Research › History and the Prophet's life › Scholars and imams of the past
24 answers in 10 recordings, 2015 to 2023. 22 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 did Imam Malik say about bid'ah?
Mufti Abu Layth says that although Imam Malik's wording against innovations is harsh at times, his ruling on a particular innovation is quite often just makruh, not haram.
“wording is harsh at times the ruling of that particular bidder or that innovation is quite often just seen as macro it is seen as discouraged it is not described as Haram”
5:09TranscriptCite 2015-03-03-S02corrected
· What Imam Malik transmitted: no return of Jesus, Zuhri's reports, the pig passed in peace
Mufti Abu Layth holds that Imam Malik deliberately left the hadith of Jesus's return out of the Muwatta, transmitting only a fraction of al-Zuhri's reports, and that Malik's refusal to accept isolated hadith blindly is the approach to follow.
“is this a coincidence that Imam Malik doesn't bring any hadith to do with Jesus coming back but then he brings this hadith to show that Jesus said to the pig that go with peace”
1:02:25TranscriptCite 2018-03-13-S17corrected
· Did Imam Malik wear an earring?
Mufti Abu Layth says that Imam Malik wore an earring as a young man while studying with Rabi'a, as recorded in his teacher Abd al-Ghani al-Daqr's biography of Malik and in another Maliki source.
“at this time Malik was still bursting with youth he was a young man Maya's a law court Maya's a law court people feel Denis he he still had an earring on in his ear”
21:01TranscriptCite 2019-07-24b-S06corrected
· Is it wrong in Islam to want to be rich?
Mufti Abu Layth says Islam is not against the aggregation of wealth.
“islam is not against the aggregation of wealth right so you know making money islam is fine with people making money”
1:44:52TranscriptCite 2021-02-09-S22corrected
· 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
· Did one of al-Bukhari's teachers call Imam Malik a disbeliever?
Mufti Abu Layth says he knows of no teacher of al-Bukhari who declared Imam Malik a disbeliever, and that harsh statements against Malik came from a contemporary, Ibn Abi Dhi'b [?], over Malik not acting on some sahih hadith.
“there are some harsh statements that he said about imam malik but he was a contemporary”
2:35:05TranscriptCite 2021-04-13-S38corrected
· Should loyalty to a scholar ever come before the honour of the Prophet?
Mufti Abu Layth says that when a report disparages the Prophet, loyalty belongs to the Prophet rather than to any scholar who accepted it, and that everyone's words may be accepted or rejected except the Prophet's.
“if you find an incident that is doing that your loyalty is first and foremost with the prophet salallahu not with this great mahadev great person”
1:49:23TranscriptCite 2022-08-19-S20corrected
· Why was Abu Hanifa criticised so much in his own time?
Mufti Abu Layth says the hostility Sufyan al-Thawri often showed towards Abu Hanifa was not a good thing, and that he has never read Abu Hanifa being venomous about others.
“sophiana thori who's a great Imam but he often hated on Imam which wasn't really you know a good thing to be honest”
15:22TranscriptCite 2022-12-10-S03corrected
· What did Abu Hanifa say about Imam Malik?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Hanafi madhhab became very restrictive and controlling, especially in the last two or three centuries, whereas other schools such as the Maliki kept their freedoms.
“the mother did become quite regimental of especially in the latter centuries you know the last maybe two through 200 300 years whereas some of the other meth have still kept their freedoms”
1:09:37TranscriptCite 2022-12-10-S12corrected
· Can a pregnancy last for years, as was said of Imam Malik's birth?
Mufti Abu Layth says the old reports of pregnancies lasting years, as with Imam Malik's, can be explained by phantom pregnancies.
“so research in recent times has shown and several Muslim researchers and medical researchers have found have researched what they call Phantom pregnancies”
6:53TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S02corrected
· Is it haram for men to wear earrings?
Mufti Abu Layth says many of the great imams of the early period, Imam Malik among them, used to wear earrings.
“many of the Great imams in the early Islamic period especially in Arabia uh the great had the theme like Imam Malik like Sofia like all these people used to wear earrings”
13:22TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S03corrected
· What did Imam Malik's teachers teach him about hadith and Sunnah?
Mufti Abu Layth says Rabi'a's saying 'a thousand from a thousand is more beloved to me than one from one' perfectly instantiates the debate of hadith versus Sunnah.
“this was the living tradition in Medina is such a powerful concept that not only that perfectly um instantiates this this debate of Hadith versus Sunnah”
22:46TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S05corrected
Mufti Abu Layth says Imam Malik was not from the ascetic tradition in Islam; he enjoyed the wealth God had given him.
“there is a tradition like that in Islam but Imam Malik was not from that tradition he spent money he enjoyed money”
24:44TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S06corrected
· Is the Muwatta of Imam Malik more authentic than Sahih al-Bukhari?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Muwatta is arguably the most authentic book of hadith from a hadith perspective.
“it is the mother is arguably the most authentic book in Hadith from a hadithi perspective”
28:33TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S07corrected
· Why did Imam Malik sometimes reject authentic hadith?
Mufti Abu Layth calls Malik's saying that his city does not act upon a hadith a catastrophe for the later hadith dogmatists.
“so he says we in our city do not act upon this Hadith this is a catastrophic meteor hahaha in the face of the second wave mahadithin project”
31:37TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S08corrected
· What is the difference between a hadith and the Sunnah in the Maliki school?
Mufti Abu Layth says those who follow the school of Madinah are not hadith dogmatists but hadith relativists, embracing a hadith where it correlates with the Sunnah.
“we who follow the school of Medina are not Hadith dogmatists Hadith relativists as in we embrace the Sunnah where the Hadith correlates with the Sunnah”
38:42TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S09corrected
· Is studying religious knowledge better than voluntary prayer?
Mufti Abu Layth says one should not underestimate the value of devotion to learning, or think voluntary prayer is somehow more valuable to God.
“there is something about the Legacy about being devoted to learning that don't don't don't don't as underestimate its value”
45:25TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S10corrected
· Why did Imam Malik never leave Madinah?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Maliki school holds Madinah to be more virtuous than Makkah, while the other schools disagree.
“in the Maliki method we consider Medina to be more virtuous than Makkah the other methods disagree”
47:22TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S11corrected
Mufti Abu Layth says he doubts Malik stayed away from the mosque because of ill health, since he kept teaching at home for hours until his death.
“some people say maybe it was because he his health was really bad after the beating and I doubt it I mean it could be but then he used to teach at home”
55:33TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S12corrected
· Can we ever be completely certain about religious answers?
Mufti Abu Layth says the ultimate certainty is God alone, and whatever we think is the answer is ultimately limited by our understanding.
“the ultimate certainty is just Allah we have to understand that whatever we think is an answer is ultimately our understanding of what we think is the answer”
1:01:08TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S13corrected
· Who carried on Imam Malik's teaching after him?
Mufti Abu Layth says it was Imam Malik's daughter who carried his legacy forward, continuing to teach his classes after him.
“it was actually his daughter that that took the the lamp of his legacy and marched forward with it she continued to teach his classes and things after him”
1:02:54TranscriptCite 2023-03-10-S14corrected
· Did Imam Malik reject the hadith he did not act on?
Mufti Abu Layth says, as his own thought, that someone choosing an imam to guide them in a broad methodology should look to legends like Imam Malik.
“you're going to see these names come up again in a very problematic way look to Legends like Imam Malik they were in the time of the salaf”
3:37TranscriptCite 2023-04-19-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.
Cite a statement by its id: Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment id, with the date and the address of its page. Citation formats
