Our fellow scholars have differed over whether jurists who disagree fall under the designation “people of desires,” holding two views on the matter. Judge Abū Ya‘lā included them in this classification, as did Shaykh Abū Hāmid al-Isfarāyīnī, I believe, whereas Ibn ‘Aqīl rejected this.

As for “avarice that is obeyed,” we have mentioned that its harm consists in withholding good. Such withholding is not, in itself, something one loves; rather, one is driven to it by an avid attachment to whatever one is unwilling to part with. It belongs to the realm of aversion and hatred: it commands a person, and he obeys it. Not everyone who is obeyed is followed, although everyone who is followed is obeyed. A person obeys a physician, a ruler, and others in particular matters without being their follower. Following someone, however, entails obedience and more: the follower goes with him wherever he goes.

A second distinction is that what is followed is sought for its own sake: the follower’s ultimate aim is to attain and obtain it. Such is the nature of desire. What is obeyed, by contrast, serves another end. Such is the nature of avarice.

The precise meaning of avarice is an intense disposition within the soul to withhold. Thus, one may say that someone jealously guards his religion and is unwilling to relinquish it. Avarice is therefore a disposition of the soul, of which miserliness is one manifestation.

Thus, in the two Sahīh collections, Abū Hurayrah reports that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Beware of avarice, for avarice destroyed those before you. It commanded them to be miserly, and they were miserly; it commanded them to commit injustice, and they committed injustice; and it commanded them to sever ties of kinship, and they severed them.”

Likewise, it is reported that ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf used to say while circumambulating the Ka‘bah: “My Lord, protect me from