We request a detailed explanation of the similarity intended in the hadiths prohibiting the imitation of disbelievers.

Eid Abbasi : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
We request a detailed explanation of the similarity intended in the hadiths prohibiting the imitation of disbelievers... knowing this similarity, and may Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh : We say: Anything that is a characteristic of the disbelievers and one of their customs by which they are distinguished from others, it is not permissible for a Muslim to adorn himself with any of those things. There is no doubt that the issue cannot be defined with precision, as it appears the questioner desires; that is because imitation has degrees. I will give you some examples to clarify. Muslims today—praise be to Allah—in most of their lands still consider it objectionable for a Muslim to wear a hat, the "bernitah." This hat is a symbol of the disbelievers. If a Muslim puts it on his head, he has imitated the most prominent attribute or specific dress of the disbelievers. Therefore, there is no doubt for one who knows this hadith and its like that this adornment and this clothing are not permissible. Because this Muslim, whom we assume, put on this hat, if that is the correct expression, and walked among the Muslims wearing it, there is no doubt that by doing so he has lost his Muslim identity. And that necessitates that he has severed the strong bond between him and his Muslim brothers.
And that entails that he has rights over them, just as they have rights over him. We clearly remember the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , where he mentioned first what he mentioned, saying: . So when you meet him on the road and he is adorned with this dress, it does not occur to you at all that the one who passed by you and you passed by is a Muslim man with these rights. Rather, you assume he is one of those disbelievers, George or... or the like. So you do not feel inclined to greet him, and that is your obligation toward him, because you are a Muslim and he is a Muslim. But the difference is that he has lost his Muslim identity with this dress, the dress of the disbelievers, so Allah’s mercy was withheld from him. I say this because you remember that I explained to you that the greeting, which Allah has made specific to the Muslims, is one of the names of Allah, as it came in the authentic hadith, and He placed it on earth: . So when a Muslim says to his Muslim brother, "Peace be upon you," it is as if he is saying, in the Levantine expression, "The name of Allah is upon you"; meaning you are surrounded by the name of Allah, the Peaceful. So because of his loss of his Muslim identity, he has lost and missed this blessing that Allah has made specific to His Muslim servants. And this naturally entails other matters of distancing, severing ties, and turning away. Because this dress is not as many people of limited knowledge and vision imagine, that it has no effect on people’s morals or no effect on their natures, but also on their hearts; it is not so.
Outward appearances have an effect on inward states. This is established in many, many texts of the Shari'ah, some of which I have touched upon in past lessons. It is sufficient for me now to remind you of the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in the hadith of al-Nu'man, which says at its end: . So this dress of the disbelievers is not rectitude; rather, it is corruption. And this dress affects the heart of its wearer and stamps him with the stamp of those people whose dress he has worn.
And here I want to seize this opportunity before I expand on the topic further. I want to draw your attention now to how the identity of the Muslims is in a state of continuous disappearance, in decline and dissolution. A very strange phenomenon has now appeared that has spread among many of the youth; it is that they wear white fabrics, either printed on the chest with something resembling a crescent or a quarter arc in Latin letters, and much of it is printed with images of human beings. Some of these images represent some of the heroes they claim to be boxers or wrestlers or the like. I recently saw in some mosques, while I was standing praying, a young man in front of me, whom I know, praying and maintaining the prayer, and his entire shirt was images; front, back, and sides. The garment was printed with this print. And what are these images? Images of a man swimming. And this swimmer today has become such that it is his nature to wear his "tubban." In the Arabic language, it is the "shurt," meaning what covers only the two private parts, or rather does not cover them, because it depicts them. So I am praying and in front of me is this image. This is a severe negligence from these Muslims, the cause of which is ignorance of their Islam.
And this means that the Muslims, as time passes for them, a period not short, they are moving away from Islam little by little. Where is the pride in Islamic dignity and identity... and the preservation of our customs that we inherited from our fathers and grandfathers? It is a wonder that never ends in wonder. A person wears a shirt with a soldier pictured on it. What is the sweetness of this image? Everything has become strange to us, that we should follow and imitate. This means that the Muslims no longer know the value of imitating the disbelievers. Therefore, out of the mercy of our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) toward us, He sent to us our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) with a Shari'ah that our Lord described in His saying (Mighty and Majestic): the verse. And He added to that clarification His saying (peace be upon him): . Among the things the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited us from, in order to preserve our religion and our Muslim identity, is that we do not imitate the disbelievers, any imitation whatsoever. But I gave you an example in which no person free from following desires can doubt that putting this hat on the head is a loss for this Muslim of his identity and a stripping of him from this Islamic society, if there remains for this society what deserves to be called an Islamic society.
And perhaps it is useful for me to mention to you a summary of a story so that you know the effect of imitation, which the disbelievers know, and all the more so we Muslims should know it. I was once on a train to "Mada'a," and I met a Maronite Lebanese priest, and a long discussion took place between us, which is not our concern now. But the man criticized the Muslims for their strictness in the issue of clothing and the prohibition of the "bernitah." And among their strictness was that they criticized "Mustafa Kemal," who was not satisfied with the name "al-Mustafa" for himself, so he gave himself the name "Ataturk." He criticizes the Muslims for why they criticized him for wearing the "bernitah," or for imposing on the Turkish people the wearing of the "bernitah." Now, unfortunately, many people live in this dress of the disbeliever. So I discussed this issue with him, and as I said, I want to present to you the lesson from this discussion. He says that this dress is universal; so what harm is there for the Muslims to wear this dress? I said to him: Then, as you understand from my description of him as a Maronite priest, the Maronite wears the... what do they call this long black thing?

