permitted except in cases of necessity. Is itching here a necessity?

The answer is that it may be a necessity. At times, a person is afflicted with severe itching that prevents him from settling down; in that case, there is no problem. But if wearing it is due to a need, how can it be permissible when there is no necessity?

The answer is that the prohibition of wearing silk falls under the category of prohibitions intended to block the means. Silk itself is a fine garment and an adornment, but because it may lead a man to indulge in luxury as a woman does—such that it becomes a cause of temptation—it is forbidden. Its prohibition, then, is among those intended to block the means. The scholars have stated that what is prohibited in order to block the means is permitted by need. They cited as an example al-ʿarāyā (the sale of fresh dates for dried dates) (1), which is the sale of fresh dates for dried dates.

Selling fresh dates for dried dates is forbidden, because when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about selling dried dates for fresh dates, he said: “Do fresh dates decrease when they dry?” They replied, “Yes.” So he forbade it (2), because it is usury: ignorance as to equality is like certain knowledge of disparity. Yet al-ʿarāyā was permitted due to need. The need is that a poor person who has no money, if he has