Were a person from the first generation resurrected today, he would not recognize anything of Islam except his prayer.  I swear by Allah that if he were to live in these evil times, he would see the innovator calling to his innovation or the individual engrossed in worldly life calling to his worldly affairs.  Then if Allah, Mighty and Majestic, Protected him, his heart would long for that which the pious predecessors were upon, he would follow their footsteps and traverse their path; for him there will be a great reward.

—Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī [d 110H/728CE]

[ibn Waddah, al-Bid’ah #74]

(Read on pg 81, Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali and Abu Bakr al-Ajurri, The Journey of the Strangers. Daar as-Sunnah Publishers. Birmingham: 2009.)