To what extent are we obliged to follow Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)?

Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says:

"There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often."[1]

Surely, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) is the best example of a Muslim. But, we also need to remember that he was a human being who did not have Divine qualities. He received revelation from Allah, which raised his status among all other human beings. He is the best among mankind, but he is not another being.

He was a human being in the 7th CE in Arabia, which made him adapt certain things due to environment. When he received revelation it was for guidance till the end of days, but it did not cancel out the fact that it was in Arabia, which was a desert area and it was a different era. So we discard something which has got nothing to do with revelation, as something from his likes and dislikes. For example: Al-Bukhari narrated from Khaalid ibn al-Waleed that he and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered upon Maymoonah, who was his [Khaalid’s] maternal aunt and the maternal aunt of Ibn ‘Abbas, and found that she had some roasted lizard that her sister Hafeedah bint al-Haarith had brought from Najd. She offered the lizard to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), but he would rarely stretch forth his hand to food until he had been told what it was. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stretched forth his hand, then one of the women who were present said, "Tell the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) that what has been offered to him is lizard." The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) withdrew his hand from the lizard, and Khaalid ibn al-Waleed asked, "Is lizard haraam, O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)?" He said, "No, but it is not found in the land of my people and I feel that I would have no liking for it.” Khalid said, ‘Then I chewed it and ate it, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was looking at me.’”[2]

So eating iguana or big lizards is not haram because the Prophet (ﷺ) did not stop the companion from eating it, although he himself did not like it. So it is a natural sunnah which we are not obliged to follow. Another example is wearing a turban. It was essential for people of that time because it Arabia has a hot climate; but it is not necessary for us to wear it, because it is a natural sunnah. Although the Prophet (ﷺ) said, if you wear a turban, wear it in a different manner than the pagan, so that you can be distinguished from them.[3] Now this is the basic principle; if one wears a turban he needs to wear it differently from the pagans, which makes it a legal sunnah.

Similarly, the Prophet (ﷺ) on a personal level, used to wear sandals when he went to the masjid and he chose to wear sandals made in Yemen, from cow leather. This doesn't mean that we have to buy sandals like this. It is a distorted view that we have to grab anything which is done by the Prophet (ﷺ). Shamail Tirmidhi which contains the description of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), was translated by Muhammad Zakariyah and in his commentary he said that there is so much barakah in these types of sandals that if you buy and keep a picture of them, they will give you money and provision. This is deviation. Catholics do similar things, like hanging pieces of the robe to bring barakah. Such practices have now entered into the Muslim world too. However, there are legal matters regarding wearing the sandal, i.e. put on the right foot first when you wear the sandals and when removing them, take off  the left foot first.

Abu Hurairah reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: “When one of you puts on sandals, he should first put in the right foot, and when he takes off he should take off the left one first, or he should put them on together or take them off together.”[4]

These are etiquettes of a Muslim.

Now somebody may question, “What is this religion which tells you which foot to put on first while wearing sandals?” We Muslims see this in a different perspective, the importance is that when you observe animals they do things in a haphazard manner, and we are not animals, as we do all things in a systematic way. We are conscious of what we are doing, and it reminds us of sunnah. It is the sunnah of the Prophet (ﷺ), when you put the right foot first, and through doing that, you are also remembering Allah. Now when we remember Allah, we obey Him, and when we forget Allah, we disobey Him. Adam disobeyed Allah because he forgot about the promise, and the same thing happened with Prophet Musa (عليهم السلام).

قَالَ أَرَأَيْتَ إِذْ أَوَيْنَا إِلَى الصَّخْرَةِ فَإِنِّي نَسِيتُ الْحُوتَ وَمَا أَنسَانِيهُ إِلَّا الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ أَذْكُرَهُ ۚ وَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ عَجَبًا ﴿٦٣

"Have you seen (that) as we sought our abode on the rock, then surely I forgot the whale (Or: large fish) and in no way did anything make me forget it except ash-Shaytan (Satan) so that I should not remember it, and it took its way into the sea in a wondrous (manner).”[5]

Satan caused them to forget Allah. Following the sunnah reminds us to do good, and anything good we do, we should start it with the right. It reminds us of the Day of Judgment too because those who will go to Paradise will receive the book in their right hand and those who will go to Hell will receive it in their left.

There are a number of sayings which the Prophet (ﷺ) informed us about doing, and we may not be able to understand the good or harm of it. We recognize fundamentally that since he asked us to do something, by doing it we are submitting to Allah and worshipping Him. But there are practical benefits in following it, and harm in disobeying it because Allah commands things which are good for Muslims. We may not understand it due to lack of knowledge, but Allah knows what is best for us. We do not obey or comply with the commands of Allah based on the scientific study of benefit and harm of an action.

For example: It's only in our time that we found out that triposes are found in pig meat mostly, and it's harmful to our body. It's common in pig meat. Muslims didn't wait fourteen centuries to find it out, but they gave it up when it was revealed and were saved from harm.

We are not obliged to follow something which is from the Prophet's (ﷺ) opinion. The evidence can be found in this Hadith.

The Prophet (ﷺ) had come to Madînah while they were cross-pollinating their date palms. He (ﷺ) asked: "What are these people doing?" They replied: "This is something that has been our practice." He said: "Maybe if you were not to do so, it would be good." So they abandoned it and the crop that resulted was impoverished. They mentioned this to him and he said: "I am only a human being. When I command you with something regarding your religion, accept it. When I command you with something from my own opinion, then I am only a human being." Ikrimah (one of the hadîth’s narrators) said: "He said that or something to that effect."[6]

Whenever Prophet Mohammad (ﷺ) made some wrong decision based on his opinion, Allah would correct it. Now in this case of artificial pollination, if Allah did not make it correct, that was from Prophet Muhammad’s (ﷺ) personal opinion, and it would be prohibited for us to artificially pollinate. Only Allah can cause good from evil. Therefore, as long as it is Prophet Muhammad's (ﷺ) personal opinion, we are not obliged to follow it.

References:

[1] Quran, 33:21.

[2] Bukhari, no. 5391 and Muslim, no. 1964.

[3] فرق ما بيننا وبين المشركين: العمائم على القلانس “The difference between us and the polytheists is the wearing of turbans on top of headgear.”  [Abu Dawood, 4078 and Tirmithi 1784].

[4] Muslim, no. 5231.

[5] Quran, 18:63.

[6] Muslim, no. 2362.