Is the statement of a Companion considered a proof? And what is the difference between the action of a Companion and the action of the Salaf?

The questioner : Regarding taking from the beard; is the statement of a Companion considered a proof? Or is there a difference between the action of a Companion and the action of the Salaf? And also in the hadith in "The Covering of the Muslim Woman" which the Shaykh graded as good; that the Zoroastrians trim, they take from it.

The Shaykh : They trim their beards.

The questioner : They trim their beards.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : And ... the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered to go against it, and he said: .

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : And the meaning of the hadith, and Allah knows best.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : And how do we reconcile this with that?

The Shaykh : First, the statement of a Companion is one thing, and his action, which is considered a condition ... whether the statement of a Companion is a proof or not, so we leave this issue aside for now. Rather, the action of Ibn 'Umar is related to another issue; which is whether the narrator is more aware of his narration than others, or are others more aware ... than his narrator? There are many rules, and the matter may be connected to some extent, such as this aforementioned rule; is the criterion the narrator's narration or his opinion? We responded with three matters, we have:
1 Is the statement of a Companion considered a proof or not; is this a statement?
2 Is the action of the Companion who narrated the hadith considered a proof or not?
3 Is the action of a Companion considered a proof if it contradicts his hadith? This is the third issue.
There is no doubt that the truth in the third issue is that the criterion is his narration and not his opinion, but the second issue - which is the middle one - is the exact opposite of this; is the criterion the narrator's opinion and understanding, or the action of others regarding his narration? Ibn 'Umar says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , he narrated the word , here the question arises, is this a general text, is this a general absolute text such that a Muslim does not take from his beard even if it grows long and reaches below his navel? If we take the hadith as absolute in this way, the meaning would be this, he does not take from it; because letting it grow is absolute. Here comes the research into the previous question, Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), who narrated the hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we must now observe the following reality, or the following two realities:
The first reality: that he saw the Messenger and heard from him and saw his beard, so he knows for certain whether he used to take from it or not take from it? In the sense that he knows for certain whether the Messenger applied this hadith absolutely and did not take anything from his beard? Or did he take something from it without specifying now? This is the first reality; and that Ibn 'Umar heard this hadith, and saw the Messenger who spoke this hadith.
The second reality: is that Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was the most severe of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) all together, and the most eager of them all in following the Messenger (peace be upon him), in following his Sunnah to a degree beyond what the scholars say is from the Sunnah; that is: the scholars divide the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him) into Sunnah of worship and Sunnah of custom. The Sunnah of worship is that we are commanded to follow the Messenger (peace be upon him) in it and we are rewarded for this following, while the Sunnah of custom is a custom, nothing whatsoever follows from ... or leaving it. Ibn 'Umar, who was eager to follow the Messenger (peace be upon him), used to follow him even in the Sunnahs of custom, and perhaps you know some examples narrated about him in a book - for example - ... "Majma' al-Zawa'id" by al-Haythami and others.
Now, is letting the beard grow from the Sunnahs of worship or from the Sunnahs of custom? There is no doubt it is from the Sunnahs of worship; why? Because of what was mentioned before from the hadith first, and especially because it came in some authentic narrations: , in a narration: , and the other hadith in "Sahih Muslim": mentioned from it: . So letting the beard grow is a Sunnah of worship and not a Sunnah of custom.
Now we return to say, do you think Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), known for his exaggeration in following the Messenger (peace be upon him) even in the Sunnahs of custom, is it conceivable that he saw the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not take from his beard nor a single hair from ... and then he takes from it what is less than a handful? I consider the statement that yes, this is possible; this is close to impossible, unless Ibn 'Umar is attributed to not caring about following the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and this is contrary to what is certain among all Muslim scholars. Added to this is what I pointed out earlier that he did not single out taking from the beard, but Abu Hurayrah and Mujahid followed him in that, and this is narrated in "Tafsir Ibn Jarir al-Tabari", add to this that it was not transmitted from any of the Salaf - as far as I know - - - neither in statement nor action that it is not permissible to take from the beard, even if 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) did not take from it.
If we know this explanation, the answer to the brother's question comes, that the Messenger (peace be upon him) forbade cutting the beard as you cut in custom, we say yes, cutting in custom, the Hanafi scholars stated in their jurisprudence that it is not permissible to take from the beard as you do - I am doubtful now - they said as the Magharmah did at that time, when they said this phrase, or they said as ... do, and they say: the Sunnah is to take what is less than a handful as evidence as we mentioned from the action of Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). So as we say: letting it grow in the hadith is absolute and not intended, and cutting in the hadith is absolute and not intended, but the intended meaning in both matters is the opposite of the absolute. The intended meaning of letting it grow is letting grow what is above the handful or what is below the handful and not what is beneath it, and the intended meaning of the prohibition of cutting ... if it increases, to take the opposite of what Ibn 'Umar took; that is: taking the lower part of what Ibn 'Umar took.
This is what I have on this issue.

The questioner : ... Okay Shaykh, if he permitted what is after the beard? ... .

The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you! It is as if you were not with me; it prevents them from seeing the Messenger (peace be upon him).
Yes.