Research › History and the Prophet's life
40 answers in 18 recordings, 2017 to 2021. 36 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.
· Solomon's ninety women, the rich held back from paradise, Fatima angry with Abu Bakr
Mufti Abu Layth says the Bukhari report of Solomon vowing to sleep with ninety women and being punished with a disabled child for not saying 'if Allah wills' is disgusting and disrespectful to a prophet of God.
“this is a prophet of god who can't be bothered to say i mean just look at that hadith that is disgusting this is so disrespectful to our prophets”
29:21TranscriptCite 2018-08-30-S05corrected
· Are the hadith about the khilafah authentic?
Mufti Abu Layth says every hadith about the khilafah is fabricated.
“every single hadith about the Shelia I'm telling you is fabricated the Prophet in the times of the Arabs they never even used to use this word”
12:04TranscriptCite 2018-09-03-S03corrected
· Did Hasan and Husayn wear earrings?
Mufti Abu Layth says that the Prophet's grandsons Hasan and Husayn had their ears pierced and wore earrings, Husayn wearing two, as Shia traditions through Imam Jafar al-Sadiq and accounts of Karbala relate.
“the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam scranton both of his grandsons Hasan and Husayn radi allahu anhu man had the ears pierced and they both wore earrings”
13:26TranscriptCite 2019-07-24b-S04corrected
· 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
· Why might Abu Bakr have refused Fatima's claim so quickly?
Mufti Abu Layth speculates, stressing it is pure speculation, that the sheer quantity of Fatima's claim may have led Abu Bakr to deny it instantly.
“I did feel that maybe because for tomorrow deal on her in her claim asks for so much the quantity is so much maybe that was overwhelming which led to an instant denial”
25:43TranscriptCite 2020-02-28-S06corrected
· Was Abu Bakr wrong to refuse Fatima Fadak?
Mufti Abu Layth says he feels Abu Bakr and Fatima were both right, from different perspectives.
“so I feel they're kind of both right but from different perspectives”
28:56TranscriptCite 2020-02-28-S07corrected
· Does Abu Bakr's war on Musaylima justify killing someone who claims prophethood?
Mufti Abu Layth says Abu Bakr's campaign against the tribes was a political decision.
“So the point was this was a political decision that Abu Bakr made”
1:50:16TranscriptCite 2020-08-04-S22corrected
· What is the Sunni view of Karbala?
Mufti Abu Layth says Karbala was unquestionably a great tragedy for the Ummah, and thinks all Muslims, for the most part, agree that the martyrdom of Husayn was a great tragedy.
“Karbala is unquestionably a a great tragedy that befell the Ummah of Islam. Okay? I think that isn't hidden from anyone. I think all Muslims are in agreement that the martyrdom of Hussein radiyallahu anhu was a great tragedy.”
0:56TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S01corrected
· Who were the Shia who invited Husayn to Kufa?
Mufti Abu Layth says that in early Islam Shia was more a political than a theological thing, meaning those who favoured Ali.
“In early Islam, Shi'a was more a political thing. It wasn't a theological thing. There was slight There was a undertone theological undertone, but it was really political. So, it was about those people who favored Ali.”
2:54TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S02corrected
· Where did the rivalry between Banu Umayya and Banu Hashim come from?
Mufti Abu Layth says that in his understanding Makkah was an almost irrelevant town in pre-Islamic Arabia, not as later Muslims thought it was.
“and neither Mecca, in my understanding, was a very uh almost irrelevant town in Arabia. It wasn't how later Muslims thought it was.”
7:46TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S03corrected
· How was Abu Bakr chosen as leader after the Prophet died?
Mufti Abu Layth says he does not believe it was known among the companions that the leaders would always be from Quraysh.
“There's a a popular understanding that the leaders will always be from Quraysh and somehow the companions all knew this. I don't buy any of that. I don't believe that was known”
11:09TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S04corrected
· Why did Uthman appoint his relatives as governors?
Mufti Abu Layth says, as his personal assessment, that Uthman did not have the personality Umar had to rule with an iron fist once everything had doubled.
“And you see when Uthman comes in things double. Now everything is so huge and he doesn't have that personality that Omar had to kind of rule with a like an iron fist.”
15:53TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S05corrected
· Why did the Muslims fight each other at Siffin?
Mufti Abu Layth says the battle of Siffin was a point of no return for Muslim history, after which the Muslims became forever divided.
“And it ends up with a kind of um it is a point of no return for Muslim history. Because here you the Muslims become forever divided.”
23:25TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S06corrected
· Why did Hasan ibn Ali give up the caliphate to Muawiya?
Mufti Abu Layth says he feels that of Ali and his two sons Hasan was the wisest, with more insight than his father Ali.
“out of Ali and his two sons Hassan and Hussein, I feel that Hassan out of all three was the most wisest.”
