of the forbidden matters, he must also open for them the lawful doors so that people may move from one to the other. Some individuals mention only the prohibitions, repeating, “This is forbidden, that is forbidden,” without clarifying the permissible alternatives; this merely blocks the doors before people instead of opening them.

Consider Lot—peace be upon him—who said to his people, “Do you approach the males of all creatures and leave aside the spouses your Lord created for you?” He prohibited them from the wrongful act and directed them to the lawful course.

In the same way, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not say, ‘Whatever Allah wills and whatever so-and-so wills’; rather say, ‘Whatever Allah wills, and then whatever so-and-so wills.’”

Reflect as well on Allah’s words: “O you who believe, do not say rāʿinā (be considerate of us); instead, say unẓurnā (look upon us).” He forbade them from the word rāʿinā and guided them to the acceptable expression: “and say unẓurnā.”

Again, when fine dates were brought to the Prophet ﷺ he asked, “Are all the dates of Khaybar like this?” They replied, “No; we buy one measure of these for two measures, and two measures for three.” He said, “No—sell the inferior dates for money, then buy good dates with that money.”