He burned down a shop in which wine was sold, and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—may Allah be pleased with him—set fire to an entire village where wine was being sold, reports that are well known. The details of this issue are discussed elsewhere, for monetary punishments, in our view, remain in force and have not been abrogated.

Once Imam Aḥmad’s basic principle in these matters is understood, it becomes clear that selling them whatever enables them to conduct their forbidden festivals—such as selling them property to live in, and even worse—is in fact closer to selling them grape must destined for wine than to selling them real estate. The food, clothing, and similar items they purchase assist them in holding the festival, for, as noted earlier, a festival (ʿīd) is a name for what people perform of both acts of worship and customary practices, and this constitutes aid in their customs. Yet eating, drinking, and wearing clothes are not, in and of themselves, prohibited, whereas drinking wine is intrinsically forbidden.

If what they buy is used for the very act that is itself unlawful—such as a cross, palm branches for Palm Sunday, a baptismal font, incense, an animal sacrificed to other than Allah, an image, and the like—then there is no doubt that its sale is prohibited, like selling them grape juice to turn into wine or building a church for them. As for what they use in their festivals in the way of food, drink, and clothing, the foundational positions of Aḥmad and others indicate that selling such items is disliked.

The question, however, is whether this is a prohibitive dislike, as in Mālik’s school, or a merely non-sinful dislike. The more likely view is that it is disliked