Topics › Fiqh and daily practice
Fiqh and daily practice
562 segments in 146 recordings · 2014 to 2025 · 0 verified · 375 checked positions · fiqh
Segments on this topic per year
Click a year to jump to itLatest answer · 18 Oct 2025
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestHow do Quranists perform Hajj and apply Islam without the fiqh tradition?
The guest says the application of Islam is all in the Quran: his group performs Hajj in months other than the usual days, since the Quran speaks of plural months, and Ramadan is fully detailed; he does not rely on the fatwa tradition.
machine2 min 45 s1:18:06on YouTube
Earlier answers · 561 · newest first
2025 · 9
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestHow does a Quranist pray salah?
The guest's prayer has no unit count: after wudu he seeks refuge, reads al-Fatiha by his own choice and a full chapter, then prostrates once with supplication, filling the prayer time as the moment dictates; in congregation the imam leads a single long prostration and prayers last up to an hour, three times a day.
machine6 min 20 s1:19:58on YouTube
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
How do Muslims know how to pray if the Quran does not spell it out?
Mufti Abu Layth says Muslims know how to pray from an unbroken living tradition of more than 1,400 years, father to child, documented in the books of every century; the guest asks why God describes prayer in the Quran if it must be learned at the mosque, and why two prayers are silent when 17:110 forbids silence.
machine4 min 51 s1:27:01on YouTube
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does the Quranist prayer have any set structure?
The guest's prayer has no set structure: it changes in the moment, may include hours of prostration or prostrating mid-recitation when a verse moves him, and its purpose per 29:45 is to restrain immorality; he says Quranists may also pray like Sunnis, minus words not from God.
machine5 min 45 s1:31:46on YouTube
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestWhy does the guest's prayer have no fixed number of units, and what counts as wudu?
The guest's prayer is about duration and connection rather than numbers of units, with an imam supplying structure only in congregation; prostration, kneeling and standing are components without a set order, and wudu is as 5:6 describes it, without the tradition's additions.
machine5 min 07 s1:36:54on YouTube
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestDoes the Quran alone say what breaks the fast?
The guest says 2:187 shows that eating, drinking and intercourse break the fast by making them lawful at night; Mufti Abu Layth says the verse does not explicitly forbid them by day, so the Quran-only reader is inferring by reason rather than reporting what God said.
machine4 min 25 s1:42:01on YouTube
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestIs the daytime ban on eating and intimacy in Ramadan stated in the Quran or inferred?
The daytime prohibition of eating and intimacy in Ramadan comes from 2:187 by mafhum al-mukhalafa, an adverse inference Mufti Abu Layth accepts but which is not the explicit reading, so some verses need the tradition's explanation; the guest says each reader is rewarded according to his understanding.
machine5 min 35 s1:50:43on YouTube
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestIf reason helps us understand the Quran, does the reasoning of earlier scholars matter too?
Both agree reason is essential to understanding revelation; Mufti Abu Layth adds that by the same logic the reasoning of the Prophet, the Companions and the scholars before us is a valuable reservoir, not his reason alone, and the guest demands the Prophet's own explanation.
machine2 min 56 s1:56:30on YouTube
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?
The silent prayers come from the living tradition Malik described, handed down from the Companions' descendants; Mufti Abu Layth reads 17:110 as being about crying out to Allah, neither in despair nor in silence, rather than the five prayers, citing 8:35 where 'prayer' means whistling and clapping.
machine10 min 12 s2:31:09on YouTube
18 Oct 2025MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestDoes the Muwatta show that the Companions' practice had already changed by Malik's time?
The guest cites a Muwatta report that a Companion's contemporary recognised nothing of the Companions' practice except the call to prayer, as proof the religion had changed; Mufti Abu Layth says the report refers to those in governance and that Malik throughout his works transmits the living practice of Madinah.
machine5 min 05 s2:42:52on YouTube
2024 · 1
29 Sep 2024On Current Events
LatestIs someone who says something wrong about the Prophet guilty of blasphemy?
Not when there was no such intention: Mufti Abu Layth says Mufti Tariq Masood was clearly wrong, but he meant to praise the Prophet, so calling him a blasphemer is unacceptable.
machine4 min 34 s5:12on YouTube
2023 · 14
26 May 2023video
LatestWhat is the funeral prayer and what do you say in it?
The funeral prayer is in essence a sincere du'a for the deceased; many scholars allow any du'a, in any language, across its four takbirs.
machine4 min 48 s3:14on YouTube
19 Apr 2023video
LatestDid Imam Malik reject the hadith he did not act on?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says Imam Malik respected such hadith by recording them in the Muwatta while noting that Madinah did not act on them, a model of hadith relativism he recommends following.
machine6 min 48 s0:01on YouTube
19 Apr 2023video
LatestWhy does the practice of Madinah matter more than a single hadith?
Mufti Abu Layth says the inherited practice of Madinah, like its adhan, outweighs an isolated report, since not every Sunnah was documented and narrators made honest mistakes; this is why he favours the school of Madinah.
machine5 min 15 s6:49on YouTube
10 Mar 2023video
LatestCan a pregnancy last for years, as was said of Imam Malik's birth?
No: reports of years-long pregnancies are best explained by phantom pregnancies followed by real conception, not dismissed as lies or taken literally.
machine7 min 07 s6:54on YouTube
10 Mar 2023video
LatestIs it haram for men to wear earrings?
Early imams including Malik wore earrings as boys; Malik disliked golden earrings for boys because of the gold, not the earring.
machine4 min 57 s13:23on YouTube
10 Mar 2023video
What is the difference between a hadith and the Sunnah in the Maliki school?
The school of Madinah is 'hadith relativist': it accepts a hadith where it matches the living Sunnah and not otherwise, since hadith is historical data and the Sunnah is the Prophet's teaching.
machine5 min 01 s37:24on YouTube
10 Mar 2023video
Why did Imam Malik never leave Madinah?
Out of love for the Prophet, Malik held Madinah above Makkah, never left it except once for Hajj, and would not wear shoes or ride near the Prophet's mosque.
machine3 min 14 s46:44on YouTube
10 Mar 2023video
LatestWhy was Imam Malik flogged?
Malik was flogged for refusing to stop transmitting that a coerced divorce is invalid, which undercut forced oaths of allegiance to the Abbasids.
machine7 min 29 s49:58on YouTube
10 Mar 2023video
Can we ever be completely certain about religious answers?
Only God is certain; every answer we hold is limited by our own understanding and that of those we learned from, a humility Imam Malik modelled.
machine4 min 50 s57:27on YouTube
22 Feb 2023video
LatestDid some Muslim scholars say homosexuality is not haram?
Mufti Abu Layth says he described, not endorsed, a minority view that it is not haram; Islamic history holds diverse views, many scholars' poetry shows bisexual appreciation, and persecution is unacceptable.
machine5 min 43 s16:33on YouTube
22 Feb 2023video
LatestIs there an LGBTQ push in media and schools?
Mufti Abu Layth agrees there is a disproportionate LGBTQ push in media and objects to sexualising young children, calling it hypocritical that polygamy cannot be described the same way.
machine4 min 27 s20:23on YouTube
22 Feb 2023video
Is it okay for adults or children to change gender?
Mufti Abu Layth says gender transition is an adult's own choice after professional advice, but children should not be put through it until they can decide for themselves.
machine6 min 27 s28:41on YouTube
13 Feb 2023video
Orthodoxy and power: adding to the checklist, ijma and cancel culture
Once creed became a checklist, those in power could keep adding to it, as with ijma; everyone acts from power, even when sincere.
machine7 min 07 s19:10on YouTube
13 Feb 2023video
Language embeds power: 'inconvenience' versus 'hardship' in tayammum
The words scholars choose, such as 'inconvenience' or 'hardship', already decide the ruling, embedding power even when used sincerely.
machine3 min 52 s26:17on YouTube
2022 · 15
10 Dec 2022video
LatestWho was Imam Abu Hanifa and where did he come from?
Abu Hanifa, a kunya that became his name, was of Persian ancestry with roots in Kabul, was born in Kufa in 80 AH and grew up as a stylish, successful cloth trader before turning to knowledge.
machine6 min 36 s0:00on YouTube
10 Dec 2022video
How did Abu Hanifa become a scholar after starting out as a merchant?
Encouraged by al-Sha'bi to join the circles of knowledge, the merchant Abu Hanifa studied with Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman, succeeded him as the central figure of Kufa and became the voice of the school of reason.
machine6 min 29 s6:36on YouTube
10 Dec 2022video
Why was Abu Hanifa criticised so much in his own time?
Abu Hanifa was accused in his lifetime of following desire and opinion over the Quran, partly by rivals such as Sufyan al-Thawri, though the imams generally stayed respectful of one another.
machine3 min 56 s13:05on YouTube
10 Dec 2022video
LatestWhy did Abu Hanifa allow things like praying in Persian?
Abu Hanifa's legal stratagems, such as letting someone who knew no Arabic pray in Persian, were meant to create ease for new Muslims, not to change Islam, and Mufti Abu Layth says that spirit is needed today.
machine5 min 15 s17:01on YouTube
10 Dec 2022video
Was Abu Hanifa involved in politics?
Abu Hanifa supported Zayd ibn Ali's uprising and fled to Makkah under the Umayyads, and the Abbasids later made him chief supervisor of the building of Baghdad.
machine2 min 36 s22:16on YouTube
10 Dec 2022video
How did the Hanafi school develop from Abu Hanifa's teaching?
Abu Hanifa's students, above all Imam Muhammad, turned his spirit into an institution through the six books of the zahir al-riwaya, and Mufti Abu Layth feels the madhhab later lost that spirit and became focused on the letter of the law.
machine3 min 56 s24:52on YouTube
10 Dec 2022video
Did Abu Hanifa allow wudu with nabidh when there was no water?
In the early school of Abu Hanifa, someone without water could make wudu with nabidh, a weak fermented date drink, and he helped people out of rash conditional divorce oaths, unlike the sterner Imam Malik.
machine3 min 54 s28:48on YouTube
10 Dec 2022video
LatestHow did Abu Hanifa solve the case of two brides sent to the wrong grooms?
Where Sufyan al-Thawri advised divorces, a waiting period and remarriage to the original spouses, Abu Hanifa had each man marry on the spot the woman he had spent the night with, sparing a waiting period and jealousy.
machine9 min 12 s32:42on YouTube
10 Dec 2022video
How did Abu Hanifa die, and what was he known for among people?
Abu Hanifa was imprisoned by the Abbasids for supporting an uprising from the Prophet's family and died, perhaps poisoned, in prison; he was loved above all for his compassion and generosity.
machine3 min 55 s41:54on YouTube
10 Dec 2022video
What did Abu Hanifa do about his neighbour who drank and sang at night?
Rather than punishing his drunken, noisy neighbour, Abu Hanifa had him released from custody and asked whether he had let him go to waste, a kindness that transformed the man's life.
machine10 min 35 s45:49on YouTube
10 Dec 2022video
LatestWhat is the story of the woman who tricked Abu Hanifa into a marriage proposal?
Abu Hanifa died in 150 AH and is buried in Baghdad. In a story of uncertain accuracy, a woman tricked him into a marriage with a different bride to get him back for the clever reference he once gave a poor suitor.
machine11 min 51 s56:24on YouTube
10 Dec 2022video
What did Abu Hanifa say about Imam Malik?
Abu Hanifa called the younger Imam Malik a blonde, blue-eyed lad. Mufti Abu Layth closes that the Hanafi madhhab became restrictive in recent centuries while schools such as the Maliki kept their freedoms.
machine2 min 27 s1:08:15on YouTube
19 Aug 2022video
LatestWhat did the classical Maliki scholars say about the satanic verses story?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Maliki scholars, Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi and Qadi Iyad among them, rejected the story as fabricated, and that al-Tabari records the narrations but concludes they are false.
machine4 min1:14:40on YouTube
16 Apr 2022Positive Faith
LatestAm I only praying because I fear God will punish me?
Mufti Abu Layth says praying only out of fear of punishment is unhealthy: salah is devotion that benefits us, bringing structure and order into our day.
machine8 min 20 s0:38on YouTube
19 Mar 2022video
Is mut'ah (temporary marriage) haram for Sunni Muslims?
Mufti Abu Layth says most Sunnis hold mut'ah haram but a minority, including Ibn Ashur, held it is not categorically haram; follow the view you hold and do not fight over it.
machine9 min 02 s0:00on YouTube
2021 · 145
6 Oct 2021Malik Resources
Is there a sahih hadith on where to put my hands in salah?
There is no sahih hadith fixing where the hands go in salah; sadl, praying with the hands at the sides, is a sunnah of the school of Madinah without a hadith. Not every hadith is sunnah and not every sunnah was recorded in a hadith.
machine9 min 51 s0:00on YouTube
4 Jul 2021Shorts
LatestIs it wrong to want to be rich?
Wanting to be rich or to build a lucrative business is not wrong in Islam. The balance is to hold wealth in your hands and not in your heart, keeping your purpose.
machine59 s0:00on YouTube
9 May 2021video
LatestWhy did scholars say a slave woman's awrah is the same as a man's?
Mufti Abu Layth says most scholars of the past legitimised the practice of slave girls out of pragmatism, realism and sex, and even presented it as a religious act. He contrasts this with music, which they were less keen to permit, and polygamy, which few manage today.
machine7 min 03 s0:38on YouTube
9 May 2021video
Did scholars let slave women uncover more than free women?
Mufti Abu Layth says the scholars dropped their concern for modesty when it came to slave women, and calls the claim that nobody would desire them nonsense. He thinks slave women probably wore working clothes, with arms and lower legs uncovered, rather than walking about topless.
machine4 min 58 s7:04on YouTube
27 Apr 2021video
Does today's Hanafi madhhab reflect Imam Abu Hanifa?
Not in spirit: Mufti Abu Layth calls later Hanafi rulings fossilised and pedantic, behind the sectarian attacks on Shaykh Aslam, and praises Shaykh Atabek as a fresh voice.
machine4 min 23 s0:00on YouTube
27 Apr 2021video
Can I pray while carrying my child?
Yes: the Hanafi rule that three consecutive movements break the prayer is made up, and the Prophet prayed carrying Umama; Mufti Abu Layth puts the attacks on Shaykh Aslam down to jealousy.
machine7 min 58 s4:23on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
What was Lupe Fiasco's childhood like?
The guest describes growing up in Chicago in a family of martial arts, music and engineering, giving up chess over a hadith, and turning to rap when he could not learn the clarinet.
machine7 min 43 s6:52on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why does China try to control who becomes the Dalai Lama?
The guest says China's attempt to control the Dalai Lama's reincarnation shows a state using religion, something he sees in pieces in Muslim countries and elsewhere.
machine5 min 11 s53:12on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestAre psychedelics like mushrooms and DMT haram?
Mufti Abu Layth says he has a video saying psychedelics are not haram; the guest says he has never drunk or used drugs and judges such substances by a medicinal line.
machine4 min 31 s58:24on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Can a Muslim work in the music industry and keep their faith?
The guest says religion should be judged apart from the actions of its followers in any industry; Mufti Abu Layth says relatable poetry and music inspire people more than being told to go to the mosque.
machine7 min 48 s1:02:56on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestDo obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?
Intrusive or blasphemous thoughts in prayer are not a reason to worry: noticing them is a sign of faith, as a hadith says. Mufti Abu Layth adds that jinn in the Quran means the unseen and possession stories are folklore.
machine7 min 40 s1:31:29on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
What is Lupe Fiasco's view of Kanye West's religious rebirth?
The guest declines to judge Kanye West's faith, praising his work ethic while disagreeing with him, and calls Jay-Z a mentor and a genius with words.
machine4 min 28 s1:45:38on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
What inspired Lupe Fiasco's song Words I Never Said?
The guest says 'Words I Never Said' was his attempt, at the height of his fame, to speak truth to power about wealth disparity and militarism.
machine2 min 37 s1:48:51on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
What does Lupe Fiasco think of Killah Priest's song B.I.B.L.E.?
The guest calls Killah Priest's 'B.I.B.L.E.' an amazing record about a spiritual journey, noting that studying Islam's Jewish and Christian sources creates intellectual tension.
machine1 min 53 s1:52:06on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
How is Lupe Fiasco finding Ramadan during Covid?
The guest says Ramadan has been easy, though he misses the mosque and tarawih after staying away during Covid to protect older worshippers.
machine1 min 56 s2:05:24on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestDoes a community gathering have to be gender segregated?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says adults do not need micromanaging and a gathering of men and women need not be segregated.
machine1 min 18 s10:56on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestIs it obligatory for Muslims to establish a caliphate?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says there is no obligation to establish a caliphate, citing classical Maliki scholars and Akram Nadwi against the claim of consensus.
machine6 min 36 s54:24on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is everything halal unless proven haram?
Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says things are halal by default and prohibiting is a heavy task, and teachers should say 'in my understanding' because they could be wrong.
machine2 min 37 s1:03:39on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestWhy does Ramadan fall in different seasons each year?
Mufti Abu Layth says the early Islamic calendar was kept in line with the seasons by an extra month, nasi, and Ramadan only began moving through the year after that practice lapsed.
machine5 min 14 s1:23:41on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is child marriage legal in Western countries?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says Western ages of consent cluster around sixteen and do not allow an adult with a child, and imams should condemn child marriage with one voice.
machine3 min 57 s2:01:53on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can I pray for a non-Muslim who has died?
Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says Muslims may pray for a non-Muslim like DMX who touched many lives, since no one has a monopoly on salvation, and that music is not haram.
machine5 min 15 s2:18:55on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestAre many people's frustrations really about unmet sexual needs?
Mufti Abu Layth says much bitterness comes from unmet sexual needs, that Islam itself does not see sex negatively, and that Freud should be judged on his ideas, not his character.
machine9 min 11 s2:43:47on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Are the devils really chained up during Ramadan?
No verse says so; Mufti Abu Layth reads the hadith on chained devils as meaning that good deeds become easier in Ramadan's shared spirit.
machine1 min 20 s2:58:11on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What does Mufti Abu Layth think of al-Shaybani's critique of the Madinan school?
Mufti Abu Layth calls al-Shaybani's book an arrogant reply to Malik that failed from its title, since Islam was lived in Madinah and preserved in Malik's school.
machine3 min 56 s3:02:08on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it wrong for a Muslim to want to make money?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says make money and enjoy what it brings, but do not love money for itself, and remember that giving opens the way to provision.
machine13 min 08 s3:08:42on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestCan I fast for a fixed 12 hours when the days are very long?
Follow any timetable you like; Mufti Abu Layth endorses the al-Azhar-derived fatwa that a fast of twelve hours or more is valid for anyone who needs it.
machine6 min 31 s3:21:50on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestCan I skip fasting because of work, exams or health, and what do I do instead?
It is your call: make the fast up later if you can, or give fidya if your situation will not change, which Mufti Abu Layth bases on the plain wording of Quran 2:184.
machine6 min 38 s3:28:21on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
I don't feel spiritual in Ramadan; am I a bad Muslim?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says not feeling Ramadan's atmosphere is no reflection of your faith, since worship is not measured by how good it feels.
machine2 min 38 s3:34:59on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is forex trading halal or haram?
Mufti Abu Layth refers the question to his earlier videos and says inherited fiqh is so out of date that much of it can no longer be applied.
machine2 min 06 s21:11on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can I carry a child while I pray?
Mufti Abu Layth says one may carry a child while praying and that Hanafi rulings such as the three-movement rule, or that laughing or reading something breaks the prayer, are made up. He sees the campaign against the preacher who showed this as sectarian jealousy.
machine12 min 45 s23:17on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Are disgusting sexual fetishes between spouses haram?
