and to the inevitable consequences towards which they tend. Whoever understands the objectives of the Sacred Law in sadd al-dhara’i (blocking the avenues that lead to sin) will be certain that this sort of listening is forbidden; for looking at a woman who is not a lawful intimate and listening to her voice with desire are both proscribed as preventive safeguards, and the same applies to being alone with her.

The Sharia’s prohibitions fall into two categories:

1. Matters that are forbidden in themselves because of the harm they contain;
2. Matters that are forbidden because they are a conduit to that harm.

Anyone who focuses only on the outward image of such a prohibition, without considering what it ultimately leads to, will find the ban perplexing and will say, “What corruption is there in gazing at a beautiful form that Allah has created and made a sign pointing to Him? What harm is there in a melodious voice carried by an instrument, or in listening to measured speech recited with a pleasant tone? Is this not like listening to the song of birds or looking at flowers and pleasing scenes—impressive buildings, trees, rivers, and the like?”

To such a person it is said: The prohibition of gazing at these images and of these musical instruments epitomizes the Lawgiver’s wisdom, the perfection of His legislation, and His sincere counsel to the ummah. He has forbidden whatever contains inherent evils as well as whatever serves as a means and pathway to them. Had He allowed the means to corruption while forbidding the corruption itself, that would be a contradiction far removed from His exalted wisdom. Were any intelligent person to forbid a harmful end yet permit the means that lead directly to it, people would deem him frivolous and self-contradictory. Can anyone who has even inhaled the fragrance of this Sharia and attained insight into the religion reject this reasoning? Is it not just like someone saying, “What harm is there in praying to Allah after sunrise or after the afternoon has begun, such that it is forbidden? What harm is there…"