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political islam 379‘First/Old Testament’. 40 In addition, the following prohibitionsreceived by Moses were eventually turned into absolute taboosthrough MuÈammad’s (ß) message:X. To marry maȧrim relatives (mother/sister/daughter, etc.)XI. To eat dead meat (carrion) and pork, and drink blood;XII. Usury (‘merely’ a prohibition in Moses’ message);XIII. To commit illegitimate sins and transgressions;XIV. To say about God what cannot be known.The first twelve taboos are clear and self-explanatory. The remainingtwo, however, need further elaboration:E. The attribute ‘illegitimate’ for a sin implies the existence of a ‘legitimate’sin—in addition to the subdivision of ‘sin’ (in 42:37 and53:32) into major and minor sins. But what are legitimate sins? TheArabic term for sin is ithm. This term occurs forty-eight times in theBook, mostly in the context of, a) to stay behind, to fall back, forexample, when we say ‘the she-camel fell back’ (athamat al-n§qa),that is, it stays behind the rest of the caravan; or b) to abstain orrefrain, as in ‘if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience,nor transgressing due limits, then is he guiltless 41 ( fa-l§ ithm#alayhi)…’ ( Al-Baqara 2:173). The sinner in this context is someonewho does something that others do not do. The first contextexpresses a legitimate sin, while the second refers to an illegitimatesin. The horseman who falls back with his horse in a race, the studentwho falls behind the rest of the class, the pupil who stays behindthe group on an excursion; these ‘sins’ are all legitimate. But whoeverholds back his witness when he should give it, commits an illegitimatesin, because: ‘conceal not evidence; for whoever concealsit, his heart is tainted with sin (ithm un ). And God knows all that youdo’ ( Al-Baqara 2:283). If alcohol is used for the benefit of society,40The Torah demands: ‘You shall follow the Lord, your God’ (Deuteronomy13:4) and the Book states: ‘Verily, this is My way, leading straight [ßir§ãÊ mustaqÊm an ]:follow it. Follow not (other) paths—they will scatter you about from His (great) path;thus does He command you, that you may be righteous’ ( Al-An#§m 6:153). See alsochapter 1.41Better: ‘not guilty of sin’, similar to MF: ‘will commit no sin’; MP: ‘it is no sinfor him’; AB: ‘commits no crime’; AhA: ‘not guilty of sin’; AH: ‘he commits no sin’;AA: ‘no sin shall be on him’.