a people has a festival, and this is our festival.’ ” The fact that the ruling is immediately followed by the explanatory clause introduced with fa (“for/so”) shows that the clause functions as the legal rationale. Hence the basis of the dispensation is that every nation has its own festival and this, specifically, is ours—a cause that applies solely to the Muslims.

Had the concession been tied merely to the generic term “festival,” the broader concept would have carried the ruling by itself, and the more specific designation would have had no legal effect. Because the Prophet grounded the ruling in the specific, we know that the mere, more general description—“a festival”—does not establish the ruling. Consequently, we are not permitted to engage in for every people’s feast the sort of merrymaking we are allowed during the Muslims’ feast. This is exactly the point at issue, and it clearly indicates a prohibition against imitating them in such amusements and the like.

Fifth proof from the Sunnah: The Arabian Peninsula continued to contain Jews and Christians until ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him—expelled them during his caliphate. There were many Jews in Madinah in the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. He had made truces with them, which they broke one group after another. Jews still remained in Madinah, though not in great numbers; indeed, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, died while his coat of mail was held in pledge by a Jew. In Yemen there were numerous Jews, Christians were in Najrān and elsewhere, and Persians lived in Bahrain.

It is common knowledge that these communities observed their own festivals. It is equally evident that the impulses that lead people, on festival days, to eat, drink, dress up, adorn themselves, play, relax, and so forth are present in every soul whenever