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The Maliki school
77 segments in 43 recordings · 2014 to 2025 · 0 verified · 59 checked positions · fiqh/maliki-school · Feed
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Click a year to jump to itLatest answer · 18 Oct 2025
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
Earlier answers · 76 · newest first
2023 · 5
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
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
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
2022 · 1
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
2021 · 16
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
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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.
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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.
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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.
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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
2 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What do you think of Imam al-Shatibi?
Mufti Abu Layth calls Imam al-Shatibi an absolute legend and the real founding father of maqasid, the objectives of the Sharia.
machine2 min 47 s1:17:49on 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.
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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
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
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
2020 · 13
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.
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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
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.
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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
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.
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4 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it okay to celebrate the Mawlid?
Mufti Abu Layth says people may celebrate the Mawlid if they wish, though he does not, but road-blocking processions are a nuisance he condemns.
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4 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why did Imam Malik prefer the practice of Medina over hadith chains?
Mufti Abu Layth says the chain was once subordinate to the living tradition of Medina; al-Shafii's isnad project replaced regional trust with loyalty to the chain.
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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.
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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
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.
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2019 · 5
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
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
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.
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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.
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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.
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2018 · 9
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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2017 · 10
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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.
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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.
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2015 · 7
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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2014 · 10
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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