Such fetishes are not haram, however disgusting most people find them: contact with impurity is unclean but not forbidden, and what a consenting couple do in private is their own business. Nobody is obliged to do them.
machine8 min 30 s1:04:21on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why are some clerics so harsh in their rulings on women?
Mufti Abu Layth says harsh rulings from some clergy, especially towards women, come from sexual deprivation and a closed madrasa culture, and that love and a normal life soften people.
machine8 min 44 s1:12:51on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestWhat does Mufti Abu Layth think of France banning the hijab for girls under 18?
If France has banned headscarves for girls under 18, he says it is an abhorrent breach of basic rights that he strongly condemns. He also opposes pressuring girls to wear it: it should be their genuine choice.
machine7 min 20 s1:21:35on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Where can I learn the Maliki school in English?
Mufti Abu Layth suggests the translations of Aisha Bewley, Hamza Yusuf's recorded lessons on a basic Maliki text, Shaykh Ali Laraki's translation, and teachers such as Abdalhaqq Bewley.
machine2 min 47 s1:50:03on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Are insects haram to eat in the Maliki school?
Insects are not haram in the Maliki school: almost everything is halal except pork and what is sacrificed to other than God. Ritual slaughter applies only to domesticated livestock, not insects.
machine10 min 04 s1:52:50on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
How can I nourish my soul this Ramadan?
To deepen the bond with God, read even a little Quran daily, make personal dua and give charity; learning, poetry, art and meaningful music can also strengthen a person inwardly, not only more voluntary prayer.
machine7 min 29 s2:03:56on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does Allah love everybody?
Allah loves His creation and detests harmful actions, not creatures. Pork being forbidden, most likely for hygiene, does not mean God hates pigs.
machine2 min 40 s2:10:23on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What does Yasir Qadhi argue about Malikis and the return of Jesus?
Yasir Qadhi argues in the clip that the return of Jesus is established by mutawatir hadith and affirmed by the great Maliki scholars, so a Maliki cannot deny it. Mufti Abu Layth sets out the points he will answer.
machine4 min 20 s2:13:03on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why does the Muwatta contain hadith that Imam Malik did not follow?
Malik included in the Muwatta reports he did not practise, and the only report about Jesus there shows him telling a pig to pass in peace. Mufti Abu Layth reads this as a sign Malik rejected the reports that Jesus will return to kill pigs.
machine5 min 49 s2:25:05on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestDoes Mufti Abu Layth have any scholarly precedent for his views?
His views have respected precedents: al-Burzuli, a Maliki Shaykh al-Islam, held that punishments change with the age, and the subcontinent scholars he quotes were Ahl al-Hadith, not heretics. Not every untrue statement is a sin punished with hell.
machine3 min 50 s3:10:56on YouTube
6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Was the murdered man in the story of the cow brought back to life?
The verse of the heifer does not say the dead man was revived; like 'in retaliation there is life', it refers to lives saved when a ritual of justice averted tribal war.
machine2 min 57 s3:33:04on YouTube
15 Mar 2021video
What actually separates Sunnis and Shia, and is mut'ah really a Shia thing?
The Sunni-Shia split is only about who has the right to rule, the Shia holding it stays in the Prophet's bloodline. Mut'ah and wiping the feet have nothing to do with being Shia; Sunnis used them as propaganda.
machine4 min 34 s2:24on YouTube
10 Mar 2021video
LatestCan I have a close non-Muslim friend and answer his salam?
Mufti Abu Layth rejects as ignorance and nonsense the view that a Muslim cannot have a close non-Muslim friend or return his greeting. Assim al-Hakeem's answer in the clip, that only acquaintances are allowed and a non-Muslim's salam gets a smile at most, is the view being replied to.
machine5 min 20 s2:37on YouTube
10 Mar 2021video
Reply to Mufti Mangera on ear piercing: who defines normal and decent?
A played clip of Mufti Mangera allowing one or two ear piercings as 'normal' among decent people but not higher ones, which Mufti Abu Layth mocks for leaving undefined who decides what is normal.
machine3 min 40 s0:00on YouTube
10 Mar 2021video
Reply to Mufti Mangera: does the ban on muthla forbid piercing?
The clip cites the ban on muthla (mutilation) against piercing; Mufti Abu Layth explains that muthla means disfiguring bodies, especially of the dead, and mocks applying it to ear piercing.
machine3 min 57 s3:40on YouTube
5 Mar 2021video
What counts as khamr, and is a drink with very little alcohol haram?
In the Quran khamr is wine; other drinks are haram if they intoxicate similarly, but a drink so weak that normal consumption does not intoxicate is not haram. This was Abu Hanifa's ruling, for which the Hanafi school was attacked for centuries until later Hanafis grew embarrassed by it.
machine3 min 59 s0:00on YouTube
5 Mar 2021video
Why did Imam Malik say nothing between spouses is haram and only pork is forbidden to eat?
Imam Malik held that nothing sexual between spouses is haram and that no meat is haram in itself except pig, and Mufti Abu Layth says such rulings defend the principle that only Allah declares things haram. Saying something is not haram is not the same as recommending it.
machine5 min 04 s3:59on YouTube
2 Mar 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is Cardano going to shoot up in value?
Mufti Abu Layth is suspicious of big announcements that funds will move money out of bitcoin into other coins, suspecting they may be ploys to move prices.
machine2 min 26 s12:56on YouTube
2 Mar 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why did Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh leave Islam for a time?
Not doubt about the Quran: he feels the man was incentivised by the Makkans and rewarded for intelligence about Madinah, and he later returned to Islam and governed in Egypt.
machine3 min 53 s1:00:37on YouTube
2 Mar 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is the hadith about a woman breastfeeding the adult Salim authentic?
Mufti Abu Layth calls the report of the adult Salim being suckled fabricated and mocks al-Albani's fatwa permitting it directly, welcoming Mohammed Hijab's attack on it as a sign he is outgrowing Salafism.
machine6 min3:23:56on YouTube
22 Feb 2021video
Abdul Rahman Hassan's clip: the first Khariji, protest, and never criticising rulers
Mufti Abu Layth plays and mocks a clip in which Abdul Rahman Hassan presents protest against rulers as the mentality of the first Khariji, reading it as a defence of the Saudi rulers.
machine5 min 28 s0:02on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestIs celebrating Valentine's Day haram?
Valentine's Day is not haram and need not be bad, he says, but do not let relationships become your identity or worth; keep your own goals and purpose.
machine7 min 27 s14:11on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why isn't the Mufti a Mu'tazili?
Mufti Abu Layth says he is simply Sunni; sects are defined by core doctrines, the Shia by the sacred bloodline's right to rule, and mut'ah was pinned on them as propaganda.
machine6 min 48 s44:58on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Did the Prophet order a scribe killed for leaving Islam?
Not for apostasy, he says: the scribe was not executed, and the issue was treason, since he exposed Madinah's weak points to its enemies; apostasy laws were treason laws.
machine2 min 33 s1:11:59on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Did the Prophet tell people to drink camel urine as medicine?
Mufti Abu Layth says camel urine is not medicine and the Prophet never really told anyone to drink it; the report is weak in its chain and, if taken at all, reads as a rebuke.
machine6 min 30 s1:26:20on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
How did the Maliki school spread to North Africa and Spain?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Maliki school had already spread in Imam Malik's lifetime through North Africa to al-Andalus, and into Iraq, especially Basra.
machine1 min 49 s1:50:00on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is playing chess haram?
No, chess is not haram, he says; Imam Malik discouraged it as a waste of life but never called it haram.
machine1 min 16 s1:51:49on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
A mufti's clip on ear piercing: 'decency', 'manipulation' and muthla
Mufti Abu Layth mocks a mufti's argument that piercing beyond the earlobe is abnormal and amounts to muthla, saying muthla means disfiguring a body, not piercing it.
machine7 min 45 s1:53:05on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can a Muslim have a close non-Muslim friend?
Mufti Abu Layth calls the teaching that Muslims cannot have close non-Muslim friends ignorance and venom that makes the deen suffer.
machine5 min 30 s2:03:51on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Did the Prophet say he would kill the first Khariji's descendants?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet never said 'I will kill his lineage'; in the Bukhari report he stopped Umar from killing the man, so the clip misrepresents the Prophet to defend rulers.
machine10 min 37 s2:13:51on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What does the Mufti think of Shaykh Dedew, and did Imam Ahmad dislike Abu Hanifa?
Imam Ahmad did say harsh things about Abu Hanifa, he says; of Shaykh Dedew, take his critical views and stay open-minded on his dogmatic ones.
machine2 min 25 s2:24:25on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestCan I pray in my car if I don't feel safe praying outside?
Yes: in the worst case, if you need to or do not feel safe praying outside, you can pray in your car.
machine38 s2:37:32on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Are children held accountable in Islam for bullying or hurting others?
Children are accountable, he says, in a way suited to their age: the laws for them are lighter, but a child who harms another does not get a free pass.
machine1 min 49 s2:38:10on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does an Islamic judge always give the maximum punishment for theft?
Mufti Abu Layth says a qadi would weigh the circumstances, much as courts in England do today, and that this is how the Sharia would work; the hudud would be different now.
machine1 min 58 s2:39:59on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Did Abu Hanifa allow nabidh only as medicine?
Mufti Abu Layth says the reports Abu Hanifa's school transmitted, of Umar and Ibn Mas'ud drinking and diluting nabidh, are about drinking with food, not medicine.
machine12 min 25 s2:47:32on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is cannabis an intoxicant like alcohol in Islam?
Mufti Abu Layth says marijuana is not an intoxicant in the way alcohol is, and accuses the preacher of not understanding the difference between psychoactive substances and intoxicants.
machine5 min 26 s2:55:00on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
The preacher on DMT: 'no proof of the unseen', and tahajjud instead
Mufti Abu Layth ridicules the preacher's claim that there is no scientific proof DMT users reach the unseen, asking what such proof could even look like.
machine6 min2:59:48on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is smoking marijuana haram?
Marijuana is haram for the young because of the harm, he says, but not for an adult whose brain has developed, though Islam does not encourage it.
machine2 min 35 s3:05:48on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Are DMT and magic mushrooms haram?
DMT and psilocybin are not haram, he says, though they raise legal issues; brain studies give abundant evidence of their effect on consciousness.
machine2 min 36 s3:08:23on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is drinking poison haram in Islam?
Drinking poison is categorically haram, he says, so it is inconsistent to call DMT haram while justifying publicly drinking poison.
machine3 min 35 s3:10:59on YouTube
14 Feb 2021video
Can I blindly follow scholars in matters of belief?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says blind following in belief is forbidden by scholarly consensus, and the majority of one school is not ijma'.
machine5 min 37 s8:13on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What counts as khamr, and is a drink with a little alcohol haram?
Mufti Abu Layth says khamr in the Quran meant wine; other drinks were haram only when they intoxicated like it, which was Abu Hanifa's position.
machine6 min 09 s24:29on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is pork the only meat that is haram in the Maliki school?
Mufti Abu Layth says that in the Maliki school no meat is haram in itself except the pig, which does not mean the imams urged people to eat everything.
machine4 min 24 s29:59on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it haram to watch Netflix?
Mufti Abu Layth says watching Netflix is of course not haram.
machine1 min 17 s57:11on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is the Quran's verse about the stupor of death talking about DMT?
Mufti Abu Layth says the verse is not about DMT specifically, though the DMT death experience could relate to it; he sees psychedelics as a portal to the hereafter where legal.
machine6 min 15 s1:01:31on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Should I use water or toilet paper after going to the toilet?
Mufti Abu Layth says a person should always clean with water after the toilet where possible, with paper only as a fallback.
machine5 min 31 s1:22:52on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What is Birmingham really like for Muslims?
Mufti Abu Layth defends Birmingham but calls drugs a cancer in its Muslim community, and says cannabis should be legalised and regulated.
machine6 min 13 s1:29:06on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it wrong in Islam to want to be rich?
Mufti Abu Layth says Islam is not against wealth; what is haram is arrogance and looking down on others, and he encourages people to make money and enjoy it.
machine10 min 52 s1:44:53on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is trading covered calls on stocks halal?
Mufti Abu Layth says covered calls are halal, and he does not consider any of today's regulated trades haram.
machine1 min 18 s1:54:38on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it haram to hit someone in the face in boxing or MMA training?
Mufti Abu Layth says hitting the face in sparring is fine; the hadith against striking the face concerned discipline, not fighting practice.
machine3 min 43 s2:10:39on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Clips: three critics' videos attacking Shabir Ally
Mufti Abu Layth plays and mocks videos in which three critics attack Shabir Ally's views, including his view on hudud.
machine11 min 43 s2:48:08on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Did Maliki scholars really allow fines instead of hudud punishments?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Maliki fatwa allowing punishment through wealth was the work of a major scholar and was practised as law for centuries, not a forgotten opinion.
machine10 min 26 s3:05:51on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestIs it haram to flip a coin to make a decision?
Mufti Abu Layth says flipping a coin is not haram, but important decisions should be made by reasoning, not by a coin or a dream.
machine6 min 26 s3:16:17on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
How do people react when a scholar from Uzbekistan challenges subcontinent scholars?
Mufti Abu Layth says UK Islam comes almost wholly from Indo-Pakistani and Saudi culture; the guest says challenging subcontinent scholars from Uzbekistan draws harsh reactions, but open-minded people keep him going.
machine4 min 31 s15:01on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestIs growing a beard obligatory in the Hanafi school?
The guest says Hanafi principles act as a constitution before which everyone is equal, and that by them keeping the beard is mubah, not wajib as subcontinent scholars concluded.
machine5 min 45 s18:37on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestIs a mortgage riba?
The guest says a mortgage is not riba because the bank acts as an agent buying a specific house and then sells it on in instalments; riba is only a free loan repaid with extra.
machine7 min 51 s25:59on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Isn't calling a mortgage agency just a loophole for interest?
The guest says the loophole charge is backwards: what counts is what is technically happening, and a bank that also gives loans can still offer a permissible mortgage, as a pub also sells food.
machine2 min 40 s31:13on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
What happened when Shaykh Atabek wrote to Mufti Taqi Usmani about mortgages?
The guest says his respectful open letter to Mufti Taqi Usmani on mortgages got no reply, only an abusive reaction from students, which he does not think the mufti ordered.
machine5 min 45 s33:53on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Could a senior scholar ever publicly change his fatwa on mortgages?
Mufti Abu Layth doubts the jurist could ever publicly accept the guest's view; the guest says almost no scholar is fully independent of politics, audience or salary.
machine7 min 11 s40:13on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why does Shaykh Atabek want to restore the early Hanafi school?
The guest wants to restore the early Hanafi school of a fully independent Abu Hanifa; Mufti Abu Layth says Abu Hanifa championed reason but his school later became almost his opposite.
machine3 min 51 s46:49on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Was there a power struggle in the early Hanafi school?
Mufti Abu Layth feels the early Hanafi school saw power struggles and that Abu Yusuf lacked Abu Hanifa's reason; the guest calls Ahmad ibn Hanbal the greatest muhaddith but not a jurist of the first rank.
machine3 min 59 s51:13on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why do Hanafis defend Sahih al-Bukhari when their school differs from it?
Mufti Abu Layth says Bukhari has question marks and is not the gold standard; the guest says its canonisation was an Abbasid-era Athari project, and that for Hanafis the Athar of their own imams should rank highest.
machine7 min 38 s59:28on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
What is wijada, and why does it matter for the hadith on killing apostates?
The guest says the apostasy hadith cannot justify killing, since its own wording is not followed and it reaches us only by wijada; Mufti Abu Layth blames the Salafi call for putting raw hadith in place of the madhhabs.
machine4 min 38 s1:06:26on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Did the early Hanafis hold that apostates should be killed?
The guest says the early Hanafi view, from Abu Hanifa and Zufar, is that apostasy itself carries no punishment and only an actual threat is punished; Mufti Abu Layth calls today's Hanafi blasphemy laws upside down.
machine1 min 55 s1:11:43on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Did Abu Hanifa allow drinks with a little alcohol?
The guest says Abu Hanifa's ruling that mildly fermented non-wine drinks are not haram shows he followed the Quran over reports; Mufti Abu Layth says the lesson is his way of thinking.
machine3 min 24 s1:13:24on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Who was Abu Hanifa's most trusted student?
The guest relies chiefly on Zufar, whom he says Abu Hanifa himself authorised to teach, over Imam Muhammad, who was a teenager when Abu Hanifa died; Zufar's sidelining is left for another session.
machine4 min 03 s1:16:23on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
What does Shaykh Atabek think of his debate on the Isha time?
The guest says his much-watched exchange on the Isha time was not a real debate, since his opponent never addressed his proofs.
machine3 min 56 s1:24:53on YouTube
29 Jan 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
When should I pray Isha in the UK summer when it never gets fully dark?
The guest says that where twilight never fades, the Hanafi school allows Isha to be prayed keeping the order of prayers, rather than dividing the night into seven.
machine4 min 08 s1:28:21on YouTube
26 Jan 2021video
Is it haram to eat meat that is not halal-slaughtered, like a non-halal burger?
Eating meat that is not dhabiha is not haram in Mufti Abu Layth's view, because its original purpose of separating Muslims from pagan sacrifice has lapsed. He still supports and advocates halal meat for its identity value and eats it himself.
machine3 min 28 s0:02on YouTube
26 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can I do tayammum instead of wudu if water makes my cough worse?
Yes: tayammum is allowed for anyone with an excuse, and whether the excuse applies is for the person to judge.
machine1 min 17 s39:55on YouTube
26 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
If the Prophet couldn't forbid what Allah allowed, how can scholars issue fatwas?
The verse rebukes the Prophet for forbidding himself something permissible to please others, not for legislating; things are permissible by default, so declaring something haram is a weighty step.
machine3 min 59 s41:12on YouTube
26 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
If a lot of anything can intoxicate, does that make tiny amounts of alcohol haram?
The hadith refers to drinks that intoxicate in the amount normally drunk, so a little of such a drink is haram; foods with trace alcohol that cannot intoxicate are not covered.
machine3 min 53 s46:28on YouTube
26 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestCan a woman be an imam and lead the prayer?
Yes: a woman can be an imam and her leading the prayer is valid, though whether it works in practice depends on her society accepting it.
machine2 min 38 s50:21on YouTube
26 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
How should I deal with the misogynistic things some scholars wrote about women?
Do not let contemporary misogynists hijack your Islam, and read past scholars' views on women as reflections of their own age, which do not confine Islam.
machine9 min 15 s1:06:10on YouTube
26 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Quick chat: LSD, paratha and nihari, and jinn as microbes
In quick chat replies he refers to his video on psychedelics, jokes about food, and says reading jinn as microbes is one interpretation, held by Rashid Rida.
machine2 min 37 s2:25:08on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does a bald woman have to wear hijab?
Mufti Abu Layth gives no ruling: he jokes about the wording and muses on hair loss in women and men.
machine1 min 07 s24:30on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Under the microscope: a text on the fast breaking through a 'direct channel'
Mufti Abu Layth mocks a fiqh text saying the fast breaks when a substance reaches the stomach or brain through a 'direct channel'.
machine2 min 30 s34:42on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Are video games haram?
Video games are not haram, Mufti Abu Layth says, and he plans to play some on future streams.
machine1 min 18 s37:12on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does smoking break my wudu?
Smoking does not break wudu, Mufti Abu Layth says; only relieving oneself and meaningful sexual activity do, not a peck on the cheek or eating.
machine1 min 57 s38:30on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
If money was earned in a haram way, is it haram for whoever receives it?
Money is not haram in itself, Mufti Abu Layth says: the sin lies with whoever earned it unlawfully, not with someone who later receives it unknowingly.
machine7 min 31 s40:27on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Will I go to hell for not shaving my pubic hair?
