to one another, something Allah loves and approves?

The third point is the profusion of flames from candles, lamps, and other sources—something not prescribed during prayer or the recitation of the Quran, since it distracts hearts and has other effects contrary to the intended purpose.

The fourth point is the variety of food and drink provided during these gatherings. This is not characteristic of acts of worship; such provision is prescribed only upon completing worship. As for making this variety of food and drink during these listening gatherings part of the worship through which one draws near to Allah, that is not so.

As for the various movements, objectionable sounds, and extreme bodily motions that this listening produces, these are too great to describe. Its effects cannot be checked once their full cause is present, just as intoxication cannot be averted after drinking an intoxicating quantity of wine. Indeed, its intoxication of souls and its hindering them from remembering Allah and from prayer are far greater than those of wine.

For prayer, as Allah Most High has stated,

“restrains one from indecency and wrongdoing.”

[Surah al-ʿAnkabūt 45]

This is something experienced and perceptible: a person finds within himself that prayer restrains him from indecency and wrongdoing, whereas those who engage in this listening find that their souls