and said, “How far are we from the Prophet? Allah has forgiven him his past and future sins!”

One of them declared, “As for me, I shall stand in prayer for the entire night without break.”

Another said, “I will fast for the rest of my life without interruption.”

The third said, “I will 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 of you and the most mindful of Him, yet I fast and I break my fast, I pray and I sleep, and I marry women. Whoever turns away from my sunnah has nothing to do with me.” Al-Bukhārī recorded this (1), and this is his wording.

75 – Muslim also narrates it (2), in the wording reported from Anas: a group of the Prophet’s Companions asked his wives about his private acts of worship. One of them said, “I will not marry women,” and another said, “I will not eat meat.”