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Current events commentary
118 segments in 37 recordings · 2015 to 2024 · 0 verified · 64 checked positions · society/current-events · Feed
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Click a year to jump to itLatest answer · 29 Sep 2024
29 Sep 2024On Current Events
LatestMufti Tariq Masood's remark on scribal errors, and Islam as a deen of mercy
Mufti Abu Layth says there are no mistakes in the Quran's script, but Islam is a deen of mercy, so Mufti Tariq Masood's error should not bring calls for his death.
machine5 min 09 s0:03on YouTube
Earlier answers · 117 · newest first
2024 · 1
29 Sep 2024On Current Events
LatestHow scholars' rhetoric fed Pakistan's blasphemy killings, in Mufti Abu Layth's view
Mufti Abu Layth says scholars who long told the public to kill blasphemers, Mufti Tariq Masood once among them, helped build the culture now threatening him, and must teach mercy for everyone.
machine5 min 05 s9:46on YouTube
2022 · 3
19 Aug 2022video
Does Islam allow attacking Salman Rushdie?
No: he condemns the attack on Salman Rushdie as cowardly and contrary to Islam, saying ideas must be answered with speech and that the attack only demonised Islam and revived Rushdie's fame.
machine5 min 16 s0:01on YouTube
19 Aug 2022video
What does the Mufti think of Salman Rushdie as a person?
Mufti Abu Layth says he personally finds Rushdie's personality abhorrent and senses a strong negativity from him, and that he researched him in order to be fair.
machine4 min 01 s5:17on YouTube
19 Aug 2022video
LatestWhat was Salman Rushdie's family background?
Mufti Abu Layth describes Rushdie's privileged Muslim family in Bombay, a father who took the name Rushdie from Ibn Rushd, and an English boarding-school education shaped by admiration for the British ruling class.
machine6 min 32 s9:18on YouTube
2021 · 41
29 Nov 2021video
LatestIs it wrong to joke about people who are seriously ill with covid?
Do not make fun of people who are ill with covid: it is a roll of the dice, as a neighbour's sudden death showed, and it should make us grateful.
machine5 min 17 s0:14on YouTube
18 May 2021video
LatestStatement on the break-in at Mufti Abu Layth's home
Mufti Abu Layth describes masked men breaking into his home and terrifying his family, and asks whether this is the character Islam teaches.
machine1 min 21 s0:08on YouTube
18 May 2021video
Response to accusations over Palestine remarks and claims he is not Muslim
Mufti Abu Layth says he has always supported Palestine and only argued for safe passage for its people, that 'exile' was a slip of the tongue, and that those calling him a non-Muslim and invading his home are not following Islam.
machine7 min 38 s1:29on YouTube
17 May 2021video
LatestAre Bin Bayyah and Hamza Yusuf to blame for the UAE's deal with Israel?
No, in Mufti Abu Layth's view: the UAE's ruler does not take direction from scholars, Bin Bayyah is said to have disliked the treaty while deferring to the ruler's decision, and Hamza Yusuf had nothing to do with it. He opens with condolences for the losses in Gaza.
machine3 min 58 s1:22on YouTube
17 May 2021video
Has the UAE's recognition of Israel brought any peace?
No: Mufti Abu Layth says two weeks of bombardment followed the deal, so it is not a solution. He calls Israel a terrorist state at the state level, with war crimes documented by the UN and academics such as Chomsky and Finkelstein, and stresses this is not antisemitism.
machine3 min 57 s4:00on YouTube
17 May 2021video
What does Mufti Abu Layth think should happen to the Palestinians in Gaza?
Since Israel is here to stay and a two-state solution will not happen, Mufti Abu Layth proposes relocating the Palestinians of Gaza and the blockaded areas across the Arab world with compensation, housing and education, spread out rather than in ghettos. He says Muslims guilt-trip Palestinians into staying and Arab states value them as a buffer zone.
machine5 min 17 s7:57on YouTube
17 May 2021video
Is Jerusalem really a holy city in Islam?
In Mufti Abu Layth's view Jerusalem was never that sacred in Islam: its glorification began with Abd al-Malik's Dome of the Rock as a rival to Makkah, and he holds that al-Aqsa, 'the farthest' mosque, was in the heavens. Even if holy, it is bricks and mortar, and life comes before buildings.
machine2 min 37 s13:14on YouTube
17 May 2021video
Should Palestinians stay and defend the holy land at the cost of their lives?
