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Is the Hadith: "I can be patient without food and drink, but I cannot be patient without women," authentic or fabricated?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The wording mentioned, "I can abstain from food and drink, but I cannot abstain from women," has no basis in its complete form. Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned its meaning, but the wording in the question is not the literal wording of the Hadith; rather, it is its meaning. The Hadith was narrated by Abdullah, the son of Imam Ahmad, in "Zawa'id az-Zuhd," and it was not narrated by Ahmad in "az-Zuhd." In Abdullah ibn Ahmad's narration, it states: "And I am not satiated with the love of prayer and women." The aforementioned Hadith, with the combination of these different wordings, is a fabricated and false Hadith due to Yusuf ibn Atiyyah as-Saffar, whom al-Bukhari described as "munkar al-hadith" (one whose Hadith is rejected) and Ibn Hibban described as "one who alters reports and attaches fabricated texts to authentic chains of narration." The correct wording of the Hadith is what was narrated by Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): "From this world, women and perfume have been made beloved to me, and the comfort of my eye has been made in prayer."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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