Master Muhammad (may his glory be exalted) said: "You will surely follow the ways of those before you, span by span, and cubit by cubit, until if they entered a lizard's hole, you would enter it." We said: "O Messenger of God, the Jews and the Christians?" He said: "Who else?"¹

From Ibn 'Abbas (upon him is peace), our Master the Messenger of God (may his glory be exalted) said: "You will surely follow the ways of those who were before you, span by span, and cubit by cubit, until if one of them entered a lizard's hole, you would enter it. And even if one of them had intercourse with his wife on the roadside, you would do it."²

It was narrated that our Master the Messenger of God (may his glory be exalted), when he went out to Hunayn, passed by a tree belonging to the polytheists, called Dhat Anwat, upon which they would hang their weapons. They said: "O Messenger of God! Make for us a Dhat Anwat, just as they have a Dhat Anwat." So the Prophet (may his glory be exalted) said: "Glory be to God! This is just as the people of Moses said: {Make for us a god as they have gods}. By the One in Whose Hand my soul is, you will surely follow the way of those who were before you."³

Our Master the Messenger of God (may his glory be exalted) said: "The Hour will not be established until my nation adopts the practices of the previous generations, span by span, and cubit by cubit." It was said: "O Messenger of God, like the Persians and the Romans?" He said: "And who are the people, other than them?"⁴