Continuation of the explanation of the hadith: (… then he passed by us another day, and Abu al-Darda said to him: A word that benefits us and does not harm you)

The Shaykh : Then he passed by him again and said: "A word that benefits us and does not harm you". He informed him that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) had praised a man, except that he said: . The *jummah* is the hair, meaning that this man had some arrogance; he had let his hair grow long and his garment grow long. The man heard about this, so he cut his *jummah* until it reached his shoulder, and he shortened his garment. In this is evidence that the *jummah*, specifically the length of the *jummah*, meaning the hair of men, is a form of arrogance. And the hair of a man should not exceed the shoulder or the earlobe or something similar, because it is the woman who needs to adorn her head. The woman is the one who needs to adorn herself. In this is an indication that it is not permissible for men to imitate women in hair or other matters, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) cursed the men who imitate women and the women who imitate men. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) made males one gender and females another, and He made lawful for each what is suitable for them. So it is not permissible for men to be associated with women. I do not know that any of the Muslims associated women with men in everything, but the disbelievers who have turned back and whom Allah has turned their *fitrah* (innate natural disposition) and nature are the ones who prioritize women and say: It is necessary that the woman participate with the man so that there is no difference. And there is no doubt that this is contrary to the *fitrah* upon which Allah created the creation, and contrary to the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) brought by the messengers. Women have their characteristics and men have their characteristics. Then the man heard about this and cut his *jummah*. In this is evidence of the obedience of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) to the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and their guidance by his guidance, and that they race to what he says, and this is a sign of faith. As for the one who is slow in executing the command of Allah and His Messenger, there is in him a resemblance to the hypocrites who, when they stand for prayer, stand lazily. You find, for example, that he is informed of the ruling of Allah and His Messenger regarding something, then he is slow and heavy, as if a stone were placed on his head, may Allah protect us. Then he goes to every scholar hoping to find a *rukhsah* (dispensation), even though the scholars said: Seeking out dispensations is a sign of open sinfulness, may Allah protect us. And the one who seeks out dispensations is an open sinner, until some of them said: "Whoever seeks out dispensations has become a *zindiq*", meaning: he has become a *zindiq* (heretic). So if a person is informed of the command of Allah and His Messenger by a person he trusts in his knowledge and his religion, he should not hesitate. And I say in his knowledge and religion, because some people are religious and committed and directed, but they do not have knowledge. You find one who memorizes a hadith from the hadiths of the Messenger, then he stands and speaks to the people as if he were one of the imams. And one must be cautious of such a person and his *fatwas* (scholarly legal rulings), because he may err greatly due to his lack of knowledge. And some people have extensive knowledge, but they have a *hawa* (desire), may Allah protect us. They have a *hawa* that leads them to issue *fatwas* to please the people, not to please Allah. This is called a scholar of the *ummah* (the Muslim community). Because scholars are of three types: a scholar of the *millah* (religion), a scholar of the state, and a scholar of the *ummah*. As for the scholar of the *millah*, he is the one who spreads the religion of Islam and issues *fatwas* based on the religion of Islam with knowledge, and he does not care whether what the Shari'ah indicates agrees with the desires of the people or not. As for the scholar of the state, he is the one who looks at what the state wants and issues *fatwas* according to what the state wants, even if that involves distorting the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). As for the scholar of the *ummah*, he is the one who looks at what pleases the people; if he sees the people doing something, he issues a *fatwa* that pleases them, then he tries to distort the texts of the Book and the Sunnah in order to agree with the desires of the people. We ask Allah to make us and you among the scholars of the *millah* who act upon it. Or rather, the important thing is that a person must not be deceived regarding his religion and must not be deluded, but rather be reassured until he finds someone he trusts in his knowledge and his religion and takes his religion from him. Look at whom you take your religion from, because this is a religion, a path to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Then, as for these people who are obsessed with the disbelievers and imitating them, may Allah protect us, you find them imitating the disbelievers in clothing. When these magazines that they call *al-Burdah* (The Mantle) come out, they take them to the household and say: Look! And there are provocative pictures and clothing that contradicts the Shari'ah. You find that women, due to their short-sightedness and their deficiency in intellect and religion, when they see something that pleases them and their *hawa* dictates it, they say to their husband: I want something like this, or to their brother or something similar. So the Muslim people become in their dress like the dress of the disbelieving people, may Allah protect us. And this is a serious matter. Whoever imitates a people is one of them. And among that is what women are doing with their heads now. Until recently, a woman would be happy if her hair grew long. And the *khatib* (preacher) when he proposed to a woman would ask about her hair: What is it like? Long or short? But now the matter is the opposite. The woman cuts her hair so that it is close to the head of a man or like the head of a man, may Allah grant us safety. Then they also began to use what is called the *khanfasa* (a hairstyle) or the opposite of the *khanfasa*. You find the woman cuts the front of her hair and the rest remains short and styled and prominent. All of this is imitation, and all of this is due to the negligence of men regarding women. And it is obligatory that you be a man in your home, a man in the true sense of the word. Do not be a man who is like a piece of wood with your family. Be a man. If you see your family falling short in a duty to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), command them. And if the Shari'ah permits you to strike, strike. If you see them contradicting the Shari'ah in some other matters, compel them to the Shari'ah, because you are responsible. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave you authority over your family. He did not appoint so-and-so or so-and-so. He did not appoint you as the governor of the city or the minister of the interior or the king or anyone else. Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, appointed you. You are the governor in your home. And he did not say "a shepherd" and stop. If he had, the matter would have been light. He said: "Responsible for his flock." So look at what your answer will be when you stand before Allah on the Day of Resurrection. So we must pay attention to these matters before the sweeping flood that leaves nothing behind catches us, may Allah protect us. Then our customs and conditions will become like the conditions of the Christians. Then he mentioned in the rest of the hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided them to go out in a manner that pleases. He said: Or he said: "Your companions" , meaning , because it was known in the past that the traveler’s clothes would be tattered and his hair disheveled and he would be covered in dust, not like today. Today, praise be to Allah, with airplanes, [we are] clean and neat and there is nothing [wrong]. But in the past, it was the opposite of this. So he commanded them to improve their conditions, meaning that the disheveled hair should be combed and fixed, and likewise a person should clean himself and wear clothes that are not travel clothes, so that he meets people without them being disgusted by him. In this is an indication that it is recommended for a person to observe himself in these matters and not be negligent. Even the beauty of clothes, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that , they said: O Messenger of Allah, all of us love for our garment to be good and our sandal to be good. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , meaning he loves to adorn himself. I did not say do not adorn yourselves. Let the sandal be good and the garment be good. Indeed, Allah is Beautiful and loves beauty. Do you know the meaning of *batr al-haqq* (contempt for the truth)? *Batr al-haqq* means rejecting the truth. That a person is arrogant about the truth. He is told: This is truth, and he turns away, may Allah protect us. And *ghamṭ al-nas* (contempt for people) means despising them and looking down on them and not considering them to be anything. A man said to his son: "O my son, how do you see people? He said: I see them as kings. He said: They see you as such." And another said to his son: "How do you see people? He said: I do not see them as anything. He said: They see you as such." Meaning, if you see people as kings, they will make you a king. If you do not see them as anything, you will not be anything to them. So people look at you according to how you look at them. And Allah grants success.