“Those (angels) who bear the Throne and those around it glorify the praises of their Lord, and believe in Him, and ask
forgiveness for those who believe (saying): ‘Our Lord! You comprehend all things in mercy and knowledge, so forgive those who repent and follow Your Way, and save them from the torment of the blazing Fire! Our Lord! And make them enter the Paradise which you have promised them, and to the righteous among their fathers, their wives, and their offspring! Verily, You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. And save them from the sins, and whomsoever You save from the sins that Day, him verily, You have taken into mercy.” And that is the supreme success.’” (Qur’an 40: 7-9)
No matter what you think of brother Mufti Abu Layth this logic that he lays out is unassailable. His approach is without reproach.
What is excellent about this approach is that Mufti Abu Layth is being logical and consistent in his reasoning. He mentions two pills. The red pill is likened to being naïve about the historical events that took place among the companions of the Blessed Messenger (saw).
The blue pill is likened to someone who wants to scrutinize all of the companions of the Blessed Messenger (saw). Mufti Abu Layth brilliantly quotes Nietzsche, ‘human all to human’. In the blue pill approach much to the excitement of Shi’i Muslims, Mufti Abu Layth offers no objections to the idea that perhaps certain sahabah did unsavory things. However, much to the chagrin of Shi’i, Mufti Abu Layth reminds them that this would have to apply equally to everyone.
Listen very carefully to the consistent and flawless logic that Mufti Abu Layth drops here:
@10:51 “But the truth is if were gonna go down that road you can’t than just single out Ali (as like protected) and the rest are all scrutinized. Everybody. If you everybody is going to get thrown under the bus.” I love it! No kids gloves. “The facts don’t care about your feelings” comes into effect here.
Thus, Mufti Abu Layth advises to take the red pill.
Now for someone like myself that identifies with the Ibadi school I reflected on what he said. To be quite honest there is absolutely no reason why the Ibadi school could not take the red pill.
Let us look at basic practices of Islam.
Who was naughty and who was righteous among the companions absolutely has no effect upon our 5 daily prayers, our fasting in Ramadan, our pilgrimage to Mecca, the Zakat, or the testification of faith.
Our pillars of Iman (Beliefs, Creed, Aqidah).
Who was naughty and who was righteous among the companions absolutely has no effect upon our beliefs concerning rather or not we will see Allah (swt) in the hereafter, the names and attributes of Allah (swt), the createdness of the Qur’an, the eternality of the hellfire, occasionalism or anything else.
Ah but what about Yazid, Ali Muaviyah and Uthman?
The response to that again: Not our concern! They are dead. It’s ancient history. Issues on rather or not we can rebel against the Imam. Issues on rather or not who can be the Imam of the Muslims those subjects are totally unrelated to who among the companions were naughty and who were righteous.
Now, Ahl Sunnah Wal Jammah can take that red pill. Ahl Haqq Wal Istiqamah can take that red pill. Yet, there are a group from among this ummah that want to take that blue pill. Why?
The moment you meet someone and they say, “I am not a Shi’i I am only a Muslim”. “I am non sectarian”, or what one of my personal favourites, “I am a Quranist”; and yet all you hear from them is Ali, Ali, Ali, Ahl Bayt this and Ahl Bayt that I will tell you don’t fall for it. All of that is done in order to catch you off balance. It’s a ploy and nothing more. You will see. Hopefully by coming to this blog and reading this a light bulb will click on. 💡!! If it quacks like a duck and it waddles like a duck it most certainly is a duck folks.
#1. It is clear they have zero respect for you. They want to take you for a fool.
#2. They do not even respect themselves because there is no honesty or transparency on this matter.
Now do not get me wrong. I am not saying that Shi’i, be they 12er, Zaydi, Ismaili or any other denomination cannot defend what they think is correct. By all means do so. Yet, let us stop being pretentious. Let us stop with the subterfuge. Be honest. Tell people that Islam is best understood only by the Ahl Bayt, or that Ali was robbed and he should have been the one etc.
In my honest estimation and this is going to offend some people. I see the Shi’i narrative as being a hurdle for Muslim unity. In terms of history the Sunni and Ibadi can take that red pill and move forward. The Shi’i they have to take that blue pill and be stuck in the narrative of the past. They have to. It is definitive for them. A broken record that plays over and over and over again.
People are finding that cumbersome, tiresome, weary. This is what has personally been shared to me by many people who inquire about Ahl Haqq Wal Istiqamah, The Ibadi school.
Yet, try and try as they may, not 12er Shi’i, not Zaydi Shi’i, not Ismaili Shi’i, not reformist Shi’i none of them can prove to us from their central position that Ali should have succeeded the Blessed Messenger (saw) from the Qur’an. That is why without fail you will see them pivot to the hadith. That is where they build their case, not from the book of Allah (swt).
Although, Mufti Abu Layth seemingly does not take the red pill himself. Although, in fairness he did say, that he does not believe in criticizing the companions, he did not make mention of the tabi’in. There is a video of Mufti Abu Layth where he is shocked that Bukhari would take narrations from Imran ibn Hittaan. Here the bias shows, because Mufti Abu Layth does not reflect upon the fact that ibn Hittaan was expression support for a person who lost his loved ones during the slaughter of Muslims during the battle of Nahrawan.
