a temptation for young men and women, for it stirs sexual urges. Among the idols, too, is the cross—the emblem of the Christians—and likewise the statues of political leaders that are erected in public squares and streets; they are a source of temptation and excess that can lead to associating partners with Allah, exalted is He.

8 – The prohibitions listed in the ḥadith are no more than examples of various repugnant things whose harm rebounds upon the five indispensable interests: religion, life, honor, intellect, and property.

Their prohibition rests on discernible reasons. The cause for forbidding the sale of carrion, wine, and swine is their inherent impurity; the ruling therefore extends to every impure substance. The cause for forbidding the sale of idols is that they draw one away from obedience to Allah; consequently, anything that entertains and distracts from obeying Allah is unlawful, such as statues, three-dimensional images, and instruments of amusement and music.

9 – It is permissible to use an impure substance in a way that does not spread its impurity, for the Prophet ﷺ approved their using it to grease skins and to coat ships. The pronoun in his statement, “No, it is ḥarām,” refers to selling.

Ibn al-Qayyim said in al-Hady: “One should realize that the field of benefiting from a thing is broader than that of selling it. Not everything whose sale is forbidden is forbidden to benefit from; the two rulings do not necessarily coincide. Hence a ban on benefit cannot automatically be inferred from a ban on sale.”

Ibn Ḥajar, however, said in Fatḥ al-Bārī: “The majority understood the phrase ‘No, it is ḥarām’ as a prohibition of benefit, maintaining that it is unlawful to derive any benefit from carrion except what an independent proof has exempted—namely tanned hide. This is also the well-known position of Aḥmad.”

In Sharḥ al-Iqnāʿ it is stated: “The sale of oils that are impure in themselves—such as the fats of carrion and the like—is invalid, and it is not permissible to benefit from them, whether for lighting or anything else, because of the ḥadith of Jābir.”

10 – Devising stratagems to legitimize what Allah has forbidden is the practice of the Jews, upon whom He poured His wrath and His curse. Allah the Exalted says: “So for their breaking of the covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard…” (al-Māʾidah 13).