Nobody goes to hell for not shaving pubic hair, Mufti Abu Layth says; it is a matter of hygiene, which religion tied to reward and closeness to God.
machine3 min 34 s1:03:44on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it halal to perform music or dance at concerts for a living?
Dance is not haram in itself, Mufti Abu Layth says, but Muslim cultures look down on it as a profession, especially for women, so propriety should be kept in mind.
machine6 min 24 s1:11:22on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What can I do if I can't afford to marry but want to avoid zina?
Mufti Abu Layth has no easy answer: religion is failing people here because scholars and cultures will not discuss options, and marriage has become too costly for the young.
machine7 min 31 s1:17:35on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why is it so hard to find real, honest people?
Mufti Abu Layth says nobody fully knows anyone, social media feeds an endless search for someone better, and the appalling conduct of some Muslim men pushes women into hardline feminism.
machine7 min 32 s1:25:08on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestDo I pay zakat again on savings that haven't grown?
Zakat is due again each year on the same savings, Mufti Abu Layth says, giving it as what is technically said.
machine2 min 30 s2:32:30on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it haram to eat with my left hand?
Eating with the left hand is not haram, Mufti Abu Layth says; the right hand is good etiquette taught to a child, so do it if you can.
machine6 min 30 s2:37:29on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Has the Salafi movement done more good or harm?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Salafi dawah revived interest in hadith and forced a re-evaluation, but its dislodging of the tradition did far more damage overall.
machine2 min 28 s32:40on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Has Islam become more polarised between puritans and liberals?
Yes, he says Islam is far more polarised today than historically, but he is optimistic it is a fever through which a more natural Islam can return.
machine4 min 10 s35:37on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Do I have to be in a state of purity to say verses of the Quran?
Mufti Abu Layth says religion should be natural, not ritualistic: the menstrual state is not impure, and revelation came to the Prophet while in bed with Aisha.
machine5 min 14 s39:18on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Are king prawns halal?
Yes, prawns are halal: in the school of Medina everything from the sea is halal, and only the pig is haram by its nature.
machine4 min 56 s44:32on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does the Quran clearly forbid homosexuality?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran has no explicit prohibition of homosexuality, though most Muslims have held it haram; he thinks the aim was to push people into marriage.
machine3 min 50 s1:20:42on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can a woman lead the prayer or give the khutbah?
Yes, he says a woman may lead the prayer, give the adhan or the khutbah; it is not invalid, it is just generally not done.
machine3 min 05 s1:35:21on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Am I doing wrong if I follow a minority opinion?
No: the hadith is weak, and even its valid meaning is about the whole ummah agreeing, not about majorities, so following a minority view is not doom.
machine2 min 21 s1:38:29on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can I work as a recruiter if some of the jobs are in banking?
Yes, he says one may work as a recruiter for such a company; it is not haram in his understanding.
machine1 min 17 s1:40:51on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why do you call yourself a Maliki?
Mufti Abu Layth calls himself Maliki because he follows the lens of the school of Medina: the Quran at the centre, Medinan practice, reason and the aims of the shari'ah.
machine5 min 05 s1:41:27on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What does Islamic law say about the harms of social media?
Mufti Abu Layth agrees fiqh is out of sync with problems like social media's harms and needs updating.
machine1 min 17 s2:51:22on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is tahajjud the best way to get close to God?
Night prayer is one good way, he says, but God is always with you; if your lifestyle does not suit it, another practice that works for you is fine.
machine1 min 57 s2:54:37on YouTube
12 Jan 2021video
Why was Ibn Taymiyya put in prison?
Ibn Taymiyya made powerful enemies by declaring Muslims kafir, and Maliki judges finally jailed him over his fatwa, voiced by his student in Jerusalem, that one may not travel to visit the Prophet's grave. Mufti Abu Layth calls the view foolish but says no one should be punished for an opinion.
machine8 min 17 s0:00on YouTube
7 Jan 2021video
Do I have to go to jumu'ah every Friday if I live in a non-Muslim country?
In his understanding jumu'ah is not mandatory on each individual in countries like the UK that are not Muslim countries, though holding it communally is good.
machine2 min 16 s0:02on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestIf I sleep late and wake up at asr, can I pray the missed prayers together then?
If you wake at asr after sleeping late, pray when you wake; he says the religion is meant to be easy, as the Prophet taught.
machine1 min 53 s8:45on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Which hadith book is the most authentic?
Mufti Abu Layth takes each hadith on its merits rather than trusting one book; if anything, he would call Imam Malik's Muwatta the most authentic.
machine3 min 01 s17:21on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can I take a mortgage, and can I urinate standing up?
Bank interest is not the Quran's riba in his understanding, and urinating standing up is fine, with care over splashing.
machine3 min 42 s37:40on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestDo I lose good deeds if I keep a dog as a pet?
No, owning a dog does not cost you reward; he reads the dog hadith as hygiene measures against diseases like rabies, citing Ibn Rushd al-Jadd.
machine8 min 27 s40:54on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Dawah Man on pigs, wife-sharing and handshakes, played and mocked
Mufti Abu Layth plays and mocks Dawah Man's claims about pigs and handshakes, and says shaking hands is not haram.
machine6 min 17 s1:00:54on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
How can I make the new year a more positive one?
His tips for the year: speak positively, smile, leave toxic circles and start something new, whether a skill or an investment.
machine8 min 44 s1:35:51on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
As an actor, are there scenes that would be haram for me to perform?
Mufti Abu Layth jokes rather than answers, saying he could think of one or two such scenes.
machine58 s1:45:04on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it haram to celebrate my birthday?
Celebrating birthdays is fine and entirely your choice; he also recommends older friends for perspective when age brings anxiety.
machine5 min 15 s1:45:33on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What does rightly guided caliph mean, and did Muawiya see Ali as one?
The term rashidun came later; he thinks Muawiya saw Ali as more pious but himself as the better ruler, and that piety and governing skill rarely coincide.
machine8 min 04 s1:57:34on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
A preacher's video on masturbation: would you do it in front of your parents?
Mufti Abu Layth plays and mocks a preacher's anti-masturbation video built on the question of whether you would do it in front of your parents.
machine3 min 29 s2:18:13on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is anal intercourse with my wife haram?
Mufti Abu Layth says no sahih hadith makes anal intercourse with one's wife haram, and that preachers should stop guilt-tripping people over private matters.
machine7 min 28 s2:23:10on YouTube
5 Jan 2021video
Is the niqab required, and is it right to make women take it off?
The face veil has no basis in the Quran and Sunnah, being the opinion of some later scholars. Forcing a woman to remove it is still wrong; one may only advise.
machine6 min 31 s0:19on YouTube
5 Jan 2021video
Why do some women feel they must wear the niqab?
Mufti Abu Layth blames men rather than women: men convince women they need the niqab by making them fear hell, sometimes out of insecurity. He calls the extreme mindsets this produces worrying.
machine4 min6:31on YouTube
4 Jan 2021video
Is masturbation haram in Islam?
In the clip Yasir Qadhi says the majority hold masturbation to be haram, but that others held it makruh or permissible, citing Ibn Abbas's reply to a young man and Ibn Hazm, and that he believes there is no sin in it although it is better avoided. This is Qadhi's view played for discussion, not Mufti Abu Layth's own statement.
machine3 min 58 s1:22on YouTube
4 Jan 2021video
Reaction to the clip: Qadhi joins Zakir Naik in calling it not haram, with jokes about 'the nobility'
Mufti Abu Layth notes that Yasir Qadhi, like Zakir Naik before him, now says masturbation is not haram but merely not a noble deed, and jokes about left-handers and 'the nobility'.
machine2 min 38 s4:00on YouTube
4 Jan 2021video
Why are Salafi scholars now saying masturbation is not a sin after years of calling it haram?
Mufti Abu Layth says these scholars owe an apology to the Muslims they guilt-tripped for decades, since Ibn Hazm's and the Hanbali view were known to them all along and nothing new has come to light. He attributes the reversal to imams saying what the public expects until they feel they can say otherwise.
machine6 min 02 s6:38on YouTube
2020 · 133
11 Dec 2020video
Did Zakir Naik say masturbation is not haram?
Zakir Naik has said masturbation is not haram but only discouraged. Mufti Abu Layth says those who preached it as haram for decades owe people an admission and an apology, and ridicules the view that only one's own hand makes it haram.
machine5 min 36 s0:01on YouTube
11 Dec 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
If morality is universal, why was slavery accepted for so long?
The guest says moral ideals exist in God and humans approximate them; past acceptance of slavery came from not recognising others' full humanity, and ritual laws such as the pork prohibition differ from universal moral law.
machine4 min 24 s43:17on YouTube
11 Dec 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does the Quran treat every human life as sacred, even in war?
The guest says the Quran holds every human soul sacred, which classical exegetes on jihad missed; Mufti Abu Layth says Muslim scholarship must shift from outdated fiqh to ethics.
machine3 min 27 s1:52:45on YouTube
9 Dec 2020video
Is it haram for men to wear necklaces, rings or earrings?
Mufti Abu Layth disagrees with Yasir Qadhi that men's jewellery is effeminate, saying men have always worn it and Western executives are no benchmark for Islamic etiquette.
machine8 min 38 s1:15on YouTube
12 Nov 2020video
Mufti Abu Layth challenges Shadee Elmasry to debate Maliki fiqh
Mufti Abu Layth says his critics do not know Maliki fiqh and challenges them to debate him on any Maliki topic.
machine1 min 32 s0:00on YouTube
28 Oct 2020video
Did the classical scholars ever question whether God would command Ibrahim to kill his son?
Mufti Abu Layth says earlier scholars debated the side issues, such as rulings coming through dreams or abrogation before an act, but none asked whether God would want a father to kill his son. He satirises the discussions as all grammar and no elephant in the room.
machine2 min 36 s21:09on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Mufti Abu Layth's chat round: answering critics, soft drinks and Syrian rue
Mufti Abu Layth says he only answers persistent public critics, that non-alcoholic drinks are halal, and that he has not read the reports on Syrian rue.
machine3 min 27 s46:55on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What does 'justice' mean in the Quran's verse on marrying more than one wife?
Mufti Abu Layth says the verse requires equal treatment of wives as the benchmark, accepting human shortfalls, and does not rule polygamy out.
machine9 min 51 s50:22on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is Sharia-compliant investing really different from normal investing?
Mufti Abu Layth says ethical investing is fine, but interest loopholes are absurd: bank interest is not Quranic riba and mortgages are permissible.
machine9 min 53 s1:00:41on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Mufti Abu Layth's chat round: Sunni and Maliki, beards and quick answers
Quick answers: Mufti Abu Layth says he is Sunni and Maliki, and that the din is not in the beard.
machine2 min 06 s1:10:06on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does God really care whether I have a beard?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Sharia exists to preserve life and order, and that picturing God as obsessed with beards shrinks God into a child throwing tantrums.
machine6 min 28 s1:12:12on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Did the Prophet forbid Ali from taking a second wife?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet objected not to Ali taking a second wife but to his marrying the daughter of Abu Jahl.
machine2 min 32 s1:18:40on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why do imams in the West wear 'Islamic' robes?
Mufti Abu Layth says there was never an Islamic clothing; clerical dress came centuries later as a symbol of status that distances scholars from people.
machine6 min 38 s1:21:12on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is non-halal chicken and beef actually haram?
Mufti Abu Layth says eating non-dhabiha meat is not haram, since its original purpose has gone, but he advocates halal meat for the sake of identity.
machine4 min 32 s2:31:58on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Did Imam Malik say that Jesus died?
Mufti Abu Layth says there is no Quranic verse on a second coming and that the Imam Malik report of Jesus's death is in a reliable Maliki source.
machine11 min 07 s3:03:26on YouTube
21 Oct 2020video
Why criticise Sahih al-Bukhari but not Imam Malik's Muwatta?
The Muwatta is not caught up in the same debate: many people transmitted it, and Imam Malik himself shows in it that some well-chained hadith are not acted upon, so there is no dogmatism around it.
machine1 min 20 s0:03on YouTube
17 Oct 2020video
Are psychedelics haram in Islam?
Psychedelics are not haram because they are not intoxicants like alcohol but entheogens that connect a person with God. Mufti Abu Layth says the political label of drugs wrongly lumps them with substances of abuse.
machine4 min 28 s0:00on YouTube
17 Oct 2020video
Did the Sufi saints have psychedelic experiences without knowing it?
Many of Islam's great mystics, such as Junayd, al-Hallaj and Ibn Arabi, most likely had psychedelic experiences without knowing it, as initiates at Eleusis and communities eating ergotised grain did.
machine4 min 15 s7:26on YouTube
17 Oct 2020video
LatestDid Rumi use harmala seed and a DMT-containing reed flute?
Rumi drank preparations of harmala seed, an MAO inhibitor, and was devoted to his ney flute, made from a reed that contains DMT; Mufti Abu Layth says it is very likely Rumi had psychedelic experiences.
machine6 min 43 s11:41on YouTube
17 Oct 2020video
Does the verse of light describe an expanded state of consciousness?
The verse of light, 24:35, is an approximation that resonates with those whose consciousness has expanded, and entheogenic experience was part and parcel of the tradition without having a name.
machine6 min 13 s29:48on YouTube
17 Oct 2020video
Does the Quran or Sunnah say anything against psychedelics?
Nothing in the Quran or Sunnah forbids psychedelics, which existed for Allah to prohibit had he wished; Mufti Abu Layth says they are non-addictive and therapeutic, unlike alcohol, and are about connecting to God.
machine3 min 43 s36:01on YouTube
16 Oct 2020video
How was Abu Bakr chosen as leader after the Prophet died?
Mufti Abu Layth rejects the idea that the companions knew leaders must come from Quraysh, and cites Umar's own words in Bukhari that Abu Bakr's hasty election must not be repeated and leaders should be chosen by shura.
machine4 min 20 s10:40on YouTube
1 Oct 2020video
Are tattoos haram, and can I work as a tattoo artist?
Some Maliki scholars held tattoos permissible on the body, forbidding them only on the face because of harm, and being a tattoo artist is not haram by default.
machine8 min 17 s2:01on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is music allowed in Islam?
Music is permissible; he says people have made far more things haram for themselves than God has.
machine3 min 46 s7:45on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it a virtue for a scholar never to hold an original position?
Mufti Abu Layth argues that a teacher of Islam who claims never to have held a position of his own is admitting he has never had an original thought in the faith.
machine3 min 46 s10:54on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why isn't bank interest riba?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that today's bank interest is not the riba the Quran addresses, arguing that the usual definition of riba as 'something extra' does not hold together.
machine6 min 37 s15:18on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is my divorce automatic if my husband has been unreachable for over a year?
It is not automatic: there are processes for a woman to obtain a divorce, and though they cost money, mosques will usually ask for proof of talaq before a new nikah.
machine2 min 31 s22:32on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does a civil divorce count as an Islamic divorce?
Usually not: a civil divorce is not an Islamic divorce by default, unless the husband intended talaq, and an irrevocable divorce from a Sharia council is better.
machine1 min 18 s23:48on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Doesn't the practice of Medina show that music is haram?
Not necessarily: Malik disliked music by temperament, but Medina after the Prophet was known for its musical instruments.
machine1 min 18 s28:39on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Are psychedelics like DMT haram in Islam?
Mufti Abu Layth does not consider psychedelics such as DMT haram or intoxicants, and advocates them as entheogens for spiritual discovery rather than recreation.
machine9 min 54 s30:58on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
If alcohol is haram, aren't drugs like DMT haram too?
Mufti Abu Layth agrees that what is haram cannot be changed, but says neither the Quran nor the Sunnah forbids substances like mushrooms or DMT.
machine1 min 49 s39:51on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can I hit my children if they don't pray?
Yes: he says hitting children over prayer misreads the hadith, and that children should be drawn to prayer by example and love, not fear.
machine1 min 59 s46:48on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Should the zakat threshold be different in each country?
Mufti Abu Layth says regional thresholds make sense to him, since the nisab rests on weak hadith and the detailed zakat system was largely built by later scholars.
machine8 min 15 s50:33on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does paying taxes count as paying zakat?
Yes, he believes paying taxes suffices for zakat today, provided the person also gives charity at various points in the year.
machine1 min 58 s58:51on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Does giving charity protect me from bad things happening?
Yes: he says giving brings good back, beginning with family, and recalls receiving much more after giving when money was tight.
machine3 min 12 s1:00:09on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
If Muslims focus too much on the beard, what deserves more focus?
Mufti Abu Layth answers by mocking the focus on beards and shaved moustaches, quoting al-Mutanabbi that such an ummah has become a laughing stock.
machine3 min 02 s2:18:44on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is a secret nikah allowed?
A secret nikah that deceives the woman is exploitation he condemns, but a low-commitment marriage both adults openly agree to is, he says, permissible.
machine3 min 51 s2:23:11on YouTube
23 Aug 2020video
Why do Salafis ignore Imam Malik's Muwatta?
Mufti Abu Layth feels Salafis struggle with Imam Malik because he is a master of hadith who also rejects hadith that go against established practice. In the Muwatta he narrates a hadith and then says it is not acted upon.
machine1 min 25 s0:00on YouTube
16 Jul 2020video
What is the Hagia Sophia and what did Turkey decide about it?
Turkey's courts under Erdogan ruled that the Hagia Sophia be converted back into a mosque, prompting celebration and mockery of objectors online. The building was built by Justinian I as a cathedral, once the largest in the eastern Christian world.
machine2 min 43 s0:00on YouTube
16 Jul 2020video
Does Islam allow converting churches and other places of worship into mosques?
Islam never set out to convert other religions' holy sites: Umar left Jerusalem's churches alone, and Quran 22:40 counts monasteries, churches and synagogues among places where Allah's name is glorified and which He protects. The Hagia Sophia's conversion happened, but it was not what Islam encourages.
machine5 min 15 s2:43on YouTube
16 Jul 2020video
Was it haram for Muslims to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque after the conquest?
No, he says: it was the politics of conquest in medieval times, done by Muslims and Christians alike and neither encouraged nor prohibited by Islam, but it was not a good thing. The building later became a museum, and the argument now is only that it was once a mosque.
machine2 min 37 s7:58on YouTube
16 Jul 2020video
Is it wrong to turn the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque?
Yes, he says: not as a matter of halal and haram, since Turkey may do what it wants with its property, but it is absolutely wrong and a great mistake, driven by the regime's bid to lead the Islamic world.
machine2 min 38 s10:35on YouTube
16 Jul 2020video
Were the Ottomans the representatives of Islam?
No, he says: the Ottoman Empire was a dynasty that happened to be Muslim, practised mandatory fratricide and styled its sultans 'Caesar of Rome', and never claimed to be a symbol of Islam. The romantic image is a later invention.
machine2 min 35 s13:13on YouTube
16 Jul 2020video
Does Istanbul need the Hagia Sophia as a mosque?
No: the Blue Mosque, with room for at least ten thousand, is a four-minute walk away and hundreds of Istanbul mosques already call the adhan, so the emotional reaction to hearing the adhan there is misplaced.
machine2 min 38 s15:48on YouTube
16 Jul 2020video
Can a waqf never be overturned, as the argument for the Hagia Sophia claims?
Mufti Abu Layth says the waqf argument fails because Abu Hanifa himself held that an endowment can be overturned, a view Hanafis abandon when it does not serve the powerful or the clergy. He calls the reconversion part of a rising right-wing fascism that includes Muslims.
machine3 min 58 s22:22on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Is wearing my hijab turban-style allowed?
Yes, he says a turban-style covering is fine, because covering the hair is not clearly proven from the Quran or Sunnah; the emphasis was on modesty.
machine6 min 48 s17:43on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
What do you think of Shah Wali Allah?
