Love and allegiance to them are incompatible with faith (1).

Accordingly, imitating the People of the Book, foreigners, and the like must inevitably plant in a Muslim some degree of affection for them—or at the very least create a strong presumption of such affection. On that basis it is forbidden, as a safeguard to block the means and to eliminate the habit of loving and showing loyalty to unbelievers, quite apart from its being prohibited on other grounds established by explicit texts and otherwise.

This is not peculiar to the author’s own age, as some people imagine; it is God’s immutable way with His creation in every time and place. Be that as it may, in our present era—despite the mingling of nations, the shrinking of distances, and the overwhelming dominance of Western civilization, all of which blur the distinctions between peoples—we can plainly see that those groups of Muslims who emulate the Europeans in their clothing, behavior, and customs, and who habitually speak their language and converse in it, tend to love, esteem, and admire them, feel at ease in their company, and look down on Muslims who adhere to their own traditional dress, conduct, and customs.

For God, exalted be He, “has fashioned the children of Adam—indeed all creatures—so that two similar things influence one another; and the greater the resemblance, the more complete the interaction in morals and traits, until they differ only to the eye” (2).

Conversely, Muslims who hold fast to the guidance of Islam and avoid resembling other nations are more disinclined toward, and less affectionate to, non-Muslims.

Another grave issue facing Muslims is that resemblance is not limited to