And every pleasure that leads to pain in the Hereafter or deprives one of its pleasures is forbidden. Such are the pleasures that disbelievers and evildoers derive from their arrogance and corruption on earth, including the pleasure derived from disbelief and hypocrisy: the pleasure of those who take rivals besides Allah and love them as they love Allah; the pleasure they take in their corrupt beliefs and forbidden acts of worship; and the pleasure of overcoming righteous believers, killing people unjustly, committing adultery, stealing, and drinking wine. Allah has therefore explained that their pleasures are a respite granted to them so that they may increase in sin, and that they are a means of His plotting against them and gradually drawing them toward ruin—like eating delicious food containing poison. I have also explained this point in a treatise on intoxication.

As for pleasure that leads to neither pleasure nor pain in the abode of permanence, and does not deprive one of its pleasures, it is futile, since it brings neither benefit nor harm. It lasts only briefly, and the soul’s enjoyment of it is of little consequence. It inevitably distracts one from something that would be better in the Hereafter, even if it does not deprive one of pleasure there altogether.

This is what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, meant when he said:

“Every amusement in which a man engages is futile except shooting with his bow, training his horse, and playful intimacy with his wife, for these are worthwhile.” Narrated by Muslim.

Likewise, when ‘Umar entered his presence while some girls were beating tambourines, he had them fall silent upon ‘Umar’s entrance and said, “Indeed, this