Refuting the Argument Based on the Hadith "Beware of Having Many Children"
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The questioner:
We ask for clarification on the refutation of this doubt promoted by advocates of limiting the number of children. They claim there is a hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that says, "Beware of having many children, for it is better for you to leave your heirs wealthy than to leave them poor, asking people for help." How authentic is this hadith? And what is the response to these people?
The Shaykh:
This speaker has mixed truth with falsehood. "Beware of having many children" is false. What is the reality? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say, "Beware of having many children."
The presenter:
Yes.
The Shaykh:
This is denounced; it is a fabricated matter with no basis. Rather, he said this to Sa'd when Sa'd said, "O Messenger of Allah, I am ill." Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas was one of the ten promised Paradise in the Farewell Pilgrimage hadith. He said to him, "I am a man of wealth, and I am ill at this time. I have only one son. Should I give away two-thirds of my wealth?"As-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 42:20 It is better for you to leave your heirs wealthy than to leave your wealth such that people ask for it. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him, "Do not give away more than one-third." This means he should keep the wealth for the heirs and not give away more than one-third. He should not give away more than one-third while ill.
And he explained to him that leaving heirs wealthy is better than leaving them a burden, meaning poor people who ask people for help. So this is a bequest to be kind to one's offspring and to leave them wealth that benefits them after his death. It does not contain a bequest to avoid having many children. No.
So this is denounced and has no basis from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, this is from the words of the Prophet, a bequest to men to leave something for their children and offspring that benefits them from wealth, and not to give away their wealth in illness, nor to bequeath their wealth in illness. They have no right to more than one-third in the case of illness, and they have no right to more than one-third in a bequest, so that the wealth remains for the heirs and the offspring to benefit from it and profit from it, and so that the offspring do not remain a burden, poor, needing to ask people for help. This is the word of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
We ask for clarification on the refutation of this doubt promoted by advocates of limiting the number of children. They claim there is a hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that says, "Beware of having many children, for it is better for you to leave your heirs wealthy than to leave them poor, asking people for help." How authentic is this hadith? And what is the response to these people?
The Shaykh:
This speaker has mixed truth with falsehood. "Beware of having many children" is false. What is the reality? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say, "Beware of having many children."
The presenter:
Yes.
The Shaykh:
This is denounced; it is a fabricated matter with no basis. Rather, he said this to Sa'd when Sa'd said, "O Messenger of Allah, I am ill." Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas was one of the ten promised Paradise in the Farewell Pilgrimage hadith. He said to him, "I am a man of wealth, and I am ill at this time. I have only one son. Should I give away two-thirds of my wealth?"
He said, "No." He said, "Then half?" He said, "No." He said, "Then one-third?" He said, "One-third. And one-third is a lot."
قَالَ لا قَالَ فَالشَّطْرُ قَالَ لا قَالَ فَالثُّلُثُ قَالَ الثُّلُثُ وَالثُّلُثُ كَثِيرٌAnd he explained to him that leaving heirs wealthy is better than leaving them a burden, meaning poor people who ask people for help. So this is a bequest to be kind to one's offspring and to leave them wealth that benefits them after his death. It does not contain a bequest to avoid having many children. No.
So this is denounced and has no basis from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, this is from the words of the Prophet, a bequest to men to leave something for their children and offspring that benefits them from wealth, and not to give away their wealth in illness, nor to bequeath their wealth in illness. They have no right to more than one-third in the case of illness, and they have no right to more than one-third in a bequest, so that the wealth remains for the heirs and the offspring to benefit from it and profit from it, and so that the offspring do not remain a burden, poor, needing to ask people for help. This is the word of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Source
ندوات الجامع الكبير مع الأسئلة - 35 — archive.org (1:25:25)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.