

    “I first of all know we should be grateful when people point things out hamdu lillah man lam yasha Kareem a slim ish couldn't love whoever does not is not grateful to people is not grateful to Allah”

    7:36TranscriptCite 2018-07-08-S03corrected

    · What is the point of checking a hadith's chain of narrators?

    Mufti Abu Layth says chain criticism was not a goal in itself but was only invented to know whether the content of a hadith was sound.

    “chain criticism was not a goal in itself chain criticism was only this so we know the teaching of the Prophet was correct”

    13:53TranscriptCite 2018-07-08b-S03corrected

    · Is there an authentic hadith that a wife may never refuse her husband sex?

    Mufti Abu Layth says that the report that a woman may not refuse her husband cannot be attributed to the Prophet without blasphemy, and challenges his critics to bring one version of it whose chain he cannot show to carry weakness or hidden defects.

    “this kind of blasphemy is not attributed to our prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam you bring me one hadith one hadith that I can that cannot be criticized”

    6:21TranscriptCite 2018-08-03-S02corrected

    · Can Sahih al-Bukhari be proven to go back to Imam al-Bukhari?

    Mufti Abu Layth holds that Sahih al-Bukhari cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt to go back to Imam al-Bukhari, since the Sultaniyya edition rests on the lost Yuniniyya, the recensions disagree, and the book's transmission depends on Farabri, whom no contemporary vouched for.

    “the copies that go throughout the world all disagree with themselves hadith missing hadith les patched together we've got cut and paste job going on”

    14:44TranscriptCite 2018-08-03-S03corrected

    · Who should I listen to about political ideas in Islam?

    Mufti Abu Layth says anyone who wants to speak about ideas within Islam should at least be a scholar, though they can still be wrong.

    “anybody at least if they want to speak about ideas within Islam then the least is let them be a scholar then they can be wrong still”

    22:19TranscriptCite 2018-09-03-S05corrected

    · 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

    · Are the Salafis themselves orthodox by their own standard?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the Salafis are themselves unorthodox, since the orthodoxy of the ummah has been Ash'ari in belief and the four schools in law, both of which they reject, so their appeal to orthodoxy against new interpretations of verses is inconsistent.

    “the seller fees themselves are unorthodox by going against the orthodoxy of this Ummah the seller fees reject methods they do not follow any of the four traditional schools of thought”

    30:04TranscriptCite 2018-10-20-S06corrected

    · Does the Quran say Ibrahim was thrown into the fire, or that the table was sent down to Jesus's disciples?

    Mufti Abu Layth says that no verse of the Quran states that Ibrahim was thrown into the fire or that the table was sent down to the disciples, and that reading 2:260 as 'incline them towards you' is the literal wording, so these are readings of the text as it stands rather than reinterpretations, and calling those who hold them deviants is unacceptable.

    “on a lot of these occasions people that are saying we are reinterpreting verses were actually just reading the verses as they are”

    38:23TranscriptCite 2018-10-20-S07corrected

    · Why does the Quran call Jesus the Word of God and speak of the Holy Spirit?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran applies to Jesus terms such as the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that it uses for no other prophet and that Muslims do not take literally, and suggests this Christian rhetoric may have been meant to build bridges with the Christian community.

    “Christian rhetoric that is used in the Quran perhaps in a sense of building bridges between the Muslim and Christian communities”

    46:40TranscriptCite 2018-10-20-S08corrected

    · Does the Quran say Jesus was born of a virgin?

    Mufti Abu Layth says that no verse of the Quran states that Jesus's birth was a virgin birth, only implies it, that Muslim scholars have differed on the question, and that Mary, who was married, is never called the Virgin Mary in Islam.

    “no verse in the Quran says that she had virgin birth a verse implies it does not say just as the table verse implies that the table may come down”

    52:17TranscriptCite 2018-10-20-S09corrected

    · Which verses are used to argue that Jesus had a father, and does the Quran rule it out?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the Quranic account of Mary implies but does not state a virgin conception, that 66:12 is read literally by no Muslim so literal reading cannot be demanded everywhere, and that declaring deviant those scholars who hold Jesus had a natural birth is a huge stretch; he presents 6:85-87 and 6:101 as those scholars' arguments.

