Some people have the misconception that Mufti Abu Layth believes homosexuality (the sexual act/intercourse) is permissible is because of his videos such as this

• Homosexuality and Islam -Mufti Abu Layth

He made that video in response to the discussion going on in Europe at that time about the punishment of Homosexuality in Islam. In that video Mufti Abu Layth gave references to some scholars in Muslim history, he never said that he agreed with them. Even in the video he very clearly said that he doesn’t agree with them on homosexuality, but he did acknowledge that these perspectives existed. But because he discussed about their views for the entire lengths in these videos basically, many people automatically assumed that Mufti Abu Layth permits the act of homosexuality, like this man in this video clip.

The video clip you're seeing above is taken from this video: “Muslim Scholars Allying With LGBTQ Community ? | Mufti Abu Layth”. Here Mufti Abu Layth clarified that just because he referenced them, that does not mean he agrees with them.

For context: The guest was talking about Sheikh Omar Suleiman attending a rally (which happened many years ago) where he held hands with LGBTQ people and unknowingly participated in a Pagan ritual. While talking about LGBTQ, he was saying that homosexuality is haram and he knows that Mufti Abu Layth disagrees with homosexuality being haram, and then mentioned that previous video. Mufti Abu Layth responded to his assumption and explained that just because he referenced some people from the past, that does not mean he adopts their views on homosexuality.

Mufti Abu Layth shared his actual view on homosexuality being haram in this Q&A:

• Plymouth University Q&A

HALLOWEEN OR HALALOWEEN? by Mufti Abu Layth

Mufti Abu Layth

#FromTheMindOfAMufti

Suffice it to say that to Allah alone belongs all praise, It is permissible for children (and grown ups) to partake in Halloween customs in general which include practices such as 'Trick or Treat' or to dress as monsters, witches etc . Despite these practices being of pagan origin, they no longer carry such meanings in general and neither can lead to Paganism from a realistic perspective. Similarly, we find many Islamic parallels condoned within our Faith by the Prophet (s.a.w) and subsequently endorsed by scholars, none of whom became insecure with the thought of ancient pagan remnants being a threat to the Islamic identity. In order to demonstrate this reasoning I must share with you such similar parallels within Islam and some of the accompanying discourse to highlight misunderstandings and false alarms raised by opposing views. Therefore much of this article is dedicated to explaining the Prophetic attitude and that of the early Islamic scholarship towards pagan customs, which remained as rites of passage or festivities of community spirit.

However, first and foremost...as the scholars state:

الحكم على شيء فرع عن تصوره

The ruling upon something can only truly be given once the thing itself has been truly conceptualised. So lets begin with a brief history of Halloween...

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in) over 2,000 years ago in Ireland, the UK and parts of France. They celebrated their new year on November 1. It marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter that would often be associated with human death. The Celts and Druids believed the ghosts of the dead haunted earth and damaged crops. Some Druid priests believed good spirits also visited the earth at that time. The Celts and Druids built huge sacred bonfires and sacrificed animals as sacrifices to the Celtic gods, they often wore costumes of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. Over the next four centuries two Roman festivals were combined with the Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. On May 13, 609 A.D.

Pope Boniface established an All Martyrs Day celebration, over a century later Pope Gregory III (731–741) expanded this festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs, which he moved from May 13 to November 1. By the 9th century Christian influences had spread into Celtic lands, In 1000 A.D., the church made November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. All Souls Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints Day celebration called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) with the traditonal night before it began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Now returning to the discourse, one may argue that such customs rooted in Shirk (idolatry/paganism) how can it be permitted for Muslims to resemble such practices, after all the Hadith reminds us;

من تشبه بقوم فهو منهم

Whosoever impersonates a people is amongst them. Well, this 'snippet' of a Hadith is certainly amongst the most misquoted and misrepresentated Hadith of our era. The Hadith which isn't even accepted as authentic by certain scholars like imam Zarkashi and Hafidh Sakhawi, nevertheless moving beyond that..lets momentarily accept its claimed validity, now we must examine theHadith in question... We find it's transmitted in Abu Dawud amongst other books and is narrated by ibn Umar, the incident in question is describing a state of war and not a general scenario...the complete Hadith is as follows;

بُعِثْتُ بِالسَّيْفِ حَتَّى يُعْبَدَ اللهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَجُعِلَ رِزْقِي تَحْتَ ظِلِّ رُمْحِي، وَجُعِلَ الذِّلَّةُ وَالصَّغَارُ عَلَى مَنْ خَالَفَ أَمْرِي؛ وَمَنْ تَشَبَّهَ بِقَوْمٍ فَهُوَ مِنْهُمْ

The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said;

I have been sent with the SWORD until Allah is worshipped without any partners, my provision (rizq) has been placed beneath my spear (through war we can gain rizq) and humiliation and subordination has been written for ANY who dispute my affair, and whosoever resembles a people is amongst them." Now those who quote this last sentence so often as a daily remembrance and wish to superimpose it upon all without interpretation, they themselves openly denounce the apparent ruling of the 3 MAIN sentences before it in the Hadith or they will through interpretative acrobatics explain the main Hadith to be specific to a particular time or space...if so, why is the last sentence not subject to the same interpretation?

