wear a red suit (1), and red is more intensely red than safflower-dyed garments. So how could he forbid safflower-dyed garments, saying that they are clothing of the disbelievers, and then wear red?

Three answers have been given to this (2):

The first answer is that pure red is not clothing of the disbelievers; rather, the clothing of the disbelievers is safflower-dyed garments. Safflower-dyed garments tend toward red, but they are not purely red, whereas the red suit that the Messenger, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, used to wear was purely red. This answer is open to question, for pure red is more intense than safflower-dyed garments.

The second answer is that this is an action, and an action does not conflict with a statement, since it may have been something exclusive to him. Al-Shawkani followed this principle in Sharh al-Muntaqa (Commentary on al-Muntaqa) (3): whenever an action of the Messenger, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, appears to conflict with the generality of his statement, he regards it as one of his unique privileges and does not attempt to reconcile the two. However, this approach is not correct, for the Messenger’s actions are sunnah and his statements are sunnah. Whenever reconciliation between them is possible, it is obligatory, lest there be a contradiction; moreover, the basic presumption is that there is no exclusivity.

The third answer is that the red suit was one with red stripes, not one that was entirely red. This was the view of Ibn al-Qayyim (4), may Allah have mercy on him, just as