which the Lawgiver has forbidden, enjoining moderation in worship. For this reason, he commanded hastening the breaking of the fast and delaying the predawn meal, prohibited fasting continuously without breaking the fast, and said:

“The best and most balanced fasting is that of David, peace be upon him: he would fast one day and not fast the next, and he would not flee when he met the enemy.”

Balance in worship is among the Lawgiver’s greatest objectives. Hence Allah Most High said:

“O you who believe, do not forbid the good things Allah has made lawful for you”—and the rest of the verse.

He thus regarded forbidding what is lawful as a transgression contrary to justice. Allah Most High also said:

“For the wrongdoing of those who were Jews, We forbade them good things that had been lawful to them, and for their hindering many from Allah’s way,”

“and for their taking usury, though they had been forbidden it.”

Because they were unjust, they were punished by having good things forbidden to them. By contrast, for the balanced and just community, He made good things lawful and prohibited impure things.

Since this is so, just as the fasting person is forbidden to consume food and drink that strengthen and nourish him, he is likewise forbidden to expel substances in a way that weakens him and depletes the material that nourishes him. Otherwise, allowing him to do this would harm him, and he would be exceeding proper bounds in his worship rather than observing balance.

Bodily discharges are of two kinds. One kind consists of those he cannot prevent, or whose passing causes him no harm. These are not prohibited, as with urine and feces: their passing does him no harm, nor can he avoid it. Even if he induces their passage, it does not harm him; rather, it benefits him. Likewise, if he is overcome by vomiting, he cannot prevent it. The same applies to a wet dream