—We shall turn him to that to which he has turned” (Qur’an 4:115), and He also said: “O you who believe, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies; they are allies of one another. Whoever among you turns to them is truly one of them” (Qur’an 5:51); and He said: “They followed Pharaoh’s command, yet Pharaoh’s command was not rightly guided. On the Day of Resurrection he will lead his people and usher them into the Fire” (Qur’an 11:97-98). Thus, because they followed him in this world, He made them his followers into the Fire in the Hereafter.
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It is related in the report that Allah will present to every people the very objects they used to worship in the world—stone, tree, sun, moon, or anything else—and will say, “Is it not just on My part that I consign every person to that which he befriended in the world?” Then He will proclaim, “Let every community follow what it used to worship in the world,” and they will follow them until they plunge with them into the Fire.
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Likewise, everyone who follows a leader in this world—whether in sunnah or in bidʿa (religious innovation), in good or in evil—will be with that leader in the Hereafter. Whoever longs to be with the salaf in the next life, and to receive the promise granted to them of Gardens and Divine pleasure, must follow them with excellence; and whoever follows a path other than theirs—