What is your opinion of those who say to one who follows one of the Sunnahs: "Do not do it," so that the call is not hindered?

The Shaykh : And peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and whoever follows them in faith. So whoever has a question, let him please ask.
Please.

The questioner : There are some of our brothers who are eager to apply the Sunnah—may Allah reward them with good—and there are brothers of theirs who do not... [regard] the importance of this Sunnah; for example, one that people do not find acceptable, or that the common people in this age do not accept. So their brothers come and advise them, saying: "Postpone this matter to a later time," meaning so that you do not hinder the call, and so that people will not reject you. Such a Sunnah—for example—lifting the garment to the middle of the shins. These brothers are also committed, but I say to them: Why not... be optimistic so that you do not hinder the call? What is your opinion of that?

The Shaykh : This is hindering the call. Every Muslim knows that the call to Allah—Blessed and Exalted is He—by the Book and the Sunnah does not consist merely of speech. Rather, if the call is restricted to speech without action, first: the caller falls under the warning of His saying—Exalted is He: And second: he will not have that expected impact in the people to whom he is calling to the Book and the Sunnah. Rather, it is known among the people of knowledge that the impact of action on the masses of people is greater than the impact of mere speech devoid of action. And there is more than one hadith regarding this. It is known that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the 'Umrah of Hudaybiyyah, and was compelled, after the peace treaty he concluded with the polytheists for a profound wisdom that became apparent later in time, to exit the state of ihram from the 'Umrah, he slaughtered his sacrificial animal. As for the majority of the Companions, they hesitated. So he went to Umm Salimah—as I recall—and it seemed that he (peace be upon him) was not pleased with the stance of his Companions, in that they did not hasten to exit the state of ihram. So she (may Allah be pleased with her) suggested that he (peace and blessings be upon him) slaughter his sacrificial animal in the sight of his Companions. So they hardly did anything but follow his action when they saw that he had slaughtered his sacrificial animal, or slaughtered his sacrificial animal (peace and blessings be upon him).
The point is that action has a greater impact on the general public than speech. This is from one aspect. And from another aspect: action, in the science of usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence), often serves to clarify and explain his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), which may carry a meaning other than what he (peace and blessings be upon him) applies to it. The important thing is that combining action with speech has many, many, and very many advantages. And therefore, the departure of some of our brothers who agree with our saying and follow the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by postponing the application of some of his Sunnahs (peace and blessings be upon him); this is a deviation from the Sunnah in both speech and action. As for action, it is clear, because they do not follow the Sunnah in that. As for speech, what was reported from them is that they advise their brothers to postpone the application of some of the Sunnahs. This is from one aspect. And from another aspect, until when will these Sunnahs be postponed? And what is the dividing line between the Sunnah that is permissible to postpone, and the Sunnah that should be hastened? What is the dividing line?
There is no doubt that the matter is... that; because some practical issues that are considered from the Prophetic Sunnahs may sometimes fall into the category of obligations or duties that the Wise Lawgiver has made obligatory through the tongue of His noble Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him). I know that many of those who claim to belong to the call to Allah, or at least are attributed to the call to Allah, see no importance in many of the matters regarding which the Prophetic command came, and they attach them—in their claim!—to such Sunnahs as were mentioned in the question, or to which the question referred. There is no doubt that shortening the garment to the middle of the shin is a recommended Sunnah that is the stronger position...