Mufti Abu Layth calls Shah Wali Allah an amazing scholar, ahead of his time, who revived hadith studies and wrote on the objectives of the Sharia without using the word maqasid.
machine2 min 32 s31:30on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
What parts of the body count as 'awrah for men and women?
Mufti Abu Layth follows the school of Madinah: the core 'awrah is the private parts (for women, from below the navel to the thighs), and uncovering the rest in prayer does not invalidate it.
machine5 min 02 s34:01on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Does 'leave what makes you doubt' mean I should always follow the strictest opinion?
No: he reads it the opposite way, since nothing should be made binding unless proven with certainty; it is a general rule about dubious matters, not a call to strictness.
machine1 min 58 s59:42on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
How do I make sense of the hadith that the Prophet banned mut'ah?
Mufti Abu Layth says the reports on the banning of mut'ah are inconsistent and contradict each other, so they are hard to rely on.
machine2 min 33 s1:01:01on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Why does the Quran talk about something as small as the Prophet's dinner guests?
They are not trivial: the verse teaches that small transgressions like imposing on people matter, and such etiquettes build a healthy society.
machine6 min 51 s1:06:38on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
What happened with the Hagia Sophia?
Turkey's courts ruled that the Hagia Sophia, originally Justinian's cathedral, be turned back into a mosque, to celebration and mockery online.
machine3 min 47 s1:14:09on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Does Islam allow turning churches into mosques?
Islam never set out to convert other faiths' holy sites: Umar left Jerusalem's churches alone, and Quran 22:40 names them among places where Allah's name is glorified.
machine5 min 09 s1:17:16on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Was it haram for the Ottomans to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque?
The original conversion was not haram but the politics of conquest, practised by Muslims and Christians alike, and he does not think it was good.
machine2 min 35 s1:22:25on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Is it wrong to turn the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque?
It is not haram, since Turkey may do as it likes with its property, but it is absolutely wrong and a great mistake, done for political standing.
machine2 min 33 s1:25:00on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Were the Ottomans representatives of Islam?
The Ottoman Empire was a dynasty that happened to be Muslim, never a symbol of Islam; the romantic image is a later invention.
machine2 min 33 s1:27:33on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Does Istanbul need the Hagia Sophia as a mosque?
There is no need: the Blue Mosque, holding ten thousand, is four minutes away and hundreds of mosques in Istanbul already call the adhan.
machine3 min 13 s1:30:06on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Can a mosque that was once a waqf never be anything else?
The waqf argument fails, he says, because Abu Hanifa held that an endowment can be overturned, a view Hanafis drop when it does not serve power.
machine3 min 13 s1:37:09on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Are there Sharia courts in the UK?
There are no Sharia courts in the UK, only Sharia councils dealing with religious marriages and divorces.
machine39 s1:47:19on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Isn't the Prophet clearing the Kaaba of idols a precedent for the Hagia Sophia?
No: removing the idols from the Kaaba was about ending superstition, and cannot justify converting a museum in a secular country, which he calls a political stunt.
machine2 min 36 s1:47:58on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Can I wear perfume that contains alcohol?
It is pure and nothing to worry about: alcohol is not impure for many scholars of Madinah, and perfume alcohol is not the drinking kind anyway.
machine1 min 56 s1:50:34on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Is it halal to eat crocodile?
Yes, crocodile is halal in the school of Madinah, where only pig is categorically forbidden besides carrion and what is sacrificed to idols.
machine2 min 26 s1:52:30on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Is it haram to eat dog meat?
Dog is not haram in the school of Madinah, which follows Quran 6:145, but not being haram does not mean people eat it.
machine3 min 42 s1:54:56on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Was Sudan right to drop its alcohol and apostasy laws and end flogging?
Mufti Abu Layth welcomes Sudan's reforms: flogging today only damages Islam's message, FGM should be outlawed, and alcohol was never prohibited for non-Muslims.
machine2 min 28 s2:08:00on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
Should Muslims expose the private lives of religious figures?
What consenting adults do privately is their business, but abuse must be reported through proper channels; and do not meet anyone, even a famous reciter, in a car park.
machine3 min 03 s2:17:52on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why is lending money for profit considered wrong in Islam?
Mufti Abu Layth tests why profit on loans is a problem; the guest points to profit-sharing partnership as the alternative.
machine1 min 51 s1:24:20on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Can the bank take my whole house if I default near the end of my mortgage?
Mufti Abu Layth says that, in UK practice, mortgage lenders are far more lenient with defaulters than landlords, and asks to discuss riba as a concept.
machine4 min 32 s1:26:11on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it better to rent or to take a mortgage?
Mufti Abu Layth argues that, compared with renting, a mortgage is probably the better option, and presses the guest on what is wrong with riba as a concept.
machine5 min 10 s1:30:43on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is bank interest the same as the riba forbidden in the Quran?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that the riba of the Quran meant loan sharking, not modern banking; the guest says today's banks are loan sharks.
machine6 min 26 s1:35:53on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why might the Quran's ban on riba not apply to modern loans?
Mufti Abu Layth argues that Quranic riba belonged to a zero-sum economy and does not apply to modern loans; the guest describes its human cost.
machine4 min 34 s1:42:19on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does bank lending help society prosper?
Mufti Abu Layth argues that bank lending, by recycling the same money, is what has allowed modern societies to prosper; the guest warns of endless debt.
machine3 min 50 s1:46:53on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is investing as a partner better than lending at interest?
Mufti Abu Layth accepts partnership as a better model but says lending and investing both run on greed; the guest calls today's system worse than riba.
machine4 min 27 s1:50:43on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it wrong to expect something back when you lend money?
Mufti Abu Layth says modern lending has safety nets that loan sharks lack, and that people being motivated by a return is nothing wrong.
machine3 min 54 s1:55:10on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Are Islamic mortgages really different from normal mortgages?
Mufti Abu Layth calls Islamic mortgages a loophole that does the same thing as a conventional one at a higher price with an Islamic veneer.
machine6 min 22 s2:06:11on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is an Islamic economic system realistic or utopian?
The guest argues that Islam offers a complete welfare-minded social order; Mufti Abu Layth presses him on whether it is utopian.
machine6 min 28 s2:12:33on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is bank interest the riba that the Quran forbids?
Mufti Abu Layth's view: the riba of the Quran means loan sharking, not interest-based bank loans, though banks are not philanthropists.
machine3 min 11 s2:21:35on YouTube
2 Jul 2020video
Is it wrong for a hijabi YouTuber to take off her hijab?
Removing the hijab is her own choice and her own business, Mufti Abu Layth says; he adds that some scholars hold hijab is not obligatory and that he finds their argument stronger.
machine2 min 36 s0:01on YouTube
2 Jul 2020video
Why are people angry at a hijabi influencer who removed her hijab if it is her choice?
The problem is not the hijab but duplicity: Mufti Abu Layth says building fame and income on a religious image one does not believe in is a double life that inevitably collapses, and he advises against living fake lifestyles.
machine5 min 55 s2:37on YouTube
29 Jun 2020video
Is alcohol under forty percent permissible, as a Pakistani mufti reportedly said?
Mufti Abu Layth says he cannot tell what the mufti meant: forty percent strength would be ridiculous, a diluted drink might rest on the Hanafi view on nabidh, and the cigarette analogy made no sense to him. He wants to hear the mufti's explanation before judging.
machine4 min 40 s1:13on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Were the Prophet's judgements meant to bind Muslims after his death?
The guest says the Prophet's authority as judge and leader was for his lifetime only, that his bay'ah was a reciprocal social contract in which women voted, and that his messengership ended once the Quran was delivered, so obeying the messenger cannot mean obeying Bukhari.
machine6 min 31 s31:53on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Can hadith be sifted with criteria, or must the whole corpus be rejected?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet's practice survives as a living tradition in fiqh and that he accepts a hadith only if it passes reason, the texts and the principles. The guest replies that narrators who fabricated a stoning verse forfeit all credibility, like a false witness in the Quran.
machine3 min 53 s48:57on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does the Quran ban slavery, and what does 'what your right hand possesses' mean?
The guest says the Quran abolishes slavery as the greatest crime, since owning a slave is to claim to be a rabb like Pharaoh, and that what the right hand possesses means contractual marriage. Mufti Abu Layth holds that slavery is abrogated through trajectory hermeneutics rather than by an explicit ban.
machine10 min 29 s1:08:39on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
If the Quran abolished slavery, why is there no explicit verse saying so?
The guest says rabb is used in the Quran only for God, so that owning a slave is shirk and la ilaha illa Allah is itself the abolition of slavery. Mufti Abu Layth notes that rabb has ordinary linguistic uses and that non-Muslims recorded Muslims as owning slaves.
machine7 min 51 s1:19:08on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
How does the guest translate the verses on cutting off the thief's hand, jizya and polygamy?
The guest's translation renders the thief's punishment as cutting off the means, the tax on non-Muslims as war reparations, sa'ihat as women active in society, and polygamy as permitted only for widows with orphans in exigent circumstances.
machine3 min 58 s2:12:32on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
If you reject all hadith, how do you know how to pray?
The guest rejects every hadith collection, including Nahj al-Balagha, as a source of religion, and says the objection that the Quran does not detail the five prayers is a circular argument built on fabricated details.
machine3 min 55 s2:32:11on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why were the Israelites told to sacrifice a heifer, and what does it teach about religious detail?
The heifer was commanded to break the Israelites' lingering reverence for their Egyptian masters' cow worship, and the rabbis' frivolous questions about it exemplify the clerical obsession with detail. Mufti Abu Layth agrees and recalls arguing the same.
machine2 min 40 s2:36:06on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
What does the word salat mean in the Quran according to the Quran-only view?
The guest defines salat from the Quran as solidarity rather than ritual: with God, which is remembrance and connection, and with people, which is the secular Friday gathering; the essence is dhikr, not physical form.
machine3 min 54 s2:38:46on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does prayer have to be physical, or is remembering God enough?
The guest is not against the physical form of prayer but says it is only an expression; the one necessary component of salat according to the Quran is conscious connection with God, so one may pray sitting or while travelling.
machine2 min 34 s2:42:40on YouTube
19 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Was there ever a verse of stoning in the Quran, and does stoning still apply?
The guest says Umar's 'verse of rajm' refers to the muharaba verse 5:33, from which exemplary punishment including stoning derives, and that it still applies to extreme crimes under strict conditions. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the Prophet only condoned stoning from Jewish practice until the lashing verse, and that under Maliki scholars like al-Burzuli the hudud change with the age.
machine5 min 14 s1:31:11on YouTube
19 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Was Ibn Mas'ud's Quran different from the Quran we have?
No: the guest says the reports that Ibn Mas'ud rejected al-Fatiha or the last two surahs are wrongly ascribed to him, and the major companions vouched for the same Quran, the only traceable dispute being over the word 'qul'. Mufti Abu Layth also says he would not advocate cutting the hand today, since for him the hudud have already changed with the age.
machine3 min 57 s1:37:31on YouTube
25 May 2020video
I stopped praying because it feels mechanical and forced; will I go to hell?
Pray out of gratitude and connection, not fear of hell, and do not develop hatred for the prayer even if you slack or combine prayers; each person's journey is their own. The Prophet told a Companion who slept past dawn simply to pray when he wakes.
machine11 min 26 s0:00on YouTube
28 Apr 2020From the Mind of a Mufti
Is slavery haram in Islam, and did Muslim scholars ban it before the UN?
Slavery is categorically haram today, and Maliki scholars issued fatwas forbidding it long before the UN; Mufti Abu Layth explains this through trajectory hermeneutics. Concubines were female slaves, not wives.
machine2 min 37 s0:00on YouTube
28 Apr 2020From the Mind of a Mufti
How could men in early Islam have sex with their female slaves?
Sexual relations with female slaves were condoned because the society Islam was revealed in had a very different mindset: its slavery resembled servitude rather than transatlantic slavery, and it drew no line between a slave's labour and sexual utility, so the practice could not be changed at once.
machine9 min 11 s3:55on YouTube
28 Apr 2020From the Mind of a Mufti
Why did Islam not abolish slavery outright?
Islam did not abolish slavery outright because the collective consciousness of the age could not yet see it as wrong, but it encouraged emancipation as a route to that change. Slavery was always wrong, and Mufti Abu Layth says Jonathan Brown's three axioms rest on a shallow analysis.
machine9 min 23 s11:48on YouTube
28 Apr 2020video
Is it wrong to preach modesty to society?
There is nothing wrong with a message about modesty: like avoiding profanity in front of children, social propriety has a place even when one disagrees on details. Tariq Jamil's apology, he says, was big of him.
machine2 min 20 s9:52on YouTube
22 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does the Quran prescribe stoning for adultery?
The Quran's penalty for adultery is flogging, not stoning, which the guest says entered Muslim law from hadith and is biblical in origin, so explaining Islam to the public must start from the Quran. Mufti Abu Layth says he agrees completely that the Quran must have primacy.
machine5 min 14 s7:38on YouTube
22 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does the Quran prescribe a punishment for apostasy?
The Quran prescribes no worldly penalty for apostasy, only punishment in the hereafter, and 'there is no compulsion in religion' is stated as emphatically as the testimony of faith. Rightly representing the Quran is about pleasing Allah, not the kuffar.
machine2 min 37 s11:34on YouTube
22 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why did earlier scholars not see what reform-minded scholars see today?
Past scholars were great but fallible and bound by their time, like people in a smoke-filled room or marchers in a procession, while today we can see the whole history of ideas from the balcony. Mufti Abu Layth adds that the apostasy rule rests on one problematic narration from Ikrima in Bukhari.
machine3 min 57 s15:30on YouTube
22 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Can hudud punishments such as stoning or hand-cutting change with the times?
Mufti Abu Layth holds that stoning was a pre-Quranic practice abrogated by the Quran and that the Sharia's punishments reflect their age, as Maliki scholars and the Ottomans applied. The guest agrees that the spirit of the law can require departing from its letter, as Umar did when he suspended hand-cutting in a famine.
machine6 min 33 s18:08on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it haram for medical students to dissect dead bodies?
The guest says dissecting cadavers for medical training is permissible, and cites a Salafi fatwa forbidding it as an example of Ahl al-Hadith rigidity.
machine3 min 57 s25:17on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Can women be stopped from going to the mosque because of fitnah?
The guest says there is no evidence for keeping women from the mosque beyond fear of fitnah, since even harassment in the Prophet's time did not lead to a ban; Mufti Abu Layth cites Malik's report of men and women making wudu together.
machine6 min 31 s29:14on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is a woman on her period ritually impure?
Mufti Abu Layth says menstruation is a hygiene matter, not impurity; the guest cites late Hanbali scholars who permitted intercourse during menses and Abu Hanifa's longer breastfeeding period to show how varied the fiqh is.
machine6 min 36 s35:45on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
How clearly was zakah defined in the Prophet's lifetime?
The guest says some salaf and Ibn Taymiyya counted taxes paid to the authorities as zakah; Mufti Abu Layth says zakah was not clearly defined in the Prophet's time and its later rules were a pragmatic tax decision.
machine5 min 08 s42:21on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Were the people who refused zakah after the Prophet's death apostates?
The guest says taxes that fund welfare can count as zakah, and that the refusers fought by Abu Bakr were rebels against the state rather than apostates; Mufti Abu Layth says he is inclined to that view.
machine7 min 47 s47:29on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it haram for a husband to drink his wife's breast milk?
The guest says classical jurists allowed a husband to drink his wife's milk, and Mufti Abu Layth says the Maliki school considers it pure and not haram, unlike a stricter Hanafi view.
machine9 min 08 s55:16on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Do some muftis use lenient rulings for themselves but give strict ones to others?
The guest says some muftis take concessions such as the Ahl al-Hadith view on triple talaq for themselves while giving people harsh rulings, citing an account about a mufti in his neighbourhood.
machine2 min 37 s1:04:24on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Can a past relationship or an accidental touch make my spouse haram for me?
Mufti Abu Layth says Hanafi fatwas of hurmat al-musahara that dissolve marriages over a premarital relationship with an in-law or an accidental touch destroy families, and that the Maliki school does not hold the ruling.
machine6 min 30 s1:07:01on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does a triple talaq count as one divorce or three?
The guest says triple talaq drives many to the Ahl al-Hadith view that it counts as one, while some Ahl al-Hadith scholars privately hold it counts as three but will not publish this for fear of controversy.
machine5 min 46 s1:13:31on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why do people react so strongly when a scholar challenges established views?
The guest says people feel threatened when their views are challenged, and that independence from groups and donors is what lets a scholar research and speak honestly.
machine3 min 53 s1:19:17on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is a marriage between a Muslim and a non-Muslim valid?
Mufti Abu Layth says he holds that a nikah between a Muslim and a non-Muslim would be valid, especially for converts whose spouses remain non-Muslim; both say quoting recorded minority views gets them accused of opening Pandora's box.
machine5 min 13 s1:23:10on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is looking at an image of a naked person the same as looking at a real one in Islamic law?
The guest says he cannot call something haram without a text prohibiting it, so he presents the scholars' differing views on looking at a reflection or image and leaves the choice to the asker.
machine4 min1:28:23on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does lowering the gaze apply to images and screens?
The guest says most classical scholars took the forbidden gaze to be the lustful one, and that jurists distinguished seeing a person in the flesh from a reflection or screen, a matter on which there are two opinions.
machine7 min 56 s1:32:23on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Do non-Muslim women in a Muslim country have to cover up?
The guest says early scholars held that non-Muslim women cannot be forced to cover and that the prohibition on looking was applied only to believing women.
machine3 min 57 s1:40:19on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
If pornography is not called haram, does that mean it is encouraged?
The guest distinguishes saying something should not be done from declaring it haram; Mufti Abu Layth restates that they are not encouraging pornography, which may be harmful, but not calling it haram.
machine3 min 34 s1:44:16on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is masturbation haram in Islam?
The guest says no Companion is reported to have forbidden masturbation and that the only evidence cited against it is the advice to fast; Mufti Abu Layth says modern society demonises men's sexuality.
machine3 min 48 s1:47:50on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Did classical scholars permit masturbation, and for women too?
The guest cites al-Shawkani's treatise and some Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali reports permitting masturbation, and says some held the prohibition applies only to men; Mufti Abu Layth notes Malik's disdain as a social attitude.
machine5 min 16 s1:51:38on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is pornography today like the concubines of the past?
The guest rejects likening pornography to concubinage or mut'ah, calling it instant gratification, and describes Salafi efforts to suppress permissive classical texts; Mufti Abu Layth says these are real questions that need open discussion.
machine5 min 11 s1:56:54on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Doesn't the Islamic teaching on modesty make pornography haram?
The guest says the general teaching on modesty is not enough to declare something haram without clear evidence; Mufti Abu Layth says he is not convinced by the report that eating ice does not break the fast.
machine6 min 14 s2:02:05on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does masturbation or other sexual activity break the fast?
The guest says only intercourse is agreed to break the fast, citing Aisha's report and al-Albani; Mufti Abu Layth says he agrees that masturbation per se does not break the fast.
machine5 min 08 s2:08:19on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why do people get so upset about Islamic rulings on sex?
The guest blames a culture of shame in the subcontinent, and says the classical scholars and al-Bukhari show there is no shyness in learning the religion and that legitimate differences cannot be denounced.
machine7 min 41 s2:13:27on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is oral sex between spouses haram because the private parts are impure?
The guest says the arguments against oral sex within marriage, from the right-hand prohibition and from impurity, do not hold, since one's own body is not impure; Mufti Abu Layth says he agrees.
machine2 min 32 s2:21:08on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why talk publicly about permissive opinions if it might encourage people?
The guest says knowledge cannot be hidden in the internet age and that people lose trust when scholars conceal it, so it is better to tell them the recorded opinions.
machine5 min 14 s2:23:40on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Did Abu Hanifa hold that there is no hadd punishment for sodomy?
