Question:
What you meant by this:
"It is the preferred style of the Prophet pbuh as a human being and not as a religious leader."
Anything which Rasool Allah Sallallaho Alihee Wasallam did is Sunnah, I read in a book once few ambassadors(they were shaved with big moustache) came for talks Prophet Sallallaho Alihee Wasallam turned his face and dislike them.
And I read few Hadiths that their mafhoom: Don't look alike Nasara and yahood or don't obey them,
I work in a customerr service dept because of this Sunnah, I recognise muslims easily otherwise its hard to recognise a muslim today because mostly lookalike Nasara and Yahood.
May Allah guide us to follow the way of Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alihee Wasallam.
Jazak Allah,
Saqib
Answer: Salaam Brother Saqib
Many thanks for your response. The principle reason for your disagreement is that we differ in how we define Sunnah. In your opinion "anything which Prophet Muhammad pbuh did is Sunnah".
In the opinion of our scholars. Sunnah is defined as those traditions of Prophet Abraham's pbuh religion, which the prophet Muhammad pbuh instituted among his followers as religion, after reviving and reforming them and in some cases making some additions to them. Narratives , which record the words , deeds or tacit approvals of the Prophet pbuh are called Hadith. These include the excellent and exemplary way in which the prophet pbuh carried out the directives of Islam, these are called 'Uswa-Al-Hasana'. In the opinion of our scholars Sunnah and Uswa Al Hasana are not synonymous.
I have enclosed some links which provide some further information on this issue.
http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=1228 http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=77 Regarding the issue of prohibition of imitating non Muslims for Muslims, the following narrative is generally quoted;
Ibn Umar said that the prophet pbuh said " He who imitates a nation is from among them" Abu Daud Sunan vol 4, 44 (no. 4031).
I quote Shehzad Saleem, he states:
"An important principle in understanding a Hadith is to collect all its variant texts and then evaluate them. In this regard, if all the variants of this narrative are collated and analyzed, a very different picture emerges, a variant reads Ibn Umar said that the prophet pbuh said:" I have been sent with the sword until God alone is worshipped and my livelihood has been placed under the shade of my spear and there is humiliation and subjugation for those who disobey me and he who imitates a nation will be regarded from among them.
A simple analysis of this detailed narrative shows that its last sentence has been quoted out of context, and thereby taken to mean an absolute directive which prohibits Muslims from adopting the mannerisms of other nations. If the complete narrative is analyzed, it comes to light that it is nothing but an explanation of the divine practice of God mentioned in Quran. As per this practice, those who had disobeyed the prophet pbuh were destined to be doomed and humiliated. They would be subjugated by the swords of the Companions. At times these subjugation campaigns were directed to areas in which Muslims and non Muslims were living together and there was no distinction between them, either in dress nor in places of residence... What is evident from this narrative is that the attacked Muslim inhabitants in such mixed localities must have been told to distinguish themselves from non Muslim neighbours in some form or the other lest the attacking Muslim army attacks them too since they outwardly resemble the non Muslims.
If all the suppressed and implied portions are unfolded in the light of Quran, the last part of the narrative would be something like this:
"Humiliation and subjugation is destined for those who disobey me. So O you Muslims who live in the areas of non Muslims! In order to make your selves known to the attacking Muslim army that you are Muslims, make distinguishing mark that makes you distinct from non Muslims; If you do not distinguish yourself and [as a result] resemble the non Muslims, then he who resembles an enemy nation, will be regarded among them by the attacking Muslim army."'
Brother! The recognition of a true believer is not from his attire or physical appearance but from his attitude, speech, mannerisms, morality, conduct, actions and behaviour. The stipulation religion has placed on us is that we are dressed in a proper way, whether we wear a trouser and shirt or shalwar kameez, the religion has no issues or problem. There is a saying of prophet pbuh that the best among you is the one whom you see and it reminds you of Allah.
If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us again
Best regards
Waseem Aslam
UIUK web team
Sunnah & Hadith 
