عن أبي سعيدٍ الخُدريِّ رضي الله عنه، أن النبيَّ ﷺ قال:«لتَتَّبِعُنَّ سَنَنَ مَن قَبْلَكم، شِبرًا بشِبرٍ، وذراعًا بذراعٍ، حتى لو سَلَكوا جُحْرَ ضَبٍّ لَسَلكْتموه»، قلنا: يا رسول الله، اليهود والنصارى؟ قال: «فمَن؟!»
40 - No similarity with opponents
Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudrī narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
1. You shall follow the ways of those who were before you, 2. inch by inch, cubit by cubit. 3. Even if they go into a lizard’s hole, you will follow their suit. 4. We said: “Messenger of God, the Jews and Christians?’ He said: ‘Who else?”
Summary of Meaning
The Prophet (peace be upon him) says that his community will follow in the footsteps of earlier communities, the Jews and Christians. They will invent practices that are unacceptable from the religious perspective and will commit sinful actions. Thus, they will blindly imitate them.
