837 – Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ praised and extolled Allah, then said: “But as for me, I pray and I sleep; I fast and I break my fast; and I marry women. Whoever turns away from my sunnah is not of me.” Agreed upon (1).

Vocabulary of the ḥadīth
• lākinnī: “but as for me”; a corrective clause referring to words mentioned earlier that the author has omitted for brevity.
• fa-man raghaba: the verb raghaba ʿan means to turn away from something toward something else. Here it means: whoever abandons my way and adopts another way is not of me; the Prophet ﷺ thereby alluded to the monastic path whose adherents innovated undue austerity.

Points derived from the ḥadīth
1 – Al-Bukhārī relates the complete narration and its occasion: three men came to the houses of the Prophet’s wives asking about his acts of worship. When they were informed, they deemed them few and said, “How can we compare with the Prophet when Allah has forgiven his earlier and later sins?” One said, “I shall spend the whole night in prayer for ever.” Another said, “I shall fast continuously and never break my fast.” The third said, “I shall keep away from women and never marry.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then came and said, “Are you the ones who said such-and-such? By Allah, I am the most God-fearing and most pious among you, yet I fast and I break my fast …” and so on.
2 – This lofty Sharīʿah is founded on leniency and ease, on allowing souls and natural impulses to enjoy the lawful good things of life; it dislikes hardship, severity, and depriving oneself of what Allah has permitted.
3 – Goodness and blessing lie in emulation—in following the conduct and states of the Prophet ﷺ—for that is itself goodness and blessing,