They grew arrogant—may Allah protect us. The Prophet ﷺ also informed us that he did not fear polytheism for his community, because—praise be to Allah—the lands had been opened, their peoples had entered into pure monotheism, and it never occurred to the Prophet ﷺ that idolatry would re-emerge straightaway. One must not, however, infer from his lack of fear that polytheism could never happen, for it is happening now. In our own time there are people who call themselves Muslims yet circumambulate graves, implore the occupants, slaughter animals for them, and dedicate vows to them—polytheism is present. The Messenger ﷺ never said, “You will never commit shirk,” so that anyone could claim these current practices are not shirk. All he said was, “I do not fear it for you,” and he does not speak from mere desire. His statement was based on the fact that, during his lifetime, the call had reached everyone, monotheism had been clarified, and the people were holding fast to it. That, however, does not guarantee the situation will last until the Day of Resurrection.

Indeed, an authentic hadith states: “The Hour will not be established until large groups of my community worship idols.” At that particular moment the Prophet ﷺ was not afraid of polytheism for his community; rather, he feared something else to which people succumb even faster: that the world would be opened up to the ummah, they would vie with one another for it and fight over it, and it would destroy them just as it destroyed those before them. This, in fact, is what we see today. The dunya has poured in upon us from every direction, bringing things one would never have imagined; had someone described them beforehand, he would not have been believed—yet they have come to pass. People now compete for it and fight over it, and it has ruined them just as it ruined those before them—even those who did not actually take up arms