Eid Abbasi : The tarboosh, meaning.

The Shaykh : A long black tarboosh, this is specific to the Maronites, these people. I said to him: Then there is no harm in you removing this black cap and putting a white turban on the red tarboosh instead, and he is wearing a black robe, of course... What is their dress becoming? A Muslim shaykh. So the first thing I said to him was this, he said: No, we are afraid of this - here is the point - I said to him: Why? He said: It is not permissible for us, we are men of religion. I took him by this word, I said: This is the difference between us, the Muslims, and you, the Christians. You have made yourselves into two groups: men of religion and men who are not of religion, so the men of religion have specific rulings; among them is that they have their specific dress. So why did you flee from imitating Islam? Because you want to preserve your Christian identity. Every Muslim, the smallest Muslim among us is like the greatest Muslim among us; he must do what the greatest shaykh among us must do, and he is permitted what the greatest shaykh among us is permitted. So just as it is not permissible for you to imitate the Muslim, it is not permissible for any Muslim, not the Muslim shaykh who is a man of religion in your view, but for any Muslim, to imitate the disbeliever.
So the issue of imitation is not a devotional issue, it is a very precise scientific and psychological issue. And the scholars of philosophy and sociology, as they say today, say: Nations survive by preserving their customs, by preserving their language, by preserving their history. The Muslims - unfortunately - are gradually losing and squandering these foundations upon which their identity is built, so imitating the disbelievers has become a very easy matter.
So I gave you an example, in summary, with the beret. We go down a level; the wearing of this knot they call the "cravat." What is the purpose of this, I wonder? Nothing at all, except that this is a disbeliever's dress that the disbelievers brought when they made our lands lawful for themselves. So Satan adorned that dress for us, so we imitated them and imitated it. Otherwise, it is enough for a person of sense to consider the time this "cravat" wastes, if that is the correct expression, standing in front of the mirror and wasting so many minutes of the hours to adorn it, then he is truly annoyed, just as every one of you is annoyed who is afflicted with wearing this trouser and the like.
So in summary: this - also - is intended for nothing but imitation. But there is no room for denying that the one who wears the cravat, his imitation of the disbelievers is not like the one who imitated by wearing the beret. Because, as we used to hear some shaykhs here from my people, they used to say that the one who put the beret on his head, it means he put the cover, the matter is over; meaning he declared that the man is not a Muslim!
Then we go down to other levels; this dress that the masses of Muslim youth today are afflicted with, wearing the trouser and the shirt; especially the trousers, we pursue these innovators with the fashions they call them. Every time a fashion comes to us, we are walking behind it. This reminds me of a joke that was told about women, so it has become told about men. I read once that a man saw his friend carrying something in his arm while running, he said: Where are you going, my brother? Why are you in a hurry? He said to him: By Allah, this is a dress I am taking for my wife, I will deliver it to her before a new fashion comes out and I am forced to buy her another. So fashion and its renewal is no longer specific to women, unfortunately, even among the youth. All of this indicates and confirms for us that the minds of the Muslims are with others. I wish these people were Muslims like their counterparts.
Finally: the levels are not limited at all, but it is sufficient for the Muslim to examine himself to know that imitation is everything that came to us from the disbelievers and has no benefit at all except imitation, so it is imitation. However, there is another level; if the Muslim does not remember it, I believe at that time there would be no need for such a request that asks for the detailing of imitation and its levels and degrees. That is the intentional opposition of the disbeliever. So imitation is doing the action of the disbeliever, and this, as you saw, has levels and degrees. But there is something in the Shari'ah that requires you to engage in actions that issue from you, intending by them to oppose the disbelievers, even in something that is not from the ritual nor from... That is what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us of in the hadith of al-Bukhari: , when their hair turns gray, so you should intend to oppose them by dyeing your hair.
A person turns gray, it is the decree of Allah in His creation: There is no difference between a Muslim and a disbeliever, between a righteous and a wicked, all of them must pass through this path, which is graying. And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) turned gray, as we know, and he had gray hair that did not cover his beard (peace and blessings be upon him). So despite all of this, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: ; why? To oppose the Jews and Christians who do not dye their hair.
So we are not only prohibited from imitating the disbelievers, but we are commanded to intend to oppose them; that is: if they wear a dress, it is obligatory for us to intend to wear a dress other than theirs, and to make our entire life, in general and in detail, other than the life of the disbelievers. And this, as I told you earlier, is not a vain matter; the outward appearances affect the inner states; if it is good, then good, and if it is evil, then evil. And perhaps this amount is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ... .

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Of course, this prayer... but it is prescribed... and therefore you find them doing something; the beret-wearers enter the mosques and they remove what is on their heads just as they remove what is on their feet. Is there anyone who has a question about the previous topic?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: No.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : About the previous topic?
Please proceed.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : The turbans are a dress from the dress of the Arabs. So whoever wears it as an Arab custom, that is a good matter, but it is not a devotional sunnah, not as came in some weak and fabricated hadiths "that a prayer in a turban is better than seventy prayers without a turban." So it is from the attire of the Arabs, and they still use them, but let no one think that this turban is this one that is wound on the head in layers and degrees, and for every degree of height in Paradise there is a degree. This is something with no basis. The turban is this, this fold that we put on our heads, we sometimes wrap it from the cold or from the heat, and so on. And peace be upon you.

Those present : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.