Bukhari

Hadith Commentary:
The meaning of "entering into the lizard’s hole" is that you will adopt their ways and mannerisms.
Whether good or bad, you will prefer to follow their ways in every situation.
In our times, this is exactly the case.
The Muslims have been completely deprived of the faculty of ijtihad (independent reasoning) and creativity.
Thus, whatever they see the English doing, they themselves begin to do the same, without even considering whether this action is suitable and reasonable for our country and our climate or not.
May Allah have mercy.

Hadith Commentary:
The Shariah that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) brought has its own civilization and culture, its own way of life and customs. However, it is unfortunate that Muslims, abandoning this civilization and culture, feel pride in imitating others.

Today, in politics and leadership, we follow in the footsteps of Persia and Rome, and in religious culture and customs, we imitate the Jews and Christians.

In these two hadiths, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) has pointed out two types of people whom today’s so-called Muslims have made their qiblah (direction of devotion).

When the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) narrated this hadith, at that time there were only two major governments nearby, and their subjects were numerous, and their influence extended far and wide.

When Muslim rule was established in the Indian subcontinent, at first they adopted the manners and appearance of the Iranians; later, when the British era came, most of the leaders began to imitate them.

Today, the law that is enforced among us is indebted to them; to the extent that in eating and drinking, dress and social life, sitting and rising, and indeed in all customs, we follow them.

The meaning of “entering the lizard’s hole” is also that you will adopt their ways and manners, whether they are good or bad.

Today, the Muslims’ capacity for independent reasoning (ijtihad) and innovation has ended; just as the English and Europeans do, we too, seeing them, begin to do the same things.

No consideration is given to whether these actions are even reasonable in terms of our national society and way of life or not.

Hadith Commentary:
What is meant here is that you will begin to blindly imitate the Jews and Christians, and the faculty of thought and reflection will depart from you.
In our times, Muslims have indeed become blind in this way; just as the Jews and Christians ruined their religion, Muslims have gone even further by inventing innovations (bid‘ah) that have distorted the very appearance of Islam. Grave-worship (qabr-parasti) and devotion to imams (imam-parasti) have become the hallmarks of Muslims.
So many sects have arisen among them that they have surpassed even the Jews and Christians in this regard. The division that began with the names Shia and Sunni has, through division upon division, reached the point of hundreds of sects. Only the name of the Book and the Sunnah remains.

Hadith Commentary:
It is unfortunate that the Muslims of the present era, in blind imitation, are fulfilling the purport of this hadith by following the Jews and Christians without any concern.
At the national level, the law of the English is enforced among us, even though an Islamic label has been attached to it.
We people imitate the Jews and Christians in dress, morals, and customs.

Hadith Commentary:
Vocabulary of the Hadith:
Sunan:
Path,
Way,
Mode of conduct,
Those who read this as "sunan",
According to them, "sunnah" (way, path)
is the plural, meaning that you will follow their paths.

Benefits and Issues:
From this hadith, it is understood that the manner and mode of conduct which the Jews and Christians adopted with their religion and law, this ummah will also adopt that very mode of conduct exactly, will display the same misconduct and immorality as them, will introduce new innovations (bid‘ah) into the religion, will exaggerate regarding their Prophet, and will make their book a target of their own interpretations. Those communities committed both textual (tahrif lafzi) and interpretive (tahrif ma‘nawi) distortion in their books, and this ummah also committed interpretive distortion in the Qur’an and hadith, and even committed textual distortion in hadith. In the Noble Qur’an, this attempt did not succeed, because it is the final book, but attempts at textual distortion were made. While deducing from verses in their books, both consciously and unconsciously, they made additions and omissions in the verses, and in following their desires and whims, they even surpassed them. They even committed indecency with their own mothers and daughters.