Hadith Three

Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ rejected ʿUthman ibn Mazʿun’s request to practice tabattul (lifelong celibacy); had he permitted it, we would have gone so far as to castrate ourselves.”

Tabattul: the renunciation of marriage—hence Mary (peace be upon her) is called al-Batool.

Lexical note
The root meaning of tabattul is “to cut off or sever.” In this context it refers to cutting oneself off from women in order to devote oneself exclusively to worship.

Overall meaning
Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) relates that ʿUthman ibn Mazʿun, driven by an intense desire to engage wholly in worship, wished to withdraw from worldly pleasures. He therefore sought the Prophet’s permission ﷺ to avoid women and devote himself entirely to obedience of Allah. The Prophet ﷺ did not allow it, for abandoning lawful enjoyments and isolating oneself for worship is a form of excess and the blameworthy monasticism. Sound religion lies in combining Allah’s right to be worshipped with granting the self its share of wholesome delights. Had the Prophet ﷺ granted ʿUthman leave, many of the earnest worshippers would have followed him. The import of this hadith has already been discussed in the preceding narration.

Benefit
Al-Sanʿani notes in the marginalia of his commentary on al-ʿUmda:
“I fear for the ascetic that his desire has simply shifted to the act of renouncing itself, so that he now craves nothing more than not partaking. The soul harbors in this a subtle stratagem and a fine-grained hypocrisy; if it is kept safe from showing off to people, then it is upon goodness. Many who claim asceticism have embarked on paths never trodden by the Prophet ﷺ or his Companions—exaggerated displays of humility, coarse clothing, and other practices that ordinary folk have come to admire. For some, these have become a livelihood: they reap from them hand-kissing and veneration. Most such people, when alone, are quite different from their public face: in private they indulge their appetites and cling to pleasures while people suppose them renunciants. Their only asceticism is the outer garment, and if you examine their condition you will find within them the arrogance of Pharaoh.”