Fifth: The prohibition was imposed solely to block a means to wrongdoing, and an act prohibited on this basis may be performed when an overriding benefit warrants it. Prayer itself is among the finest deeds and greatest acts of worship, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Remain steadfast, though you will never do so perfectly, and know that the best of your deeds is prayer.”

There is therefore nothing harmful in prayer itself that calls for its prohibition. At sunrise and sunset, however, Satan positions himself alongside the sun, and the disbelievers prostrate to it at those times. Someone praying then resembles them in the general act of prayer—namely, prostration. Although Muslims neither worship what they worship nor share their intention, they resemble them outwardly. Prayer was therefore prohibited at these two times to block the means to wrongdoing, so that resemblance to the disbelievers would cease and Muslims would not resemble them in their association of partners with Allah.

Similarly, he prohibited being alone with a non-mahram woman, travelling with her, and looking at her because of the wrongdoing to which these things may lead. He also prohibited a woman from travelling unless accompanied by her husband or a mahram—a male relative whom she is permanently forbidden to marry. Likewise, he prohibited insulting the gods of the polytheists, lest they insult Allah without knowledge. He also prohibited eating foul things because of the effects of consuming them as nourishment, which give rise to forbidden deeds. There are other examples of this kind.

Yet what is prohibited to block a means to wrongdoing becomes permissible when there is an overriding benefit. Thus, it is permissible to look at a woman one intends to marry, and to accompany a woman on a journey when there is fear for her safety—for example, when she is leaving dār al-harb (the abode of war), as in the journey of Umm Kulthūm, or in ‘Ā’ishah’s journey, after she had fallen behind, with Safwān ibn