“May Allah curse the Jews! Animal fats were forbidden to them, yet they sold them and consumed the proceeds.”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, treated buying back something given in charity as equivalent to taking it back without payment. “He said to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb concerning the horse he had donated for Allah’s cause, which he wished to buy when its owner neglected it and wanted to sell it: ‘Do not buy it, and do not take back your charity, for someone who takes back his charity is like a dog returning to its vomit.’”

“Concerning the son of Zam‘a’s slave woman, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to ‘Abd ibn Zam‘a: ‘He is yours, O ‘Abd ibn Zam‘a,’ thus attributing him to his father, Zam‘a. He said: ‘The child is attributed to the husband or master, and the fornicator has no claim.’ He told his wife Sawda bint Zam‘a, ‘Abd’s sister: ‘Observe the veil before him.’” This was because he saw the child’s resemblance to ‘Utba ibn Abī Waqqās. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, thus gave effect to grounds for suspicion, treating them as certainty. On that basis, he barred contact between relatives, although he had been sent to uphold ties of kinship. Allah, Almighty and Majestic, says:

“And fear Allah, in whose name you ask one another, and beware of severing ties of kinship.” [Al-Nisā’: 1]

That is, beware of severing those ties.

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The instances in the Quran and Sunnah concerning means leading to forbidden ends would take too long to recount and cannot be exhaustively enumerated. They include the Prophet’s saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt.” They also include his saying:

“The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between them are doubtful matters. Whoever avoids doubtful matters safeguards his religion, while whoever falls into doubtful matters is like someone who strays around a protected pasture and is about to enter it. He said: ‘Indeed, every king has a protected pasture, and Allah’s protected pasture consists of what He has forbidden. Whoever hovers around a protected pasture is about to enter it.’”

Usury, above all, deserves to have its pastures guarded and people barred