Page 293 - The Signs of Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) Second Coming

Signs of Jesus’ (pbuh)
Second Coming

68. Muslims' Yearning for non-Muslims

The Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace)
said: "Surely you will follow the ways of those nations
that were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit [i.e.,
inch by inch], so much so that even if they entered a
lizard’s hole, you would follow them." (Sahih Bukhari)
The Hour will not come until my people adopt every inch
of the centuries-old traditions one by one. They asked: “O
Messenger, as is in the case of Persians and Greeks?” The
Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) replied:
“Including those people who are like them.”
(Sahih Bukhari)
"I swear … that you also will follow in the footsteps of
the nations that preceded you [e.g., Jews and Christians].
(Tirmidhi)

The hadiths of our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him
peace) state that Muslim communities will yearn for and imitate non-
Muslim ones. This hadith might be pointing out the prevalence of

those ideologies and movements that are incompatible with Islamic
morality and yet are widespread within the Muslim community.
Following the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the spread of
radical nationalist movements, especially in the Arab countries, is an
example of this situation. Radical nationalism is a movement against
Islamic morality, for it considers other nations as foes and demands a

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