Early version. Transcripts and tags are labelled by accuracy tier. A position is shown only after two independent reviews have found it in his own words.
47 answers in 26 recordings, 2014 to 2025. 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
Thought Evolution
2014answers checked positions2025
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.
Mufti Abu Layth says that, according to the majority of scholars though with some difference of opinion, it is permitted to hold the Quran and read from it during salah, so the surahs of the memorisation prayer may be read from the book.
“it is permissible for you according to the majority of the now there is some difference to hold the Quran during Salah it is permitted to kind of read from it”
Mufti Abu Layth says that, from the Maliki perspective, the intention of a person can render their own action from a good and rewarding thing to something discouraged.
“so the intention of a person can render his own action from being a good and rewarding thing to something discouraged and something that should be avoided”
Mufti Abu Layth says the Maliki school draws no distinction in principle between the salah of men and women, with only advisory guidelines that a woman may be more mindful of modesty in ruku' and sujud.
“the school of Medina the Maliki maab from a principal perspective it does not highlight any differences between men and women in Salah”
Mufti Abu Layth says the forbidden times in the hadith apply only to voluntary (nafl) prayers, so an obligatory prayer such as a late Subh may and should be prayed even at sunrise.
“so that is not a Prohibition to pray any obligatory prayer it's only referring to the na the voluntary kind of prayers”
Mufti Abu Layth says that in congregation one stands naturally shoulder to shoulder in a straight line without joining heels or touching feet, and that the Maliki school pays no attention to how far apart the feet should be.
“how far apart should your feet be the school of Medina does not pay any attention to these kind of things”
Mufti Abu Layth says a forgotten sujud al-sahw should be performed as soon as it is remembered, even after some time has passed while one is still in the mosque, and is simply left if a considerable time has lapsed.
“just do it there and then followed by Salam even if a certain amount of time has lapsed but not an immense amount of time”
Mufti Abu Layth says no particular dress is required for salah beyond covering the 'awrah, so a picture on one's clothes, a t-shirt or vest one is already wearing, or pictures in the room do not invalidate the prayer, though one should not dress down for salah.
“if you were already in a t-shirt or you happen to be in a vest as it was and you were now praying that is fine the Salah is accepted”
Mufti Abu Layth says trousers below the ankle or tight trousers do not affect a man's salah, and he does not consider trousers below the ankle forbidden because the past ruling rested on an arrogance that no longer attaches to the practice.
“with men it does not impact the Salah although they can be mindful to dress perhaps more appropriately but that does not impact the Salah in any way”
Mufti Abu Layth says the Maliki school does not regard covering the head as a sunnah of salah but as a matter of custom and convention, so praying bareheaded is neither makruh nor a defect, and long sports shorts that cover the 'awrah are fine to pray in.
“this is seen as really in essence especially within the school of Medina as part of convention and Custom it is not seen as a Sunnah which people have to have to be doing”
Mufti Abu Layth says a momentary exposure of the extended 'awrah, such as the upper buttocks or thigh slipping into view during sujud, does not invalidate the salah, though one should dress more modestly in the mosque, while the core 'awrah may never be exposed.
“that kind of partial revealing um for that short dur duration within Salah within sujud let's say because mostly it would occur in sujud does not violate the Salah”
Mufti Abu Layth holds that the heart of Islam's message on prayer is encouragement rather than punishment: a missed prayer is made up, and praying the obligatory prayers even late or combined is better than not praying, as the Prophet told the companion whose people slept past sunrise to pray when he woke.
“I don't believe that that is the true the kind of message that the heart of the message of Islam the message of Islam is look why don't you want to pray”
Mufti Abu Layth says he personally feels Qadi Isma'il and the Malikis have a strong point in holding that covering oneself in salah is a separate obligation, not a condition of the prayer.
“i personally do feel that ismail and the malikiah the school of medina have a strong point on what they've said that covering yourself in salah is a separate obligation”
Mufti Abu Layth says he personally feels the Quran does not address how many daily prayers there are, and that the agreement of Sunnis, Shia and Ibadis on five prayers shows, in his understanding irrefutably, a proto-Sunnah living tradition that preceded the hadith books.
“demonstrate in my understanding irrefutably that they must have been some very clear proto source that was part of the early living tradition in early Islam”
Mufti Abu Layth says that a burn mark on the forehead from prostration has nothing to do with Islam and is not a sign of piety, and that the verse about the believers' mark on their faces refers to a radiance and visible commitment rather than a burnt forehead.
“now this is this is nothing to do with Islam okay this is ridiculous it's a misunderstanding it's a misconception”
Mufti Abu Layth says he personally prays out of gratitude and connection rather than fear of hell and that this is the best way to pray, that each person's journey is their own and others should not condemn them, and that someone struggling with prayer should not develop hatred for it.
“I don't personally pray out of this kind of fear of burning in hell and things like this I just pray out of a kind of sense of gratitude”
Mufti Abu Layth says he goes with the school of Madinah's understanding that a woman's core 'awrah is her private parts and the area from beneath the navel to the thighs, the rest being extended 'awrah whose uncovering in prayer does not invalidate it.
“that would be my understanding that I would go with the the understanding that the school of Medina presents that the core aura is really the woman's kind of private parts”
Mufti Abu Layth says people should not obsess over whether a hair or some small part of the body is showing.
“the dean is natural take it naturally do not obsess over these little oh my god is this showing is that showing oh my god one hair came out two hairs came”
Mufti Abu Layth says a woman can be an imam and her leading the prayer is permissible and valid, though whether imamship works in practice depends on whether her society accepts it.
“she can become an imam islam is concerned but then imamship has certain interactions it's it's a working it's a working model”
Mufti Abu Layth says that one may carry a child while praying and that Hanafi rulings such as the invalidation of prayer by three consecutive movements, by laughing or by mentally processing information are made up.
“Obviously, needless to say, all these things are made up and don't mean anything. You can do it all in salah.”
Mufti Abu Layth says there is not a single sahih hadith establishing where the hands are placed in prayer, that sadl is a sunnah of the school of Madinah without a hadith, and that people should not be guilt-tripped over how they hold their hands.
“really as astonishing as this may seem there isn't a single sahih hadith to prove where to place the hands in prayer”
Mufti Abu Layth says Abu Hanifa's legal stratagems, such as allowing prayer in Persian, were meant to create ease and welcome people rather than to change Islam, and that this spirit is the one needed today.
“he wasn't trying to say change Islam he was trying to make it easy for them”
Mufti Abu Layth says the claim that a murderer or abuser who prays is still better than a person who does not pray is categorically wrong.
“he prayed Salah he would still be better than a person who doesn't praise Salah or something like this and that's categorically uh wrong okay that's not true at all”
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.
