In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.

[Cognitivedissonance]

“…Verily within the body there is a part, if it becomes correct and rectified the body becomes correct and rectified. If it becomes corrupt, likewise the whole body becomes corrupt. Verily this body part is the heart.”

We have become accustomed to following & excepting the western culture. Through the media we have become indoctrinated to think their way of life is superior. It's unislamic to imitate none believers, what does our deen say about this?

 

[Cognitivedissonance]

http://immamalbani.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/al-tashabuh-imitating-kuffar-is.html?m=1

 

[Cognitivedissonance]

http://islam1.org/khutub/Imitation_of_None-Muslims.htm

 

[Cognitivedissonance]

http://alifta.net/Fatawa/fatawaDetails.aspx?languagename=en&View=Page&PageID=77&PageNo=1&BookID=8

Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) stated:

Al-Bukhari, Book on holding fast to the Book and the Sunnah, no. 6889; Muslim, Book on knowledge, no. 2669; and Ahmad, vol. 3, p. 84.
You will certainly follow the ways of those who preceded you shaft flight by shaft flight, to the extent that if they enter a hole of a lizard, you will enter it too.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, (do you mean) the Jews and the Christians?” He said: who else?

 

[Cognitivedissonance]

O ye who believe! Choose not your fathers nor your brethren for friends if they take pleasure in disbelief rather than faith. Whoso of you taketh them for friends, such are wrong-doers.
Qur'an 9:23


You shall not find a people who believe in Allah and the latter day befriending those who act in opposition to Allah and His Messenger, even though they were their (own) fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kinsfolk; these are they into whose hearts He has impressed faith, and whom He has strengthened with an inspiration from Him: and He will cause them to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein; Allah is well-pleased with them and they are well-pleased with Him these are Allah's party: now surely the party of Allah are the successful ones.
Qur'an 58:22

 

[Cognitivedissonance]

Hadith[edit]
Only pious Muslims where Muhammad's friends[edit]
'Amr b. 'As reported: I heard it from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) quite audibly and not secretly: Behold! the posterity of my fathers, that is, so and so, are not my friends. Verily Allah and the pious believers are my friends.
Sahih Muslim 1:417
Using the Qur'an, Umar kicked a Christian out of Medina[edit]
(And if any among you befriends them, then surely he is one of them.) Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that `Umar ordered Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari to send him on one sheet of balance the count of what he took in and what he spent. Abu Musa then had a Christian scribe, and he was able to comply with `Umar's demand. `Umar liked what he saw and exclaimed, "This scribe is proficient. Would you read in the Masjid a letter that came to us from Ash-Sham" Abu Musa said, `He cannot."
`Umar said, "Is he not pure Abu Musa said, "No, but he is Christian." Abu Musa said, "So `Umar admonished me and poked my thigh (with his finger), saying, `Drive him out (from Al-Madinah).' He then recited,"

(O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as friends...) Then he reported that `Abdullah bin `Utbah said, "Let one of you beware that he might be a Jew or a Christian, while unaware." The narrator of this statement said, "We thought that he was referring to the Ayah,

Narrated AbuHurayrah: "The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: A man follows the religion of his friend; so each one should consider whom he makes his friend."
Abu Dawud 41:4815
Only stay with Muslims[edit]
Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Associate only with a believer, and let only a God-fearing man eat your meals.
Abu Dawud 41:4814 , See also: Abu Dawud 41:4832
Whoever joins a polytheist is like him[edit]
“Whoever joins a mushrik and lives with him is like him"
Abu Dawud: 2787
Do not take enemies as friends[edit]
"O you who believe! Take not my enemies And your enemies as friends offering them (Your) love even though they have disbelieved in that Truth (i.e. Allah, Prophet Muhammad and this Quran) which has come to you."

 

[Cognitivedissonance]

Muhammad was sent to stop friendship with Jews[edit]
Some Muslims remained friends with the Jews, so Allah sent down a Qur'an forbidding them to take Jews as friends. From their mouths hatred has already shown itself and what they conceal is worse
Ibn Ishaq p.262
Scholars[edit]
Ibn Kathir[edit]
Allah forbids His believing servants from having Jews and Christians as friends, because they are the enemies of Islam and its people, may Allah curse them. Allah then states that they are friends of each other and He gives a warning threat to those who do this"
The Prohibition of Taking the Jews, Christians and Enemies of Islam as Friends
Tafsir Ibn Kathir
Allah prohibited His believing servants from becoming supporters of the disbelievers, or to take them as comrades with whom they develop friendships, rather than the believers.
. . .
Allah said next, (unless you indeed fear a danger from them) meaning, except those believers who in some areas or times fear for their safety from the disbelievers. In this case, such believers are allowed to show friendship to the disbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly. For instance, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Ad-Darda' said, "We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them. Al-Bukhari said that Al-Hasan said, "The Tuqyah is allowed until the Day of Resurrection.

 

[Cognitivedissonance]

“Imitation generates friendship and love, and regarding them as allies in the inside, just as loving them on the inside generates imitating them on the outside.” Allaah tells us that there is no (true) believer who takes a kaafir as a friend, for whoever takes a kaafir as friend is not a believer. Imitation on the outside implies that a person loves (the one whom he imitates), and so it is forbidden.”
Non-Muslim Religious Celebrations and Ruling on participataing
Ibn Taymiyyah
“The Qur’aan, Sunnah and ijmaa’ (scholarly consensus) all indicate that we must differ from the kuffaar in all aspects and not imitate them, because imitating them on the outside will make us imitate them in their bad deeds and habits, and even in beliefs, which will result in befriending them in our hearts, just as loving them in our hearts will lead to imitating them on the outside[1]