The guest says Abu Hanifa held there is no hadd for sodomy, that Salafis attack Hanafis for it, and that a Salafi mufti used the same view to shield one of their own scholars.
machine4 min 43 s2:28:54on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Isn't it better to feel guilty when sinning so that you repent?
The guest says most scholars hold watching pornography is haram and people should not watch it, while academically the evidence resembles Imam Ahmad's 'I dislike it but do not say it is haram'.
machine2 min 23 s2:33:37on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does Islam teach us to feel guilty?
Mufti Abu Layth says guilt-tripping is not an Islamic concept but one taken from the Judeo-Christian tradition, and the guest says forbidding evil applies only to what the texts clearly prohibit.
machine5 min 14 s2:36:00on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does making people feel guilty about pornography make things worse?
Mufti Abu Layth says telling people simply not to watch pornography is unrealistic and that guilt-tripping over what is not categorically haram may add to depression; the guest likens past bans on television and the internet.
machine3 min 57 s2:41:14on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Does watching porn fuel sex trafficking?
Mufti Abu Layth says saying pornography is not categorically haram is not condoning abuses in the industry and does not in itself aid the market; the guest says people should be told its harms and follow the majority who forbid it.
machine8 min 52 s2:46:28on YouTube
8 Mar 2020From the Mind of a Mufti
Did the Prophet marry his cousin?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet's marriage to Zaynab bint Jahsh, a relative only through her mother, is unlike families where everyone marries cousins; he also says marriage without a wali is valid.
machine3 min 37 s2:16on YouTube
28 Feb 2020From the Mind of a Mufti
LatestWho was right about Fadak, Fatima or Abu Bakr?
Both, in his view: Fatima was right that prophets can be inherited from, but Fadak was fay' belonging to the public, so Abu Bakr was right to keep it under the state.
machine3 min 13 s16:39on YouTube
28 Feb 2020From the Mind of a Mufti
Is it halal to buy bad loans and foreclose on people's homes?
Buying property as a business is permissible in his view, but exploiting people who cannot pay and evicting them is oppression he is against.
machine38 s30:52on YouTube
28 Feb 2020From the Mind of a Mufti
Should election campaigns only be publicly funded?
Mufti Abu Layth thinks there should be some regulation of election funding, though banning private funding outright would restrict liberties, so it is a tough question.
machine1 min 19 s33:27on YouTube
16 Feb 2020From the Mind of a Mufti
Is it Sunnah to drink camel urine as medicine?
No, you should not drink camel urine: he calls it nonsense and says the report is problematic in its chain and its text, even though it is in al-Bukhari.
machine4 min 55 s0:00on YouTube
14 Jan 2020Quick Fiqh!
Is DMT haram?
Mufti Abu Layth says DMT is not haram and calls it an entheogen, though it is not for everyone; legality and health are separate questions. He holds the same for psilocybin.
machine2 min 56 s0:00on YouTube
2019 · 68
17 Dec 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Is growing a beard compulsory in Islam?
Growing a beard was an ancient Arab custom shared by Muslims and their opponents, not an Islamic requirement in itself. The command to grow it is worded like commands to dye the hair and pray in shoes that nobody treats as obligatory, and no sahih hadith says how to grow it.
machine7 min 50 s0:00on YouTube
12 Dec 2019On Love, Romance, and Relationships
Is it haram to kiss my wife in public?
A greeting kiss on the cheek or forehead in public, as is common in the Gulf and seen in the Haram, is no problem because it is affectionate rather than sensual. A passionate kiss in public would be a problem.
machine5 min 04 s0:00on YouTube
4 Nov 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Is mut'ah (temporary marriage) haram?
Mut'ah is not haram in his understanding: the reports prohibiting it are contradictory and it is very hard to prove haram. Nobody is obliged to do it, and much of the hostility to it is anti-Shia sentiment.
machine8 min 47 s0:03on YouTube
3 Nov 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Does the Quran actually tell women to cover their hair, or only their chest?
There is nothing explicit in the Quran or Sunnah about covering the head; the verse of al-Nur tells women to cover the jayb (the chest opening) with the khimar they already wore, and whether the khimar itself is obligatory or circumstantial is an open question. Covering the hair became the settled teaching within a generation of the companions.
machine9 min 06 s0:04on YouTube
3 Nov 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Is it a sin for a Muslim woman not to cover her hair?
Contemporary scholars who say covering the hair is not obligatory hold a valid position, and not wearing hijab is an equally valid opinion to wearing it, which Mufti Abu Layth calls good as part of a woman's identity. What the Quran explicitly establishes is modesty, and the choice is a personal journey, not something to impose.
machine2 min 39 s9:10on YouTube
3 Nov 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Can a husband or father force a woman to wear hijab?
Forcing women to cover their hair is categorically wrong in Mufti Abu Layth's view and does greater harm. He attributes the pressure to men's insecurity about women and to guilt imposed through fatwas that curse men whose wives do not cover, both of which he calls wrong.
machine5 min 13 s11:49on YouTube
3 Nov 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Is Islam supposed to feel like a burden?
The deen is one of ease and should complement a person's life rather than burden them with guilt and suffering. An interpretation of Islam that weighs people down is, in Mufti Abu Layth's view, not the one the religion came with.
machine1 min 41 s17:02on YouTube
11 Oct 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Is a prayer mark on the forehead a sign of piety in Islam?
A burn mark on the forehead from prostration has nothing to do with Islam and is not a sign of piety. The verse about the believers' mark on their faces refers to a glow of commitment, and an early report rebukes a man who bore such a mark.
machine4 min 09 s0:01on YouTube
10 Oct 2019Quick Fiqh!
Can I hug my female friends?
No ruling is given: Mufti Abu Layth answers the question with jokes about the questioner being friend-zoned and declines to issue a fatwa. He moves on saying the questioner has bigger issues to worry about.
machine2 min 21 s0:00on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Is the hadith that singing breeds hypocrisy in the heart authentic?
The hadith that singing breeds hypocrisy in the heart is weak in every one of its chains, which run from Ibn Mas'ud to the Prophet in some versions and stop at Ibn Mas'ud in others. Mufti Abu Layth restates that nothing categorically proves music haram and that lyrics do not make it so.
machine2 min 37 s0:04on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Which scholars held that music is permissible, and what did Imam Malik's school say?
Al-Shawkani, Ibn Hazm, Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi and al-Fakihani all found no sahih hadith prohibiting music, and the people of Madinah, including the qadi Sa'd ibn Ibrahim, held it permissible, with some transmitting this as Imam Malik's own position. Only Allah and His Messenger are authorities, so a refutation needs a sahih hadith.
machine7 min 50 s2:41on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Is listening to music haram?
In Mufti Abu Layth's understanding music is not forbidden, because no text is at once conclusive, sahih and explicit: the Bukhari hadith speaks of entertainment, not music, and the texts naming music are not authentic. People find this hard to accept because they come to religion expecting it to oppose entertainment and desire.
machine5 min 16 s10:31on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Is music with explicit or violent lyrics haram?
Lyrics do not make music haram: Arabic poetry about sex and alcohol was recited in the Prophet's mosque and is still studied by every scholar, and Ka'b ibn Zuhayr recited his love-opening ode from the Prophet's minbar. Mufti Abu Layth does not promote a culture of violence and drugs but says people can judge content for themselves.
machine6 min 34 s15:47on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Who has the authority to declare music haram if God has not?
God has not made music haram and neither Mufti Abu Layth nor the scholars have the authority to do so: the authentic hadith speak of entertainment, which could mean many things, and the scholars' prohibition is their own interpretation. Those who dislike music need not listen to it, but it is allowed.
machine3 min 48 s22:21on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Is it haram to write or sing lyrics about alcohol?
Lyrics about alcohol are not haram, since such poetry was recited in the Prophet's mosque, and declaring something haram because it might lead to bad behaviour is lying on God's behalf. Enjoining good is not policing, scholars need not be followed blindly, and God understands sarcasm as well as we do.
machine3 min 59 s26:09on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Why is everything permissible by default in Islamic law unless proven haram?
By default everything is conclusively permissible, since Allah created everything on earth for us and what He was silent about is pardoned, and that certainty can only be removed by certainty, not by a hadith that remains probable. So Mufti Abu Layth does not declare music halal; Allah has, and the evidence against it falls short of overturning that.
machine6 min 35 s30:08on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
If obscene lyrics make music haram, what about the classical Arabic poetry taught in madrasas?
Classical Arabic poetry taught in every major madrasa, from Abu Nuwas to the Hamasa and Imru' al-Qais, is as full of violence, alcohol and sex as rap lyrics, so condemning rap on religious grounds is a double standard. Parents may set their own rules for their children without attributing them to God.
machine11 min 32 s36:43on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Does sound exist if nobody hears it?
Sound, colour, taste and smell are the brain's interpretations of vibrations and waves, so the universe itself is silent and colourless. A tree falling with nobody to hear it makes no sound, only vibrations.
machine3 min 53 s48:15on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Why do people assume music must be haram before looking at any evidence?
People come to Islam with a prior picture of what religion must be, which includes sacrifice, suffering and asceticism and excludes entertainment, and this backdrop rather than the texts drives their judgement that music is haram. Even with no hadith against it, music would be forbidden on that basis.
machine7 min 54 s52:08on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Why is celibacy praised despite a hadith against it while music is condemned without one?
A sahih hadith condemns the vow never to marry, yet unmarried scholars are praised in books like Abu Ghudda's, because celibacy fits the picture of religion as self-denial; music, which fits the opposite picture, is condemned although no clear sahih hadith names it. The default law remains that everything is permissible unless proven otherwise.
machine6 min 30 s1:00:02on YouTube
18 Sep 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
What is Mufti Abu Layth's final verdict on whether music is haram?
Music is not haram: no clear sahih hadith prohibits it and the default law makes everything permissible unless proven otherwise. Mufti Abu Layth calls it the nourishment of the soul, notes that sound is only vibration interpreted by a listener, and cites music therapy in medieval Muslim hospitals.
machine4 min 42 s1:06:32on YouTube
17 Sep 2019Quick Fiqh!
Is it a sin to pee standing up?
Mufti Abu Layth says it is not a sin at all; scholars only disliked it because the loose clothing of the past made splashes likely.
machine5 min 58 s1:18on YouTube
21 Aug 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Closing: build bridges, talk to everyone, and an invitation to Daniel Haqiqatjou
Talk to everyone, including ex-Muslims, and hold dialogue where ideas differ. Mufti Abu Layth has invited Daniel Haqiqatjou to a dialogue on apostasy.
machine1 min18:17on YouTube
14 Aug 2019On Current Events
Does Islam allow gender transition for someone diagnosed with gender dysphoria?
Where there are legitimate biological concerns and medical input, he believes it is permissible, but he opposes sowing doubt about gender in children.
machine5 min 11 s0:00on YouTube
4 Aug 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Is capital punishment, including for apostasy, justified?
Mufti Abu Layth opposes capital punishment as absurd, killing to stop killing, and calls justifying death for apostasy as treason a stupid argument. He welcomes Mohammed Hijab's apparent move away from the classical ruling to kill apostates.
machine7 min 25 s29:52on YouTube
4 Aug 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Is music haram in Islam?
No: he says music is not haram and is arguably nourishment for the soul, pointing to its use for healing in medieval Muslim hospitals.
machine2 min 39 s0:00on YouTube
2 Aug 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Why does Islam forbid homosexual activity?
Islam did not address homosexuality directly; it outlawed all sex outside marriage to build strong family units, and homosexuality was prohibited as a by-product. There are no clear sahih hadith on it, and scholars differed on related questions such as anal sex.
machine5 min 11 s0:01on YouTube
2 Aug 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
How did classical scholars treat intersex people (khuntha) and their right to marry?
Classical scholars ruled that a khuntha, an intersex person, can neither marry nor be married, which Mufti Abu Layth calls cruel, absurd and a failure of scholarship to give a truly Islamic answer.
machine6 min 30 s5:12on YouTube
1 Aug 2019On Current Events
Is it wrong to judge someone who has become an atheist or left Islam?
A person's atheism or doubts are their own choice and he does not judge them; what he objects to, he says, is staged exorcisms and charity money taken under false pretences.
machine5 min 43 s10:45on YouTube
1 Aug 2019On Current Events
Is it right to condemn people for being in a polygamous marriage?
Mufti Abu Layth says polygamy is a personal choice Islam allows, so people should not hate on others for it, though nobody has to practise it.
machine8 min 49 s21:29on YouTube
25 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Who transmitted the hadith 'whoever changes his religion, kill him', and does the Quran punish apostasy?
Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran is ambivalent about those who leave Islam and that the call to kill apostates is nonsense; the report 'whoever changes his religion, kill him' in Bukhari rests solely on Ikrima, a Khariji whom Imam Malik and Ibn Umar distrusted. He introduces Abdullah Sameer's post as the subject he will answer.
machine5 min 07 s1:18on YouTube
25 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
What is the iddah after divorce and why does the Quran require it?
The iddah is a waiting period of one to three cycles after a divorce which establishes whether the woman is pregnant and prevents suspicion and conflict, and during it she keeps the right to stay in the home. Mufti Abu Layth reads this as the opening of the passage the objector quotes from.
machine3 min 54 s6:26on YouTube
25 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
What does the Quran say about how a divorce should end and about a divorced woman's future?
At the end of the iddah the couple must either reconcile or part with kindness before witnesses, and Mufti Abu Layth reads the promise that God makes a way out and provides from unexpected places as reassurance to the vulnerable party that she need not accept oppression for shelter. The objector, he says, skips all of this.
machine5 min 13 s10:20on YouTube
25 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
What does Quran 65:4 say about the waiting period for women whose periods have stopped?
Women who have despaired of menstruation wait three months, a rule Mufti Abu Layth reads as addressed to men who are unsure whether a woman has reached the menopause, so that pregnancy can be excluded; the pregnant wait until childbirth.
machine2 min 36 s15:33on YouTube
25 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Does 'those who have not menstruated' in Quran 65:4 refer to little girls?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says the phrase refers to women whose cycles are absent through illness or irregularity, as Abu Hayyan, Ibn Ashur, al-Samarqandi, Abu al-Su'ud and Ibn Atiyya read it. Al-Tha'labi records that the verse was revealed about a man who divorced his wife during her menses.
machine3 min 57 s18:09on YouTube
25 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Did Imam Malik allow marriage to be consummated with a girl who was not yet nubile?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says Imam Malik's fatwa was clear that sexual relations with a wife are haram unless she is nubile. Scholars who read 65:4 to include girls were men influenced by the patriarchy of their age and were wrong, while others such as Ibn Ashur, al-Samarqandi, Abu Hayyan and al-Alusi did not read it so.
machine2 min 39 s27:19on YouTube
25 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
How does the rule that a clear verse overrides an ambiguous one apply to Quran 65:4?
By a principle of usul the ambiguous phrase 'those who have not menstruated' is read in the light of the clear opening term women, which cancels any reading that includes girls. The Quran could have said fatayat but addressed them as nisa.
machine2 min 38 s29:58on YouTube
25 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Is forcing your wife to have sex a sin in Islam?
Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says coercive sex with one's wife is haram, and that Muslims who deny this create the problem. He cites Imam Malik's saying that what set right the first of this umma will set right its last, meaning the independence to challenge inherited readings shaped by medieval patriarchy.
machine3 min 51 s32:36on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Does the Quran say there are three or five daily prayers?
The Quran does not spell out the number of prayers, but Sunnis, Shia and Ibadis all hold there are five, which Mufti Abu Layth takes as proof of an early living tradition that preceded the hadith books. The Shia combine the five rather than reducing them to three.
machine3 min 21 s0:01on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
Can men wear earrings in Islam?
Yes, men may wear earrings according to Islam. Mufti Abu Layth sets out to show, through history and the practice of the Salaf, that the idea that earrings are effeminate is a misconception.
machine2 min 37 s0:00on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
Have men historically worn earrings, or is it a recent fashion?
Men have worn earrings for thousands of years, in Assyria, Egypt, among the Israelites, in Persia, India and Europe, usually as a mark of nobility or soldiery. Only the European church restricted them to women, which is why defiant groups such as pirates kept wearing them.
machine7 min 45 s2:37on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
Did men and boys wear earrings in the time of the Prophet and the early Muslims?
In the Prophet's society and among the Salaf boys commonly wore earrings, and many considered it sunnah for a boy. Later Sunni clergy prohibited the practice, perhaps influenced by the Christian church, while the Shia kept it alive.
machine2 min 38 s10:22on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
Did Hasan and Husayn wear earrings?
Ibn Abbas lists piercing the ear among seven sunnahs for a newborn boy, and Hasan and Husayn had their ears pierced and wore earrings, Husayn wearing two. The reports come through Imam Jafar al-Sadiq's chain and an eyewitness account from Karbala.
machine3 min 58 s13:00on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
Did early Sunni hadith scholars such as Sufyan ibn Uyayna wear earrings?
Yes: the Musnad of Abu Ya'la records a hadith student wearing two earrings, and al-Dhahabi's Siyar A'lam al-Nubala describes the young Sufyan ibn Uyayna sitting in Amr ibn Dinar's hadith class with an earring in his ear.
machine2 min 35 s16:58on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
Did Imam Malik wear an earring?
Yes: his teacher's biography of Imam Malik records that Malik, while still a youth studying with Rabi'a, had an earring in his ear, and another Maliki work on the hadith of the Mudawwana says the same.
machine2 min 39 s19:33on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
What did Imam Malik and the Maliki jurists say about boys wearing earrings?
Malik preferred that boys not wear gold earrings, which Ibn Rushd explains as a ruling about gold rather than earrings, and Maliki theft rulings by al-Lakhmi and Ibn Abi Zayd treat an earring stolen from a boy as an ordinary case. Mufti Abu Layth concludes that boys wearing earrings was common and not seen as feminine.
machine5 min 13 s22:12on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
Is a man wearing an earring imitating women or harmful?
No: Qadi Khan of the Hanafis allowed boys' earrings since the jahiliyya practice went uncriticised by the Prophet, the harm argument cannot permit piercing for girls and forbid it for boys, and history shows men wearing earrings. Men wearing kohl shows that what is 'effeminate' is a cultural matter.
machine3 min 57 s27:25on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
Can reports from Shia sources about Hasan and Husayn be trusted?
Mufti Abu Layth accepts the reports as factual, saying the Shia had no reason to invent earrings for their own Imams, and calls it hypocrisy that Sunnis accept Imran ibn Hittan, a Khariji who praised Ali's killer, as a narrator in Sahih al-Bukhari while rejecting anything from Imam Jafar al-Sadiq.
machine5 min 16 s31:22on YouTube
24 Jul 2019Quick Fiqh!
Is it haram for a man to wear an earring?
No: men's earrings are permissible, with the precedent of Hasan, Husayn, Imam Malik and Sufyan ibn Uyayna, and the later scholars who opposed them were likely influenced by outside traditions. Mufti Abu Layth accepts that others may call it haram but says the evidence speaks for itself.
machine2 min 22 s36:38on YouTube
8 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Why did God stop Abraha's army but let the Qaramita steal the Black Stone?
The Black Stone has no sanctity of its own: it was most likely a remnant of pre-Islamic stone worship that Islam kept as a ritual of submission to God, so its theft by the Qaramita, though wrong, was no great matter. Umar himself said it was only a stone that can neither harm nor benefit.
machine15 min 38 s0:00on YouTube
8 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Is the story of Hajar running seven times between Safa and Marwa true?
