He should address them both cautiously, in case she is his maḥram, and say: “If she is your maḥram, protect her from situations that invite suspicion; but if she is unrelated to you, beware of seclusion that may lead you to disobedience of Allah Most High.” His rebuke should be proportionate to the indications. If the muḥtasib sees something objectionable in such a situation, he should proceed cautiously, investigate, and consider the circumstantial evidence; he should not hasten to denounce it before making inquiries. Aḥmad was asked, according to the narration of Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Mutaṭabbib, about an evil man seen with a woman. He replied: “Call out to him.”
If a man openly displays khamr (wine), then, if he is a Muslim, the muḥtasib should pour it out and discipline him. If he is a dhimmī, he should be disciplined for displaying it, and it should be poured out, since its destruction entails no liability. As for one who openly displays nabīdh (an intoxicating fermented beverage), he is treated like one who displays khamr, but pouring it out entails no financial liability. The official in charge of ḥisba should therefore consider the circumstantial evidence in his case: he should forbid its public display and rebuke him for it if he is drinking it openly, but he should not pour it out unless a judge qualified for independent legal reasoning orders him to do so, lest liability for it fall upon him should a ruling be issued concerning it.
As for a drunkard who openly manifests his drunkenness and behaves foolishly in his incoherent speech, he should be disciplined for both drunkenness and such speech by way of taʿzīr (discretionary punishment). As for openly displaying forbidden instruments of entertainment, the muḥtasib must break them and need not concern himself with dismantling them, whether their wood can be used for purposes other than entertainment or not.
As for dolls, they are not intended for acts of disobedience; rather, girls are familiarized with them as preparation for raising children. Thus, they serve a useful purpose that is accompanied by the sin of depicting animate beings and resembling idols. There is therefore a basis for permitting them and a basis for prohibiting them; their denunciation or approval is determined according to what the circumstantial evidence requires. The apparent import of Aḥmad’s words—may Allah have mercy on him—is that he prohibited and denounced them when they took the form of animate beings. In the narration of al-Marwazī, he was asked about a guardian buying a toy for a young girl when she requested one. He replied: “If it is an image, then he should not.”
In the narration of Abū Bakr ibn Muḥammad, he was asked about the hadith of ʿĀʾishah, “I used to play with dolls.” He replied: “There is no harm in playing with toys as long as they contain no image; but if they contain an image, then no.” The apparent meaning of this is that he prohibited playing with them when they contained an image.
Aḥmad also related through his chain of transmission from Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥārith al-Tamīmī that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went in to see ʿĀʾishah while she was playing with dolls, and some young girls were with her. He said: “What is this, ʿĀʾishah?” She replied: