Verily, you will follow those before you, span by span and cubit by cubit

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Hadith narrated by Agreed upon

Authenticity grade : Authentic

Hadith text: Verily, you will follow those before you, span by span…

عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ رضي الله عنه قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «لَتَتَّبِعُنَّ سَنَنَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ، شِبْرًا بِشِبْرٍ، وَذِرَاعًا بِذِرَاعٍ، حَتَّى لَوْ دَخَلُوا فِي جُحْرِ ضَبٍّ لَاتَّبَعْتُمُوهُمْ» قُلْنَا: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ آلْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى؟ قَالَ: «فَمَنْ؟».

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, you will follow those before you, span by span and cubit by cubit; even if they were to enter the hole of a Dabb (lizard), you would follow them." We said, O Messenger of Allah, the Jews and Christians? He said, "Who else then?"

Explanation of the hadith: Verily, you will follow those before you, span by span…

Lessons: Verily, you will follow those before you, span by span…

• This is one of the signs of his prophethood, as he foretold it before it occurred, and it happened just as he said.
• It is forbidden for Muslims to imitate the disbelievers, whether in their beliefs, acts of worship, festivals, or costumes.
• Clarification of abstract meanings through tangible examples is one of the educational methods in Islam.
• Dabb: an animal whose whole is extremely dark and has a nasty smell. It is from the reptiles that are frequently found in deserts. The hole of the Dabb is particularly mentioned because it is so narrow and bad, and despite this, if they entered such a bad and narrow place, they would follow them-out of following their traces and adopting their methods-and Allah is the One to be sought for help.

Categories : Forbidden Emulation