English
Abu Sa‘id (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “You will surely follow the ways 1 of those before you, span by span, cubit by cubit, until if they entered a lizard’s hole, you would follow them.” It was said: “O Messenger of Allah, the Jews and Christians?” He said: “Who else?”
Possible references (unverified, pending editorial review)
- Candidate: Sahih al-Bukhari 3456 (unverified) 99% confidence
- Candidate: Sahih Muslim 2669a (unverified) 99% confidence
Confidence and text similarity are not editorial verification.
Commentary and footnotes (2)
Note 1
(1) His statement: “the ways of those before you” – with a stressed sin, plural of sunnah, meaning path, whether good or bad. Here, it refers to the ways of those with desires and innovations who invented them after their prophets, altering their religion and distorting their scriptures, as happened with the Children of Israel, step by step. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)
Note 1
(۱) قوله: سنن من قبلكم بضم السين جمع سنة، وهي لغة الطريقة، حسنة كانت أو سيئة، والمراد هنا طريقة أهل الأهواء والبدع التي ابتدعوها من تلقاء أنفسهم بعد أنبياءهم من تغير دينهم وتحريف كتابهم، كما أتى على بني إسرائيل حذو النعل بالنعل. كذا في «المرقاة».