A person who enters Islam, or who grows up in a Muslim family, soon meets two things that can look alike from the outside. One is the Sunnah [the way of the Prophet ﷺ: what he said, what he did, and what he approved]. The other is the custom of a people: the way their families and their land have always done things, in dress, in food, at weddings, at funerals, and in daily life. The two are not the same thing, and confusing them leads to two mistakes. A custom gets treated as if Allah had commanded it, or a command of Allah gets treated as if it were only a custom that a person may keep or leave. This page gathers what the books in my library say about the difference: why the Sunnah must be followed, why a people’s custom carries no authority of its own, and how the two are told apart in worship and in daily life.
The Sunnah: What the Messenger ﷺ Gave Is to Be Taken in Full
The Sunnah is the Prophet’s ﷺ way in the religion, and Allah commanded that what he ﷺ gives be taken and what he ﷺ forbids be left. The command stands in Surah al-Hashr, in a passage about the gains of war, and Shaykh as-Sa’di explains that it reaches far beyond its first occasion:
“Therefore Allah enjoined a basic guideline and general principle when He said: Whatever the Messenger gives you [of the gains, or of instructions], accept it, and whatever he forbids to you, refrain from it. This includes both fundamental and minor issues of religion, whether they have to do with outward conduct or inward beliefs and attitudes. Whatever the Messenger (ﷺ) gives, it is obligatory for people to pay heed to it and follow it, and it is not permissible to go against it. If the Messenger (ﷺ) gives a ruling, it is like a ruling from Allah, and no concession or excuse is granted to anyone to refrain from doing it. It is not permissible to give precedence to the view of anyone else over the view of the Prophet (ﷺ).”
So the Sunnah is not a small corner of the religion. It covers the great matters and the small ones, what a person does openly and what he believes in his heart. And no one’s view is put before his ﷺ: not a scholar’s opinion, not a family’s way, and not the custom of a land.
Obeying the Messenger ﷺ Is Obeying Allah
Allah says: “Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah” (4:80). Shaykh as-Sa’di explains why the two are joined together:
“That is, everyone who obeys the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) with regard to what he enjoins and what he prohibits has obeyed Allah, because the Messenger (ﷺ) does not enjoin anything or forbid anything except in accordance with the commands, laws, inspiration and Revelation of Allah.”
Following the Prophet ﷺ is therefore not loyalty to a people or a culture. It is obedience to Allah Himself, because everything the Messenger ﷺ enjoined and forbade came from Allah. The same following is the sign that a person’s love of Allah is real. On Allah’s words, “Say: If you love Allah then follow me” (3:31), the Shaykh says:
“The sign of such sincerity is following His Messenger (ﷺ) in all matters, in word and deed, in both major and minor issues of religion, inwardly and outwardly; if an individual follows the Messenger, this indicates that he is sincere in his claim to love Allah, and Allah will love him, forgive his sins, have mercy on him and guide him in all that he does and does not do.”
And he calls that verse the measure of every person:
“This verse sets the standard against which all people may be measured; the extent to which they follow the Messenger is indicative of their faith and love for Allah, and any shortcoming in that reflects a shortcoming in loving Allah.”
When Allah and His Messenger ﷺ Have Decided, No Choice Remains
A custom is something a person may keep or leave as he wishes. A decision of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ is not like that. Allah says in Surah al-Ahzab:
“It is not fitting for any believing man or believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided concerning a matter, to have any choice in that matter. Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has clearly gone astray.”
Shaykh as-Sa’di explains:
“It is not befitting for the believing man or the believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided concerning a matter and have made it obligatory and binding, to have any choice in that matter, that is, the choice of whether to comply or not. Rather the believing man and the believing woman know that the Messenger (ﷺ) is closer to them than their own selves, and they do not let some of their own whims and desires prevent them from obeying the command of Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ).”
This is what the believers answer when the ruling reaches them. On the verses of Surah an-Nur, the Shaykh says: “It is obligatory to submit to the ruling of Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) in all cases.” The believers, when they are called to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ so that he may judge between them, have only one response: “We hear and we obey” (24:51). Of those words the Shaykh says:
“We hear the ruling of Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), we respond to that to which he called us, and we obey him completely, without any reservation.”
The Answer of the Forefathers Is Not a Proof
The Qur’an itself names the other side of this question. There is an answer that does not look at what the Messenger ﷺ brought at all, but only at what came before it. Allah says: “When it is said to them: Follow what Allah has revealed, they say: Nay, we will follow the ways of our forefathers” (2:170). Shaykh as-Sa’di explains the passage:
“Then Allah tells us of the situation of the polytheists: when they were commanded to follow that which Allah had revealed to His Messenger (ﷺ) – as described above – they turned away from that and said: Nay, we will follow the ways of our forefathers. They were content to blindly follow the ways of their forefathers, and they had no interest in believing in the Prophets.”
