“And provide its people with fruits—those among them who believe in Allah and the Last Day.” He said, “As for whoever disbelieves, I will grant him enjoyment for a little while, then compel him to undergo the punishment of the Fire. What a wretched destination!”

For this reason, it is not permissible to help someone commit sins by providing him with lawful things—for example, giving bread and meat to someone who drinks wine with them and uses them to help him commit acts of indecency.

Whoever declares unlawful the good things Allah has made lawful—food, clothing, marriage, and the like—and believes that abstaining from them altogether is better than using them, even for someone who uses them to help him obey Allah, is a transgressor liable to punishment. This is for declaring unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made lawful, for worshipping Allah Most High through monasticism, for turning away from the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and for neglecting obligations. Whatever is indispensable to fulfilling an obligation is itself obligatory.

Likewise, whoever goes to excess in certain acts of worship—such as fasting continuously or persistently spending the night in prayer—until this leaves him too weak to fulfil some obligations deserves punishment. As the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr:

“Your own self has a right over you, your family has a right over you, and your wife has a right over you. So give everyone their due.”

The foundation of religion, then, is to fulfil obligations and refrain from what is forbidden. A servant has never drawn near