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Cults, clergy and religious abuse
42 segments in 19 recordings · 2017 to 2021 · 0 verified · 18 checked positions · society/cults-and-religious-abuse · Feed
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Click a year to jump to itLatest answer · 13 Apr 2021
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
LatestWhy are some clerics so hostile to Mufti Abu Layth?
Mufti Abu Layth says clerics who oppose him see in his approach the end of their institutional religion, and calls their reaction its final pangs.
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Earlier answers · 41 · newest first
2021 · 8
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why do some religious people dislike laughter?
Mufti Abu Layth says humour lets ordinary people see absurdity and question authority, which is why institutional religion dislikes it and why reports against laughter were fabricated.
machine3 min 58 s1:10:13on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is Mufti Abu Layth against Salafis?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says he has no problem with anyone being Salafi; his objection is to cult-like dogmatism in any group.
machine4 min 14 s1:18:09on YouTube
13 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Was Adam a real person?
Yes: Mufti Abu Layth believes Adam was a literal person, the father of the cognitive revolution, though he accepts some read him as a metaphor.
machine2 min 38 s3:06:04on 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
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.
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6 Apr 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
How was Mufti Abu Layth's video on Aisha's age received?
Mufti Abu Layth is proud of the video: many people, especially women, told him it brought them back to Islam, while most clergy resent it because questioning the inherited ruling threatens their authority and livelihood.
machine8 min 09 s1:42:34on YouTube
2 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is jinn possession real?
There is no such thing as jinn possession, Mufti Abu Layth says; these are mental health issues, and exorcisms can be abuse.
machine13 min 34 s2:50:29on 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 · 18
11 Dec 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Are madrasas failing their students?
Mufti Abu Layth says the madrasa phenomenon is dysfunctional and dumbs students down though it supplies the raw materials; both say those who leave orthodox positions are ostracised, and the guest recommends a few years of traditional study combined with academic study.
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21 Nov 2020video
Why do popular preachers promote belief in jinn possession?
Mufti Abu Layth will answer Omar Suleiman's clip as a prime example of preachers promoting superstition; he says they appease the market that buys their commodity.
machine2 min 39 s0:02on YouTube
21 Nov 2020video
Is the jinn exorcism and ruqya industry a fraud?
The ruqya industry is largely a fraud drenched in abuse; the Mu'tazila, who rejected possession, were never afflicted, and al-Jahiz already recorded a practitioner using a possession claim to explain away a lost virginity.
machine6 min 37 s43:12on YouTube
20 Oct 2020video
Why do preachers attack views in public that they tolerate in private?
Most preachers are controlled by the crowd that follows them: the same figures who are friendly off camera attack Mufti Abu Layth on camera because their followers expect it. Al-Farabri likewise took an opportunity that brought fame, which does not oblige others to be blind.
machine3 min 56 s6:37on YouTube
20 Oct 2020video
Why do scholars avoid showing unity across Barelvi, Deobandi and Salafi lines?
Scholars from different sects who met privately refused even a group photo, saying their followers were not mature enough to see it. Mufti Abu Layth says this shows preachers feeding their followers' expectations out of fear of being disowned.
machine2 min 34 s10:33on YouTube
4 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
How common is sexual abuse in madrasas?
Mufti Abu Layth says abuse in madrasas is far more common outside the West and is often taken lightly; he would never send young boys to a madrasa in Pakistan.
machine8 min 53 s1:15:38on YouTube
4 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Don't madrasas expel students for sexual abuse?
Mufti Abu Layth says madrasas now respond to abuse claims more because they fear the police and the press than from conviction.
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14 Jul 2020live stream
What are the allegations against the Quran reciter on Twitter?
Mufti Abu Layth shows the allegations circulating on Twitter against a well-known Quran reciter, says he cannot tell whether they are true, and says criminal claims should go to the police.
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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.
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14 Jul 2020live stream
How do some imams use religion to exploit young women?
Imams who use religion to sell girls a fantasy of a pious relationship are despicable; girls should wake up from such fantasies and crimes should be reported.
machine6 min 20 s2:20:55on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Opening: introducing Edip Yuksel, who refuses titles and insists all are equal
The guest rejects titles such as professor, saying that in religion, philosophy and politics only the words count, not the name or rank of the person speaking.
machine3 min 53 s0:35on YouTube
1 Jun 2020video
If a religious teacher seduces someone, is the other person also to blame?
Mufti Abu Layth says both the mufti and the woman in the shared story are to blame, and dismisses the claim of a magic spell.
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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.
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19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Do religious scholars lose their independence when they depend on donations?
The guest refuses to earn from religion because dependence on a group or donors forces scholars to say what their audience wants; Mufti Abu Layth says denominational dependency cripples independent thinking.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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6 Apr 2020video
What was in the letter attacking Shaykh al-Yaqoubi, and who sent it?
A Bradford-based board wrote to Shaykh al-Yaqoubi demanding he declare Shia, Deobandi and Salafi figures kafir and condemn The Study Quran and Hamza Yusuf, which Mufti Abu Layth calls a sectarian bullying session. He recognised only two signatories and was surprised to see Pir Saqib Shaami's name.
machine5 min 14 s2:37on YouTube
2019 · 9
21 Aug 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
How should I deal with religious circles that pressure me into beliefs?