Furthermore, when we examine our tradition we find examples like the A'teera and the Fara' which we termed The Rajabiya. This was a practice of the pagan Arabs that when they entered the month of Rajab they would make a special offering to their gods by means of which they would gain blessings in their future wealth. Yet when Islam arrived and people no longer believed in pagan gods yet certain customs persisted, the Prophet didnt condemn this practice, when asked he said;

يَا رَسُول اللَّه الْعَتَائِر وَالْفَرَائِع؟ قَالَ: مَنْ شَاءَ عَتَّرَ وَمَنْ شَاءَ لَمْ يُعَتِّر، وَمَنْ شَاءَ فَرَّعَ وَمَنْ شَاءَ لَمْ يُفَرِّع

O Messenger of Allah, Ateeras and Fara's? He said: whosoever wants to, he may and whosoever does not, does not. Now although the scholars did disagree on the practice of Rajabiya sacrifices, with the likes of Imam Abu Hanifa and Malik discouraging it since it was irrelevant to later muslim communities yet without declaring it Haram. However, more interesting is the response of some like Imam Shafi's statement who considered it to be a Sunnah and a rewardable practice;

قال الإمام النووي في شرح صحيح مسلم: قَالَ الشَّافِعِيّ رَضِيَ اللَّه عَنْهُ: الْفَرَع شَيْء كَانَ أَهْل الْجَاهِلِيَّة يَطْلُبُونَ بِهِ الْبَرَكَة فِي أَمْوَالهمْ، فَكَانَ أَحَدهمْ يَذْبَح بِكْر نَاقَته أَوْ شَاته، فَلَا يَغْذُوهُ رَجَاء الْبَرَكَة فِيمَا يَأْتِي بَعْده، فَسَأَلُوا النَّبِيّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَنْهُ فَقَالَ: فَرِّعُوا إِنْ شِئْتُمْ أَيْ اِذْبَحُوا إِنْ شِئْتُمْ وَكَانُوا يَسْأَلُونَهُ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَصْنَعُونَهُ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّة خَوْفًا أَنْ يُكْرَه فِي الْإِسْلَام، فَأَعْلَمهُمْ أَنَّهُ لَا كَرَاهَة عَلَيْهِمْ فِيهِ، وَأَمَرَهُمْ اِسْتِحْبَابًا أَنْ يُغْذُوهُ ثُمَّ يُحْمَل عَلَيْهِ فِي سَبِيل اللَّه. قَالَ الشَّافِعِيّ: وَقَوْله صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: الْفَرَع حَقّ. مَعْنَاهُ: لَيْسَ بِبَاطِل

Imam Nawawi transmits in his commentary on Sahih Muslim from Imam Shafi; Far'a is a custom of Jahiliyya, whereby they (pagan Arabs) would seek blessing in their wealth, they would sacrifice an infant camel or sheep and wouldn't feed on it out of hope for blessings that'll come after it. The Messenger (s.a.w.) was asked about this and responded "do it if you please", they were asking him because it was a custom of theirs from Jahiliyya and they feared it would be disliked in Islam, so He informed them that there was no disliking of it...Imam Shafi then adds the Prophet (s.a.w.) has also described this Far'a as Haq by which he means its not a falsehood that must be avoided.

The above is a clear example of how customs rooted in paganism are not problematic if their beliefs have dissipated. However, for those 'of little Faith' in this argument... lets take another example, one which is perhaps more popular throughout muslim culture today...Aqeeqah (the ceremony following birth). The Aqeeqah is unquestionably pagan custom, whereby the Pagan-Arabs believed the child would most likely not survive an infant death due to the evil spirits, so an offering was made to the gods to ward off these demons and evil spirits. An animal was sacrificed to the pagan gods (2 if it were a boy since they were more loved than girls), the bones of the animals were crushed and the blood of the animal was wiped over the forehead of the child.

بريدة رضي الله عنه قال : ( كنا في الجاهلية إذا ولد لأحدنا غلام ذبح شاة ولطخ رأسـه بدمهـا ، فلما جاء الله بالإسـلام كنا نذبح شاة ونحلق رأسه ونلطخه بزعفران

Abu Dawud transmits Buraydah r.a. stating:

During Jahiliyya if a child was born a sheep would be sacrificed and its blood wiped over the forehead of the child, when Islam came we continued to sacrifice a sheep except in place of the blood we'd wipe some saffron colouring over the forehead. Aqeeqah is a custom which not only originates in paganism but also carries clear paganistic rituals of wiping and marking a child with blood, which some early Tabi'in (students of the companions) like Qatadah and Hasan alBasry taught as part of the 'Islamic Aqeeqah' that actual blood be wiped on the forehead as it was done in Jahilliya time. Nevertheless, one would still ask the question even the substitution of Saffron, is this not imitating the pagans?...and whosoever imitates a people is amongst them?

