Furthermore, to encourage people to pursue what benefits the religion (1), horse and camel races, archery contests, and the acceptance of prizes in them (2) were prescribed. This encourages preparation of strength and keeping horses ready for jihad in the path of Allah Most High. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) therefore said (3), as reported by the compilers of the Sunan: “Prize money is permitted only for camel racing, horse racing, or archery” (4). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his rightly guided caliphs would organize horse races (5) and pay prizes to the winners from the public treasury. The same principle applies to giving to those whose hearts are to be won over.

It has also been reported: “A man would embrace Islam early in the day out of desire [A/Q 59] for worldly gain, yet by the end of that very day Islam would be dearer to him than everything upon which the sun rises” (6).

Likewise, with regard to evil and sin, He prescribed cutting them off at the source (7), blocking the means leading to them, and preventing anything that leads to them whenever it serves no overriding benefit, such as (8) what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade