that this particular venture is the sounder option and you invest in it, yet Allah decrees that the venture incurs a loss, then no blame rests upon you: you acted on informed judgment. The one who exercises ijtihād receives two rewards if he is correct, and even if he errs he still earns one reward. What is unlawful, however, is to willfully abandon the better course for an inferior one.

Allah, blessed and exalted, says: “They ask you about orphans. Say: ‘Setting matters right for them is best; and if you mingle your affairs with theirs, then they are your brothers’” (Q 2:220). This verse was revealed in answer to a question the Companions put to the Messenger ﷺ. They said, “Messenger of Allah, we are guardians of orphans’ property. We live in a single house and share a single pot of food. If we keep the orphans’ food in a separate vessel it will burden us, and it may spoil. What should we do?” Allah replied: “Setting matters right for them is best; and if you mingle your affairs with theirs, then they are your brothers,” meaning: pursue whatever is most beneficial for them, and feel free to mix their portions with yours—use one cooking pot, one container—so long as your intention is reform. Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer. Had He willed, He could have constrained you and made matters hard, but He is merciful to the believers.

The author then mentions the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “Avoid the seven destructive sins.” These seven ruinous sins destroy one’s religion—may Allah protect us. The Companions asked, “What are they, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Associating partners with Allah…” This is the gravest of the destructive sins: that a person commits shirk with Allah—the One who created him, who favored him in his mother’s womb, after his birth, and throughout his infancy—showering him with countless blessings, yet he sets up partners alongside Him.