24:18TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S07corrected
Mufti Abu Layth says that under Muawiya's rule things were actually very stable, with renewed expansion and an improving economy.
“But, on on the flip side of the coin in under Muawiyah's rule things were actually very stable. And there's once again expansion. There's there's the economy improves for Muslims.”
27:40TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S08corrected
· Why did Muawiya make Yazid his heir?
Mufti Abu Layth says he feels that the recognition of Ziyad as Abu Sufyan's son was a political move.
“And then somebody tells him that, you know, he's the alleged son of Abu Sufyan. He's your alleged brother. But really, I feel that this was a political move.”
31:36TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S09corrected
· What kind of ruler was Yazid?
Mufti Abu Layth says he feels Muawiya's ultimate grave mistake was placing Yazid as his heir.
“But what I feel an ultimate grave mistake of Muawiyah on was placing Yazid as his heir.”
35:11TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S11corrected
· Why did Husayn go to Kufa when he was warned not to?
Mufti Abu Layth says he does not believe Yazid was a kafir, but accepts that most people would have seen him at the very least as a disappointment.
“certain things that people say about him being a kafir. I don't believe I don't agree with that, but I do accept that most people would have clearly seen him at the very least as a disappointment”
41:17TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S12corrected
· Why did the army at Karbala not let Husayn go back?
Mufti Abu Layth says he feels there may be some truth to the Sunni reports that Husayn recognised in the army men of clans that had petitioned him to come.
“are you guys not part of the petitioners who petitioned me to come?" And he calls out and he announces this. Now, I feel that there may be some truth to that.”
48:30TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S13corrected
· Are the stories that Husayn's family was denied water at Karbala true?
Mufti Abu Layth says he is personally not convinced that Husayn's party and the babies were denied water.
“there's a story they denied uh some of the babies water and they denied this I don't feel that that's uh personally I'm not convinced that that happened”
51:38TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S14corrected
· 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
· Was Yazid a kafir, and is it right to curse him?
Mufti Abu Layth says he does not curse Yazid or encourage people to curse him, because he does not believe in a culture of cursing.
“I don't believe he was a kafir and I don't I don't curse him I don't encourage people to curse him I but that's generally I don't believe in a culture of cursing”
58:13TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S16corrected
· Who was really responsible for the killing of Husayn at Karbala?
Mufti Abu Layth says he feels responsibility for Karbala was shared, but that in order the real culprits were first the Shia who invited Husayn, then Ibn Ziyad as the active element, and Yazid as the passive element.
“I feel the real culprits were seriously were the Shia that invited Hussein. I feel that they were the real culprits who who were kind of like ignored later on.”
1:00:22TranscriptCite 2020-10-16-S17corrected
· 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
· Which civil war did early Muslims mean by 'the fitnah'?
Mufti Abu Layth says the numbering of the early fitnahs is sometimes quite arbitrary, and not everybody agrees on which they call the greatest.
“sometimes it's quite arbitrary it's not a a clear you know not everybody's in agreement in what they call the greatest fitnner”
8:24TranscriptCite 2020-10-27-S02corrected
· What does rightly guided caliph mean, and did Muawiya see Ali as one?
Mufti Abu Layth says that, in his assessment, Muawiya would have thought that from a political perspective he could run the show better than Ali.
“But from a political perspective, I think Muawia would have thought that he can run the show better than Ali.”
2:00:25TranscriptCite 2021-01-05-S26corrected
· 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
· Umayyad, Abbasid and Zubayrid politics behind the recording of history
Mufti Abu Layth says that the Abbasid movement, when it rose to overthrow the Umayyads, was a Shia movement.
“But initially the Abbasid movement rose like when it rose from and to overthrow Bunny, it was a Shia movement.”
39:25TranscriptCite 2021-02-02b-S07corrected
· What do you think of Mu'awiya?
Mufti Abu Layth says he sees Mu'awiya as a great figure in Islam whom he highly respects.
“i uh see said iran as a great figure in islam i do highly respect him”
0:00TranscriptCite 2021-02-13-S01corrected
· Does Quran 33:40 mean the Prophet's descendants cannot rule?
Mufti Abu Layth says verse 33:40 is not a proof that the Prophet's descendants are not to rule.
“you read it it's not a proof that his descendants are not to rule but generally speaking his descendants did not rule”
1:15:39TranscriptCite 2021-02-16-S22corrected
· 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
· Who are the Ibadis and what do you think of Ibadism?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Ibadis moved away from extremism as time went by, and suggests that this may just have been adaptation.
“but as time went by they did uh move remove themselves from that extremist um kind of manifesto so they stopped because you see maybe that's just uh maybe that's just adaptation”
2:33TranscriptCite 2021-03-16b-S01corrected
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