This ironically pivots back to Mufti Abu Layth’s excellent point in the first video mentioned above. I mean imagine if every year people from the Ibadi school commemorated the massacre of the Muslims of al Nahrawan with poems, and wailing, and public displays of anger and sadness. How is that helpful to the unity of Muslims to commemorate such historical tragedies?
Honestly, if it was up to me during the Friday sermons I would not send blessing down upon Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman or Ali. In place of it and in the interest of Muslim unity I would recite the following angel’s du’a:
“Those (angels) who bear the Throne and those around it glorify the praises of their Lord, and believe in Him, and ask
forgiveness for those who believe (saying): ‘Our Lord! You comprehend all things in mercy and knowledge, so forgive those who repent and follow Your Way, and save them from the torment of the blazing Fire! Our Lord! And make them enter the Paradise which you have promised them, and to the righteous among their fathers, their wives, and their offspring! Verily, You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. And save them from the sins, and whomsoever You save from the sins that Day, him verily, You have taken into mercy.” And that is the supreme success.’” (Qur’an 40: 7-9)
The beauty of this du’a is that it says: ‘for those who believe’ and ‘those who repent and follow Your Way’. So than if Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Muaviya or anyone else are among those people than the du’a lands on them. And if Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Muaviya or anyone else are not among them than the du’a misses them. The point being that is the purview of Allah (swt).
So yes, Mufti Abu Layth is correct, the Red Pill is what allows us to move forward. That being said, for those who want to take the Blue Pill and repeat the early saga over and over and over and over and over again, you will need to provide your evidence from that which unifies all Muslims, the Qur’an.
Prima Quran 
Nicely wrriten 🙂🌹!
Your blog scratches a deep, intellectual itch and wound I’ve carried for nearly 16 years, dear brother. Never underestimate how important your blog is to an ailing heart who wants to be the best Muslim he or she can be. It seems that every time I find a resource that discusses these topics, it’s trying to turn me Shi`i… that has never sat right with me. I believe in the freedom of choice, but their narratives and conclusions have never sat right with my gut. Allah only knows best. The only other person I know who isn’t captured by the sectarian divisiveness is Raya Shawkatfard. May Allah reward her, endlessly.
I used to enjoy Abu Layth/Nahiem’s video essays for many years, too. I’m pleased to see him on here, although I do wonder at some of his positions (defending Muawiyah for one.)
Jazak Allah kul khair – may Shaaban and Ramadan be full of blessings for you.
Thank you dear sister. I mean people defend Ali and yet he slaughtered Muslims at Al Narhawan so there is that too. Ali’s indecision at Siffin indirectly created the Umayyad imperium as well as going against the amr of Allah.
So Muaviya and Ali hold the same weight in my eyes.
Than again, we could take the red pill and move on or as Brother Nahiem said, we just have to dig up everyone’s dirty laundry.
But this sneaking in the point about Muaviya did this and that just smacks of Shiasm. He’s dead. Ali is dead. We are alive, let’s move on.
May Shaaban and Ramadan be blessed for you as well.
I found the selectiveness from the Shi`i narrative unfair, but the conspiracy theorist in me loves a good underdog story. It robbed me of the ability to believe that anybody is really good, for a while, though. Because look at the best of creation (pbuh) – his companions fought like the worst of them, once he (pbuh) passed. But the reason why they’re able to convert people over to their understanding of history is because the Sunni side is a sloppy mess when it comes to their retelling. I can’t get with the myth that it was all rosy until colonialism and Israel (dear God) showed up. It’s just a myopic approach, especially in an age where faith is dying fast. Be honest, confront your demons, but ultimately, we need to learn to MOVE ON. Don’t pedestalize human beings. Allah swt did not choose us for that timeline, nor does he expect us to keep trying to look back and recreate that or to mourn endlessly. How can that be a fulfilling life ? I don’t know. I’ve never practiced that way – Allahu `alam in the end.
That’s actually another thing I really enjoy about coming here. You had a line in one of your essays about not having to be hostage to what happened in our Islamic past (paraphrasing.) That was EXACTLY what I hated about reading the Shi`i side. I used to feel sick about the rituals and duas that they use on their holiest of occasions. I apologize if I’m engaging in polemical talk. I’m just trying to convey all I found disturbing when I looked into it deeper. I wonder how many of us end up disillusioned with Sunni cover ups and go over to Shi`a thought only to give up on both ? It would be an interesting demographic to track. These days I call myself a non-institutional Muslim. I don’t really know what that is … but I’d like to think the fitra is still well enough and alive in those of us who seek Him and who love the best of his creation (pbuh.)
“. But the reason why they’re able to convert people over to their understanding of history is because the Sunni side is a sloppy mess when it comes to their retelling”
The Shi’i side has its fair share of grandiose as well.
“These days I call myself a non-institutional Muslim. I don’t really know what that is … but I’d like to think the fitra is still well enough and alive in those of us who seek Him and who love the best of his creation (pbuh.)”
Amin. Mercy to the worlds. This was not said to Ali, or Abu Bakr or Muaviya. It was said about the Blessed Messenger (saw).
All that Allah (swt) named as is Muslim. May Allah (swt) continue to bless you and your sincerity.
I agree with you there. The Shi`i side also tends towards hagiographic retellings instead of including the more flawed human aspects of history. It’s hard to get excited about people who share our same struggles, I guess.
Appreciate your response, brother. Do you have plans to write a book ? Your ability to write engaging content on these sensitive but incredibly important topics.
Thank you respected sister. In terms of writing a book insh’Allah we will see what the future holds.