What is the difference between custom and worship in following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?

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The Shaykh : Yes

The questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, and may He reward you with good and benefit the Muslim community through you.
He asks: What is the difference between custom and worship in following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? For example, growing the beard and not wearing buttons. Is the following of Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) a matter of custom or a matter of worship?

The Shaykh : This issue is, in reality, of extreme precision, and it is no surprise that many students of knowledge overlook it, let alone others. It is that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said in the clear text of His Book:

There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern

لقد كان لكم في رسول الله أسوة حسنة

[Al-Ahzab 33:21]

Thus, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is, by the explicit text of this noble verse, the model for the Muslims. He alone is the model, with no partner for him in this role of being a model.
Therefore, it is not permissible for a Muslim to take a model to follow, to whom he submits completely, other than the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), as witnessed by the statement of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He):

But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you, [O Muhammad], judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full, willing] submission.

فلا وربك لا يؤمنون حتى يحكموك فيما شجر بينهم ثم لا يجدوا في أنفسهم حرجا مما قضيت ويسلموا تسليما

[An-Nisa 4:65]

This is a characteristic by which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is distinguished from all other people, even the prophets who were sent before him.
As he (peace and blessings be upon him) said when

He saw in the hand of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab a page from the Torah, and he was reading from it. When he asked him about it, he said, "This is a page from the Torah written by a brother of mine or a companion of mine." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "If Moses were alive, he would have had no choice but to follow me."

رأى في يد عمر بن الخطاب من التوراة يقرأ فيها ولما سأله عنها قال هذه صحيفة من التوراة كتبها أخ لي أو صاحب لي فقال عليه الصلاة والسلام لو أن موسى كان حيا لما وسعه إلا اتباعي

If Moses were alive, he would have had no choice but to follow me.

لو أن موسى كان حيا لما وسعه إلا اتباعي

The one worshipped is One, and He is Allah alone, with no partner for Him. And the one followed is One, and he is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, with no equal for him. It is not permissible for anyone to take a follower and a model for himself after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), as stated in this hadith:

If Moses were alive, he would have had no choice but to follow me.

لو كان موسى حيا لما وسعه إلا اتباعي

But is this role of being a model absolute, encompassing everything the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did, even if it was from ordinary personal matters or related to the environment in which he (peace and blessings be upon him) lived?
An example of this is what came in the authentic hadith:

That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) placed on his table one day food containing a grilled snake (dhab). A woman from among his wives sent to him, saying to him, "This is a dhab."

أن النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وضع على مائدته يوما طعام فيه ضب حنيذ مشوي فأرسلت امرأة من أزواجه إليه يقول له هذا ضب

Because she knew from his nature (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he disliked this type of meat.

When the news was reported, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) stopped and did not share the food with the people. This was while Khalid ibn al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) was in front of him, and he was eating.

فلما أخبر الخبر أمسك النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم فلم يشارك القوم في طعامهم هذا وكان أمامه خالد بن الوليد رضي الله عنه فكان يأكل

with great appetite.

Until the broth was flowing onto his beard, and our Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) was looking at him with a look that had meaning.

حتى كانت المرقة تسيل على لحيته ونبينا صلوات الله وسلامه عليه ينظر إليه نظرة فيها معنى

Khalid feared that this look from him was a look of disapproval.

So Khalid said, "O Messenger of Allah, is it haram?" He said, "No, but it was not in the land of my people, so I find my self repulsed by it."

فقال خالد يا رسول الله أحرام هو قال لا ولكنه لم يكن بأرض قومي فأجد نفسي تعافه

If Khalid desired what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) disliked from food, would he be contradicting the Sunnah? The answer is no, because food, what one desires from it, and what one dislikes from it, without prohibition, has no relation to the Shari'ah or to worship. The opposite is the opposite. The detailed discussion of this issue, and the adhan is being called, so it is best that we stop now. Perhaps this is the conclusion and we will depart, if Allah wills. You go to your mosque, and we continue our journey as travelers, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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