and therefore the prohibition against it is not expressed merely by the words, “Do not nullify your deeds” ⦗1⦘; rather, it is couched in language of stern warning, as in His statement, “Whoever among you turns back from his religion…” and comparable verses.

In this passage—and in the verse about boasting of favors—Allah, exalted is He, labels it a nullification (ibṭāl); He does not call it total frustration (iḥbāṭ). For that reason He at once mentions disbelief, saying: “Indeed, those who disbelieve and bar others from the path of Allah, then die while they are disbelievers, Allah will never forgive them” (Muhammad 34).

Should it be objected, “What is meant is: once you enter into these acts, then complete them,”—the very argument advanced by those who claim that a voluntary act becomes obligatory once begun—we reply: Even if the verse did forbid nullifying only part of the deed, the ban on nullifying the whole of it would all the more clearly be included. Besides, before completion it can scarcely be called a prayer or a fast at all (those names apply only after the act is finished) ⦗2⦘.

Furthermore, nullification through its opposite exerts its effect both before completion and afterwards, whereas the verse they cite is a command to finish the act, while “nullification” here means forfeiture of reward. Nor do we concede that whoever fails to complete a fast or a prayer forfeits all of his reward; on the contrary, he is—one may well say—rewarded for whatever portion he actually performed. This is affirmed by the sound ḥadith