The Prophet’s hadith regarding unbuttoning his shirt: What is meant by “buttons” in the hadith?

The questioner : There is a hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding unbuttoning his buttons—the buttons of his shirt. Is the intent to unbutton all the buttons, several buttons, or just one button? What is meant by the word “buttons” in the hadith?

The Shaykh : “Buttons,” my brother, is the plural of “button.”

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : However, in my understanding, this hadith is not among the matters of devotional worship. Since that is the case, one should not delve into it or seek to know its details. It appears that the Messenger (peace be upon him) unbuttoning his shirt was a matter of relaxation and feeling some of the heat of the weather, especially in the Hijaz. So he did that. It is not one of the acts of worship; rather, it is one of the customary matters. In customary matters, the Muslim is entirely free to do whatever he wishes and leave whatever he wishes. For example, it is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) disliked eating the meat of the monitor lizard, and his story with Khalid ibn al-Walid when he saw him eating with unusual greed, and he looked at him in astonishment until Khalid (may Allah be pleased with him) thought that there was something wrong with this eating, so he said, “Is it forbidden, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: . Now, the same Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked eating the meat of the monitor lizard; does that make it forbidden? The answer is no. And conversely, he (peace and blessings be upon him) loved honey. If some people—and I know some who dislike even hearing the name of honey, let alone licking it or eating it—in our Syrian lands, there is a green plant called molokhia. Do you know it?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Some women cook this molokhia well, and some do not. From this second type, if you take some of this dish that was not cooked well, it becomes slimy, as if it were saliva. This is compared to some people among us in Syria who dislike hearing this name, and people joke with them when they hear this name so they run far away from them. And other people eat it and find it a good food and vegetable. So some people’s attitude toward honey is like molokhia is to others. Do we say that this person who does not love honey has contradicted the Sunnah? No, these are innate matters that do not relate to the Islamic Shari'ah. Whoever loves honey, it is permissible for him; and whoever does not love it, he has not left a recommended practice. Likewise, regarding some clothing, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to unbutton his shirt, and he had sandals with straps. If a person today wears some of the known shoes that... cover the entire front of the foot and there are no straps, do we say that he has contradicted the Sunnah? No, because this is clothing that relates to custom. In fact, there is something more precise in the matter: the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to let his hair grow until it reached the earlobes, and if it grew longer, to the tops of the shoulders. He entered Mecca with four locks of hair, and this is established in "Sahih Muslim." So a jurist should not say that growing the hair is a recommended Sunnah—meaning an act of worship—or that shaving the hair is an act of worship, except in Hajj, of course, and that is not our topic here. Rather, it is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he forbade the practice of shaving patches of the head, and he said: . So shaving it all is like leaving it all; it is the same. If he wishes, he can do this, and if he wishes, he can do that. So what makes the one who grows his hair and nurtures it better than the one who shaves it and throws it away? Both are the same. Both are doing a permissible matter that is equal on both sides. So if someone shaves his hair and claims in that that he is following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), he is exaggerating; because this is a custom of habit, not a custom of worship. And conversely, if someone grows his hair and claims that this is better, he is like the first one, claiming what he has no right to; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Likewise, if someone grows his hair as a custom and makes it into braids and locks, and this is a custom that still exists in some of the deserts in Syria and elsewhere, then the one who grows his hair and makes four locks from it is not better than the one who let his hair hang down and did not make locks from it. Both are the same, and both are doing a custom for which there is no praise and no blame. The blame only comes if one intends by the custom what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not intend.
The Shaykh: And here, in my opinion—may Allah increase you in His bounty—here comes the necessary warning: if a Muslim knows a custom from the customs of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he should not exaggerate in it, either negatively or positively. He should not say, “It is recommended to do it, as long as the Messenger (peace be upon him) did it,” or “It is not recommended, and it is not permissible to do it, even if the Messenger did it.” Both are exaggerating. The exaggeration of the one who claims recommendation comes from the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not intend recommendation, nor did he intend to draw near to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) with it. And the one who says it is not permissible to do it is forbidding what the Messenger did; and this is not permissible as a matter of course, unless there is evidence. And this, regarding customary matters, is very rare; like the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) married more than four women, so it is not permissible for a Muslim to say that this is permissible to do; because it is one of the specific privileges of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). But one can say that it is better to marry a second, third, or fourth wife, because there are texts that state that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged the Muslim to marry a woman who is fertile, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) explained that by saying: ; .
The Shaykh: The point is that the actions of the Prophet are of two types: a type intended to draw near to Allah, and those are acts of devotion; and a type he did as a custom or by nature, and those are not acts of devotion. Drawing near to Allah with this type is an innovation in the religion. For example, there are people in some Arab countries who exaggerate in encouraging the wearing of the turban, especially the Turkish turban, which is a wrapping of the white cloth called in some countries "shash" in many folds over the cap. This is a custom, not an act of worship. And the "ghufrah" that you use in this country, in terms of the Arabic language, is the turban; because it covers the head and covers the head. And this is a custom, not an act of worship. So whether the man puts the turban on his head directly without a cap underneath, or puts it on the cap, or puts the cap without a turban; all of that is among the customary matters. There is no difference between this form and this form and the other form. That is, there are three forms: this one, the second one which is what you do, and the third is the turban directly on the head. It is not said about any of these things that the recommended is such-and-such. The recommended is what suits this person in the heat and the cold. And he may sometimes walk barefoot. And it is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in "Sahih Muslim" that he once left his house in a hurry and there was nothing on his head. So all of these fall within the circle of customary matters and not in the category of acts of worship. So it is an exaggeration in the religion to draw near to Allah with what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not draw near to Him with. And this must be kept in mind by us; so that we do not fall into this kind of exaggeration that some scholars say; like the weak hadith: .
And among the effects of this extremism in some countries, such as Syria for example, is that the custom of the disbelievers has prevailed over them: they walk in the streets bareheaded, with nothing on their heads. Then, when they enter the mosque and pray, they take a handkerchief out of their pocket and tie it on their head. This is most similar to the rituals of the Christians, for when they enter the church, they enter it wearing special attire, as they claim. The Muslim, however, prays in the same clothes in which he should adorn himself and go out; he does not have one garment for prayer and another for outside of prayer. But weak hadiths do their work among the people, suggesting to them actions that have no basis in the Sunnah. The turban is a custom, not an act of worship, whether one prays with it or without it, because the Messenger (peace be upon him) sometimes wore a turban and sometimes did not; it is merely clothing. Therefore, one should not seek nearness to Allah by growing his hair long. If a person sees that it is in the interest of his body and the region in which he lives to keep his hair in order to protect his head from the harm of heat and cold, he may do so. However, doing so in imitation of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is not one of the matters of worship in which one should imitate him (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him). This is a reminder, and a reminder benefits the believers.

Those present : May Allah reward you with good.