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Sexual ethics
41 segments in 20 recordings · 2017 to 2023 · 0 verified · 14 checked positions · fiqh/sexual-ethics · Feed
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Click a year to jump to itLatest answer · 22 Feb 2023
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
Earlier answers · 40 · newest first
2021 · 12
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
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
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
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 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
If the hijab has become sexualised, should scholars still push it?
Mufti Abu Layth argues that since the hijab is now widely sexualised, fatwas should not keep pushing it, though people may wear it as culture.
machine9 min 37 s1:20:04on 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
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
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
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 · 22
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
22 Sep 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
A Hanbali opinion on women's sexual desire, and Dawah Man quoting Ibn al-Qayyim
Mufti Abu Layth reads a Hanbali view that a woman may use a sexual aid when her desire is unmet, and mocks a claim quoted by Dawah Man from Ibn al-Qayyim.
machine7 min 15 s1:57:55on 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
1 Jun 2020video
Is it worse to use religion as a cover for wrongdoing?
Mufti Abu Layth says people should not use religion to cover what they do; dressing seduction in religious language is a sick game.
machine2 min 34 s6:20on 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
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
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
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
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
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 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
2019 · 1
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
2018 · 4
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
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
2017 · 1
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