Lengthening the hair on the head and leaving it long: Is this from the Sunnah of worship or from the Sunnah of customs?

The questioner : O Shaykh, may Allah forgive us and you. Lengthening the hair on the head and leaving it long, following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), is it from the Sunnah or is it a custom?

The Shaykh : You said "following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." How can you ask: "Is it from the Sunnah?" when you are saying "following the Messenger"?

The questioner : Because some people say: that leaving it long...

The Shaykh : No, my intention is to clarify the question.

The questioner : Because some people say: leaving it long...

The Shaykh : Clarifying the question: if you remove "following the Messenger," it would be better, so that we can see whether it is following or not. Do you understand? Clarify it: "Lengthening the hair on the head, is it from the Sunnah or not?" Yes, this question: it is not from the Sunnah, it is not from the Sunnah. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) adopted it, whereas the people at that time adopted it. Therefore, when he saw a boy who had shaved part of his head, he said: And if the hair were something that should be adopted, he would have said: "Keep it." Based on this, we say: adopting the hair is not from the Sunnah. But if people are accustomed to doing so, then do it; otherwise, do what people are accustomed to. Because the Sunnah, O my brothers, may be a specific Sunnah or a general Sunnah. For example, clothing, if it is not forbidden, and appearances, if they are not forbidden, the Sunnah in them is to follow what people are doing, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did so following the custom of people. So we say now: the custom of people has become not to adopt the hair. And therefore, our great scholars, the first of whom we mention is our Shaykh Abd al-Rahman ibn Sa'di, and also our Shaykh Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, and also the other Shaykhs like Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim and his brothers, and others of the great scholars, do not adopt the hair, because they do not see that this is a Sunnah. And we know that if they had seen that this was a Sunnah, they would have been the most rigorous of people in seeking to follow the Sunnah. So the correct view is to follow the custom. If you are in a place where people are accustomed to adopting the hair, then adopt it; otherwise, do not.