User:Azhari2017

Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki (MALM) resides with his family in B'ham, UK.

He carried out preliminary Arabic and Islamic Studies as a teenager in the UK in 1997 before going to Damascus, Syria to study, in a time when a generation of students were inspired by the likes of Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and others to travel and seek Sacred Knowledge.

It was in Damascus where he adopted the Maliki madhhab, sharing his accommodation with young Malikis, who were freshly graduated scholars and senior students of knowledge of Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian descent. It was with them that he privately studied his basic Maliki Fiqh and Maliki Usul, in addition to studying at Ma'had al-Amaniya and at Damascus University for a year and a half, where he covered the essential elementary sciences of Islam.

Mufti Abu Layth then travelled to Pakistan to memorise the Qur'an, which he completed within a year, along with Tafsir, some Fiqh, and some literature at the Jami`ah Muhammadiyyah Institute in Islamabad, Pakistan (under the supervision of Shaykh Amin-ulHasanat, the son of the Legendary Pir Karam Shah al-Azhari).

He then returned to Syria to recite the entire Qur'an to Shaykh Abdul-Haadi at-Tabbaa' who was a key student of Shaykh Bakri al-Tarabeeshi (who held one of the most highest chains/asaneed in the Quran worldwide). Shaykh Abdu'l-Haadi after listening to the entire Quran authorised Mufti Abu Layth to teach with an ijazah [License to teach] and chain of transmission (isnad) going back to the Messenger of Allah (SAW).

Amongst other Shuyukh whose public durus in Damascus Mufti benefited from were: Shaykh AbdurRazzaq alHalabi alHanafi, Shaykh Ramadan alBouti and Shaykh AbdulGhani al-Diqqar; a free-sprited scholar, who had received international awards and was amongst the leading grammarians in the entire Muslim world, he would teach weekly classes on Saheeh Bukhari.

Mufti would often share personal dialogues with Shaykh AbdulGhani al-Diqqar and was very impressed and inspired by his eccentric sense of humour despite his old age (82 yrs old), he'd often do pranks like pull and trip-over some of his senior-aged friends/students in the masjid and find it hillarious, may Allah elevate his maqam in Jannah, ameen. He taught that Islam encourages to Live, Love and laugh.

After gaining his ijazah, the Mufti returned to Pakistan, Karachi and completed the (Dars-e-Nizami) Alim Course at the renowned Jami`ah Binnoria, where studied the various Islamic Sciences ranging from Tafsir, Hadith, Usul, Comparative Fiqh, Arabic Literature, Arabic Grammar, history and Aqidah, from an intermediate to advanced level.

In his final year (Dawrah Hadith) as is the custom he studied and completed cover to cover the major books of Hadith with understanding (Muwatta, Bukhari, Muslim, Tarmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasai, Ibn Majah & Sharh Ma'ani aathar) and was authorised to teach them with an unbroken chain to their authors. He attained 3rd position in this class amongst approximately 90 students.

Mufti Abu Layth then completed the Mufti Course (a further 2 yr training course in the practice of issuing Fatwa) at the same institute specialising in Fiqh across the various madhhabs. His training was under the supervision of various renowned scholars including Mufti Abdullah Shoukat (who is a key student of Mufti Taqi Usmani) for Hanafi Fiqh, and Mufti Salim Al-Tunisi (A Maliki Mufti resident in Jamia Binnoria).

Amongst the texts studied were:

Mudawwanah (Sahnun) Rad alMuhtar (ibn Aabidin) Mawahib lJalil (Hattab) Fawakih Dwaani (Nafrawi) Muwafaqaat (Shaatibi)

Since his return to the UK in 2005, Mufti qualified as a professional teacher (PGCE) and completed his Masters degree (M.Ed) He has taught Arabic and Islamic Studies in various Schools and Colleges. His passion in Psychology led him to University studies once again, where he completed a degree in Psychology (B.Sc).

Mufti Abu Layth has continued his personal search for Sacred Knowledge and recently has since travelled to places like Al-Azhar, al-Qarawiyin and Dar ulHadith Hassania.

He was very fortunate to travel to Tetouan in 2015 to meet his inspiration, Shaykh Muhammad BouKhubza (90+ years of age) and a student of Shaykh AbdilHayy alKattani, Shaykh Ahmad alGhumari and Shaykh ibn Aashur, the Shaykh authorised Mufti with a license to teach through his chains (ijaazaat/asaneed), which cover hundreds of books on Hadith, Fiqh and many other areas.

Mufti Abu Layth remains in contact for guidance with many leading Maliki scholars in the world today, which include;

Shaykh Muhammad Rougi (Grand Shaykh of the Qarawiyin) Shaykh Ahmad Taha Rayyan (leading scholar of the هيئة كبار العلماء at alAzhar, and considered the Grand Maliki Mufti of Egypt) Shaykh Naji al-Araby (leading Maliki Mufti in Bahrain) Shaykh AbdulHamid Aal Mubarak (amongst the key Malikis scholars of the Ahsaa' region in Saudi Arabia today).

The Mufti has also been involved in various projects:

Teaching Fiqh, Arabic & other courses in person and online weekly.

Delivering weekly live Q&A on FB handling the most provactive and challenging of Questions on his show 'Monday Nights With Mufti'.

Previously a weekly radio show was run by Mufti under the same name #MondayNightsWithMufti (Unityfm), which focused on relationships and lasted for 2 years coming to an end in 2014.

Playing a significant role in handling matters of Nikah, Islamic Divorce or counselling therapy, in collaboration with other scholars.

Providing Islamic Insight through social media.

Handling family businesses of trade.

Mufti Abu Layth has a keen interest in highlighting the rulings in Islam that have become clouded by culture, he's very passionate to illustrate that Islam has always championed human rights and is a Deen built upon Maslaha (welfare).

Mufti takes a particular interest in learning languages and has been actively learning Hindi (Devanagri) and Spanish.

When not involved in the above; he can often be found in the gym. The only addition to all of what has been said is his incredibly eccentric sense of humour.

We ask Allah (SWT) to bless us all, to accept our efforts and to enable us to convey the Deen to those who come after us. Ameen.