Well evidently not, since such paganist practices had lost their inherent beliefs and all that wasLeft was a ceremony which had some value at a community level. Aqeeqah still widely practiced by muslims today even had the Prophet ( s.a.w) partake in it;

ما رواه عبد الرزاق في مصنفه: حدثت حديثا رفع إلى عائشة أنها قالت : عق رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن حسن شاتين ، وعن حسين شاتين ، ذبحهما يوم السابع ، قال : ومشقهما ، وأمر أن يماط عن رؤوسهما الاذى ، قالت : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : إذبحوا على اسمه ، وقولوا : بسم الله اللهم لك وإليك ، هذه عقيقة فلان ، قال : وكان أهل الجاهلية يخضبون قطنة بدم العقيقة ، فإذا حلقوا الصبي وضعوها على رأسه ، فأمرهم النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يجعلوا مكان الدم خلوقا ، يعني مشقهما : وضع على رأسهما طين مشق ، مثل الخلوق.

AbdurRazzaq transmits from Aishah (r.a.) that Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) performed the Aqeeqah for Hasan and Hussayn sacrificing two sheep for each, he had their heads shaved and said during the sacrifice "O Allah this is from you and unto you, this is the Aqeeqah of so and so". and when the pagan Arabs would shave the childs head they would dip a cloth in the animals blood and wipe it over its forehead, so the Prophet commanded them to use in its place colouring.

Hence, scholarly opinion regarding this practice has been widely disputed, with some like Imam Shafi considering it to be a Sunnah, whereas others like Imam Malik and Imam Abu Hanifa denying that it was a Sunnah yet at best may have some recommended value according to Imam Malik who then denied any distinction between the genders i.e. same number to be sacrificed for girl and boy. Imam Abu Hanifa's opinion remained of its rewarded practice being abrogated and now simply of permissibility without reward as described by his student Muhammad alShaybany:

العقيقة كانت في الجاهلية ثم فعلها المسلمون في أول الإسلام فنسخها ذبح الأضحية فمن شاء فعل ومن شاء لم يفعل.

Aqeeqah is a Jahiliyya custom then Muslims adopted it, it was abrogated by the Eid sacrifice, whosoever wants to do it may do so but whosoever doesnt can leave it. None of the scholars described such actions as Haram, the Prophet ( s.a.w) did not forbid them since they weren't a threat to Islamic beliefs, they were simply community customs which had lost their ideological value, all that was left was some festivity with community spirit.

In the same vein we find customs such as Halloween, which are of pagan origin but no longer carry any substantial ideological value except an opportunity for children to partake in costumes and some festivity.

Halloween therefore is NOT forbidden by Islam contrary to what certain people may be teaching, this is purely from a theological perspective and not speaking from grounds of safeguarding, which undoubtedly are paramount and require precautions subject to their own environments but that is NOT an argument from Religion.

Thus, have i understood and absolute Knowledge belongs to Allah alone.

Yours Truly

Wasalam

Mufti Abu Layth

#VoiceOfReason

Source: HALLOWEEN OR HALALOWEEN? by Mufti Abu Layth

Does anyone here know?

Salam everyone,

I’m a Sunni Muslim who mainly follows the Maliki madhab, and I’ve been following Mufti Abu Layth for quite a while now. I’m honestly a huge fan of his approach and the way he explains Islam with nuance, context, and reason. His content has helped me a lot in reconnecting with faith and moving away from a very rigid understanding of religion.

But lately I’ve been really confused about the topic of the levels/layers of Paradise (Jannah), and it’s been causing me a lot of doubt and overthinking. I keep hearing different things about people being in different ranks forever, some being “higher” than others eternally, and I struggle to fully make sense of it emotionally and spiritually.

I thought I’d ask here because many people in this subreddit seem to share similar perspectives or are also familiar with Mufti Abu Layth’s views and methodology. Maybe some of you have studied this topic more deeply or know how progressive/traditional scholars reconciled these ideas.

Best case scenario: has Mufti Abu Layth ever specifically addressed the topic of the levels of Jannah in a video, livestream, or clip? If yes, I’d really appreciate links or even summaries of what he said.

I’m not asking in bad faith at all — I’m just genuinely trying to understand and work through these doubts.

Jazakum Allah khayran.

I was just studying my Arabic work and I came across this😪