191 – Al-Bukhārī’s wording¹ relates that three men came to the houses of the Prophet’s wives asking about the Prophet’s worship. When they were told, they considered it too little and said, “How far are we from the Prophet, seeing that Allah has forgiven his earlier and later sins?” One of them said, “As for me, I shall pray throughout the night without cease.” Another said, “I shall fast continuously, never breaking the fast.” The third said, “I shall keep away from women and will not marry.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then came and said, “Are you the ones who said such-and-such? By Allah, I am the one who fears Allah most and is most obedient to Him, yet I fast and break my fast, I pray and sleep, and I marry women. Whoever turns away from my Sunnah is not of me.”

192 – In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī it is narrated from Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ rejected ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn’s wish for lifelong celibacy; had he granted him permission, we would have had ourselves castrated.

193 – Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī²—and other collections—also report from Ibn ʿAbbās that the Prophet ﷺ saw a man standing in the sun and asked, “What is this?” They replied, “This is …”