through something forbidden, his affliction will subside. Rather, this causes him great distress and ultimately increases his affliction and illness. Even if his suffering subsides and his agitation settles immediately after indulging himself, this is followed by a severe, intractable illness from which he cannot escape. What is required, instead, is to avert the greater of two harms by enduring the lesser, before the disease takes firm hold and carries him to ruin and destruction. It is well known that the pain of beneficial treatment is easier and lighter to bear than the pain of a lasting illness.

This makes it clear to you that all punishments prescribed by Islamic law are beneficial remedies through which Allah heals the diseases of the heart. They are an expression of Allah’s mercy and compassion towards His servants, encompassed by His words, Most High:

“And We have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds.”

Whoever abandons this beneficial mercy out of pity for the sick person has thereby helped bring about his suffering and destruction, even if he intends nothing but good, for in this he is ignorant and foolish. Some ignorant women and men behave this way towards their sick and towards those they raise—their children, young servants, and others. Out of pity, they refrain from disciplining and punishing them for the evil they commit and the good they neglect, thus becoming a cause of their corruption, hostility, and destruction.

Some people are overcome with pity for them because they share the same illness and have themselves experienced the same intensity of desire, coldness of heart, and tolerance of sexual misconduct. They therefore fail to carry out the punishment Allah has commanded. In doing so, such a person is among the most unjust and most tolerant of sexual misconduct towards himself and others like him. He is like a group of sick people for whom a physician has prescribed what will benefit them