Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 7298

Sayyiduna Atiyyah bin Busr al-Mazini (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Sayyiduna Akkaf bin Wada'ah al-Hilali (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "O Akkaf! Do you have a wife?" He said: "No!" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Not even a slave girl?" He said: "No!" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Are you healthy and well off?" He said: "Yes! All praise belongs to Allah Almighty." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then you are one of the brothers of the devils. Either you would be among the monks of the Christians, and then you would be one of them; or, if you are one of us, then do as we do, and our Sunnah includes marriage. The worst of you are the unmarried, and those who die the worst death are the unmarried. Do they want to follow the devil? In my view the devils have no weapon more effective against the righteous than the relationship of men and women, except in the case of those who marry; they are pure and free from treachery (or indecency)." After this the narrator mentioned the whole hadith, similar to the narration of Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him), except that it contains these words of his: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Woe to you, O Akkaf! Get married! For you are among those in between (or among those who waver).'" The narrator says: Sayyiduna Akkaf (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah! I will not marry until you marry me to whomever you wish." The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then I marry you, with the name of Allah and with His blessing, to Karimah bint Kulthum al-Himyari."
Imam Abu Ya'la and Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration; its chain contains a narrator, Mu'awiyah bin Yahya al-Sadafi, who is da'if (weak).