Whenever I talk about practicing Sunnah, I am asked the question that if you have to follow the complete Sunnah e.g.: using Miswaak, uncovering ankles, covering heads, etc. then don’t even travel in the car or in the airplane to go to far off places, use a horse or a camel, as Nabi (SAW) used to travel on horse or camel, and don’t use the electricity and electrical appliances, etc. They say that these things are advancements, and similarly toothbrush and toothpaste are advancements of Miswaak, and the Sunnah clothes were only a tradition at that time, etc. Please provide with a definition of what practices are regarded as Sunnah and what things do change with time. Mufti sahib please provide a befitting reply for these types of questions.
In conclusion, in all the innovations whether from the line of clothing, traveling, etc. we would look at whether or not there is any prohibition in the prophetic traditions regarding these things and based on that the judgment will be issued. Same thing applies with respect to using the brush vs.
‘miswak’ such that by using the brush the sunnah of using ‘miswak’ will be fulfilled but the scholars will have different views that using ‘miswak’ separately is important and its reward will be different than using the brush. From this we learned that we should follow the people of knowledge and what ever they consider to be in accordance with the prophetic way of life is correct and vice versa.