Research › Dialogue and responses
27 answers in 18 recordings, 2018 to 2023. 21 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.
· Is mut'ah a matter of belief that divides Sunnis and Shia?
Mufti Abu Layth says that whether one accepts temporary marriage or not is a matter of fiqh, not a matter of iman.
“now whether you accept it or don't accept it is a matter of fit it's not actually a matter of Eman”
0:39TranscriptCite 2018-07-21-S01corrected
· What is the Bukhari deathbed report in which the companions ask whether the Prophet is delirious?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Bukhari deathbed report in which the companions dispute before the Prophet and ask whether he is speaking deliriously portrays the companions badly and is not true, and that Sunnis allow the Shia to use it against the companions by accepting it.
“I mean look at the nonsense attributing that this this is not true”
16:34TranscriptCite 2018-09-01-S05corrected
· Can reports from Shia sources about Hasan and Husayn be trusted?
Mufti Abu Layth says he believes Hasan and Husayn wore earrings, that dismissing every Shia report as a lie is prejudice, and that accepting the Khariji narrator Imran ibn Hittan, who praised Ali's killer, in Sahih al-Bukhari while rejecting Imam Jafar's reports is a hypocrisy.
“we can't take from imam ja'far or any of the Shia Imams if it's in a Shia book when they're describing that Hussein used to wear earrings why oh because it's coming from that's just stupid”
36:09TranscriptCite 2019-07-24b-S09corrected
· 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
· Is it okay to criticise the companions of the Prophet?
Mufti Abu Layth says one may either venerate the companions or study them critically as fully human, that critical study must then apply equally to every companion including Ali, and that he personally advises people to take the venerating approach.
“the truth is that if you take this doorway everybody is gonna get scrutinized there's gonna be no exception”
9:32TranscriptCite 2019-09-19-S01corrected
· What was Fadak and why did it matter?
Mufti Abu Layth says Fadak came to the Prophet as fay', land obtained through a truce rather than through war.
“it's that that land which the Prophet receives through without war fee so it's a kind of truce”
5:44TranscriptCite 2020-02-28-S02corrected
· Who was right about Fadak, Fatima or Abu Bakr?
Mufti Abu Layth says he feels Fatima was right from the perspective of inheritance, since the Quran suggests prophets do inherit.
“I do think from an inheritance perspective for tomorrow deal on her was right I feel because looking at it and looking at these arguments from the Quran”
16:39TranscriptCite 2020-02-28-S04corrected
· Why didn't Ali take back Fadak when he became caliph?
Mufti Abu Layth says it is a huge question mark that Ali never took Fadak back during his caliphate.
“I feel that this is a huge kind of it's a huge question mark that why did I leave this is such a big deal”
23:46TranscriptCite 2020-02-28-S05corrected
· Where did the idea that Aisha was six or nine come from?
Mufti Abu Layth says the narration of Aisha being six and then nine seems to come from her nephew Urwa, who was trying to combat rumours about her.
“the genesis of this rewire of her being six and then nine it comes from her nephew trying to combat those rumors”
57:54TranscriptCite 2020-07-14-S13corrected
· Should Muslims mourn Husayn every year on Ashura?
Mufti Abu Layth says that in his opinion ritual annual mourning for Husayn is not an Islamic practice, though he does not condemn people who choose to do it.
“I don't feel it's in my opinion it's not a um an Islamic practice but people who do do it I wouldn't personally I don't personally condemn them I don't condemn people who choose to do it”
55:34TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S15corrected
· Is it right to curse the companions or beat oneself in mourning for Husayn?
Mufti Abu Layth says he condemns using the mourning of Husayn as an excuse to curse the companions, which he feels is a disservice to Husayn.
“I condemn if people are using the mourning of Hussein as an excuse to curse and to push an agenda of like let's say Shia Islam to say well, let's curse all the companions”
1:01:53TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S18corrected
· Why don't Sunni imams like Malik and Abu Hanifa transmit from Imam Jafar al-Sadiq?
