it amounts to kufr (disbelief), to a sinful act, or to one of their distinctive symbols, the ruling is the same; in every case imitation is prohibited simply because it is imitation. Imitation (tashabbuh) covers: 1) someone who does a thing solely because others did it—this is rare; and 2) someone who follows others in an act for his own purpose, provided that the practice itself was originally taken from them. As for a person who does something that happens to coincide with what others do, without either party borrowing from the other, whether this is counted as imitation is debatable. Nevertheless, such an act may still be disallowed in order to block the means to imitation and to maintain the required distinction, just as we were commanded to dye the beard and trim the moustache. The Prophet’s statement, “Change your grey hair and do not imitate the Jews,” shows that imitation can occur without intention or positive action on our part: merely leaving unchanged what Allah created in us constitutes imitation, and this is stronger than a coincidental outward similarity. In another wording of the hadith, transmitted by Ibn Umar, the Prophet forbade imitating the non-Arabs (al-a’ajim) and said, “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” Qadi Abu Ya‘la cites this report, and many scholars have used it to argue that adopting elements of non-Muslim dress is disapproved. Shaykh al-Islam then quoted a number of statements on the matter from Ahmad and others, among them: “Muhammad ibn Abi Harb said: Ahmad was asked about wearing a Sindhi sandal (na‘l Sindi) outdoors; he disliked it for both men and women. He said, ‘If it is used for the lavatory or for making wudu, then it is permissible.’ He also disliked the sarrar and said, ‘It is part of the non-Arabs’ dress.’ ” After that, Shaykh al-Islam devoted a separate section to establishing the Muslim consensus, indicated by the aforementioned verses and hadiths, on the obligation to differ from the unbelievers and the prohibition of imitating them. In it he cited the words of the Companions, the four Imams and others, and furnished rare and valuable insights—see pp. 58–67. He concludes: “Even without what we have just presented, it is evident that the ummah agrees on the reprehensibility of resembling the People of the Book and the non-Arabs in general, even though they may differ on certain particulars, either because some hold that it is not …"