any hardship (1), and He also said: “Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship.” (2)

Both Ṣaḥīḥ collections relate that, during the Battle of the Trench, the Prophet ﷺ said to his Companions: “Let none of you perform the ʿAṣr prayer except in the quarters of Banū Qurayẓah.” When the time for ʿAṣr overtook them on the road, some of them said, “We will not pray until we reach Banū Qurayẓah,” while others said, “That is not what was intended of us,” and they prayed along the way. He did not censure either group.

The first group adhered to the general wording of the command, counting the possibility of the prayer time’s expiry as included within that generality. The second group, however, had evidence requiring that this specific situation be excluded from the general text, for the aim was to hasten toward those whom the Prophet ﷺ was besieging. This is the well-known juristic debate: may analogy restrict the application of a general text? Even so, those who prayed on the road were closer to the correct practice.

Likewise, when Bilāl (may Allah be pleased with him) bartered two measures of dates for a single measure, the Prophet ﷺ ordered him to return the transaction (3), and he did not