—even if they entered a lizard’s burrow, you would enter it.”

They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, the Jews and Christians?” He replied, “Who else?”

This prediction is borne out by Allah’s words:

“So you have enjoyed your share as those before you enjoyed theirs, and you have indulged in idle talk as they did.”

This is corroborated by other authentic and sound hadiths. Such tendencies may spread even among the religious elite, as more than one of the early scholars, including Ibn ‘Uyaynah, has stated. Some who identify with religious learning have been afflicted with many of the traits of the Jews, while some who identify with religious devotion have been afflicted with many of the traits of the Christians. This is apparent to anyone who understands the religion of Islam with which Allah sent Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and then applies that understanding to people’s circumstances.

Since this is so, anyone whose heart Allah has opened to Islam, who thus follows a light from his Lord, and who was dead before Allah brought him to life and gave him a light by which to walk among people, must examine the practices of the age of ignorance and the ways of the two communities—those who incurred Allah’s wrath and those who went astray, the Jews and Christians. He will then recognize that he has been afflicted with some of these things.

What benefits the elite and ordinary people most, therefore, is knowing what delivers souls from these predicaments: following bad deeds with good ones. Good deeds encompass the actions, character traits, and qualities that Allah has encouraged through the Seal of the Prophets.