and no wish to add to it. By contrast, the one who seeks to grow in goodness, the moment he learns of a command from Allah and His Messenger says, “We hear and we obey,” and then acts accordingly; he never asks whether it is obligatory or merely recommended—unless he has already fallen short. Only then does he inquire: “I did such-and-such while the Prophet ﷺ instructed such-and-such; am I sinful for this?”

For that reason we have never heard, nor do we know, of a single instance in which the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—responded to a command of the Messenger ﷺ by saying, “O Messenger of Allah, is this compulsory or simply encouraged?” We have never heard anything of the sort. They would say, “We hear and we obey,” and they complied.

So go ahead and act; whether the matter is recommended or obligatory is not your concern. No one may label a command as recommended or obligatory without evidence, and the decisive proof is that the mufti tells you, “This is what the Messenger ﷺ ordered.”

We find, for example, that when Ibn ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with them both—narrated to his son Bilāl that the Messenger ﷺ had said, “Do not stop your women from attending the mosques,” conditions had changed after the Prophet’s death. Bilāl replied, “By Allah, we shall prevent them!” ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar rebuked him severely: how could he say, “By Allah, we shall prevent them,” when the Messenger said, “Do not prevent them”? He even severed ties with him until the day he died.

This shows how highly the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—revered the command of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, whereas we are quick to ask, “Is this command obligatory or merely recommended? Does this prohibition make something unlawful or only disliked?” But if the matter has already occurred, only then may you ask whether