and constitutes assistance that furthers their unbelief. Do you not see that it is unlawful for Muslims to sell Christians anything connected to their festival—be it meat, seasoning, clothing—or to lend them an animal, or to help them in any aspect of their celebration? Such conduct exalts their idolatry and aids them in their disbelief. The authorities ought therefore to forbid Muslims from this, and that is the view of Mālik and others; I know of no dissenting opinion.

Eating the animals they slaughter for their festivals falls under the same ruling that the scholars unanimously deemed reprehensible; indeed, in my estimation it is even more serious. All of the foregoing is the statement of Ibn Ḥabīb.

He also reported agreement that it is disliked to trade with them or exchange gifts that would assist them in their festivals, and he explicitly stated that, according to the Mālikī school, such dealings are impermissible.

As for the explicit statements of Imām Aḥmad on the issues in this chapter, Ishāq ibn Ibrāhīm related: “Abū ʿAbd Allāh—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked about some Christians who had endowed an estate to a church: may a Muslim lease it from them? He replied, ‘He should not take it for anything, for he must not assist them in what they are doing.’”

He further said: “I heard Abū ʿAbd Allāh, when a builder asked him, ‘Shall I build a nāwūs—a Magian burial shrine—for the Zoroastrians?’ He answered, ‘Do not build it.’”