the truth, by His permission. And Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path.”

In Sahīh Muslim, ‘Ā’ishah—may Allah be pleased with her—reports that when the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—rose to pray at night, he would say:

“O Allah, Lord of Gabriel, Michael, and Isrāfīl, Originator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen! You judge between Your servants concerning their differences. Guide me, by Your permission, to the truth concerning which they differ. Indeed, You guide whom You will to a straight path.”

These matters are discussed at length elsewhere. We have discussed the shaykhs’ statements concerning samāʿ (listening), as related by al-Qushayrī in his Epistle and by others, and have explained them word by word. This, however, is not the place for such an extensive discussion.

The essential point is this: when discussing whether samāʿ or anything else constitutes an act of obedience and a means of drawing near to Allah, there must be evidence from Islamic law establishing that. Likewise, when discussing whether it is forbidden or not, there must be evidence from Islamic law establishing that. For nothing is forbidden except what Allah has forbidden, and nothing is part of religion except what Allah has prescribed.

Allah—glorified and exalted is He—has condemned the polytheists for inventing a religion He had not prescribed for them and for forbidding what Allah Most High had not forbidden. The Most High says: