Is it permissible for a man to have intercourse with his wife while she is pregnant?

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The questioner : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions. The questioner asks: Is it permissible to have intercourse with a woman while she is pregnant? And is there a text in the Book or the Sunnah indicating the permissibility or prohibition of that? Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible for a man to have intercourse with his wife while she is pregnant, because Allah the Exalted says:

Your wives are a place of sowing of seed for you, so come to your place of cultivation however you wish

نِسَاؤُكُمْ حَرْثٌ لَّكُمْ فَأْتُوا حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّىٰ شِئْتُمْ

[Al-Baqarah 2:223]

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The presenter : The questioner asks: Is there evidence in the Book or the Sunnah regarding the permissibility of having intercourse with a woman if she is pregnant?

The Shaykh : We say, yes, it is the saying of Allah the Exalted:

⁽⁵⁾ And they who guard their private parts ⁽⁶⁾ Except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they will not be blamed - ⁽⁷⁾ But whoever seeks beyond that, then those are the transgressors -

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ فَمَنِ ابْتَغَىٰ وَرَاءَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْعَادُونَ

[Al-Mu'minun 23:5-7]

So Allah the Exalted made His statement "except" apply to their wives. This is because the default ruling regarding a man enjoying his wife is that it is permissible in all circumstances. However, what is mentioned in the Book and the Sunnah regarding the obligation to avoid the woman is what prevents this generality. Therefore, there is no need to provide evidence for the permissibility of intercourse with a pregnant woman, because the default is permissibility. But it is not permissible for a man to have intercourse with his wife while she is menstruating, meaning to have intercourse with her in the vagina. As for other than the vagina, he may enjoy her. It is also not permissible for him to have intercourse with her in the anus, because it is the place of filth, dirt, and harm. If Allah Blessed and Exalted is He has prohibited intercourse with a menstruating woman during menstruation, and said:

And they ask you about menstruation. Say, "It is harm, so keep away from wives during menstruation

وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْمَحِيضِ قُلْ هُوَ أَذًى فَاعْتَزِلُوا النِّسَاءَ فِي الْمَحِيضِ

[Al-Baqarah 2:222]

, even though the vagina is the place of intercourse, but because it contains this impure blood, Allah the Exalted said:

Say, "It is harm, so keep away from wives during menstruation.

قُلْ هُوَ أَذًى فَاعْتَزِلُوا النِّسَاءَ فِي الْمَحِيضِ

[Al-Baqarah 2:222]

Then, intercourse with a woman in her anus is even more clearly forbidden, because it is the place of impurity and harm. So it is not permissible for a man to have intercourse with his wife in her anus under any circumstances, nor to have intercourse with her in her vagina while she is menstruating. Likewise, he does not have intercourse with her while she is in post-natal bleeding. But if she is pure from menstruation and post-natal bleeding, there is nothing wrong with him having intercourse with her, even if she becomes pure from post-natal bleeding before the completion of forty days, for he may have intercourse with her for the remainder of the period.

Source قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، لقاء[2 من 65] ها يجوز مجامعة الرجل لزوجته وهي حامل؟!! الشيخ ابن عثيمين - مشروع كبار العلماء — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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