“…beware of the wailing inspired by Satan. Whatever comes from the eye is from Allah and is a mercy, whereas whatever proceeds from the hand or the tongue is from Satan. (1)
Yaʿlā ibn ʿUbayd narrated: al-Ifriqī told us, from Saʿd ibn Masʿūd, that ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn said, “O Messenger of Allah, I do not wish my wife to see my ʿawrah (private parts).”
He asked, “And why not?”
He replied, “I feel shy about that.”
He said, “Allah has made her a garment for you, and made you a garment for her.” This chain is interrupted. (2)
Ibn Abī Dhīb narrated, from al-Zuhri: ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn wanted to castrate himself and wander the earth in devotion. The Prophet ﷺ said to him, “Do you not have in me a good example? Whoever castrates himself or has himself castrated is not of my community. (3)”
Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī narrated, from Abū Burdah: The wife of ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn once entered upon the wives of the Prophet ﷺ, and they found her looking unkempt. They said, “What is the matter with you? There is no man in Quraysh wealthier than your husband!” She answered, “By night he stands in prayer, and by day he fasts.” Later the Prophet ﷺ met him and said, “Is it not …”
(1) The chain is weak because of ʿAli b. Zayd, known as Ibn Judʿan. It is found in Ibn Saʿd, Tabaqat, 3/1/290. Al-Hakim (3/190) also records it through ʿAli b. Zayd; despite his weakness, al-Dhahabi judged the isnad “acceptable.” Al-Haythami cites it in Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid, 9/302. The final segment of the hadith is missing in his version, but he adds a wording that does not appear here. He attributes the report to al-Tabarani, noting that its transmitters are trustworthy, though some are disputed. See likewise Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istiʿab, 8/66, and Abu Nuʿaym, Hilyat al-awliyaʾ, 1/105.
(2) Also weak, owing to al-Ifriqi, whose name is ʿAbd al-Rahman b. Ziyad b. Anʿum. Ibn Saʿd records it (3/1/286-287).
(3) Reported by Ibn Saʿd (3/1/287); its narrators are reliable, but the chain is interrupted. Al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-manthur, 2/309, attributes it to ʿAbd al-Razzaq and al-Tabarani. Bukhari (9/101) and Muslim (1402) transmit, through Saʿd b. Abi Waqqas, that the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade ʿUthman b. Mazʿun from adopting tabattul (total abstinence from women); had he allowed it, “we would have castrated ourselves.” Tabattul here means renouncing marital relations.