On the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) command to change gray hair, what is the factor that shifts the ruling from obligation to recommendation?

Question:
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, says regarding the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) command to change gray hair, “Change this.” Is the factor that shifts the ruling from obligation to recommendation the fact that the Companions did not perform the changing? Note that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) gave the reason that this involves imitating the Jews, for they do not dye their hair.

Answer:
Imitating the disbelievers, if it is in something that is not part of their practice—gray hair is not part of the Jews’ practice but is part of the creation of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He)—then the prohibition against imitating them in what is part of Allah’s creation is for dislike, not for prohibition. The prohibition against imitating them in what is not part of their practice is for dislike, as mentioned by the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in *Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim*.
As for what is part of their actions, imitating them in that is for prohibition. This is the point. The second point is that many of the Companions did not dye their beards, acting on the basis that this is not obligatory, which is evidence that the command is not for prohibition but for dislike. We have known senior scholars among our great scholars who did not dye their hair, such as Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him), Shaykh Abdul-Latif ibn Ibrahim, Shaykh Abdul-Rahman ibn Sa’di, and our Shaykh, Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shanqiti. We all knew them, and none of them dyed their hair, which indicates that it is not obligatory. Yes.