And if he were asked about a man who stands in the sun, he would say, “This is permissible.” Yet if it were said, “He does it as an act of worship,” he would reply, “That is reprehensible,” just as al-Bukhārī narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him):

Sahih: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw a man standing in the sun and asked, “Who is this?” They said, “This is Abū Isrāʾīl; he vowed to stand in the sun, not to sit down, not to seek shade, and not to speak.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Tell him to speak, to sit, to seek shade, and to complete his fast.”¹

Had he done this for comfort or some other lawful purpose, he would not have been forbidden; but because he did it as a form of devotion, he was prohibited.

In the same way, if someone were to enter his house from the back, that in itself would not be unlawful. However, if he did so believing it to be an act of worship—as some used to do in the pre-Islamic era—he would be sinful, blameworthy, and an innovator. Innovation is dearer to Satan than plain sin,² for the sinner knows he is sinning and therefore repents, whereas the innovator imagines that what he is doing is obedience and so does not repent. This is why a person who attends a samāʿ session merely for play or entertainment does not count it among his good deeds nor hope for reward through it, whereas one who regards it as a path to Allah turns it into a religion; and when he is forbidden it