Among people are those who adhere to a certain clothing, not wearing any other; or sitting in a certain place, not sitting in any other; or walking a certain way, not walking any other; or a certain fad and appearance, not leaving it; or a certain act of worship, not worshipping through any other, even though others are higher; or a certain Shaykh, not turning to any other, even though others may be closer to Allah and His Messenger. All of these aforementioned individuals are veiled and blocked from achieving the higher goal that is sought after; what has bound them are customs, traditions, circumstances and conventions from strictly following [the Sunnah]. So they set off detached from it, and their status is the furthest from it. You see one of them worshipping through physical exercise, seclusion and heart devotion, while considering knowledge would cut him off from his path. If he is then told about allegiance and enmity for Allah’s sake, and commanding the good and forbidding the evil, he considers that as a waste of time and evil. Furthermore, if they were to see someone doing any of that, they would expel him from their midst and consider him not one of them. These are the furthest of people from Allah, even though they may be the most pointed at. And Allah knows best.
[Madarij al-Salikin, Ibn al-Qayyim (3/176)]
بعض علامات أهل الباطل