Leave the judgmental bubble of religious circles and be true to your faith and yourself rather than letting people bully you into beliefs. He cites a shaykh attacked for calling for updated thinking and Usama Canon's regret at having deprived himself for fear of what others said.
machine6 min 31 s9:10on YouTube
21 Aug 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Did the Prophet teach a formal creed of what Muslims must believe?
The Prophet taught faith, not a creed: beyond a handful of beliefs no hadith prescribes what to believe, and for 150 years the salaf up to Imam Malik wrote down no dogma. Policing people's ideas is the antithesis of Islam, so think for yourself.
machine2 min 36 s15:41on YouTube
21 Aug 2019BukhariGate: Issues with Sahih al-Bukhari
What does Mufti Abu Layth think of Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi?
Mufti Abu Layth likes al-Yaqoubi as one of the more level-headed and knowledgeable pirs, from a family of scholars, though he has only seen his generic talks. He recalls meeting him in Damascus two decades ago as an ordinary, respected academic with no entourage.
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21 Aug 2019BukhariGate: Issues with Sahih al-Bukhari
How did Shaykh al-Yaqoubi become so influential in the UK?
After his earlier UK hosts parted with him, al-Yaqoubi found a devoted following in the Barelvi community of the Midlands and the north, learnt to avoid praising Deobandi scholars, and rose to prominence, wealth and power on its back.
machine3 min 57 s6:36on YouTube
21 Aug 2019BukhariGate: Issues with Sahih al-Bukhari
Does Mufti Abu Layth regard Sufi tariqahs led by pirs as cults?
Mufti Abu Layth says all such tariqahs are in essence cults, though al-Yaqoubi's is a better and less harmful one than the usual exploitative pir. The SKT charity boycott, he says, shows how much power such shaykhs now wield.
machine2 min 36 s10:33on YouTube
21 Aug 2019BukhariGate: Issues with Sahih al-Bukhari
Is al-Yaqoubi's edition of Sahih al-Bukhari really the most authentic copy on earth?
No special claim can rest on being based on the Sultaniyya, Mufti Abu Layth says, since every copy of Bukhari is. He sees the advertising as business, which he does not mind in itself, but calls the tactics problematic.
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1 Aug 2019On Current Events
Introducing the controversy over a famous Instagram 'couple goals' pair
Mufti Abu Layth introduces the social media controversy around a famous Muslim Instagram couple accused of living double lives.
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1 Aug 2019On Current Events
Why is it harmful when religious influencers present a fake perfect life?
Mufti Abu Layth says their private lives were their own business, and that the harm lay in preaching standards they could not live by and selling an unattainable ideal of marriage in God's name.
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1 Aug 2019On Current Events
Do you need to appear perfectly pious to be a good Muslim?
No one needs to pretend to be pious; being genuinely human makes the deen more workable, while sanctimonious fake preaching drives people from faith.
machine6 min 07 s25:17on YouTube
2018 · 3
15 Apr 2018Debunking Myths On: Jinns, Magic, the Evil Eye, and Superstitions
Why does it matter whether people believe in jinn possession?
Because the belief brings mockery on Islam and sustains an industry of abuse, with beatings, sexual violence and extortion, including a house gifted to a practitioner as a 'cure'. Mufti Abu Layth says Islam will bear the blame and future generations will treat it as mythology.
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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
15 Apr 2018Debunking Myths On: Jinns, Magic, the Evil Eye, and Superstitions
Exploitation by 'babas', and the solution: proper help and mental health
Magic healers exploit desperate people; seek real help from your network or professionals, and communities should take mental health seriously.
machine5 min 06 s46:15on YouTube
2017 · 3
20 Sep 2017Debunking Myths On: Jinns, Magic, the Evil Eye, and Superstitions
Why does the guest warn women never to go to exorcists?
Exorcists exploit women: the guest recounts a girl coached to feign possession to hide her lost virginity, and says many women have been made pregnant by such men in India and on a large scale in Britain. Every illness has a cure that must be sought by proper effort.
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20 Sep 2017Debunking Myths On: Jinns, Magic, the Evil Eye, and Superstitions
What harm does belief in jinn possession do?
Belief in possession sustains beatings, sexual violence, exploitation and the extraction of money and even houses, and because it is dressed as Islam, Islam will be dismissed as mythology by the coming generation. Neurosis and psychosis are introduced as the frame for the psychological cases.
machine2 min 39 s1:24:46on YouTube
20 Sep 2017Debunking Myths On: Jinns, Magic, the Evil Eye, and Superstitions
Why not treat jinn possession as just a difference of opinion among scholars?
Because it is not a harmless difference like raising the hands in prayer: belief in possession underwrites mass exploitation, a multi-million pound industry and ridicule of Islam and its Prophet. Al-Razi, al-Maraghi, Ibn Ashur and al-Shawkani are among those who denied it, and the abuse must end.
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