    “no Muslim that I'm aware of generally believes that to be literal so yet yet you're saying that any other verse must always take every literal implication”

    56:09TranscriptCite 2018-10-20-S10corrected

    · Is evolution compatible with the Quran?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran's verses on creation in stages, growth from the earth and the single self are reconcilable with evolution, which he calls a scientific fact established through genetics, that Hawwa is not named in the Quran, and that those who accept evolution should not be called deviants.

    “if you don't want to accept evolution you don't have to although it is pretty much a scientific fact now through genetics that we are connected all of life on Earth is connected”

    1:12:34TranscriptCite 2018-10-20-S11corrected

    · Is hadith the same as the sunnah, and is hadith certain knowledge?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the sunnah is distinct from hadith and reaches Muslims through the living tradition of fiqh, that hadith are khabar ahad and so cannot found beliefs according to the Ash'ari and Maturidi orthodoxy, and that the Hanafi and Maliki schools reject solitary reports that contradict reason or their principles.

    “we don't know how to pray because of Hadees we know how to pray because of the living tradition of Islam”

    1:13:53TranscriptCite 2018-10-20-S12corrected

    · Is a new interpretation of the Quran the same as claiming to be a new prophet?

    Mufti Abu Layth says that equating a new interpretation with a claim to prophethood is out of order, that the Salafi movement is itself a radical reinterpretation which rejects the majority and attributes a leg and a foot to God, and that the majority of Muslims have always accepted non-literal usage in the Quran.

    “what do you mean declare yourself a new prophet how is not the Salafi movement a radical reinterpretation”

    1:20:18TranscriptCite 2018-10-20-S13corrected

    · When is a hadith set aside, and is rejecting hadith acceptable?

    Mufti Abu Layth says he is not in favour of rejecting hadith in general, but follows Imam Malik in rejecting a report where it goes against the established tradition, reason, the principles of Islam or the Quran.

    “I do agree with you I am not in favor of rejecting hadith in general”

    1:24:49TranscriptCite 2018-10-20-S14corrected

    · Why does the Quran call Jesus the Word of God and mention the Holy Spirit with him?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran uses Christian rhetoric about Jesus, such as the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, perhaps in order to build bridges between the Muslim and Christian communities.

    “there's a lot of rhetoric being used when it comes to Jesus that was generally the kind of Christian rhetoric that is used in the Quran perhaps in a sense of building bridges between the Muslim and Christian communities”

    3:14TranscriptCite 2018-10-25-S01corrected

    · Does the Quran actually say Mary had a virgin birth?

    Mufti Abu Layth says that no verse of the Quran directly says that Mary's was a virgin birth, though a verse implies it.

    “that you do have that as a general belief that Muslims feel that Mary had a virgin birth although no verse in the Quran says that she had in birth a verse implies it does not say”

    9:05TranscriptCite 2018-10-25-S02corrected

    · What verses do Muslims use to argue Jesus had a natural birth with a father?

    Mufti Abu Layth says that declaring those who read the Quran as not teaching a virgin birth deviant or no longer mainstream Muslims is a huge stretch, when the Quran itself does not actually say it.

    “they've lost the plot they they no longer main three Muslims they no longer this they no longer that because they have this reading of the Quran when the Quran itself doesn't actually say that that's a huge stretch”

    20:00TranscriptCite 2018-10-25-S03corrected

    29 answers not yet checked

  2. 201923 answers · 14 checked

    · Does a hadith tell women to pray in a closet?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the makhda' in these reports was the sleeping chamber within the inner part of a house, not a closet or cupboard.

    “this was called a Mazda okay now it is not a closet that people had you could even if he said the term chambers he could have said chambers but not a closet it's not a cupboard”

    8:08TranscriptCite 2019-05-04-S02corrected

    · Is the Quran's description of paradise and hell literal or symbolic?

