he ﷺ would not have worn the cloak fastened with gold, nor would he have distributed it to his Companions—this is plain to see.

Third: even if his assertion were sound—namely, that “the Prophet ﷺ permitted the wearing of gold once the impediment had been removed”—it would necessarily follow that gold became lawful for men as well, for in their case too the impediment would have disappeared. Such a conclusion is patently false; no scholar has ever upheld it, and whatever entails falsehood is itself false.

Should he protest, “That does not follow, because the reason gold is forbidden to men differs from the reason it is forbidden to women,” we reply: And what exactly is that reason? He has no way of establishing it except by the same unsubstantiated claim with which he established its counterpart. It is nothing more than a private opinion in which the Doctor has singularly indulged in this late age.

Nothing drives certain people into these tight corners and fanciful opinions except their attempt to escape the force of a scriptural text that conflicts with their school, their imitation of others, or their customary practice—only to fall into something far worse. Had they submitted to the judgment of Allah and His Messenger, as a Muslim is obliged to do, it would have been better for them, and they would not have stumbled into such errors.