The Shaykh’s mention of a story that happened to him when he traveled to Britain

The Shaykh : And on this occasion, I recall a story that happened to me which confirms for you this meaning that I have been going on about regarding these authentic hadiths. It is that it was decreed for me that I went to Britain in the path of da'wah and to connect with the Muslim communities there. I directed us to a da'i in a town about one hundred and twenty kilometers from London. The person who guided us to him was a Muslim man from the group ofThe Shaykh : al-Mawdudi (may Allah have mercy on him). The time was then Ramadan, so when the time for iftar came, we sat on a modest table like this one to break our fast. I saw the man combining two opposites in terms of appearance. He had a beard, which is rarely seen in the lands of Islam, let alone the lands of disbelief and tyranny. But in addition to that, if I may use the expression, what do you think? He was wearing a graphite tie, a knot you know. I reminded him that this is not permissible for a Muslim because it is imitating the disbelievers. I mentioned to him some of the hadiths reported on this matter, including the famous hadith: .
And what indicates that our man is a good person is that, just as the one who asked about the most knowledgeable person on earth to guide him to repentance, the moment the scholar said to him: , he quickly set out for the good land. So this man responded to me immediately; he untied the knot and threw it on the ground while he was eating his iftar. He did not delay it as some people do. But before the joy could settle in the heart, he followed it with sorrow, because he justified his action, meaning: why did he put on the graphite tie? He said: Here, the British look with a special gaze at our Palestinian brothers, who are accustomed to unbuttoning like this and not tying a graphite knot on their necks. The British look at the Palestinians, given the known enmity between them, with a look of exclusivity and indifference, and so on. Do you understand this justification? How bad it is! So I was frank with him. I said to him: May Allah bless you, I wish you had kept silent. Meaning, this speech implies that you care about the opinion of these disbelievers and their hatred of our Muslim Palestinian brothers, and their disparaging look at them. You do not want to be associated with them in this look if you tie the knot, for they would think you are Palestinian. So what would happen to you if they thought you were a Muslim Palestinian!
The point of this story is that this noble man, who responded to the Sunnah immediately, was influenced by his living in that British environment. He justified wearing the knot and imitating the disbelievers so that he would not be attributed to the Muslims, do you see? So imitation involves a bond between the imitator and the one being imitated, and mixing and socializing undoubtedly confirm this bond, either in a hidden way as this man did, or in an obvious way.