    Mufti Abu Layth holds that the imagery of the afterlife in the Quran is symbolic, chosen to appeal to the people it was revealed to, while there is a real continuity beyond this life that no human can conceptualise, and he says people are free to disagree with this reading.

    “if you can't even conceptualize something how can you express it in words so to me the afterlife the imagery in the Quran is symbolic”

    3:51TranscriptCite 2019-08-21-S02corrected

    · Why did medieval scholars like al-Nawawi write that boys are prettier than women?

    Mufti Abu Layth holds that Imam al-Nawawi was articulating the sentiment of his age, in which, as among the ancient Greeks, attraction to adolescent boys was taken as a given, and that reporting this from his book is not mockery.

    “the medieval Muslims and the medieval Arabs and the medieval kind of times people had a what a kind of sense of there was pederasty okay which is like what the Greeks had with boys”

    17:46TranscriptCite 2019-08-21b-S06corrected

    11 more checked positions in 2019

    · Is the hadith that singing breeds hypocrisy in the heart authentic?

    Mufti Abu Layth says nothing categorically proves music to be haram and that lyrics do not make something haram even when they speak of sex or fighting, though one may not want to listen to them or let one's children do so.

    “lyrics do not make something Haram so even if the words are talking or sexual or they're talking about things like fighting or things like that that does not make something Haram”

    0:04TranscriptCite 2019-09-18-S01corrected

    · Which scholars held that music is permissible, and what did Imam Malik's school say?

    Mufti Abu Layth holds that there is no sahih hadith prohibiting music, citing al-Shawkani, Ibn Hazm, Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi and al-Fakihani, and that since only Allah and His Messenger are authorities in religion, anyone refuting him must bring a sahih hadith.

    “there isn't a single sahi hadith that you can bring in this pub Allah at least bring me a sahi hadith”

    2:41TranscriptCite 2019-09-18-S02corrected

    · Should Muslims build bridges with ex-Muslims?

    Mufti Abu Layth says he hopes Muslims can build bridges with ex-Muslims and anyone who has issues with Islam, since we are human beings first and foremost.

    “I hope we can build bridges with X Muslims or anybody who has issues with Islam”

    0:37TranscriptCite 2019-09-19b-S01corrected

    · What are Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog), and could they be zombies?

    Mufti Abu Layth says he has said in the past that the colonial phenomenon holds a very strong interpretation of Ya'juj and Ma'juj for him.

    “I've said as well in the past that that does hold a very strong interpretation for me for being the kind of colonial phenomenon that humans went through”

    10:07TranscriptCite 2019-11-03b-S03corrected

    · 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

    · Does the Quran say Jesus was born of a virgin?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran does not explicitly mention that Jesus was born of a virgin birth.

    “so now coming back to this in the Quran it does not explicitly anyway mention that Jesus was born of a virgin birth”

    29:59TranscriptCite 2019-11-03b-S08corrected

    · 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

    · Can old interpretations of the Quran be revisited, and what role does reason play?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the voice of reason is always paramount and that he gives it primacy, because through it one can understand that the deen of Islam holds true.

    “and yes reason the voice of reason is always paramount and I do give primacy to it because through it we can understand that the deen of islam has validity that is to us it holds true”

    46:59TranscriptCite 2019-11-03b-S11corrected

    · Was Islam spread by the sword?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the claim that Islam was spread by the sword is simply not true, though he is sure there was compulsion in certain places.

    “the truth is that that's that that is no way the case it isn't simply not true now I'm not saying that there was never compulsion I'm sure there was compulsion in certain places it would have been wrong”

    2:32TranscriptCite 2019-12-16-S01corrected

    · Why did people in the past convert to new religions so readily?

    Mufti Abu Layth says people in the past were much more open to new gods and welcomed them if they felt they would bring them good luck.

    “but in the past they actually did think like that so people were quite welcoming for other gods if they felt it would bring them good luck”

    6:58TranscriptCite 2019-12-16-S02corrected

    · If Islam was not forced on people, why did so many convert?

    Mufti Abu Layth says he is sure that, over the whole of history, many people were converted by force, but that this was never the norm or the majority of how Islam spread.

