their religion, together with whatever festivals it contains, but only on the condition that they neither display those festivals nor any other aspect of their creed. Those whom the Law recognized were therefore not granted carte blanche.

Indeed, the festivals of the People of the Scripture that are observed as acts of religion and worship are more strictly forbidden than gatherings held merely for amusement and play. Worship conducted through what angers and displeases Allah is graver than indulging illicit desires for pleasure. For that very reason associating partners with Allah is a greater sin than adultery, fighting the People of the Scripture ranks higher than fighting pagans, and a Muslim slain by them is given the reward of two martyrs.

Now, if the Lawgiver has already cut off every root leading to the festivals of the idol-worshippers—lest a Muslim be sullied by any vestige of those unbelievers whose religion Satan has despaired of reviving in the Arabian Peninsula—then the fear that he might be stained by the impurities of the still-existing People of the Book is even more urgent, and the prohibition is correspondingly stronger. All the more so given the truthful report that a faction of this community will follow their ways.

The third proof from the Sunnah is that this ḥadīth and others show that, in the Age of Ignorance, people had festivals at which they assembled. It is well known that with the advent of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—Allah erased all of that, leaving nothing behind.

It is equally clear that, had he not forbidden and prevented those festivals, the people would never have abandoned them; for the incentives to hold them remained strong. Human nature loves what usually takes place during festivals—especially false ones—of play and pleasure, while custom, habituated to the recurrence of such days, becomes a second nature. When the motive is that strong, only a deterrent of equal strength could have caused those festivals to disappear.