No, in Mufti Abu Layth's view: life comes before place, a Muslim's honour outweighs the Kaaba rebuilt seven times, and the whole earth is a place of prayer. He says the war is lost and that those who insist Palestinians stay would stop caring about them once they were safe elsewhere.
machine2 min 39 s15:51on YouTube
17 May 2021video
Why does Mufti Abu Layth compare the Palestinian situation to facing a knife?
His escrima teacher's rule was to run from a knife and fight only when running is impossible, and he applies it to an enemy that will not back down. He repeats that the UAE deal has brought nothing and that Bin Bayyah and Hamza Yusuf should not be blamed for it.
machine3 min 57 s18:30on YouTube
17 May 2021video
LatestWhat does Mufti Abu Layth think the solution for Kashmir is?
Independence for at least part of Kashmir, such as the valley, from both India and Pakistan, with buffers so Pakistan is not exposed, though he does not expect it to happen. Kashmir differs from Gaza in being a militarised zone rather than a bombarded prison, and India would not pay to relocate anyone.
machine2 min 41 s22:27on YouTube
15 May 2021video
What are the layers behind the Palestinian crisis of May 2021?
The crisis has an occupation layer, which Mufti Abu Layth calls clear oppression and a crime against humanity, and a political layer: Gulf normalisation with Israel, Netanyahu's domestic insecurity and fear politics, and Arab neighbours' interest in a Palestinian buffer zone.
machine6 min 33 s1:20on YouTube
15 May 2021video
LatestWhat can ordinary people do about the Palestinian crisis, and do social-media posts help?
Global outcry and boycotts are necessary even though Israel ignores them and acts with impunity, but Instagram posts make no difference to the crisis, which is not caused by lack of awareness, so Muslims should not guilt-trip one another.
machine5 min 15 s6:34on YouTube
15 May 2021video
LatestDo protests help Palestine, and was blocking the roads in Birmingham justified?
Protests put slow pressure on politicians who can only request, and blocking Birmingham's roads at rush hour was a disservice to the Palestinian cause: it broke the law, harmed civilians and turned sentiment against Palestine.
machine2 min 37 s11:49on YouTube
15 May 2021video
What solutions are possible for Palestine?
Israel is here to stay, so the realistic options are a two-state solution, naturalising Palestinians within Israel, or relocation, for which al-Albani gave a fatwa of hijrah, compared to evacuating a house whose fire cannot be put out.
machine3 min 53 s14:26on YouTube
15 May 2021video
Is the Gaza conflict a war or a genocide, and who is egging Palestinians on?
Mufti Abu Layth calls the conflict a genocide rather than a war and says urging Palestinians towards martyrdom from the comfort of one's home is armchair cowardice, driven by Arab buffer-zone interests and a religious-centre mentality.
machine2 min 38 s18:19on YouTube
15 May 2021video
LatestIs there archaeological evidence for David's kingdom, and how did Jerusalem become holy for Muslims?
Archaeology has not found the kingdoms of David and Solomon, and Mufti Abu Layth says Muslims should apply the same scrutiny to their own narrations, where early scholars differed over al-Aqsa and the first qibla and the Umayyads under Abd al-Malik promoted Jerusalem with fabricated hadith to rival Ibn al-Zubayr.
machine3 min 52 s20:57on YouTube
15 May 2021video
What can people realistically do for Palestine, and is migration an option?
Politics runs through every side of the crisis, and ordinary people are largely helpless beyond pressuring MPs, boycotts and dua; Mufti Abu Layth says no land is worth a genocide and that the Prophet taught migration where an assessment calls for it, or else meaningful negotiation.
machine6 min 19 s27:26on YouTube
26 Apr 2021MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
How does the Chinese state deal with religion?
The guest describes Chinese paper offerings burned for the dead, a government crackdown on their modern forms, and the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign as examples of the state managing religion.
machine8 min 59 s44:07on 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
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
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
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
Is the age of consent in France really 13?
Mufti Abu Layth doubts the claim that France's age of consent is thirteen, and distinguishes laws on relationships between teenagers of similar age from an adult engaging with a child.
machine2 min 17 s1:28:55on YouTube
16 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What does the Mufti think of Fethullah Gulen?
