Praising Allah and extolling Him, and saying: But I pray and I sleep, I fast and I break my fast, and I marry women, so whoever is averse to my Sunnah is not of me.

The Shaykh : .
This hadith has a cause, and it is that three men from the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), due to their intense desire for good, came to the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asking them about his private deeds, meaning in his home. They informed them of this, so it seemed they were mocking this practice, and they said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has been forgiven by Allah for what came before of his sin and what came after, but we are not like that. So one of them said, "I will fast and not break my fast," and the second said, "I will stand in prayer and not sleep," and the third said, "I will not marry women." His aim by that was to cut off marriage for the sake of worship. This is what they said as an act of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) on their part. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) learned of this, he stood as a preacher, praised Allah and extolled Him, then said what the author mentioned. This is because this principle that these people initiated is a dangerous principle, similar to the principle of the Christians who innovated monasticism which Allah did not prescribe for them, but they sought thereby the pleasure of Allah. However, they were severe with themselves, so Allah was severe with them, and then afterwards they became unable to continue. And so, every person who is severe with himself must eventually become unable to continue.
The important point is that these people came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so he praised Allah and extolled Him, as was his custom in his sermons, that he would praise Allah and extol Him. Praising Allah is like saying: Praise be to Allah. This is praise (hamd). Extolling (ithna) is to repeat the attributes of perfection, because it is derived from "thaniya," which is the return after the beginning. It may be long or it may not be long.
Then he said: . This is his guidance: he prays and he sleeps. And Allah the Exalted said in Surat al-Muzzammil: meaning: slightly more than half. And half is half, and a third is less than half. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) does not complete the two-thirds standing except in Ramadan. When the last ten days of Ramadan entered, he would stand the whole night in prayer. But this is an exceptional case. His constant guidance is this. And with that, he would sleep in the last part of the night, as in Sahih al-Bukhari, where she said: I never found him awake in the pre-dawn hours, meaning that he sleeps a little in the last part of the night.
And he (peace and blessings be upon him) explained that the best standing in prayer is the standing of Dawud (David). He would sleep half the night, stand for a third of it, and sleep for a sixth of it.
And his saying: . This is in one night. Sometimes he stands all the nights, meaning his meaning is that every night he stands until it is said: he does not sleep. And sometimes he sleeps until it is said: he does not stand. The reason for that is that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would worship Allah the Exalted and Glorified with what is best, except for the obligatory duties, for which he does not neglect them. But for the voluntary acts, he worships Allah with what is best. Sometimes the best is when a guest comes to him and they need to honor him and stay up with him in the first part of the night and he does not stand in prayer, so this becomes better. Just as the guest occupied him from the Sunnah prayer of Zuhr, so he did not pray it until after 'Asr. Sometimes a matter from the matters of knowledge presents itself to him, and he investigates it in the first part of the night and sleeps in the last part. This is also better. Likewise in fasting, as will come if Allah wills.
The important point is that whatever is other than the obligatory duties, it returns to what is best. If they are equal, then every voluntary act remains in its function.
Well, he says: . And he (peace and blessings be upon him) would fast three days of every month, not caring whether he fasted them in the first part of the month, the middle, or the last part. This is a regular voluntary practice (rawatib). And perhaps he would fast on Mondays and Thursdays. And likewise he would fast on the days on which fasting is recommended, such as the Day of 'Arafah and the Day of 'Ashura. And he said: .
So the result is that he would fast and break his fast. And it is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that the best fasting is the fasting of Dawud (David). He would fast one day and break his fast one day. He said that to 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As, to whom it was reported that he said: . But the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explained to him that this is not from the Sunnah. And he kept advising him until he permitted him to fast one day and break his fast one day. meaning nothing is better than that. The fasting of Dawud (David) was to fast one day and break his fast one day. So when 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr grew old, he said: I wish I had accepted the dispensation (rukhsah) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And fasting became difficult for him until he fasted one day and broke his fast one day. So he would gather the fifteen days all together, fast them, and break his fast for fifteen days.
He says: . I marry women, meaning I do not remain celibate, unlike these men. And his (peace and blessings be upon him) marriage to women is like the marriage of the messengers before him. Allah the Exalted said: . Then, his marriage to women is not a marriage of desire and pleasure. And for this reason, he did not take a virgin woman except 'A'ishah. And if he had willed to marry as many virgins as he wished, it would have been possible for him. But he (peace and blessings be upon him) only wanted by his marriage great legal interests other than satisfying desire. And Allah made women beloved to him, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And that is for the sake of the great interest, for the sake of having a connection with every tribe and clan of the Arabs. Because if the connection by blood is lost, the connection by in-lawship comes, as Allah the Exalted said: . So in-lawship is a counterpart to blood relation in the chapter of connection between people. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) had women made beloved to him, and was given the strength of thirty men. And he would marry women for the sake of connecting with the clans of Quraysh and the tribes of Quraysh, and then what comes to these wives of virtue and merits by their connection to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and then what comes of the much knowledge which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) does not do except in his home. For this knowledge was only spread among the community by his wives, because they know that.
So the important point is: that from the guidance of the Messenger - O 'Abd al-Rahman - from the guidance of the Messenger, what is it? That he marries women.
He said: . Whoever is averse from it, meaning he despises it and leaves it. And his Sunnah here means his way. Meaning whoever is averse from his way in that he fasts and breaks his fast, prays and sleeps, and marries women.
meaning then I am free from him. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke the truth, because this is the requirement of the innate natural disposition (fitrah). Whoever is averse to your Sunnah is undoubtedly one who departs from you, and there is no connection between you and him. And whoever desires your Sunnah, this is the one who is loyal to you. For this reason, one of the greatest forms of loyalty is for a person to be in agreement with the one he is loyal to in his actions and words. And this is something observed. Even if a person loves someone, he becomes imitative of him and looks at what he does and does the same. So likewise, loyalty: whoever wants to be among the close friends of Allah (awliya) and His Messenger, let him follow what Allah prescribed on the tongue of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
And his saying: . "Raghba" (to be averse/desire) is transitive with "fi" (in), and transitive with "an" (from). If it is transitive with "fi," it is for seeking. And if it is transitive with "an," it is for fleeing. Correct?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : If it is transitive with "fi," it is for seeking. And if it is transitive with "an," it is for fleeing. Meaning: if you say: I desire in such a thing, you are seeking it. If you say: I am averse from, you are fleeing from it, you do not want it. Here meaning fleeing from it and leaving it and despising it. meaning he is not one who claims affiliation to, because the one who truly claims affiliation to him is the one who takes his Shari'ah, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him.