he reported their views on the permissibility of travelling and their agreement that it is neither an act of devotion nor an act of obedience to Allah. Whoever believes it to be an act of devotion has therefore opposed the consensus. If he undertakes it believing it to be an act of obedience, it is forbidden by consensus. Its prohibition thus arises from treating it as an act of devotion. This is the wording of the response.

It is well known that whenever Muslims disagree over whether an action is forbidden or merely permissible—not an act of devotion—whoever treats it as an act of devotion has opposed the consensus. If he performs it to draw nearer to Allah, doing so is forbidden by consensus. Examples include seeking nearness to Allah by playing backgammon or chess, exchanging one dirham for two, having anal intercourse with women, listening to singing and musical instruments, and similar actions concerning which people hold two views: prohibition and permissibility. No one has said that these are acts of devotion. Thus, whoever makes such an action an act of worship through which he seeks nearness to Allah, just as he does through prescribed acts of worship, has committed something forbidden by consensus.

This resembles seeking nearness to Allah through amusements and musical instruments. The majority of Muslims hold that these are forbidden, while some have permitted them; no one has said that they are acts of devotion. Whoever says this therefore opposes the consensus. Only a heretic would say such a thing—as in the account Abū Abd al-Rahmān al-Sulamī related from Ibn al-Rāwandī, who said: “The jurists disagree over whether singing is forbidden or lawful, but I say that it is obligatory.” It is well known that this is not one of the positions held by Muslim scholars.

Those who seek nearness to Allah by listening to poems, taghbīr, and the like are mistaken according to the great majority of the imams, even though none of these people says that singing is an act of devotion