The Ruling on One Who Claims to Love the Prophet but Contradicts Some of the Sunnah

Question:
What is your opinion, may Allah reward you, regarding one who claims to love the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) while contradicting some of the Sunnah, such as shaving the beard, letting garments hang below the ankles, dyeing the beard black, and the like?

Answer:
This indicates a deficiency in love. One who claims to love the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) while contradicting the Sunnah has a deficient love. For the perfection of love lies in following the Sunnah and honoring it. Thus, one who claims to love Allah and His Messenger but commits sins has a deficiency in his love for Allah and His Messenger, and a weakness in his love for Allah and His Messenger. This weakness increases and decreases; every time he contradicts a matter of the Sunnah, the love weakens and diminishes. This is because honoring the beard and growing it is obligatory, and letting garments hang below the ankles is forbidden, and dyeing the beard black is forbidden. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim in the "Sahihayn." And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , narrated by Muslim in the "Sahih."
Therefore, the believer should—indeed, it is obligatory for him—to act upon this command, adhere to this command, and let his beard grow and hang down, maintaining it; in obedience to Allah and His Messenger. And Allah says: [Al-Hashr: 7], and He says: [An-Nisa: 80], and He, the Exalted, says: [An-Nur: 63]. It was said to Ahmad: What is fitnah (trial)? He said: "Fitnah is shirk (associating partners with Allah). Perhaps something of the Sunnah is mentioned to him, and he abandons it, thereby deviating," or as he (may Allah have mercy on him) said.
The point is that when a person disobeys the Sunnah and contradicts it, he is to be feared from fitnah, which is apostasy from Islam. There is no power and no strength except by Allah. So let him beware of contradicting the Sunnah, for rejecting the Sunnah and not acting upon it is among the causes of deviation.
And so with black dye: He (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding it: , and in the other wording: . And it is authentic from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: . This is a severe warning that necessitates abandoning the dyeing of the beard with black. A person should not be deceived by those among the people who do it, neither from the past nor from the later generations. They are not a role model in what contradicts the Sunnah. The role model is the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and those who followed his Sunnah.
And so, letting garments hang below the ankles is among the major sins. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and he said: , and he also (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So the man raises his lower garment, his shirt, his overcoat, and his trousers to above the ankles; it does not go below the ankles. As for the woman, there is no harm; the woman lets her garments hang down because it is her 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered), covering her feet. But the man is not permitted to imitate the woman; he raises his garments.
And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would roll up his garments, and the whiteness of his shins would be seen, (peace and blessings be upon him). So the Sunnah is to roll up the garments to the middle of the shin, and there is no harm in letting them hang down to the ankles. But going below the ankles is not permissible. It is obligatory to advise one another of this, and to beware of being lax and following those who contradict the Sunnah.