Mufti Abu Layth thinks the story of Hajar running seven times between Safa and Marwa was most likely added later to give the ritual an Abrahamic link, though he believes the Zamzam story is true. The Quran mentions Safa and Marwa only as a remembrance of God, without linking them to Hajar or Abraham.
machine9 min 08 s15:38on YouTube
8 Jul 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Did the Prophet restore the original rituals of Ibrahim at the Kaaba?
No: nothing was in Makkah when Ibrahim arrived, and although he and Ismail built the house of remembrance, Safa and Marwa are never linked to him. The Quran presents them only as symbols for remembering God, so there is no point guessing at older origins.
machine1 min 56 s24:46on YouTube
25 May 2019video
Does a nicotine patch or vaping break my fast?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says a nicotine patch does not break the fast, and he feels vaping is the same, though neither is being encouraged.
machine4 min 28 s1:18on YouTube
25 May 2019video
Does smoking break my fast?
Some scholars hold that smoking does not break the fast and those who follow them are not to blame, but Mufti Abu Layth's own advice is to use nicotine patches instead.
machine4 min 07 s4:29on YouTube
24 May 2019Hadith Studies
If I drank alcohol, are my prayers and fasts rejected for 40 days?
No: the fast and prayer are valid. He calls the forty-days hadith an isolated, weak report that clashes with the Quran and reason, though alcohol stays haram.
machine10 min 57 s0:38on YouTube
10 May 2019video
I converted to Islam but my husband didn't. Do I have to leave him?
No: he agrees with scholars such as Abdullah bin Bayyah that a convert wife may stay with her non-Muslim husband, and vice versa. Telling converts to leave their spouses is home-wrecking.
machine5 min 09 s1:18on YouTube
10 May 2019video
What does the word nikah actually mean?
Linguistically nikah means sex; technically it is the marriage contract, a relationship of exclusivity with mutual rights.
machine3 min 48 s5:09on YouTube
10 May 2019video
Do converts have to redo their marriage after becoming Muslim?
No: a non-Muslim marriage valid by its own rules is valid in Islam, and converts were never asked to repeat their nikah. The Prophet's daughter Zaynab and her husband are an example.
machine6 min 28 s8:57on YouTube
10 May 2019video
Did Islam invent marriage?
No: Aisha's hadith lists four kinds of pre-Islamic marriage, and the ordinary one of proposal and acceptance continued with Islam's approval.
machine4 min 59 s15:25on YouTube
10 May 2019video
Which verses forbid or allow marrying non-Muslims?
Al-Baqarah 221 and the verse on the emigrant women are cited against intermarriage, while al-Ma'idah 5 allows marrying Christian and Jewish women. Imam Malik disliked it because a husband may not stop his Christian wife bringing pork and wine home.
machine6 min 53 s20:24on YouTube
10 May 2019video
Did any early scholars allow marrying Zoroastrians or idol worshippers?
Yes: some companions and early scholars allowed relations with Zoroastrian and even idol-worshipping women. Same-faith marriage was stressed because early Islam needed stable Muslim families, and it remains strongly encouraged.
machine5 min 46 s27:17on YouTube
10 May 2019video
Does Quran 60:10 mean a marriage to a non-Muslim is automatically void?
No: Umar divorced his non-Muslim wives after the verse came down, which shows their marriages had been valid. The verse on the emigrant women was specific to the Hudaybiyya context.
machine3 min 56 s33:03on YouTube
10 May 2019video
Is a marriage between a Muslim and a non-Muslim valid?
Yes, it would be valid, but it is discouraged: Islam strongly encourages marrying within the faith so children are not raised amid conflict. Validity is not the same as being a good choice.
machine6 min 33 s40:48on YouTube
4 May 2019On Current Events
Is Islam meant to be applied the same rigid way everywhere?
No: Islam was revealed to a tiny population but came for all mankind, so it is flexible enough to take in every people's backgrounds and needs.
machine3 min 03 s38:06on YouTube
22 Mar 2019The School of Madinah
What is fiqh, and is it the same as Shari'ah?
Fiqh is our understanding of what is expected of us towards God and towards people. It overlaps with Shari'ah, which people usually keep for the legal side, and it has different ways of deriving rulings.
machine2 min 35 s0:00on YouTube
22 Mar 2019The School of Madinah
Why does Mufti Abu Layth follow the Maliki school rather than the Hanafi?
Mufti Abu Layth follows the Maliki school of Madinah because it is built on welfare and rooted in evidence and made the most sense to him. He says the Hanafi school, despite Abu Hanifa's greatness, has been hijacked into a controlling school.
machine4 min 46 s2:35on YouTube
4 Mar 2019Quick Fiqh!
Is my prayer valid if I pray in a bikini or swimwear?
On the Maliki view of Qadi Isma'il, which he finds strong, her prayer would have been valid, since covering is an obligation separate from salah; it is still not something he recommends. Either way nobody has the right to attack her.
machine10 min 18 s0:38on YouTube
8 Jan 2019Ponderings on the Holy Quran
What does the Quran say about kings in the story of Sheba?
The Queen's saying that kings ruin the towns they enter raises the question of what gives anyone the right to rule others.
machine2 min 34 s24:54on YouTube
2018 · 81
20 Dec 2018From the Mind of a Mufti
Does Islam say homosexuals should be thrown off buildings or executed?
There is no sahih hadith in which the Prophet spoke about homosexuals, the reports of Ali ordering executions are not authentic in Mufti Abu Layth's view, and the early jurists disagreed, with the Hanafis holding it is not a hadd offence. The claim of a consensus that homosexual acts deserve death is false.
machine7 min 56 s0:00on YouTube
20 Dec 2018From the Mind of a Mufti
Is homosexuality haram in Islam, and why were the people of Lut destroyed?
Mufti Abu Layth accepts the majority view that homosexual acts are haram, but says the punishments scholars assigned were variable public-order measures that changed over time, that the people of Lut were destroyed primarily for rejecting their prophet, and that the ruling does not require hatred of homosexual people.
machine4 min 50 s18:27on YouTube
30 Nov 2018Mothers of the Believers: The Wives of the Blessed Prophet ﷺ
Why do some scholars still insist Aisha was nine?
Lacking an earlier authority is no reason to keep the young age, since medieval scholars also accepted slavery and other rulings no one would defend today. No hadith gives certain knowledge, so an inconclusive report that blemishes the Prophet's honour is rejected.
machine4 min 36 s15:43on YouTube
20 Oct 2018Responding to Refutations
Are the Salafis themselves orthodox by their own standard?
The Salafis are themselves unorthodox: the orthodoxy of the ummah has been Ash'ari and the four schools of law, both of which they reject, so their appeal to orthodoxy against new interpretations is inconsistent.
machine2 min 37 s28:50on YouTube
3 Sep 2018Responding to Refutations
Reply to Abdullah al-Andalusi: the 'white saviour' and the caliphate
Mufti Abu Layth mocks Abdullah al-Andalusi's call to establish the caliphate as a 'white saviour complex', while praising converts who devoted themselves to study.
machine9 min 31 s0:00on YouTube
3 Sep 2018Responding to Refutations
Is the world today dar al-harb, the land of war?
Mufti Abu Layth rejects the teaching that the whole world is dar al-harb, saying it puts people one step from treating their neighbours as enemy combatants.
machine2 min 33 s9:31on YouTube
3 Sep 2018Responding to Refutations
Are the hadith about the khilafah authentic?
Mufti Abu Layth says every hadith about the khilafah is fabricated, since the notion did not exist in the Prophet's lifetime and the Companions did not know them.
machine2 min 38 s12:04on YouTube
3 Sep 2018Responding to Refutations
Did al-Ghazali say Muslims must establish a caliphate?
When al-Ghazali argued for a caliph he meant a king who keeps law and order, as opposed to anarchy, not a system to be set against democracy.
machine3 min 49 s14:42on YouTube
3 Sep 2018Responding to Refutations
Who should I listen to about political ideas in Islam?
Anyone speaking about ideas in Islam should at least be a scholar; he warns young people away from caliphate groups and points to Hamza Yusuf's lecture calling the caliphate a myth.
machine4 min 22 s18:31on YouTube
30 Aug 2018BukhariGate: Issues with Sahih al-Bukhari
The first problem: Bukhari's semi-divine status above the Quran in practice
Sahih al-Bukhari has been given a semi-divine status that in practice places it on par with or above the Quran, which he rejects outright. The Quran always takes precedence, and Bukhari is a book like the other hadith collections.
machine5 min 17 s6:33on YouTube
30 Aug 2018BukhariGate: Issues with Sahih al-Bukhari
The marriage to Aisha at six: consent, and the command to pray at seven
The report that the Prophet married Aisha at six dishonours him: Bukhari itself requires a virgin's consent, which a six-year-old cannot give, and the command to separate children's beds at ten contradicts the claim that a nine-year-old had a woman's body.
machine7 min 52 s36:02on YouTube
3 Aug 2018Responding to Refutations
How should Muslims decide which hadith to accept and which to reject?
Follow Imam Malik: accept some hadith and reject others. A report is accepted if it does not clash with reason, the Quran, the transmitted and corroborated Sunnah such as the practice of Madinah, or a principle of Islam; otherwise it is treated with caution.
machine3 min 26 s15:35on YouTube
29 Jul 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Do women really curse more than men, as the hadith says?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says men swear more than women across cultures and ingratitude is shared by both, so the report's reasons are factual errors.
machine7 min 03 s16:41on YouTube
21 Jul 2018From the Mind of a Mufti
Is mut'ah a matter of belief that divides Sunnis and Shia?
No: accepting temporary marriage or not is a question of fiqh, not belief, so Sunnis are unfair to attack the Shia over mut'ah.
machine3 min 15 s0:00on YouTube
21 Jul 2018From the Mind of a Mufti
Do any Sunni scholars say mut'ah is not haram?
A recent Moroccan Maliki scholar argues in a book that mut'ah is not haram; Mufti Abu Layth calls the 'marry me your daughter' retort in his debate with a Salafi immature.
machine2 min 42 s3:15on YouTube
10 Jul 2018Quick Fiqh!
Is it haram for men to wear gold or silk?
In Mufti Abu Layth's view the prohibition of gold and silk for men is a matter of dislike (karaha), not a categorical haram, since many Companions wore both all their lives and the Prophet's aim was to keep people focused in hard times. He notes the popular opinion is that it is haram and says nobody has to follow his understanding.
machine15 min 13 s0:00on YouTube
12 Jun 2018Quick Fiqh!
Do I have to grow a beard?
The beard was the custom of all Arabs, not something the Prophet introduced, and the 'be different from the Jews and Christians' wording is applied selectively, since the same words command dyeing hair and praying in shoes. The Prophet never defined what a beard should look like, and scholars disagree whether the command was binding.
machine4 min 34 s0:00on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Does Islam punish someone for leaving the faith?
Islam gives freedom of belief: the Quran says there is no compulsion in religion and leaves belief to choice, and neither the Quran nor the established Sunnah says an apostate must be killed.
machine5 min 16 s0:00on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Does the sanctity of life in Islam rule out killing apostates?
Life has conclusive sanctity in Islam, and preserving life and freedom of religion for everyone are among the aims of the shari'ah.
machine2 min 36 s5:16on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Why did some classical scholars rule that apostates be executed?
Where classical scholars ruled that apostates be executed, they were dealing with what would now be treason or armed rebellion in a very different world; those rulings do not apply today, and their prevalence then did not make them right.
machine3 min 57 s7:52on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Did the Prophet ever execute anyone for leaving Islam?
The Prophet never executed anyone for disbelief or apostasy: he spared the hypocrite Abdullah ibn Ubayy, traded with Jews until his death, did not act against Ibn Sayyad and pardoned Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh.
machine3 min 53 s11:49on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Were apostates punished for disbelief or for fighting against Muslims?
The classical punishment targeted apostates who took up arms against the community, not disbelief itself: Umar preferred to restrain and persuade, al-Tahawi tied it to waging war, and the Hanafis exempted women because they were not combatants.
machine7 min 46 s15:42on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Which hadith are used to justify killing apostates, and were the scholars who used them right?
Some scholars did rule that apostates be killed, and he says they were clearly wrong, products of a ruthless age; the time given to apostates in the reports makes sense only as time to withdraw from rebellion.
machine2 min 38 s23:28on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
What is the context of the hadith 'whoever changes his religion, kill him'?
The report 'whoever changes his religion, kill him' clashes with the Quran, and in full it is Ikrima's account of Ali burning people alive and Ibn Abbas objecting that he should have executed them instead.
machine2 min 36 s26:06on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Is Ikrima, the narrator of the apostasy hadith, reliable?
The main chains of 'whoever changes his religion, kill him' run through Ikrima, whom he describes as a Khariji, and whom Imam Malik and many early authorities rejected or called a liar.
machine6 min 34 s28:42on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Is the chain of the apostasy hadith through Anas reliable?
The alternative chain of the apostasy hadith through Anas is also weak: it includes a narrator with Mu'tazili tendencies and Qatada, who is known for tadlis, and the report clashes with reason, the Quran and the Prophet's life.
machine3 min 58 s35:16on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Are the Abu Hurayra and Hamza al-Aslami narrations on apostasy authentic?
The other narrations used for killing apostates, from Abu Hurayra and Hamza al-Aslami, also have problems in their chains: rejected or unknown narrators and a known mudallis.
machine3 min 57 s39:14on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Why would an apostate deserve death, and what about the three days to repent?
An apostate cannot be killed for disbelief, since that would condemn every disbeliever, and the 'three days to return to Islam' is absurd: it coerces people into hypocrisy and belittles the Prophet's thirteen years of preaching.
machine5 min 14 s43:11on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
Can a life be taken on the basis of a doubtful hadith?
There is no verse and no conclusively established hadith for killing apostates, and a life, whose sanctity is conclusive, cannot be taken on isolated reports that carry doubt; defending it while demanding religious freedom in the West is a double standard.
machine5 min 17 s48:25on YouTube
10 May 2018Ponderings on the Holy Quran
How should Muslims treat people who leave Islam?
People who leave Islam should be left alone, since that is between them and God; those who misrepresent the Prophet bear blame for people's hatred, and the Prophet's way was gentleness, not coercion or a state.
machine6 min 35 s53:42on YouTube
4 May 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Is it haram for men and women to shake hands?
Nothing in the Quran or Sunnah explicitly says shaking hands with the opposite sex is haram; that is a popular convention, not an established ruling. The iron-rod hadith is not authentic as claimed, and many scholars read its 'touch' as a euphemism for sex.
machine2 min 36 s0:00on YouTube
4 May 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Which scholars say men and women may shake hands, and what about 'I do not shake hands with women'?
The hadith 'I do not shake hands with women' is set against Umm Atiyya's narrations of the women's pledge, which some read as the Prophet shaking hands. Contemporary scholars including the Shaykh of al-Azhar, Bin Bayyah and the European fatwa council have ruled that shaking hands is permitted.
machine3 min 57 s2:36on YouTube
4 May 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
What evidence do scholars use to allow men and women to shake hands?
Scholars who permit it cite 'do not frighten people away', the verse on returning greetings, Abu Musa having a woman comb his hair on Hajj, and the Sahih report that Umm Haram combed the Prophet's hair and let him nap at her house. The Umm Haram report is one scholars struggled with.
machine2 min 37 s6:33on YouTube
4 May 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Should I refuse to shake hands with the opposite sex where it is the custom?
Follow the convention you are in: where people do not shake hands, do not; where they do, you may act on the fatwa of the scholars who permit it, since no clear verse or hadith forbids it. Losing citizenship over a handshake was not a battle worth choosing.
machine3 min 16 s9:10on YouTube
4 May 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Is there a hadith that says a woman who wears perfume outside is a zaniya?
The report, transmitted only from Abu Musa al-Ash'ari and found in al-Nasa'i, Abu Dawud, Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi, says a woman who passes people while wearing perfume is a fornicator.
machine2 min 39 s0:00on YouTube
4 May 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Would the Prophet really call a woman wearing perfume a fornicator?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says calling a woman a fornicator is the crime of qadhf under Quran 24:4, punished by the Malikis whatever the intention, and the Prophet was never obscene, so the report insults him.
machine9 min 15 s10:32on YouTube
4 May 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Doesn't the hadith of Zaynab forbid women from wearing perfume to the mosque?
The report only tells women not to wear perfume to the late Isha, sometimes Zaynab alone, so Mufti Abu Layth reads it as a specific instruction, not a general ban.
machine3 min 53 s19:47on YouTube
4 May 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Can women wear perfume when they go out?
Yes, women may wear perfume when they go out; Mufti Abu Layth says people should smell good and be presentable, and the slanderous reports must not be attributed to the Prophet.
machine1 min 48 s27:34on YouTube
3 May 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Are tattoos haram in Islam?
Tattoos are permissible in Mufti Abu Layth's understanding, though he notes most scholars held them haram and some Malikis only makruh. He reads the prohibition in its historical context of branding slaves and cattle rather than beautification.
machine10 min 31 s0:00on YouTube
22 Apr 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Can a woman travel without a mahram?
Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says a woman can travel without a mahram, since the ruling was about safety. The reports behind it disagree on how long a journey they mean.
machine9 min 31 s1:12on YouTube
22 Apr 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Can a woman go on Hajj without a mahram?
Mufti Abu Layth reports that al-Shafi'i allowed a woman to go with a group of women and Imam Malik with any safe company, while Abu Hanifa required a mahram for journeys over three days.
machine2 min 32 s9:31on YouTube
22 Apr 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Must a kidnapped woman have a mahram to escape?
Mufti Abu Layth ridicules the classical debate over whether a captive woman may flee without a mahram, saying past scholars reasoned within their own environment.
machine3 min 42 s12:03on YouTube
22 Apr 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Is it haram for a woman to travel more than 48 miles alone?
No: Mufti Abu Layth calls the 48-mile rule absurd, a later Hanafi hardening of Abu Hanifa's three-day limit, which was itself meant to ease things for women.
machine3 min 53 s15:45on YouTube
22 Apr 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
What do Saudi scholars say about women travelling without a mahram?
Mufti Abu Layth reports the Saudi fatwa board and Ibn Baz forbidding any journey without a mahram, even a short staff bus trip, and mocks the strictness.
machine3 min 23 s19:38on YouTube
22 Apr 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Why did the Prophet say women should not travel without a mahram?
For their safety: Mufti Abu Layth says the limits tracked how far the safe zone around Madinah reached, widening as treaties spread, not a rule to confine women.
machine4 min 27 s23:01on YouTube
22 Apr 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Did the Prophet foresee women travelling alone safely?
Yes: Mufti Abu Layth cites the Prophet's prophecy to Adi ibn Hatim of a lone woman travelling from Iraq to Makkah, which Adi lived to see.
machine3 min 11 s27:28on YouTube
22 Apr 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
What did the Maliki scholars say about women travelling with a safe group?
Mufti Abu Layth cites al-Baji that a woman is safe without a mahram in large caravans and busy highways, and reads Imam Malik's ordering of the hadith as showing they were about safety.
machine4 min 28 s30:39on YouTube
22 Apr 2018Clarifying False Hadith Which Insult Islam
Is it safe and allowed for a woman to fly alone?
Yes: Mufti Abu Layth says a woman may travel alone, including by air, since the ruling was always about safety, and rejects the claim that only a husband can protect her.
machine3 min 07 s35:07on YouTube
20 Apr 2018From the Mind of a Mufti
Was Abu Hanifa considered a deviant by the scholars of his time?
Many leading scholars of Abu Hanifa's time considered him misguided. His school rose to dominance because his student Abu Yusuf became chief judge and appointed only Hanafis, which Mufti Abu Layth says shows that power, not evidence, often decides which views prevail.
machine3 min 57 s0:00on YouTube
15 Apr 2018Debunking Myths On: Jinns, Magic, the Evil Eye, and Superstitions
Is jinn possession just a difference of opinion among scholars?
