like a crop overrun by weeds. Reward, then, is due only for a positively existent act, and punishment is likewise imposed only for an existent act (1). As for sheer non-existence, it brings neither reward nor punishment; it merely lacks both.

Allah, blessed and exalted (2), has commanded people (3) to do good and forbidden them from evil. Everyone agrees that the object of a command is a concrete deed, but they differ regarding the object of a prohibition, that is, abstention: is it a positive act or a mere absence (4)(5)?

One view holds that the required matter is a positive act—namely refraining—and this is the opinion of the majority (6). Another view says that what is required is simply the absence of the evil, that he not commit it. According to those who hold this, if the prohibition never even crossed his mind, he would still be considered compliant (7).

The sound conclusion (8) is that when a believer is forbidden from an evil, he must acknowledge that prohibition (9) and resolve to abandon the forbidden act (10).