The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—spelled this out for ʿAdiyy ibn Ḥātim. At the time ʿAdiyy was still a Christian who had come to him in search of faith. He eventually embraced Islam and became one of the finest Companions. ʿAdiyy heard the Prophet reciting the verse:

“They have taken their rabbis and monks as lords apart from Allah—and the Messiah, son of Mary—whereas they were commanded to worship only one God. There is no deity but Him; exalted is He above what they associate with Him” (Qur’an 9:31).

ʿAdiyy said, “Messenger of Allah, they did not worship them.”

The Prophet replied, “They made lawful for them what Allah had forbidden and forbade for them what He had made lawful, and they obeyed them; that, in fact, was their worship of them.”