Mufti Abu Layth says he knows little about Gulen beyond his influential network of schools with an Islamic ethos, and will read up on him.
machine1 min 09 s59:27on 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
Why does Birmingham have so many different Muslim sects?
Mufti Abu Layth says Birmingham's many strong sects cancel each other out, which he thinks is a good thing compared with towns one sect dominates.
machine2 min 47 s1:35:19on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why is Pakistan so full of religious extremism?
Mufti Abu Layth says religious militancy in Pakistan was boosted by the CIA-backed Afghan jihad against the Soviets and is still mass-produced by madrasa networks.
machine8 min 16 s1:55:56on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What was Mufti Abu Layth's madrasa in Pakistan like?
Mufti Abu Layth says his madrasa's head was not hot-headed, and that Barelvi radicalism is recent while militancy has long existed in parts of the Deobandi world.
machine5 min 07 s2:05:32on YouTube
9 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Who is right in India's farmers' protests?
Mufti Abu Layth stands with India's protesting farmers, saying laws affecting them must not be imposed without their consent.
machine13 min 02 s2:20:56on YouTube
2 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is it haram to have an anal swab test for COVID?
An anal-swab COVID test is not haram, Mufti Abu Layth says, any more than a colonoscopy, if that is the test.
machine6 min 11 s53:23on YouTube
2 Feb 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What happened with GameStop, Reddit and Wall Street?
Mufti Abu Layth explains margin trading, short selling and how Reddit traders squeezed Wall Street funds over GameStop.
machine13 min 12 s2:14:58on YouTube
26 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Was Covid-19 made in a lab?
Mufti Abu Layth says he believes Covid-19 came out of a laboratory and was engineered, pointing to reports that it spares children and relies on cholesterol.
machine5 min 18 s11:03on YouTube
26 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Did Covid-19 come from the Wuhan lab?
Mufti Abu Layth denies spreading conspiracy theories but says Covid-19 escaped from the Wuhan laboratory, in his view by accident rather than design, after being engineered there.
machine2 min 36 s18:58on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Clip: Matt Hancock pressed on voting against free school meals
A clip of Matt Hancock pressed on voting against free school meals, which Mufti Abu Layth calls the unconscionable neglect of this government.
machine3 min 10 s15:09on YouTube
19 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why are British politicians so bad at interviews?
Mufti Abu Layth says the English are not bad at interviews: Boris Johnson is very intelligent and plays up his clumsiness, and the elite grew richer in the pandemic.
machine2 min 30 s18:19on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
The storming of the US Capitol and Trump's 'go home, we love you' video
Clips of the Capitol riot and Trump's 'go home, we love you' video, with Mufti Abu Layth's mocking commentary.
machine5 min 33 s7:56on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Not just Trump: why he sees the Capitol riot as reflective of the United States
Mufti Abu Layth sees the Capitol riot as a symptom of the United States as a whole, not just of Trump, pointing to school shootings, inequality and race relations.
machine8 min 08 s13:29on YouTube
12 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is America really as wild as you say?
Mufti Abu Layth says he was not dissing the US, but that it is a paradox: great wealth and innovation alongside poverty, no free health care and routine school shootings.
machine4 min 09 s23:16on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Opening: sound check, Covid recovery, a spoof of the lockdown announcement
Housekeeping: Mufti Abu Layth reports on his Covid recovery, plays a spoof of the UK lockdown announcement and mocks the vaccine promises.
machine8 min 12 s0:10on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is the great reset or a depopulation plot real?
No: he does not believe in a great reset or depopulation plot by governments, though some individuals may wish for such a thing.
machine2 min 12 s14:02on YouTube
5 Jan 2021Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Can we call coronavirus the UK virus?
No: the virus did not originate in the UK, which only has a mutation; he believes it came from the Wuhan lab, though not on purpose.
machine4 min 06 s20:22on YouTube
2020 · 62
29 Oct 2020video
How should Muslims respond to cartoons of the Prophet?
Ignore them: people have the right to criticise religion, and the cartoons are drawn to provoke a reaction.
machine1 min 54 s0:01on YouTube
29 Oct 2020video
Was it right for the French government to display the cartoons?
