cannot do what Pharaoh was able to do: claim divinity and deny the Creator. Although these people acknowledge the Creator, when someone comes to call them to worship and obey Him—which entails ceasing to obey them—they may oppose him just as Pharaoh opposed Moses.

Many people who possess some reason and faith do not aspire to such an extreme; rather, each seeks for himself only what accords with his own position. If he is a Muslim who commands obedience, he seeks to be obeyed in pursuing his purposes, even when these involve sin and disobedience to Allah. Someone who obeys him in following his desires becomes dearer to him and more highly esteemed than someone who obeys Allah and goes against his desires. This is one aspect of the condition of Pharaoh and the others who rejected the messengers.

If he is a scholar—or a shaykh—he loves those who venerate him rather than those who venerate his peer, even if both read the same book, such as the Quran, or perform the same acts of worship in the same way, such as the five daily prayers. He loves those who venerate him by accepting his statements and following his example more than he loves others. He may even hate his peer and his followers out of envy and wrongful rivalry, as the Jews did when Allah sent Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, calling to the same message to which Moses had called. Allah Most High says:

“When they are told, ‘Believe in what Allah has revealed,’ they say, ‘We believe in what was revealed to us,’ yet they disbelieve in what came after it, although it is the truth, confirming what they have.”

And Allah Most High says:

“Those who were given the Scripture did not become divided until after