The Criterion for Imitating the Disbelievers and the Ruling on Imitating Them

The Shaykh : In my opinion, to complete this word, it seems that he came from the fact that he knew a hadith and then thought he had encompassed the knowledge completely. The hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) [narrated a long hadith], but the summary of it is that he used to wear a Roman tunic with tight sleeves. Here it is, the clothing of the disbelievers. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wore a Roman tunic with tight sleeves. So why are you being strict and forbidding the clothing of the disbelievers? This is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith who wore the clothing of the disbelievers. He says this because he has no fiqh, as if he imagines that we, the callers to the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the righteous predecessors, are saying that it is not permissible to wear any clothing that comes to us from the lands of disbelief. And so some of the fools, you use cars, for example, and they are from the lands of disbelief, and these foreign shoes, and so on. And this is their affair, as the professor indicated in the Friday sermon, that they do not distinguish between religious innovation and worldly innovation. And because of this lack of distinction, they opened the door to innovation in religion under the name that it is permissible to innovate in the world, so it is permissible to innovate in religion. Likewise, their affair regarding imitating the disbelievers is that they thought that anything the disbelievers do or make is not permissible for Muslims. There is a criterion, and I say that the criterion is actually two criteria, one of which is more important than the other. And in my belief, it is obligatory for students of knowledge, at least, to be aware of these two criteria. The first is: whatever is an action of the disbelievers, it is either a symbol for them, and this is what is not permissible for a Muslim to engage in or use, and this is the prohibited matter included in the generality of his saying (peace be upon him): . As for the other criterion, it is that if the disbelievers do an action that is not a symbol for them, and we are able to differ from them in it, we must differ from them in that. The difference here is not from the perspective of not imitating them, because we are now assuming that that action is not a symbol for them. And if it were a symbol for them and we did it, we would be imitating them. But the discussion now is about an action they do, and we must differ from them in it. And here comes a very, very great hadith, and many students of knowledge, and perhaps some scholars, do not pay attention to the importance of the hadith in this topic we are currently addressing, which is his saying (peace be upon him): So differ from them, differ from them. Differing is one thing, and avoiding imitation is another. Reflect with me on this hadith: which has grizzled despite their noses. This is not from their action, this is from the action of their Creator. There is no difference between the Muslim or the disbeliever; they reach the age of graying hair. So this one grays and he is a Muslim, and that one grays and he is a disbeliever, even though this gray hair that Allah has imposed on the disbeliever is not from his action. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) tells us to differ from them by dyeing your hair. Differ from the Jews and the Christians; they gray but they do not dye. So if the intention of differing is a great, great Shari'ah objective. If the Muslims, or a group of them, understood Islam with this correct, general understanding and applied it in all its details, in the most important thing, which is creed, and in the least thing, which is what is recommended and encouraged, then the believers would rejoice in the victory of Allah. For example, if there were freedom or democracy, as they claim, freedom for every person to act within the limits of his belief and principle without imposing his opinion on others, you would find very apparent Islamic rituals that differ from the rituals of disbelief and misguidance. Indeed, you would find the realization of the difference I referred to earlier in the authentic hadith in the simplest things. I will give you two examples now, one of which is easy for every person, and the other is not easy except for the ruler who has his command and his power and his authority over the people. The easy matter is this watch. This watch was made by the disbelievers, without doubt, including its parts, but they put it on their left wrists, and we put it on our right wrists. Why? Differ from them. So we did not lose the benefit of the watch when we put it on our right hand, because it has a status. But the car, for example, we cannot in a certain country take our freedom in a certain country and raise the flag of Islam on it, for example.