Mufti Abu Layth offers as his own theory that the early imams of the Ahl al-Bayt up to Jafar al-Sadiq were for the most part as the Shia describe them rather than Sunni, and that Imam Malik and Abu Hanifa, though on good terms with them, did not transmit from them because their views would have caused a political storm, while adding that this does not in his view make the Shia theological claims more authentic.
“that's in my view the reason why imam malik doesn't transmit views from uh imam jaffar it's the reason why uh imam abu hanifa doesn't transmit from them”
4:20TranscriptCite 2020-12-06-S01corrected
· Did Imam Malik and Abu Hanifa study under Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, and what did they learn from him?
Mufti Abu Layth thinks Imam Malik and Abu Hanifa attended Imam Jafar's circles and kept his company but transmitted nothing from him to Sunni circles because the bulk of his teaching reflected the Shia da'wah, which they did not agree with, and he calls the explanation that they took only 'spirituality' from him absurd.
“i think that they did used to attend their circles where they taught generally about islam but i feel the bulk of the da'wah of those imams of albeit would reflect to a great part the shia dawa”
7:32TranscriptCite 2020-12-06-S02corrected
· Did early Muslims really not count Ali as the fourth rightly guided caliph?
Mufti Abu Layth says that if somebody considers Ali the best of all the companions, to him that is not a problematic statement but a personal preference.
“So, if somebody did feel to them saying Ali was number one from all the companions, I don't to me there's that's not a problematic statement.”
2:08:10TranscriptCite 2021-01-05-S27corrected
· Why does Bukhari accept a narrator who praised Ali's killer while Shia narrators are rejected?
Mufti Abu Layth says it is prejudice and a double standard that al-Bukhari accepts as trustworthy a narrator who openly praised Ibn Muljam for killing Ali, while reports from Imam Jafar and the other Shia imams are rejected because they come from Shia sources.
“so why do we accept the the one who's praising the person who murdered the ali like this is just this is just ridiculous like we are just so drowned in prejudice and bias”
1:54TranscriptCite 2021-02-15-S01corrected
· Why isn't the Mufti a Mu'tazili?
Mufti Abu Layth says mut'ah had nothing to do with being a Shia, and that tying it to them was a propaganda campaign.
“this was just a propaganda compe campaign muta had nothing to do with being a shia shia was about who gets to rule”
50:32TranscriptCite 2021-02-16-S14corrected
· Was Ali born inside the Kaaba?
Mufti Abu Layth says Ali's value should not be based on whether he was born in the Kaaba or not.
“so i don't think his value should be based on whether he was born in the kaaba or not”
20:35TranscriptCite 2021-03-02-S03corrected
· Do I have to believe Umar and Uthman were better than Ali?
Mufti Abu Layth says that, in his opinion, arguing over which of the Prophet's close companions was better is just childishness.
“but amongst the close friends of the companions of the prophet it's difficult really you know saying well he's friend number one he's friend number two you know this kind of stuff is it's really childish isn't it”
23:08TranscriptCite 2021-03-02-S04corrected
· What actually separates Sunnis and Shia, and is mut'ah really a Shia thing?
Mufti Abu Layth says the whole Sunni-Shia split is based on who has the right to rule, the Shia holding that it must remain within the Prophet's sacred bloodline.
“the whole split of sunnishi adam is based on this factor who has the right to rule and they say that it must remain within the sacred bloodline that is what defines a shia”
2:24TranscriptCite 2021-03-15-S02corrected
· What do Sunni Muslims think of the twelve Shia imams?
Mufti Abu Layth says he feels that Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq may have been closer to what the Shia claim him to be than to what the Sunnis claim, while calling this an assumption and not a known fact.
“i feel that because maybe he was closer to what the shia claim him to be than what the sunnis claim him to be allah but i i feel that may be the case”
1:58TranscriptCite 2021-12-22-S01corrected
· 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