No: individuals and satirists may draw them, but a government represents all its citizens, including Muslims, and Macron's move was poorly managed and provocative.
machine3 min 54 s5:12on YouTube
29 Oct 2020video
Do I have to boycott French products?
No: boycotting is a personal choice and understandable, and state-level boycotts make sense, but Muslims who do not boycott should not be guilt-tripped.
machine4 min 32 s9:06on YouTube
29 Oct 2020video
Light-hearted replies to viewers about what to boycott
Jokes about what to boycott; Mufti Abu Layth doubts Mohammed Hijab would come on to debate.
machine1 min 37 s13:38on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Who do you think will win the US election?
Mufti Abu Layth has a scary feeling that Trump will win again but says it would not be the end of the world; he cannot understand Americans' resistance to free health care.
machine3 min 57 s43:24on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Why is Khabib such a hero to Muslims?
Mufti Abu Layth calls Khabib a phenomenon and admires him for openly wearing his Islam, while saying he took McGregor's hype too personally.
machine9 min 34 s1:41:57on YouTube
27 Oct 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Should Muslims boycott France over the cartoons?
Mufti Abu Layth condemns the killing outright but says Macron was wrong to project the cartoons; boycotts are understandable but no one should be guilt-tripped.
machine14 min 09 s1:53:33on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Are Abdullah bin Bayyah and Hamza Yusuf to blame for the UAE-Israel deal?
Mufti Abu Layth says it is unfair to blame Abdullah bin Bayyah and Hamza Yusuf for the UAE-Israel deal, since the UAE's ruler does not care what scholars think.
machine4 min 30 s1:41:10on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Will the UAE-Israel deal bring peace to Palestine?
Mufti Abu Layth says the UAE deal is not a solution, since it has brought no peace while Israel, acting as a terrorist state, keeps bombing Gaza.
machine3 min 36 s1:45:40on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What is the solution for the Palestinians in Gaza?
Mufti Abu Layth accepts Israel is here to stay and, seeing no two-state solution, argues for Gaza's Palestinians to be relocated with compensation across the Arab world.
machine5 min 13 s1:49:16on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is al-Aqsa really in Jerusalem?
Mufti Abu Layth says Jerusalem was not originally so sacred in Islam and that, in his understanding, al-Aqsa refers to a place in the heavens.
machine2 min 37 s1:54:29on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
Is defending the holy land worth Palestinian lives?
Mufti Abu Layth says human life comes before any holy place and that Muslims must accept the fight against Israel is lost.
machine6 min 27 s1:57:06on YouTube
24 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
What is the solution to the Kashmir conflict?
Ideally, he says, Kashmir, or at least part of it such as the valley, should become independent of both India and Pakistan.
machine3 min 16 s2:03:33on YouTube
4 Aug 2020Monday Nights with Mufti Abu Layth
The Peshawar courtroom killing of an Ahmadi accused of blasphemy
Mufti Abu Layth condemns the Peshawar courtroom killing, says a claim to prophethood is not an insult to the Prophet, and blames the authorities for failing to prevent it.
machine11 min 26 s1:36:23on 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
If Muslims can reconvert the Hagia Sophia, can Israel or India reconvert mosques too?
By the 'might is right' logic used to justify the reconversion, he says, Israel could turn al-Aqsa into the Temple of Solomon and India's Hindu majority could turn mosques into temples, so Muslims who celebrate cannot then complain. Leave the building be.
machine3 min 56 s18:26on 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
16 Jul 2020video
Should Pakistan allow a Hindu temple to be built in Islamabad?
Yes, he says: Pakistan is a nation-state of equal citizens, not a khilafah, and Muslims who demand tolerance abroad while opposing a temple at home have become bigots. The Quran itself says Allah's name is glorified in other faiths' places of worship.
machine4 min 08 s26:20on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
The week's chatter: a podcast plug, Kanye West for president and a viral video
Light chatter about the week's news and viral videos before the questions begin.
machine7 min 10 s9:53on YouTube
14 Jul 2020live stream
What do you think of the Wayfair trafficking rumours and Epstein?
Mufti Abu Layth suspects Epstein was blackmailing powerful figures and was protected by the CIA in return for that leverage; the Wayfair rumours he cannot confirm but hopes are investigated.
machine6 min 59 s24:29on 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
If Turkey can reconvert the Hagia Sophia, can Israel or India reconvert mosques too?
