Clarification of the issue of intentionally differing from the disbelievers.

The Shaykh : But here is something that must be mentioned on this occasion, since many of the guides or preachers have turned away from mentioning it, and that is the intention to differ from the disbelievers. This is something else entirely, distinct from imitation. Imitation is when a person intends to imitate the disbeliever, or does not intend to, but his appearance indicates that he is doing so. As for differing from the disbelievers, it differs from this fundamentally; for he intends, through his action and his clothing, to differ from the disbelievers. Look at the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari in his Sahih, where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , — meaning: their gray hair — . So you see in this hadith that gray hair, which is a matter decreed by Allah upon His creation, is the Sunnah of Allah in His creation . It does not occur to anyone that if he sees the gray hair of a Muslim and the gray hair of a disbeliever, it would cross his mind to say that this one is imitating that one; because gray hair is not in his ownership or his power. If it were in his power, no person on the face of the earth would have gray hair. But it is, as we said, the Sunnah of Allah in His creation.
So how did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) address this phenomenon? He said: . With what? With dyeing using henna, katam, and the like of dyes. . So here is something where the Muslim differs from the disbeliever. This is generally a recommended practice, and it may become obligatory in a specific place — as Imam Ahmad said regarding this particular detail — especially since it is obligatory for the Muslim to dye his hair, whether the hair of his head or his beard; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded this with a specific command.
Likewise, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the other hadith: . Many of the Christians do what the Muslims do; they let their beards grow, and they may trim their mustaches. So some of the confused people in this era say: "Now the disbelievers are like us; we let our beards grow, and they do the same." We say: The principle is that we follow our Shari'ah, and that others imitate us, not the other way around; that we follow the Shari'ah of others and imitate them. When the Muslim imitates the disbeliever, that is weakness on his part, and evidence of his lack of pride in his religion and the rulings of his Lord's Shari'ah. But when the disbelievers imitate the Muslims, that is undoubtedly strength for Islam and honor for the Muslims. So the saying of the Messenger in this second hadith: is evidence — as Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said — that differing is an intended matter from the Wise Lawgiver. We find this in another matter that is not from the category of obligation, but rather from the category of recommendation; namely his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . He (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the Muslims not to be excessive in their religion, and not to make it difficult for themselves to pray barefoot, but rather to pray as is easy for them. If they enter the mosque barefoot, they pray barefoot and do not make it difficult for themselves to put on sandals. And if they pray in the prayer area in the desert in the open, they do not make it difficult for themselves to take off their sandals, but rather as is easy for them. Some people, even to this day, make it difficult for themselves to take off their sandals even in the desert, and there is no justification or excuse for such difficulty. Rather, we must intend to pray in our sandals to differ from the Jews. But on this occasion I say: It is not in these carpeted mosques today, as some of those who make it difficult do, but rather as we said, if one prays in his house and is wearing his sandals, he prays in them. If he goes out to the open desert, he prays in them, and so on, and he intends by that to differ from the Jews; so his reward for praying in the sandals is greater than praying barefoot.
And here I must remind you of an error that some people who have appointed themselves to issue fatwas — and are not qualified to issue fatwas! — fall into, as evidenced by the very school of jurisprudence to which he belonged, which is the Hanafi school. It says: The mufti must be a scholar of the Book and the Sunnah. And whoever is well-versed in the books of a certain school is not a jurist; rather, he is a narrator who narrates what others said, and does not know whether what he said is correct or wrong?
This person we are referring to, in his way of misleading the public, suggests that letting the beard grow is not an obligatory duty for every male to whom Allah has grown a beard. He misleads people by saying that his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): is not for obligation here. He claims that the evidence for that is his saying (peace be upon him) in the last hadith: . He said: Just as the command in the last hadith: is not for obligation; so too the command in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): — excuse me — : — also — this command is not for obligation. This comparison, this comparison between the two hadiths, indicates that this speech is not of jurisprudence at all. And that is because the principle in every command is that it is for obligation, and this is what every student of the principles of jurisprudence says, except for an indication. So the one referred to found an indication in the last hadith: , where he said: No one says that praying in sandals is obligatory. So let us say that the hadith: — also — does not indicate obligation; because of his saying (peace be upon him) here: , just as he said there: .
And our answer to that is: If it is conceded that the command is for obligation; that does not necessitate that it be so in every text containing a command, like the second hadith: . We know that this command is not actually for obligation. From where? From his life (peace and blessings be upon him), and from his prayer, where it came in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad and others, from the narration of 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb from his father from his grandfather, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray wearing sandals, and he used to pray barefoot.
So the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not consistently pray in his sandals was a very clear indication that the command in his saying: regarding praying in sandals is not for obligation. And there is a great difference between this indication and the other indication present in what concerns letting the beard grow; where it was not narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he shaved his beard sometimes and let it grow sometimes; so that the comparison would be valid between the two commands. Here he said: , and it was never narrated from him that he lengthened his mustache as the Druze do in some Arab countries and the communists in the Soviets, nor that he shaved his beard sometimes; so the command remained for obligation. And this principle confirmed that, which is: . But in the second hadith, the actual indication from him (peace and blessings be upon him) by his praying sometimes barefoot established that this command is not for obligation.
Then added to what we mentioned regarding letting the beard grow are external indications to this hadith that confirm that letting the beard grow is not a matter in which a person has a choice, like praying in sandals or barefoot. Among these are many things, and very many, which I will summarize; because the time has ended. The one who shaves his beard differs from the women, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the men who imitate the women and the women who imitate the men. Then it differs from the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) when He related from Iblis his saying: . So in shaving the beard is changing the creation of Allah, and in that is obedience to the Shaytan and disobedience to the Most Merciful. How so, when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the women who engage in a type of adornment that involves changing the creation of Allah, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) explained that by saying: . He said (peace be upon him): ?
The Shaykh : How astonishing it is that a sane Muslim, who knows what comes out of his mouth, would say: if a woman plucks her eyebrows or a part of her eyebrows, she is cursed for altering the creation of her Lord, yet the man who shaves his entire beard and throws it on the ground is not cursed? And this man has committed a violation of the type of disliked (makruh) that is not sinful, and he has not committed a major sin? And the hadiths—as you see—all agree that the command in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) is .
And all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.