Research › Dialogue and responses › Responses to critics
90 answers in 19 recordings, 2018 to 2021. 31 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 are the three points of Yasir Qadhi's khutbah on orthodoxy, and is hadith certain knowledge?
Mufti Abu Layth says he agrees that rejecting hadith altogether is misguided, but that the hadith quoted to prove it is weak and that hadith are khabar ahad, which is not certain knowledge but good enough to act on.
“he quotes a hadith which are surprised actually because the hadith he quoted was weak it's in Abu Dawood”
6:16TranscriptCite 2018-10-20-S02corrected
· 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
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
· 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
· 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
· 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 separating hadith from the Sunnah a Hanafi and Maliki principle?
Mufti Abu Layth says that distinguishing hadith from the Sunnah is the usul of the Hanafi and Maliki madhhabs.
“this is the usual of the hanafi matab and the maliki method that we do tafriq hadith sunnah”
2:18:13TranscriptCite 2021-03-02-S31corrected
· Is there a single hadith on Jesus's return with a flawless chain?
Mufti Abu Layth says every single chain he examined among the strongest reports in Bukhari and Muslim has a problem in it.
“where he said this is it doesn't leave there's no doubt how is there no doubt all of these chains are problematic single chain has had a problem in it”
3:02:57TranscriptCite 2021-03-02-S38corrected
· 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
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
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
