for him and fulfils his obligations, Allah will never leave him in need of innovated stratagems. For He, glorified be He, has imposed no hardship upon us in religion, and He sent our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with the easy religion of pure monotheism.

The first cause, then, is wrongdoing, and the second is lack of knowledge. Wrongdoing and ignorance are the two human traits mentioned in His words:

“But man undertook it; indeed, he was unjust and ignorant.”

The underlying principle is this: Allah, glorified be He, prohibited certain substances, such as blood, carrion, and pork, and certain dealings, such as gambling, usury, and the sales involving uncertainty and other transactions that fall within them, because of the harms they entail. Allah and His Messenger drew attention to these harms, as in His words, glorified be He:

“Satan only wants to cause animosity and hatred between you through intoxicants and gambling and to turn you away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Will you not then desist?”

He thus tells us that gambling breeds animosity and hatred, whether it involves money or play. Pointless competition and taking wealth without right instil such feelings in people’s hearts.

Likewise, Zayd ibn Thābit, may Allah be pleased with him, the Companion who was a jurist of Medina, related:

“During the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, people used to buy and sell fruit. When they harvested it and payment fell due, the buyer would say, ‘The fruit was affected by rot; it was affected by disease; it suffered premature shedding’—afflictions they invoked to support their claims. When disputes over this became frequent in his presence, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘In that case, do not buy or sell until there are visible signs of