Mufti Abu Layth refuses to treat it that way: although scholars from Fakhr al-Din al-Razi to Shaltut, Ibn Ashur and al-Shawkani rejected possession while Ibn Taymiyya affirmed it, this is not a harmless fiqh difference like raising the hands in prayer, because the belief drives abuse and exploitation and brings ridicule on Islam.
machine2 min 07 s1:05:31on YouTube
9 Apr 2018The Voice of Reason in Islam
Does Ali's saying about wiping the socks prove that religion is not based on reason?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says the 'if the deen were by opinion' wording has a weak chain and is absent from several versions, that Malik's Muwatta records wiping both sides of the khuff, and that rituals are practices rather than claims against reason.
machine3 min 56 s1:01:20on YouTube
9 Apr 2018The Voice of Reason in Islam
If reason judges religion, whose reason counts, and what about rituals?
The concept of ritual must make sense, not every detail; the shared judgement of a healthy mind is the standard; and, by Malik's rule that only the Messenger's words are beyond rejection, following a school is not belonging to a cult.
machine2 min 38 s1:14:24on YouTube
1 Apr 2018Islamic Eschatology
Does it matter that the second coming of Jesus is the majority opinion and Mufti Abu Layth's view a minority one?
If every detail of the second-coming hadith is a metaphor, Mufti Abu Layth asks why Jesus himself is not. Majority and minority opinions are decided later by power and politics, as Abu Hanifa's case shows: condemned as a deviant by his contemporaries, his school spread when Abu Yusuf appointed only Hanafi judges.
machine5 min 13 s5:13on YouTube
13 Mar 2018Islamic Eschatology
Isn't the return of Jesus established by ijma and mutawatir hadith?
There is no consensus on what ijma is, and tawatur is applied selectively: the same scholars reject the Gospels, Hindu miracle reports and Shia transmissions that would qualify by their own definition.
machine3 min 54 s1:34:43on YouTube
13 Mar 2018Islamic Eschatology
Shawkani against claimed consensus: music, following a madhhab, four wives, raf' al-yadayn
Those who cite Shawkani's claim that the return is mutawatir do not follow him when he rejects other consensuses or calls raf' al-yadayn mutawatir; claimed consensuses have been overturned before.
machine3 min 55 s1:53:04on YouTube
13 Mar 2018Islamic Eschatology
Everyone picks and chooses: later scholars on mawlid, shrines, hadra and the Jesus hadith
Every group accepts later scholars against earlier ones when it suits them; Mufti Abu Layth says rejecting the Jesus hadith on the later scholars' authority is no different.
machine3 min 57 s1:56:59on YouTube
13 Mar 2018Islamic Eschatology
Stop calling Bukhari the most authentic book after the Quran; fiqh preserved the living Sunnah
Sahih al-Bukhari is an excellent effort but should not be called the most authentic book after the Quran; hadith are sifted, while fiqh and the madhhabs carry the Sunnah in living form.
machine3 min 59 s2:21:55on YouTube
13 Mar 2018Islamic Eschatology
Shaykh Abdul Majid's civility; the 'Mufti' remark clarified; music in front of one's daughters
Mufti Abu Layth praises a critic's civility, clarifies that he objects to attacks on his qualification rather than seeking a title, and says that not wanting music or dancing before one's daughters does not make them haram.
machine5 min 16 s2:25:54on YouTube
8 Mar 2018From the Mind of a Mufti
Why do you dress in a t-shirt and joke around while teaching Islam?
Mufti Abu Layth dresses and acts the same on and off screen so that nobody meets a different person in real life. Putting on a pious appearance for the camera would be a double standard and would create cognitive dissonance in viewers.
machine7 min 47 s0:00on YouTube
8 Mar 2018Quick Fiqh!
Do Muslim women have to wear the niqab?
Mufti Abu Layth does not consider the niqab part of the religion: it is a cultural measure, sensible only where a woman's safety requires it, and in the West he thinks it should not be worn. The screen rules for the Prophet's wives were specific to them.
machine10 min 32 s0:37on YouTube
5 Mar 2018Quick Fiqh!
Are tattoos haram?
Small tattoos for beautification are not haram, at most discouraged. Tattoos that disfigure, such as gang face tattoos, he considers haram.
machine55 s0:00on YouTube
5 Mar 2018On Love, Romance, and Relationships
Is zina today the same issue it was in the past?
Much of the inherited social theory on relationships and marriage no longer matches today's reality, and Mufti Abu Layth calls for ulama to re-examine the context with fresh ijtihad. He describes marriage today as costly and idealised, with divorce and polygamy stigmatised.
machine5 min 10 s1:18on YouTube
5 Mar 2018On Love, Romance, and Relationships
Why is it so hard for young Muslims to marry, and what are they supposed to do about desire?
Men of eighteen or nineteen are generally not ready for marriage but have strong sexual needs, and Mufti Abu Layth says current religious teaching offers no real solution. He calls advice to fast and lower the gaze inadequate and asks scholars to acknowledge the problem.
machine5 min 15 s5:10on YouTube
5 Mar 2018On Love, Romance, and Relationships
Does an exclusive boyfriend-girlfriend relationship count as a nikah?
Mufti Abu Layth does not endorse the idea but calls it a good question that the ulama should discuss. He says the past had simple marriage, unstigmatised divorce and other accepted outlets, whereas Muslims today have only a culturally dramatised, expensive nikah.
machine2 min 37 s10:25on YouTube
5 Mar 2018On Love, Romance, and Relationships
Should I register my nikah as a civil marriage?
Mufti Abu Layth is not sure civil registration is the answer, because he objects to needing the state's permission to leave a relationship. He accepts the financial arguments on both sides, the man's fear of losing half his property and the woman's risk of being left with nothing.
machine5 min 08 s15:37on YouTube
5 Mar 2018On Love, Romance, and Relationships
What should a couple agree before marriage about registering and money?
Have an open conversation before marriage about registration and finances, and if the marriage is not registered the woman should keep her own work, income and property. Saying a woman may not work is cultural and backward, not Islam.
machine3 min 56 s18:10on YouTube
5 Mar 2018On Love, Romance, and Relationships
Rapid-round replies: steroids, state control and prenuptial agreements
Steroids are a matter of legality rather than theology, prenuptial agreements are not legally binding in the UK, and Mufti Abu Layth says he is against state control and favours a hands-off approach to governing.
machine1 min 54 s22:06on YouTube
5 Mar 2018Quick Fiqh!
Is it haram for men to wear earrings?
It is not haram for men to wear earrings, though it is not the general custom. Boys wore them in the early period, and Imam Malik objected only to gold, not to the earring.
machine1 min 06 s0:00on YouTube
28 Feb 2018Responding to Refutations
Are witnesses required for a nikah in the Maliki school?
In the Maliki school witnesses are not needed for the nikah to be valid; witnesses or an announcement are needed before consummation. Hamza Maqbool's tweet said Mufti Abu Layth does not represent the school.
machine3 min 54 s5:06on YouTube
28 Feb 2018Responding to Refutations
What do the classical Maliki books say about witnesses in a marriage?
The Maliki authorities he reads hold that a marriage without witnesses is valid unless it is meant to be secret; witnesses or an announcement are required before consummation.
machine9 min 11 s9:00on YouTube
28 Feb 2018Responding to Refutations
Is it fair to say Mufti Abu Layth has no knowledge of the Maliki school?
Mufti Abu Layth challenges his critic to a discussion on the Maliki school and says disagreement with his interpretation is fair, but calling him ignorant of the school is misleading.
machine7 min 04 s18:11on YouTube
21 Feb 2018Responding to Refutations
Does the Maliki school distinguish between hadith and Sunnah, and did Imam Malik ever reject a hadith?
Yes: the school of Madinah embraces the Sunnah while remaining critical of individual hadith, and Imam Malik rejected several reports when the practice of Madinah did not reflect them. He says he stated clearly that scholars differed on the report's grading.
machine2 min 38 s17:03on YouTube
21 Feb 2018On the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Could the Prophet have married Safiyya right after Khaybar?
No: she was a widow and the Quran requires a waiting period of four months and ten days, so a marriage at Khaybar would contradict the Quran. The companions only assumed a marriage because they saw the Prophet veil her and took a victory meal for a wedding feast.
machine5 min 15 s19:29on YouTube
21 Feb 2018On the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
When and how did Safiyya actually marry the Prophet?
She embraced Islam in the months after Khaybar, became interested in the Prophet herself and married him with her consent, not on the night of the battle. Abu Hurayra reported that nothing was taken from Khaybar but clothing, cattle and sheep.
machine2 min 38 s32:35on YouTube
21 Feb 2018On the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
If the Safiyya story is in Sahih al-Bukhari, why question it?
Because Bukhari's own narrations of the incident conflict, all rest on Anas, and Anas himself says nobody witnessed a marriage and they only assumed one from her being veiled. Earlier scholars were great but shaped by their times, and loyalty to them should not come before the Prophet's honour.
machine5 min 09 s40:25on YouTube
15 Feb 2018From the Mind of a Mufti
Does a mufti have to be appointed by the government?
No. Being a mufti can be a salaried professional role, as in fatwa institutions, or a voluntary, freelance one.
machine41 s17:50on YouTube
13 Feb 2018video
What happens if I miss a prayer?
A missed prayer is made up; Mufti Abu Layth says to stop obsessing over punishments and just pray the obligatory prayers, even late or together. He cites the Prophet telling a companion whose people slept past sunrise simply to pray when he woke up.
machine6 min 54 s0:00on YouTube
2 Jan 2018Responding to Refutations
Shaving the beard: Qadi Iyad's view and the demand for one hadith
The view that shaving the beard is not haram is presented as Qadi Iyad's, and Mufti Abu Layth challenges the critic to produce a hadith teaching how to keep a beard. He adds that truth is not decided by the number of scholars holding a view.
machine3 min 53 s10:31on YouTube
2 Jan 2018Responding to Refutations
Music: the hadith on singing and hypocrisy, and scholars who permitted music
Nothing proven categorically makes music haram, and lyrics by themselves do not make listening haram. The hadith the critic cited on singing and hypocrisy is weak in every chain, and he lists scholars who said no sahih report forbids music.
machine10 min 26 s14:24on YouTube
2 Jan 2018Responding to Refutations
Anal intercourse: the difference of opinion and the chains of the critic's hadith
On anal intercourse Mufti Abu Layth says only that there is a difference of opinion: the majority held it haram, many Malikis did not and disliked it for hygiene. He argues that every hadith the critic quoted against it has a weak or disconnected chain.
machine11 min 53 s24:50on YouTube
2 Jan 2018Responding to Refutations
Ruqya and the Quran as a cure: spiritual diseases, not cancer
The Quran is a cure for the spiritual diseases of the heart, not a replacement for medicine for physical illness. The Prophet told people to seek medicine.
machine5 min 20 s40:38on YouTube
2017 · 53
19 Oct 2017video
Opening: riba as a complex, over-claimed and symbolic subject
Riba is a complex but over-claimed subject that has become symbolic in Islam. Mufti Abu Layth asks viewers to bear with a detailed explanation.
machine2 min 04 s0:00on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
Why does Mufti Abu Layth say riba has become a symbol rather than something people understand?
Riba has become a symbol of Islam that many hold important without understanding it, because religion for many people is a matter of visible symbols. What people know is that Allah declared war on riba and destroys it while increasing charity.
machine3 min 27 s2:04on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
What was the riba of the jahiliyyah that the Quran condemned?
Riba is spoken of as three kinds: riba al-jahiliyyah, riba al-fadl and riba al-nasi'a. The riba of the jahiliyyah was a tyrannical loan-shark practice of compounding debt enforced by killing, torture and enslavement.
machine3 min 45 s6:12on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
What is riba al-fadl and what does the hadith on gold, silver, wheat, barley, dates and salt say?
The six-commodities hadith requires equal, hand-to-hand exchange and makes delay riba, even between different goods. Taken literally it would make credit impossible, so the scholars exempted gold and silver by a kind of consensus.
machine5 min9:16on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
Does the Quran forbid every kind of excess when it forbids riba?
The definite article in 'Allah forbade riba' points to a specific known kind of riba, not every excess, since most excesses are not haram. Umar wished the Prophet had explained riba, and Ibn Abbas held there was no riba except in delay.
machine2 min 56 s14:16on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
Did the scholars ever agree on what counts as riba?
There has never been clarity or agreement on what riba applies to: the Hanafi, Shafi'i and Maliki schools each defined its scope differently, and nobody calls a phone-for-phones swap riba. No scholar has given Mufti Abu Layth a satisfying explanation of why delay in barter is riba.
machine4 min 34 s17:12on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
Are mortgages and bank loans the riba forbidden in the Quran?
Mortgages and bank loans are not the riba forbidden in the Quran, which addressed a tyrannical loan-shark culture. Today's borrower is the one giving more, not taking, and is protected by a legal framework of cooperation, debt management and bankruptcy.
machine7 min 59 s21:46on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
How was the economy of the Prophet's time different from today's?
The Quranic prohibition came in an economy of finite gold, where wealth could only grow by taking it from others. Money, which Mufti Abu Layth calls humanity's greatest invented story, was later dematerialised into paper, changing everything.
machine7 min 14 s29:45on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
How did Adam Smith and industrialisation change attitudes to greed and lending?
Adam Smith's idea of the pursuit of self-interest and the industrial-era promise of a better tomorrow changed a mindset in which greed was simply evil and nobody would lend. These are ingredients of the modern economy the Quran did not address.
machine4 min 40 s36:59on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
How can a bank lend out more money than it has?
Banks lending out far more than they hold, though it can be abused, is what allows communities to flourish. Money today is created out of nothing, but spending it enriches others.
machine5 min 44 s42:32on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
Why did the Quran declare war on riba?
The Quran declared war on riba because of the tyranny of a loan-shark culture in a world of finite money, which modern banking does not resemble. The only similarity is that more is repaid than taken, which banks explain by inflation and motivation.
machine4 min 22 s49:44on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
Is an Islamic mortgage any different from a conventional mortgage?
Mortgages and bank loans today are not the riba the Quran condemns, in Mufti Abu Layth's understanding. Islamic mortgages are the same thing under another name, a loophole the Maliki school has never liked, as Umar said of the jizya renamed a gift.
machine4 min 57 s53:15on YouTube
19 Oct 2017video
Are student loans, car finance and mortgages haram?
Mortgages, student loans, car finance and other bank loans are not haram in Mufti Abu Layth's understanding, though nobody is obliged to take them. He encourages Muslims in the West to invest in property, while leaving renting or Islamic mortgages to personal choice.
machine3 min 25 s56:42on YouTube
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Was it wrong to publish the allegations against Nouman Ali Khan?
Releasing ambiguous allegations of abuse against Nouman Ali Khan, later said to concern flirtatious messages, was clear-cut haram and character assassination in Mufti Abu Layth's view. He calls the handling despicable and contrary to the Prophet's message.
machine3 min 57 s2:39on YouTube
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
What arguments were used to justify exposing Nouman Ali Khan?
The campaign rested on three claims: a duty to forbid evil, greater accountability for leaders, and the idea that any relationship involving a person of status is abuse. Mufti Abu Layth presents these as the views he is about to answer.
machine3 min 54 s6:36on YouTube
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
If a religious figure does something wrong, should people expose him online?
If a crime was committed it must be reported to the authorities, and vigilante justice is haram. If the act is only haram and not a crime, it is for Allah alone to judge, not for people online.
machine2 min 34 s10:30on YouTube
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Who has the right to tell other Muslims off for doing something haram?
Hisbah, commanding good and forbidding evil, is for legitimate authority and for qualified scholars, and only in matters that are clearly agreed upon. Imam Malik said one may advise but not argue or dispute.
machine2 min 37 s13:04on YouTube
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Is it Islamic to name and shame someone for a sin?
Naming and shaming a person for a sin is a modern tabloid practice with no basis in the Prophet's example, who addressed wrongdoing without naming anyone. Those acting as haram police are mostly unqualified, and Mufti Abu Layth notes they ignore rulings that apply to themselves.
machine3 min 56 s15:41on YouTube
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Should religious leaders be held to a higher standard than everyone else?
The claim that leaders deserve greater scrutiny is a modern Western ethic that its proponents apply selectively, in Mufti Abu Layth's view, while a hadith tells Muslims to overlook the slips of people of standing. Workplace rules on relationships are corporate productivity ethics, not religion.
machine3 min 56 s19:37on YouTube
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Is a relationship between a leader and a follower automatically abuse?
A consensual relationship between adults is not abuse just because one has status, and Mufti Abu Layth calls the contrary claim insulting to women. Abuse of power is coercion, such as a boss demanding sexual acts to keep a job; Khadijah's marriage to the Prophet who worked for her is his first counter-example.
machine2 min 37 s23:33on YouTube
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Did great scholars like Ibn Hajar have private lives that would be condemned today?
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani married a woman who had been his wife's slave girl without anyone warning the ummah against him, Mufti Abu Layth says, so such private conduct cannot be called abuse. Words like abuse imply real abuse and are dangerous.
machine2 min 36 s30:07on YouTube
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Why does it matter that the word 'abuse' was used about Nouman Ali Khan?
Calling flirtatious messages abuse misuses a word people understand to mean molestation or rape, in Mufti Abu Layth's view, and it was used to destroy a man who made the Quran relevant in English. He calls the campaign coordinated, driven by ulterior motives, and an act of Judas.
machine3 min 54 s32:43on YouTube
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Do Muslims online have the right to demand evidence about a scholar's private life?
The public is not a court and has no jurisdiction to demand or weigh evidence about someone's private life, which everyone has a right to. Mufti Abu Layth says those attacking Nouman Ali Khan cannot fill his place when the next generation needs answers about the Quran.
machine3 min 54 s36:37on YouTube
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Is cyberbullying and attacking someone's honour haram in Islam?
Harming the honour of a Muslim is graver than destroying the Kaaba, Mufti Abu Layth says citing a hadith, and bullying, cyberbullying and maligning people are haram. A crime goes to the authorities; a haram act is for God alone to judge.
machine6 min 16 s40:31on YouTube
20 Sep 2017Debunking Myths On: Jinns, Magic, the Evil Eye, and Superstitions
Did the Prophet use ruqya or doctors when he was ill?
When the Prophet fell ill Arab doctors treated him, which is how Aisha learnt medicine, so recited verses were never meant as a cure-all and the 'treatment by Quran' books misuse the book. The Quran's verses help against whispering, and one reads them for oneself without any raqi.
machine5 min 18 s38:51on YouTube
14 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Can Islamic punishments like stoning and cutting off hands change with time?
Yes, in his understanding: the Sharia itself asks for punishments fitting the age, so today they would be replaced by penalties such as prison, following Maliki and other precedents.
machine5 min 03 s0:00on YouTube
9 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Are Muslims obliged to establish an Islamic state or khilafah?
The guest says religion is a personal matter between a person and God, and believers have no obligation to obtain a society or a state, though if they have power they must run it by God's command. Prophets such as Ibrahim and Isa, and Zakariya, Yahya and Maryam under Roman rule, never sought power and remain examples.
machine2 min 10 s0:00on YouTube
9 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Did the Prophet migrate to Madinah to set up a state, and when did the khilafah end?
The guest says the Prophet left Makkah because he was forced out, not to found a state, and the khilafah rashidah ended with Ali, after which Umayyads and Abbasids were kings in all but name. The Quranic promise of khilafah was for the first generation only, and the 1924 abolition ended a powerless kingship, not a khilafah.
machine3 min 01 s2:10on YouTube
9 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Why is the call to restore the khilafah dangerous for young Muslims?
