For this reason, whenever a Muslim drifts toward the misgivings of the Jews or the Christians, he is instructed to abandon that deviation and to follow the straight path—the path of those whom Allah has favored: the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs, and the righteous. How excellent are such companions! It is not the path of those who incurred wrath, like the Jews, nor that of those who went astray, like the Christians.

Likewise, consider the person who is excessive in shunning impurities: he declares impure what Allah and His Messenger did not declare impure, he forbids what Allah and His Messenger did not forbid, and he is overcome by obsessive misgivings about avoiding impurity. In doing so he prohibits wholesome things that Allah has made lawful for the Muslims. One example is someone who reasons that impurity can never be removed—neither by water nor by any other means; or who maintains that, even if the impurity disappears and no trace of it remains, the affected place is still impure unless it is cleansed with whatever water or other substance he himself stipulates; or who contends that the wholesome things