By the 'might is right' logic behind the reconversion, Israel could reclaim al-Aqsa and India's Hindus the Babri Masjid, so Muslims who celebrate cannot then complain.
machine3 min 50 s1:33:19on 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
Should Pakistan allow a Hindu temple in Islamabad?
Mufti Abu Layth supports the Islamabad temple: Pakistan is a nation-state of equal citizens, and Muslims who demand tolerance abroad but deny it at home are bigots.
machine4 min 27 s1:40:22on 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
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
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Is America losing its place in the world?
The guest argues that America is in an internal crisis and has lost the soft power of alliances and credibility that matters more than military strength.
machine4 min 30 s22:55on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why do so many people admire Trump's style?
Mufti Abu Layth condemns Trump and his views but admits a grudging admiration for his impunity; the guest ties Trump's rise to Fox News and a politics of fear.
machine5 min 48 s27:25on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Are mosques in America at risk from far-right anger?
The guest warns that rising white supremacist anger in the US, fed by scapegoating and Fox News, means every mosque now needs security.
machine3 min33:13on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Will people's better judgement win out over hatred?
Mufti Abu Layth is optimistic: he sees better judgement prevailing over time, especially among the young.
machine2 min 34 s36:13on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
What does defunding the police mean in practice?
The guest describes police in his area withdrawing after criticism and a country too polarised for real conversation.
machine2 min 32 s38:47on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why is America so polarised?
The guest argues that demographic fear and the hollowing out of the middle class by big corporations are driving American polarisation.
machine5 min 09 s41:19on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Have nuclear weapons made the world more peaceful?
Mufti Abu Layth argues that nuclear deterrence has ironically kept the peace; the guest fears what the people holding the weapons might do.
machine3 min 53 s58:31on 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
Should Pakistan allow a Hindu temple to be built in Islamabad?
Mufti Abu Layth thinks building a temple for Pakistani Hindus is a kind gesture and that Muslims have no reason to feel insecure about it.
machine3 min 12 s2:22:50on YouTube
10 Jul 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Was it right for Turkey to turn the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque?
Mufti Abu Layth would not issue a fatwa against praying in the Hagia Sophia, but says Muslims should stop being insecure and be comfortable in their skin.
machine1 min 56 s2:25:24on 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
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
Why was Rashad Khalifa assassinated?
The guest says Rashad Khalifa was declared an apostate by a 1989 Madinah gathering under Ibn Baz and killed within a year by a group linked to al-Qaeda, and he lists coincidences of the number 19 around the murder, Y2K and the 9/11 attacks.
machine5 min 12 s1:56:52on YouTube
26 Jun 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Should social media companies be allowed to censor people as the new public square?
The guest says Twitter suspended him at the Turkish government's instance and that corporations now controlling the virtual public square should be regulated and bound by due process; Mufti Abu Layth agrees the question is a fascinating one.
machine3 min 55 s2:49:10on YouTube
29 May 2020video
Was the arrest of Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza justified?
No: Mufti Abu Layth calls the arrest unacceptable and the product of jealousy and sectarianism, praising Engineer Mirza as an open-minded scholar.
machine3 min 07 s0:00on YouTube
28 Apr 2020video
The backlash to Maulana Tariq Jamil's dua on media, modesty and the pandemic, and the clip
Mufti Abu Layth sets out the controversy over Maulana Tariq Jamil's dua, in which he criticised media lies and spoke of modesty, reads critics who called it misogynistic, and plays the clip.
machine5 min 59 s0:00on YouTube
28 Apr 2020video
Did Maulana Tariq Jamil blame women for the coronavirus?
Mufti Abu Layth did not feel Tariq Jamil was blaming women for the pandemic; he heard a call to self-examination in a calamity. Despite disagreements, he supports him as a caring voice for unity and reflection.
machine3 min 53 s5:59on YouTube
19 Apr 2020MindTrap with Mufti Abu Layth
Why did clerics in Pakistan insist on reopening mosques during the coronavirus lockdown?