    “I'm sure there were many oh if you know if you're gonna look over entire history of human civilizations but they would never that was never the norm of how it was happening that was never the majority”

    11:31TranscriptCite 2019-12-16-S03corrected

    9 answers not yet checked

  3. 202023 answers · 6 checked

    · Does Abul Kalam Azad praising Mirza Ghulam Ahmad prove anything?

    Mufti Abu Layth says Abul Kalam Azad may well have spoken kindly of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, since Mirza may have been a decent person and people who knew and liked him would be expected to say nice things about him.

    “he may have been a nice guy he may have been a very decent human being so people may have said nice things I expect them to”

    1:55TranscriptCite 2020-03-31-S02corrected

    · Message to critics: criticise truthfully, not with lies

    Mufti Abu Layth says he does not accept folkloric, medievalist interpretations of Islam, which he feels are not compatible with this day and age.

    “your folkloric and maybe kind of medievalist kind of veneers that you give Islam I don't accept I don't feel that it's compatible with this day and age”

    12:46TranscriptCite 2020-04-07-S04corrected

    3 more checked positions in 2020

    · 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

    · Is a skin fade haircut haram?

    Mufti Abu Layth says it is okay to grow your hair and, when you do, to have a hairstyle.

    “it's okay to grow your hair can when you grow your hair can you have a hairstyle of course of course of course of course you can have hairstyle”

    2:17:18TranscriptCite 2020-09-22-S22corrected

    17 answers not yet checked

  4. 202177 answers · 13 checked

    · Did the Prophet fall in love with Zaynab bint Jahsh?

    Mufti Abu Layth says that many of the major early muhaddithun, including Malik, do not transmit the love story of the Prophet and Zaynab.

    “In fact many of the major major early Muhadin do not transmit it. Malik doesn't transmit it.”

    2:39:05TranscriptCite 2021-01-05-S34corrected

    10 more checked positions in 2021

    · Is drinking poison haram in Islam?

    Mufti Abu Layth says drinking poison is categorically haram in Islam, with no ifs or buts.

    “drinking poison is categorically haram in islam it is there's no ifs no but”

    3:10:59TranscriptCite 2021-02-16-S55corrected

    · Is there really scholarly consensus that Jesus will return?

    Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran does not strongly suggest a second coming of Jesus, contrary to Qadhi's claim.

    “these were some of the key things that below it has made that the response would be academic clearly wasn't the quran strongly suggests the second coming it doesn't”

    2:13:28TranscriptCite 2021-03-02-S30corrected

    · Is there really ijma that Jesus will return, and did Muhammad Abduh invent the denial?

    Mufti Abu Layth holds that Qadhi's claims fail: the Quran does not suggest a second coming, none of the hundred narrations is sound, Ibn Hazm recorded Muslim disagreement on the return nine centuries ago, major creed works omit it, and the Maliki authorities Qadhi cites held the reports to carry doubt rather than to be mutawatir.

    “the quran strongly suggests the second coming uh it doesn't there are four verses show this to be true i'm afraid not these leave no doubt uh that's utter nonsense hundred narrations not a single one sound”

    1:09:48TranscriptCite 2021-03-14-S18corrected

    · Is separating hadith from the Sunnah a Hanafi and Maliki principle, and what does Mufti Abu Layth say about Salafi creed?

    Mufti Abu Layth holds that distinguishing hadith from the Sunnah is the usul of the Hanafi and Maliki schools rather than an innovation of Abduh, that Qadhi applies to Gog and Magog the reasoning he condemns in others, and that Salafi kalam rests on fabrications such as chains to companions debating whether the Quran is created, a debate that arose only around 190 to 210 AH.

    “this is the usual of the hanafi madhyab and the maliki method that we do tafriq al hadith sunnah unlike the shepherd's”

    1:15:01TranscriptCite 2021-03-14-S19corrected

    · Is there a single hadith on Jesus's return with an unproblematic chain?

