and whose truth cannot be distinguished from their falsehood. Rather, most of what they preserve consists of exaggeration and extravagant claims that promote associating him with Allah. Muslims who understand Islam and do not mix it with anything else know Allah and worship Him alone. They know His prophets, affirm what they brought, and follow it. They know the people of learning and piety and benefit from their words and deeds. Those who have gone astray, however, are in darkness: they know neither Allah nor His prophets nor His allies. They do not distinguish between what Allah has commanded and what He has forbidden, or between the allies of the Most Merciful and the allies of Satan.

Undoubtedly, among those who face the qiblah are people who resemble the Jews and Christians in certain respects. Thus, in the two Sahīhs, Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī relates that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“You will surely follow the ways of those before you exactly, so much so that if they entered a lizard’s burrow, you would enter it too.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, do you mean the Jews and Christians?” He replied, “Who else?”

In Sahīh al-Bukhārī, Abū Hurayrah relates that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“My nation will surely follow the course of the nations before it, handspan by handspan and cubit by cubit.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, do you mean the Persians and Romans?” He replied, “Who else could it be?”

Imitating them in associating partners with Allah at the graves of prophets and righteous people is among the forms of imitation against which he warned his nation before his death, both in health and in sickness. In Sahīh Muslim, Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allāh said:

“I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace