What is the criterion between a sunnah of worship and a sunnah of custom (and if the Shari'ah encourages a custom that existed in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, it becomes an act of worship at that time; for example, wearing white)

The questioner : We heard or read from scholars and shaykhs at the University of Damascus, and we followed this topic in a discussion with the students... What is the dividing line? There is a disagreement between what we read at the University of Damascus and your books, or some of your schools of jurisprudence, or your independent legal reasoning. What is the dividing line between the sunnah of additions and the sunnah of following? A limit, a thread, that we could not grasp the end of?

The Shaykh : I mentioned to you the beginning of the thread just now. I told you that some of these sunnahs that we say are sunnahs of custom existed in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance before the mission of the Messenger (peace be upon him)...

The questioner : By way of example...

The Shaykh : If you please, they existed in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance before the mission of the Messenger (peace be upon him), so he approved them. Among these are the turban and the sandals we spoke about. As long as these were known among the customs of the Arabs in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and as you know, they were polytheists with no religion, the Messenger (peace be upon him) approved them, so the act became permissible. And the Messenger (peace be upon him), by virtue of the environment in which he lived, also wore what the people wore and did not distinguish himself from them by anything else. But I will give you another distinguishing factor, other than what the Arabs did before and then did in the time of Islam and the Messenger (peace be upon him) approved them for, which made it one of the ordinary matters in which the Shari'ah does not intervene: does the Muslim do it or leave it? But if a hadith from his words (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him) encourages something of those customs and traditions that the Arabs had before the Muhammadan mission, then at that time this statement elevates the status of that custom and brings it into the sunnah of worship and takes it out of the sunnah of custom. For example, his saying (may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him) If the white garment, it has moved out of being a sunnah of custom and entered into the sunnah of worship. This is the criterion: if something came that the Arabs did and the Messenger approved it, it is a sunnah of custom. And if the Messenger (peace be upon him) encouraged something of that, it moved from a sunnah of custom to a sunnah of worship. This is the dividing line you are asking about, and it is perhaps clear!

The questioner : The beard.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : It is so, and what did your group decide?

The questioner : Our group, first of all, they did not issue it...

The Shaykh : No, but look, there is a saying: "Take what he says and leave what he does."
Al-Halabi : ...the sayings and the absolute actions.

The Shaykh : Yes, meaning you know now that infallibility is not for anyone after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So let us give an example now: is there a Muslim professor at the university or outside the university who says it is permissible for Muslim women to display their adornment? No, no, excuse me, allow me, I hope your answer will be within the scope of my question?

The questioner: All right, go ahead.

The Shaykh : Is there a scholar, whether he is a doctor or a shaykh who knows Islam, who says it is permissible for a Muslim woman to display her adornment?

The questioner : No, he does not say it, it is not permissible for him to say it.

The Shaykh : No, Professor, may Allah guide you. My question is: does it exist or not? Is there anyone who says it is permissible for a Muslim woman to display her adornment?

The questioner : There is nothing.

The Shaykh : It does not exist, that is the answer. But now I ask you: are there not many women who display their adornment among some shaykhs and doctors?

The questioner : Yes, there are.

The Shaykh : Huh, see how it is? If we take from their saying and leave their doing, then this is, for example, the one who teaches us, for example, his saying, the Exalted, from the interpreters in the present age, a doctor or not a doctor, But his wife does not cover herself. What do we do? We take from his saying and leave his doing...