Sahih Muslim 6048
صحيح مسلم#6048Sahihحَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كُرَيْبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو أُسَامَةَ، عَنْ هِشَامٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، قَالَتْ مَا خُيِّرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَيْنَ أَمْرَيْنِ أَحَدُهُمَا أَيْسَرُ مِنَ الآخَرِ إِلاَّ اخْتَارَ أَيْسَرَهُمَا مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ إِثْمًا فَإِنْ كَانَ إِثْمًا كَانَ أَبْعَدَ النَّاسِ مِنْهُ .
A'isha reported:Never did Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) make a choice between two things but adopting the easier one as compared to the difficult one, but his choice for the easier one was only in case it did not involve any sin, but if it involved sin he was the one who was the farthest from it amongst the people
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
Every narration in Sahih Muslim is accepted as Sahih (authentic) by the established status of the book.
In-book reference: 43:106