his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):

“Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him; and whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him.”

Thus, a prohibited contract may give rise to an obligation or a prohibition. It cannot, however, confer permission. For example, when the Prophet prohibited sales involving uncertainty, usurious transactions, marriage to women within the prohibited degrees, and similar transactions, carrying out what he prohibited did not confer any lawful entitlement upon the person concerned. This is because the prohibited act is a sin, and the general rule concerning sins is that they do not bring about Allah’s blessings and mercy. Permission is one of Allah’s blessings and mercies. Although sins may lead to respite and the opening of worldly opportunities, that belongs to divine decree, not religious legislation. Indeed, they may lead to punishment from Allah Most High.

Imposing obligations and prohibitions may constitute punishment, as Allah Most High says:

“For wrongdoing on the part of the Jews, We made unlawful for them good things which had previously been lawful to them.”

Yet obligations and prohibitions may also be a mercy, as in our upright, monotheistic Law.

Those among the literalists and others who disagree with this principle may hold that any contract lacking specific permission is prohibited, and that every prohibited contract is legally equivalent to no contract at all. Both premises are disputed, as explained above.

This argument may be answered in a second way—if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) meant that conditions which Allah has not permitted, even though He does not forbid them