The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbade ‘Uthmān ibn Mazh‘ūn to be celibate. If he had given him permission we would have castrated ourselves
Narrator in the source: Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqās
Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbade ‘Uthmān ibn Mazh‘ūn to be celibate. If he had given him permission we would have castrated ourselves.- Grade in the source
- Authentic hadith
- Reported by
- Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim
- Source entry
- HadeethEnc · 6044 ↗
Original Arabic wording
عن سعد بن أبي وقاص رضي الله عنه قال: رد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم على عثمان بن مظعون التَّبَتُّلَ، ولو أذن له لاختَصَيْنَا.Understand this hadith
Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that ‘Uthmān ibn Mazh‘ūn had an extreme desire to commit himself to worship and abandon the pleasures of this life. He asked the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) for permission to be celibate, i.e. refrain from marriage and dedicate himself to worshiping Allah. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) did not give him permission because abandoning the pleasures of this life and withdrawing from it to focus on worship alone is a form of extremism in religion and monasticism which are dispraised and objectionable in Islam. The correct religion is to perform the acts of worship that Allah has ordered us to perform while giving the bodily self its portion of the good things and pleasures of this life (in the proper and legal manner). Had the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) given ‘Uthmān permission to be celibate many of diligent sincere worshipers would have followed him in adopting celibacy (to the extreme point of castration).
References (original Arabic)
- صحيح البخاري، للإمام أبي عبد الله محمد بن إسماعيل البخاري، عناية محمد زهير الناصر، دار طوق النجاة، الطبعة الأولى، 1422هـ. - صحيح مسلم، للإمام مسلم بن الحجاج، حققه ورقمه محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي، دار عالم الكتب - الرياض، الطبعة الأولى، 1417هـ. - الإلمام بشرح عمدة الأحكام، للشيخ إسماعيل الأنصاري -مطبعة السعادة- الطبعة الثانية، 1392ه. - تيسير العلام شرح عمدة الأحكام -عبد الله البسام- تحقيق محمد صبحي حسن حلاق -مكتبة الصحابة- الشارقة، الطبعة العاشرة، 1426ه. - خلاصة الكلام شرح عمدة الأحكام، فيصل بن عبد العزيز المبارك، الطبعة الثانية، 1412هـ - 1992م. الإعلام بفوائد عمدة الأحكام، لابن الملقن، المحقق: عبد العزيز بن أحمد بن محمد المشيقح، دار العاصمة للنشر والتوزيع، المملكة العربية السعودية، الطبعة الأولى، 1417هـ - 1997م.