The Difference Between the Prohibited Imitation and the Commanded Distinction

The Shaykh : The reality is that there is a very important issue here, one that many Islamic preachers, let alone other Muslims, do not pay attention to. It is that they do not alert people to the difference between the prohibited imitation and the commanded distinction. One of them might say, when someone rebukes him, "My brother, why are you doing this, for example, this graffiti? This is imitating the disbelievers." He says, "I did not intend it." We return to No, no, this is not said. He says, "I did not intend to imitate." Well, imitation does not require the intention to imitate the disbeliever. But there is a difference between imitation and distinction. A Muslim may do an action that the Christians do, and we cannot say that he is imitating them because it is not specific to the Christians. We would say to him, "My brother, the imitation here—we do not look at your intention, we look at your action." So there are actions shared between the Christians and the Muslims. Here comes the second very important point, which is that the Muslim should intentionally distinguish himself from the disbeliever. One of the greatest proofs that this is among the objectives of the Islamic Shari'ah is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , ; therefore, I seize this opportunity for our old friend Abu Awfa, perhaps we will see him once or another. He distinguished himself from the Jews and the Christians by dyeing his hair and beard, ; meaning, when they grow old, they do not dye their hair. Who dyed them white with gray hair? It is Allah. There is no difference between a Muslim and a disbeliever. Does only the Muslim grow old? No, everyone who reaches a certain age grows old. It was the custom of the disbelievers at that time that they did not dye their hair. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . We cannot say now that there are two men, one Muslim and the other a disbeliever, both gray-haired, and say the Muslim is imitating the disbeliever. This is an example of what I said earlier: a matter that is shared, despite the noses of the sharers. This is not imitation. But here applies.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Distinguish yourselves from them.

The Shaykh : For example, the mustache is long like the beard, the hair of the head is long like all the hair, and so on. So he said: . So if a man trims his mustache, and the Jew and the Christian and the Druze too—and you know the Druze in our lands, you will find their mustache longer than their beard. When he eats, he puts something in his mouth from the filthiest things. Yes, this is the one who trims his mustache, O Abu Awfa. It is not his property; it is imposed on him. But he said to him: "Trim the mustache" . So, as Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Distinguishing oneself from the Jews and the Christians is a Shari'ah objective." A Shari'ah objective in everything. We should distinguish ourselves from the Jews and the Christians. So I once said to one of the Lebanese priests, when I debated him on the topic of imitating the disbelievers, and he denied the Muslims' declaration of Ataturk as a disbeliever because he changed the Islamic Shari'ah. Among that, he imposed the hat on the Turkish people. A long discussion took place between them on this matter, and I have no need to mention it. The point of the example is that I said to him, "Ataturk did not impose the hat on the Muslim people because he saw a benefit in the hat for the Turkish people, a material or economic strength, or whatever. No, he wanted to impose the dress of the European disbelievers on the Muslim people, those disbelievers whom he had been captivated by. It is said that he was originally from the Jews. In any case, I said to this priest, 'He imposed it on the people for this reason, not because it is more beneficial for the Turkish people.' Nevertheless, I said to him, and here is the point, 'If he truly wanted the interest of the Turkish people and saw a benefit in imposing the hat, he could have preserved the interest of the Muslims in their specific dress by placing a white or green strip, or any agreed-upon color, on the Muslim's hat. Then the Turkish people, including the Muslims who are the majority, the Christians who are fewer than them, and the Jews who are fewer than the few, would walk among the thousands, or even millions, and the Muslim would be known by the white strip that he is a Muslim. But he did not want the well-being of these Muslims; rather, he wanted to humiliate and insult them.' So I took this strip I spoke about with the priest from where? From such hadiths: , , and many hadiths on distinction. So I do not say, 'We have innovated a good innovation,' fearing that this phrase might be misunderstood. Even if it is authentic from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab that he said, 'What a good innovation this is,' I say: 'We have established for the people a good Sunnah at this hour.' This hour is from the inventions and usages of the disbelievers, and the Muslims are forced to use it. The disbelievers put it here on the left, and we put it on the right."
The student : Distinction.

The Shaykh : What is this? Distinction.