Mufti Abu Layth says the nostalgic 'Bollywood version' of Islamic history, in which a perfect khilafah existed until 1924, is a fantasy, since the khilafah rashidah never went beyond Ali. Guilt-tripping young Muslims with it and with Dar al-Harb rhetoric breeds the extremist narrative and needs tackling.
machine3 min 38 s5:11on YouTube
9 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
If Muslims want a khilafah, why not first establish Islam in the countries they already have?
Mufti Abu Layth says those pushing a purely politicised Islam are, in his understanding, near the modern Khawarij and use the same evidences as ISIS. The guest says Muslims already have fifty countries, that Pakistanis who sought Nizam-e-Mustafa now want to leave, that khilafah groups cannot even unite, and that Allah does not give what people do not deserve.
machine3 min 40 s8:49on YouTube
6 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Should scholars give fatwas based on minority opinions if it makes life easier?
In this clip Shaykh Akram Nadwi says scholars may give fatwas on easier minority opinions in minor matters of fiqh, since ease has always guided the jurists. Mufti Abu Layth speaks only at the end.
machine5 min 27 s0:00on YouTube
6 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Is it wrong to choose the easier opinion in Islam?
Mufti Abu Layth says choosing what is easier is the nature of Islam, citing hadith that the Prophet always chose the easier of two options. Islam came to connect people with God, not to make secondary details the main issue.
machine2 min 40 s5:27on YouTube
6 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
Is choosing the easier scholarly opinion just following my desires?
In this clip Shaykh Akram Nadwi gives examples of al-Shafi'i, Abu Hanifa and al-Tabari giving easier minority rulings, and says choosing among the jurists' opinions is not following one's nafs. Mufti Abu Layth only asks the question.
machine4 min 21 s8:07on YouTube
17 May 2017Ramadan Q&A Fast & Fiqhious
Should Muslims in the UK follow Saudi Arabia for moon sighting?
Not necessarily: he would follow countries on the same horizon such as Morocco, distrusting Saudi sightings that contradict calculations, while not condemning those who follow Saudi.
machine13 min 09 s0:45on YouTube
17 May 2017Ramadan Q&A Fast & Fiqhious
LatestShould I pray 8 or 20 rak'ahs of tarawih?
Tarawih has no fixed number: eight, the least the Prophet prayed, is the base and anything above it is valid. Twenty was the common practice and the schools' broad view, but neither eight nor twenty is wrong.
machine4 min 36 s0:20on YouTube
17 May 2017Ramadan Q&A Fast & Fiqhious
Does masturbation break my fast?
Scholars differ: the majority hold that masturbation with ejaculation breaks the fast, by analogy with intercourse, while a minority including Ibn Hazm and some Hanafis hold that it does not, since no text says so. Mufti Abu Layth presents both views without committing to one.
machine5 min 19 s0:50on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
Introduction: why learn the Maliki salah, rak'ah counts and naturalness
The video teaches the Maliki way of praying; the key theme to keep in mind is naturalness throughout the prayer.
machine2 min 35 s0:16on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
Demonstration of the Maliki salah from takbir to salam
The Maliki prayer is performed with the arms hanging, no opening dua or basmala, silent al-Fatiha, tasbih and personal dua without a set number, and a single salam. Tranquility in every posture is an obligation.
machine12 min 45 s2:51on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
Introduction to sujud al-sahw, the prostration of forgetfulness
The Maliki school has two kinds of sujud al-sahw: one performed before the final salam and one performed after it.
machine1 min 54 s15:36on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
Five common types of mistakes in salah and how each is treated
Verbal additions and lesser omissions need nothing; a missed major sunnah is repaired by sujud al-sahw before the salam, an added action or doubt by sujud al-sahw after it, and a missed obligation by cancellation.
machine5 min 18 s17:30on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
Demonstration of sujud al-sahw before and after the salam, and cancellation
A missed major sunnah is repaired by two prostrations before the salam, an addition or doubt by two prostrations after it, and a forgotten obligation by cancelling the defective rak'ah and continuing. Behind an imam, follow the imam.
machine11 min 46 s22:48on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
Do women pray differently from men in the Maliki school?
No: the Maliki school makes no distinction in principle between men's and women's salah. Some scholars only advise that a woman be mindful of modesty in ruku' and sujud.
machine1 min 56 s34:34on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
Can I pray Fajr at sunrise if I woke up late?
Yes: the forbidden times apply only to voluntary prayers. An obligatory prayer can be prayed at any time, including sunrise and sunset.
machine1 min 10 s36:30on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
How should I stand in congregational prayer, and should my feet touch my neighbour's?
Stand naturally, shoulder to shoulder in a straight line, without squeezing or leaving gaps. Touching feet or joining heels is not required or advised, and the school of Madinah sets no rule on how far apart the feet should be.
machine1 min 43 s37:40on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
What do I do if I forgot to perform sujud al-sahw after my prayer?
Perform the missed sujud al-sahw as soon as you remember, even a short while after the prayer, followed by a salam. If a long time has passed, leave it; some scholars allow the after-salam type to be made up even later.
machine2 min 04 s39:23on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
Can I pray in a t-shirt or vest, or in clothes with a picture on them?
Yes, as long as the 'awrah is covered: no special dress is needed, and pictures on clothes or in the room do not invalidate the prayer. One should not deliberately dress down for salah.
machine2 min 26 s41:27on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
Can I pray with my trousers below my ankles, or in tight jeans?
Yes: trousers below the ankle or tight trousers do not affect the salah. Mufti Abu Layth does not consider trousers below the ankle forbidden, since the old ruling rested on arrogance.
machine2 min 03 s43:53on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
Do men need to cover their head to pray, and can I pray in shorts?
No: covering the head is custom and convention, not a sunnah of salah, so praying bareheaded is fine and not makruh. Long shorts are fine if they cover the 'awrah.
machine1 min 39 s45:56on YouTube
2 Apr 2017video
Is my prayer valid if my trousers slip and part of my backside shows for a moment in sujud?
Yes, the prayer is still valid: a momentary exposure of the extended 'awrah in sujud does not invalidate it, though one should dress more modestly. The core 'awrah may never be exposed.
machine2 min 41 s47:35on YouTube
11 Jan 2017Mothers of the Believers: The Wives of the Blessed Prophet ﷺ
The ramifications: jurists on marrying a minor, and the conclusion
Aisha was in her late teens, most likely eighteen or nineteen, Mufti Abu Layth concludes. Jurists from early on held marriage impermissible with a girl incapable of it, and the Ottomans set a minimum age of fifteen.
machine11 min 49 s1:02:49on YouTube
11 Jan 2017Mothers of the Believers: The Wives of the Blessed Prophet ﷺ
If ethics change over time, how can today's ethics judge the Prophet's marriage?
Base ethics such as the wrongness of harm do not change, and the issue is consent, which a minor cannot give. Mufti Abu Layth does not believe people will ever come to accept otherwise.
machine2 min 39 s1:35:34on YouTube
11 Jan 2017Mothers of the Believers: The Wives of the Blessed Prophet ﷺ
If Aisha's age is a problem, aren't polygamy and the Prophet's wars problems too?
Polygamy and the Prophet's wars are not irrational and differ from marrying a child, where consent is impossible. Mufti Abu Layth says the Prophet remains a perfect role model and that he does not accept Aisha was that age.
machine5 min 12 s1:55:11on YouTube
11 Jan 2017Mothers of the Believers: The Wives of the Blessed Prophet ﷺ
Why did jurists like Imam Malik let a father marry off his young daughter without her consent?
Marrying off an underage girl is impermissible today. Imam Malik's exception was a contract only, without intimacy, tied to welfare in his own circumstances and not based on a clear verse or report.
machine9 min 07 s2:00:23on YouTube
2016 · 7
21 Dec 2016video
Should religious Muslims focus on avoiding sin or on doing good?
Focus on building up the good, not on sins: the salaf rarely said haram, things are permissible by default, and the deen should be made easy.
machine8 min 07 s31:58on YouTube
21 Dec 2016video
Abu Hanifa and Sufyan al-Thawri on the swapped brides of Kufa
Abu Hanifa's creative answer to two brides sent to the wrong grooms, outshining Sufyan al-Thawri's ruling, shows the scholars were never dull.
machine9 min 32 s45:14on YouTube
21 Dec 2016video
Is it wrong to watch Bollywood films and TV series?
Mufti Abu Layth does not see films and TV as a priority issue: entertainment is human, as poetry was for the companions, so focus on adding good rather than pushing people away.
machine7 min 36 s56:03on YouTube
21 Dec 2016video
How can I help someone stop drinking without pushing them away?
Drinking is unacceptable, but like any addiction it needs wisdom: offer an alternative and help with the person's problems, as Abu Hanifa did with his drinking neighbour.
machine10 min 20 s1:03:05on YouTube
15 Mar 2016video
Apostasy: execution as divine policy, tribal loyalty and treason in wartime
The speakers present the execution of apostates as tied to wartime treason and tribal loyalty in early Arab society rather than to belief alone, and say the Quran should be the primary reference in the discussion.
machine5 min 19 s0:06on YouTube
15 Mar 2016video
Western human rights, unquestioned presuppositions and the labels liberal and conservative
Both speakers say Muslims should question their own presuppositions and scrutinise Western values rather than dismiss or adopt them wholesale. One objects that Western moral markers shift every decade; the other that labels like liberal and conservative replace argument.
machine7 min 50 s6:55on YouTube
15 Mar 2016video
Riba and Ibn Abbas: his disagreement on riba and his combining of prayers
Ibn Abbas is reported as holding that riba lies only in delayed exchange and as combining prayers without travel or fear, which one speaker uses to show that labelling a view easy or liberal is not an argument.
machine2 min 38 s14:45on YouTube
2015 · 14
27 Dec 2015video
Can I say Merry Christmas to non-Muslims?
Yes, saying Merry Christmas is permissible: old rulings against it came from a very different world, and in the UK Christmas is largely a winter festivity. Those who prefer another greeting may use it without feeling pressured.
machine3 min 20 s0:00on YouTube
5 May 2015video
Is a short back and sides or faded haircut haram?
A short back and sides, or hair of unequal lengths, is permissible and does not fall under the hadith forbidding qaza'. Shaving patches and leaving others (qaza') is at most disliked, not haram, in the view he presents, unless done to disfigure or to imitate a religious practice.
machine15 min 52 s1:20on YouTube
6 Apr 2015video
Is working with the government or Prevent a form of serving false gods?
No: he categorically rejects the view of some political groups that any association with the authorities is serving a false god, calling it unscholarly. He accepts that elements within the programmes, including counter-terrorism officers who he says worked against him, need reviewing.
machine3 min 57 s17:09on YouTube
6 Apr 2015video
Should Muslims deny that jihad exists in Islam to counter extremism?
No: he says denying jihad or reducing it to self-defence feeds extremists, who use it to call scholars sellouts. The answer is to reclaim traditional Islam and own the concept with its context and conditions.
machine3 min 55 s31:30on YouTube
6 Apr 2015video
Is Mufti Abu Layth a modernist?
No: he follows the school of Madinah and Imam Malik, teaches thousand-year-old texts and holds chains back to the Prophet, and calls boycotting classical thought a heresy. Looking modern in dress, he says, is not modernism, and Abu Hanifa too was criticised for his dress.
machine5 min 11 s39:21on YouTube
6 Apr 2015video
LatestWhat is Mufti Abu Layth currently teaching?
An online fiqh course on the Risalah of Ibn Abi Zayd, al-Ashmawiyyah, a completed reading of Qadi Iyad's Foundations of Islam and a sirah series, with hadith categorisation, an Andalusi poem in hadith terms and a Maliki retreat planned. He believes the school of Madinah would make the deen a way of life for Muslims in the West.
machine5 min 18 s49:46on YouTube
20 Mar 2015video
Do I have to wear my trousers above my ankles?
No: for men, wearing the garment below the ankles is not haram unless it is done out of arrogance, in which case the hadith apply; otherwise it is at most makruh. In today's societies covering the ankles is normal and carries no arrogance, so insisting on it misses the purpose of the ruling.
machine12 min 57 s1:18on YouTube
7 Mar 2015video
How did Abu Hanifa deal with his drunkard neighbour?
Abu Hanifa never rebuked his drinking neighbour but bailed him out of jail and asked whether they had let him go to waste, and the man changed his life. Good character carries a message further than one can imagine.
machine4 min 55 s0:01on YouTube
3 Mar 2015video
Is there such a thing as good bid'ah?
Mufti Abu Layth frames the question of whether bid'ah divides into good and bad, defining it as innovation in religious matters, not worldly ones.
machine1 min 57 s0:01on YouTube
3 Mar 2015video
What did Imam Malik say about bid'ah?
Imam Malik rejected any 'good' bid'ah and called innovations misguidance, yet he often ruled a given innovation only discouraged (makruh), not haram.
machine4 min 28 s1:58on YouTube
3 Mar 2015video
Is making group dua after every salah a bid'ah?
Group dua after every prayer is not from the Sunnah; the Hanafis and Shafi'is count such acts as recommended under general commands to do good, while the other side sees a new practice.
machine6 min 25 s6:26on YouTube
3 Mar 2015video
Is it a bid'ah to pray extra prayers on a fixed day every week?
Fixing a voluntary prayer to a day for convenience is commendable, but fixing it for a religious reason ritualises it, which the Malikis count as discouraged bid'ah.
machine10 min 56 s12:51on YouTube
3 Mar 2015video
Do Maliki scholars accept good bid'ah?
Both views exist: the early Maliki school rejected good bid'ah for centuries, but from around the 600s to 700s Hijri most Malikis accepted such practices while the books still list them as makruh.
machine6 min 24 s23:47on YouTube
3 Mar 2015video
Should I avoid practices that people call good bid'ah?
Mufti Abu Layth holds it is safer to stick to the Sunnah as Medina understood it, but does not condemn those who follow good bid'ah, and asks for mutual respect.
machine4 min 18 s30:11on YouTube
2014 · 21
2 Jul 2014video
Why did Mufti Abu Layth choose the Maliki madhhab?
Its personality matched his own: the Maliki school keeps things natural, for example in how one stands, holds the hands and makes du'a in salah.
machine3 min 53 s6:27on YouTube
2 Jul 2014video
Why is al-Andalus so important to Muslims?
Al-Andalus was eight centuries of native Muslim civilisation in Europe, shaped by the Maliki school, and its rise and fall hold lessons for Muslims today.
machine5 min 39 s12:53on YouTube
2 Jul 2014video
Is difference of opinion in Islam a mercy?
Yes, definitely: difference of opinion is a mercy and a message of tolerance. He also calls social media vital for da'wah.
machine36 s18:32on YouTube
2 Jul 2014video
Why does Mufti Abu Layth not dress like a traditional mufti?
The attacks do not bother him much: he holds his appearance permissible and wants to be a role model for Muslims who cannot relate to the traditional look.
machine2 min 59 s19:08on YouTube
2 Jul 2014video
Does Islam require a particular dress or beard style for scholars?
No: respect the difference of opinion. Many esteemed Maliki scholars were clean-shaven or wore suits, and the din mandates no uniform.
machine2 min 36 s22:13on YouTube
2 Jul 2014video
What does Mufti Abu Layth hope to achieve?
Mufti Abu Layth hopes to spread inclusivity and compassion and a wider understanding of the Maliki school, which he feels the West needs.
machine2 min 50 s24:53on YouTube
9 May 2014video
Is the face part of a woman's 'awrah in the Maliki school?
One speaker argues that neither the Maliki nor the Hanafi school counts the face as 'awrah, so covering it is at most a precaution against fitnah.
machine6 min 22 s0:00on YouTube
9 May 2014video
Must a young woman cover her face because of fitnah?
The speakers disagree: one holds the books require covering where there is fitnah from young women, the other that such a rule would swallow the Prophet's own practice.
machine5 min 01 s6:30on YouTube
9 May 2014video
Did Imam Malik allow a woman to show her face to her husband's friends?
One speaker reads Imam Malik's fatwa allowing a woman to eat with her husband's friends as proof that the face is uncovered; the other cites the later split between young and older women.
machine8 min 19 s11:31on YouTube
9 May 2014video
Is Imam Malik's own fatwa the Maliki madhhab?
The speakers disagree on whether Imam Malik's own words or the later transmitted madhhab decide a ruling; one says Malik's hijab fatwas were relaxed and left the face uncovered.
machine2 min 36 s19:50on YouTube
9 May 2014video
Can a woman go out of the house without a need?
One speaker holds women went out only for need; the other that hadith and Maliki texts show women in public and travelling, with no text forbidding going out.
machine5 min 12 s22:26on YouTube
9 May 2014video
Is it haram for a woman to go out for a walk?
One speaker says nothing makes it haram for a woman to go for a walk and challenges the other to produce a Maliki fatwa forbidding it; the other asks whether fatwa must follow the madhhab's protocols.
machine10 min 42 s27:38on YouTube
12 Apr 2014video
Can I trim my beard short or to a goatee, below a fist's length?
Trimming the beard from the sides, to a goatee or to less than a fist's length is permissible and not haram, though a difference of opinion exists and others may follow it. Mufti Abu Layth's aim is to show that this opinion has a long and continuing place in the tradition.
machine3 min 57 s1:22on YouTube
12 Apr 2014video
Which scholars have allowed trimming or shaving the beard?
Maliki and other classical jurists held that trimming or even shaving the beard is at most makruh, not haram, and many modern scholars across the schools have given the same fatwa or kept trimmed, goateed or clean-shaven beards themselves. Mufti Abu Layth presents this to show the opinion's long standing, not to deny the other view.
machine5 min 15 s4:01on YouTube
12 Apr 2014video
What do the sound hadith about the beard actually say?
Only three hadith on the beard have undisputed chains, and each pairs trimming the moustache with the beard and gives the reason of differing from the Jews and Christians, the Majus or the mushrikin. Many read this as an obligatory command, but Mufti Abu Layth says other hadith show otherwise.
machine4 min 02 s9:16on YouTube
12 Apr 2014video
Is it haram to trim my beard shorter than a fist's length?
Trimming the beard below a fist is not haram according to many great scholars, a well-founded view in the tradition, though others may follow stricter opinions.
machine12 min 48 s0:04on YouTube
12 Mar 2014video
Do I have to follow a madhhab?
Yes in practice: a sound understanding of the deen cannot be acquired without a school of law as the medium, just as knowledge cannot be acquired without a language. It is not a matter of sin or haram, but of what is conceivable.
machine5 min 09 s0:04on YouTube
12 Mar 2014video
Do I have to stick to one madhhab, or can I question its positions?
Develop within one school, since each rests on its own principles, like choosing one door into a building; once knowledgeable you may evaluate its positions. Mufti Abu Layth adds that some who resist this seem to struggle with submitting to authority.
machine2 min 34 s5:13on YouTube
12 Mar 2014video
If the madhhabs differ so much, how can they all be valid?
Compare the hadith an imam relied on with the hadith you quote, not the imam's fatwa with the hadith. The schools differ in application under one constitution of Quran and Sunnah, like US states, and learning every ruling from its evidence without a school is impractical.
machine3 min 59 s7:47on YouTube
12 Mar 2014video
How should I choose which madhhab to follow?
Choose by whatever criteria suit you; you are not bound to the school of your locality. All madhhabs are in essence upon the truth, but Mufti Abu Layth personally prefers the school transmitted in Madinah, that of Imam Malik.
machine2 min 28 s11:46on YouTube
18 Jan 2014video
What is the dua for memorising the Quran and how do I perform it?
On Thursday night, in the last part of the night, pray four units with al-Fatiha and a set surah in each, then say the dua the Prophet taught Ali asking that the Quran stick to the heart, for three, five or seven Fridays. The Quran may be held and read from during the prayer according to the majority.
machine5 min 21 s2:39on YouTube