The guest says the clerics privately regard the coronavirus as a conspiracy and turned mosque closures into a religious issue that the authorities were reluctant to confront.
machine2 min 33 s17:39on 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
30 Mar 2020video
Should we recite Sahih al-Bukhari to protect ourselves from the coronavirus?
No: reciting Sahih al-Bukhari is not the way to tackle the coronavirus, and the Quran itself is not a medical cure; people can simply make du'a.
machine11 min3:43on YouTube
22 Mar 2020On Current Events
Abdul Raheem Limbada and the dream of the coronavirus as a man
Mufti Abu Layth mocks a preacher's account of a dream in which the coronavirus appeared as a man sent to punish, calling it nonsense that people are preaching and sharing.
machine10 min 12 s0:01on YouTube
3 Mar 2020From the Mind of a Mufti
What does the Mufti think of Shaykh Ramadan al-Buti?
Mufti Abu Layth regards al-Buti as a great scholar of his time whose books, especially Ma'a al-Nas, he benefited from. He says it is a shame al-Buti got caught up in Syrian politics.
machine1 min 24 s0:00on 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
12 Jan 2020On Current Events
How did Hamza Ali Abbasi do in his debate with Harris Sultan?
Mufti Abu Layth says Hamza Ali Abbasi showed genius-level intelligence and came out on top against Harris Sultan.
machine1 min 52 s0:00on YouTube
12 Jan 2020On Current Events
Is it good that Hamza Ali Abbasi left showbiz for religion?
Mufti Abu Layth welcomes Hamza Ali Abbasi's turn to religion but hopes he does not become a full-on mullah and stop being a bridge.
machine3 min 26 s1:52on YouTube
2019 · 2
19 Dec 2019From the Mind of a Mufti
Why are Indo-Pak Muslims adopting Gulf Arab culture?
Mufti Abu Layth dislikes the push to Arabise Indo-Pak Islam, from Gulf dress to saying Allah Hafiz, feeling it is political and that culture should be natural, not imposed.
machine5 min 34 s0:00on 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
2017 · 1
29 Sep 2017From the Mind of a Mufti
What happened with Nouman Ali Khan and Mahira Khan online?
Two online campaigns in the same week, against Nouman Ali Khan over allegations and against the actress Mahira Khan over a photograph, show the same Muslim attitude to responding, which Mufti Abu Layth sets out to examine.
machine2 min 39 s0:00on YouTube
2015 · 7
6 Apr 2015video
Should Muslims engage with the Prevent programme?
No, not at this stage: he says Prevent began with good objectives but has become toxic and lost its purpose, as a former Met Chief Superintendent said, so engagement is now counterproductive. Tackling radicalisation itself remains a duty of Muslims.
machine2 min 37 s5:23on YouTube
6 Apr 2015video
What did Mufti Abu Layth actually do as a Prevent mentor?
Mufti Abu Layth met, only with their consent, people the council or police had flagged, offered to discuss Islam with them and helped clear up misunderstandings; most were not radicals. There were no covert operations, and he says spying on Muslims would be haram.
machine9 min 09 s8:00on 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
Did Mufti Abu Layth call a Birmingham school the Trojan Horse school?
Mufti Abu Layth says the quote was aimed at the police, not the school: he was asking why counter-terrorism officers shared confidential data about him with a school they themselves were calling a Trojan Horse school. He was not validating the allegations but questioning the officers' sincerity.
machine5 min 13 s21:06on YouTube
6 Apr 2015video
Why did some Islamophobic journalists defend Mufti Abu Layth?
Mufti Abu Layth says it was mutual interest, not support: those concerned with the school highlighted his criticism of the counter-terrorism officers. Being shared by someone does not make them a friend, and most of them would disagree with most of what he says.
machine1 min 17 s26:19on YouTube
6 Apr 2015video
What does Mufti Abu Layth think of ISIS?
ISIS is a ruthless takfiri threat to everyone, Muslims most of all, and he signed the first British fatwa against it. He rejects collective guilt for Muslims and says Western foreign policy and the Iraq prisons helped create it.
machine3 min 54 s27:36on YouTube
6 Apr 2015video
Why is Islamophobia rising?
Mufti Abu Layth says it is rising as a reaction to the worldwide awakening of Muslims to their faith, because people fear what they do not understand, and because of scaremongering and a few fools who misportray Islam.
machine2 min 38 s44:32on YouTube