The Shaykh calls that answer “a flimsy argument for rejecting the truth”. A practice is not made right by being old, and it is not made true by being the way of one’s family or one’s land. Nor is a practice condemned merely for being a people’s custom. It is measured against what Allah revealed, and the Shaykh ends the passage with the measure to use:
“The one who makes truth his main aim and measures everything against that will definitely see the truth clearly and will follow it, if he is fair-minded.”
In Worship, Only What He ﷺ Brought Is Done
The difference shows itself most clearly in worship. An act of worship is not built out of custom, and it is not borrowed from the practice of a people. Shaykh al-Fawzan, explaining the words of Allah, “So whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness” (18:110), sets out the two things that make an action righteous: sincerity for Allah, and following the Messenger ﷺ. He says:
“The action is not righteous except if these two conditions are fulfilled: it must be sincerely for the Face of Allah and not contain any shirk; and it must be correct in accordance with the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), not containing any innovation. If the two conditions are fulfilled, then it is righteous. If a condition is not fulfilled, then it is a corrupt action which does not benefit the doer.”
So if a deed is done as worship and it is not found in what the Messenger ﷺ brought, it does not become worship by being old, or by being loved, or by being the way of a whole people. The pages linked below take this further.
In the Customs of Daily Life, the Door Stays Open
The other half of the difference is just as clear in the books, and it guards against the opposite mistake. Most of daily life is not worship: what a people eat, what they wear, how they build their houses, and how they earn their living. Allah says: “It is He Who has created for you all things that are on earth” (2:29). Shaykh as-Sa’di explains:
“This verse indicates that the basic principle concerning all things is that they are permissible and pure, because the context here is one of reminding us of His blessings. Excluded from that is everything that is evil or foul; the prohibition on such things may also be understood from the meaning of this verse. Allah has created (all things) for our benefit, so whatever is harmful is excluded from that, and it is a blessing from Him that He has forbidden foul things to us so as to protect us from them.”
So the food, dress, and ways of a people are not wrong for being theirs. They stay as they are, unless something in them is forbidden by the teaching itself. The line between the two halves is this: a custom is left alone as a custom, and it is not raised into the religion. Once a custom is treated as worship, or set against a ruling of the Messenger ﷺ, it is measured by the same rules as everything else, and not by how long people have done it.
So, What Is the Difference Between Following the Sunnah and Following Cultural Traditions?
- The Sunnah is the way of the Prophet ﷺ: what he said, what he did, and what he approved. Following it is obedience to Allah, because he ﷺ enjoined nothing except what Allah revealed.
- A cultural tradition is the way of a people, handed down from their families and their land. It has no authority of its own, and its age does not make it a proof.
- When Allah and His Messenger ﷺ have decided a matter, the believer’s answer is: We hear and we obey. No custom and no person’s view is put before that decision.
- In acts of worship, only what the Messenger ﷺ brought is done. An action is righteous only when it is sincere for Allah and correct in accordance with his ﷺ Sunnah.
- In the customs of daily life, the basic principle is that things are permissible and pure. A custom is kept unless the teaching forbids something in it, and it is left as a custom, not turned into worship.
- The test for any practice is one question: did it come from the Prophet ﷺ with evidence, or did it come from the people? Measure it against the truth, and follow what agrees with it.
No one is asked to abandon the ways of his people in food, dress, and daily life where Allah has left the door open. What the books ask is that the religion itself be taken from the Messenger ﷺ, and that the customs of people be measured by his ﷺ guidance, not the other way round. May Allah grant us love of His Messenger ﷺ that shows itself in following him, and keep us firm upon his ﷺ way.
References
Tafsir as-Sa’di: Shaykh ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn Nasir as-Sa’di. International Islamic Publishing House (IIPH). English Edition 1, 2018. Translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab. Vols. 1, 2, 6, 8 and 10.
Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles: Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan. Authentic Statements Publications. First Edition, Sha’ban 1440 AH/April 2019. Translated by Raha Batts.
Further Reading
Who Is Muhammad ﷺ: who the Messenger ﷺ is, and what believing in him means.
Hadith 28: Holding Firmly to the Sunnah: the Prophet’s ﷺ own command to hold firmly to his Sunnah, with Shaykh al-Fawzan’s explanation.
Innovation (Bid’ah): what innovation in the religion is, and why nothing is added to the worship.
What Is Salafiyyah?: following the first generations of this nation in their understanding of the religion.
What Is Sharia?: the law Allah revealed, complete and in no need of additions.
Verified on 2026-10-24 against the books listed above.