    Mufti Abu Layth says every chain he examined for the strongest reports of Jesus's return in Bukhari and Muslim has a criticised narrator, so Qadhi's claim that they leave no doubt fails, and that accepting a report because al-Bukhari included it while ignoring critics who were his equals or seniors is arbitrary.

    “all of these chains are problematic every single chain has had a problem in it”

    1:59:21TranscriptCite 2021-03-14-S26corrected

    · Did Imam Malik believe Jesus will return?

    Mufti Abu Layth says there is a statement from Imam Malik that Jesus died, that Malik never taught the second coming in his fatwas or the Muwatta, and that transmitting a report is not endorsing it, so it is not a huge claim that Malik did not hold the belief.

    “He never teaches you that, oh, I'm telling you that you should or that we should believe in the second coming of Jesus.”

    2:21:19TranscriptCite 2021-04-06-S24corrected

    · Why does Mufti Abu Layth say it is not a huge claim that Imam Malik denied the second coming?

    Mufti Abu Layth says it is not a huge claim that Imam Malik did not believe in the second coming, given his statement that Jesus died, the contents of the Muwatta and his fatwas, and that the reports of the one-eyed Dajjal and of the Prophet spying on Ibn Sayyad insult the Prophet's dignity.

    “I find that insulting and blasphemous to the honor and dignity of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to attribute this stuff to him.”

    3:01:01TranscriptCite 2021-04-06-S29corrected

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Sources cited on this topic

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.

Quran verses 32

  1. Quran 5:1104quran.com
  2. Quran 5:112-115 (the table asked for by the disciples)4quran.com
  3. Quran 12:762quran.com
  4. Quran 19:16-22 (the annunciation to Mary)2quran.com
  5. Quran 2:253 (we gave him clear signs and helped him with the Holy Spirit)2quran.com
  6. Quran 2:87 (we helped him with the Holy Spirit)2quran.com
  7. Quran 3:45 (a word from Him, the Messiah Jesus son of Mary; he cites it as 3:43) [?]2quran.com
  8. Quran 3:46 (he will speak to people in the cradle and in maturity)2quran.com

Hadith 29

  1. report: the tree crying for the prophet7sunnah.com
  2. report: if a woman refuses her husband's bed the angels curse her3sunnah.com
  3. report: magic was done on the prophet and he became impotent2sunnah.com
  4. report: musa ran naked so that people could see he had no hernia2sunnah.com
  5. report: the hadith of al-irbad ibn sariya in abu dawud (unresolved; content not stated, called weak)2sunnah.com
  6. report: yad allah maa al-jamaah the hand of god is with the congregation (unresolved)2sunnah.com
  7. report: a wife may not refuse her husband when he calls her to his bed1sunnah.com
  8. report: a woman's prayer in her makhda' is better than her prayer in her room1sunnah.com

Scholars 135

  1. Yasir Qadhi50
  2. Imam Malik13
  3. Ibn Ashur9
  4. Imam al-Bukhari9
  5. Abu Ibraheem Husnayn7
  6. Shadee Elmasry7
  7. Abdul Karim Athari [?]6
  8. Muhammad Abduh6

Books 33

  1. Sahih al-Bukhari14
  2. Sahih Muslim6
  3. Sunan Abi Dawud4
  4. Gospel of Matthew3
  5. Nayl al-Awtar3
  6. al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir (Ibn Ashur's tafsir)3
  7. Ahkam al-Quran2
  8. Gospel of John2

Principles invoked

  1. distinction between sunnah and hadith3
  2. a hadith must not contradict reason, the Quran and established Sunnah, or uproot a principle of Islam2
  3. hadith grading is not a democracy; the majority does not decide2
  4. one set of standards: judge Islam's claims by the same test applied to other religions2
  5. only Allah and His Messenger are authorities in matters of religion2
  6. The deen reaches us through continuous living practice1
  7. a refutation must rest on categorical evidence from the Quran and Sunnah1
  8. consent as the basis of a valid marriage1

Views he quotes on this topic

These answers state a view in order to discuss it, often to reject it. They are never read as his position.

Discussed with

Cite a statement by its id: Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment id, with the date and the address of its page. Citation formats