The Shaykh’s advice on choosing a fertile wife to fulfill the desire of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and obtain the reward associated with it, and not paying attention to

This discourse leads us to speak about another issue, namely the matter of children. It is recommended for the Muslim who desires marriage to seek a wife whom he believes to be fertile. I say “whom he believes” because it is not possible to be certain that a specific girl is fertile, but it is possible to judge this by the preponderant opinion by looking at her father, her mother, her grandmother, and the like of her lineage. This is because it is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: In this hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged his Ummah to intentionally seek marriage with a fertile girl. You have understood how one can identify a fertile girl by the preponderant opinion. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained in this authentic hadith the reason for his aforementioned command in his saying: That is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the complete hadith: Once we have understood this noble Prophetic hadith, we can then proceed to reach a matter with which many couples have long been afflicted, which is known in the modern era as birth control or family planning. We must know that this restriction or planning is among the matters foreign to Islam, which the enemies of Islam encourage Muslims to adopt. This is because the multiplication of Muslims is undoubtedly a strength for them. For that reason, he (peace be upon him) said in the previous hadith: If a Muslim is blessed with a fertile wife, he has thereby achieved that noble Prophetic command. Therefore, a Muslim should not resort to means that stand in the way of achieving this noble Prophetic desire, namely birth control or family planning. It is not befitting for Muslims to be deceived by the traditions of the disbelievers, especially when they issue some of their traditions for a political purpose, aiming thereby to weaken the strength of the Muslims and take away their power. Among this is what they have sent and dispatched to us through their various means, and they have adorned for us the aforementioned birth control and its regulation. Some peoples and nations that have no religion may adopt this, which directs them to the benefit of their worldly and hereafter life, such as the polytheists, the Hindus, and the like, and the communists of China, who for a period of years have practiced the method of cutting off lineage through the known method of tying a vessel in women. The disbelievers who have no religion may adopt this, but Muslims should be far removed from being influenced by such systems that the disbelievers issue to other peoples in order to weaken them and take away their strength and power. It is not strange for one who is not a Muslim to adopt this, because the non-Muslim does not hope from this worldly life except to enjoy it, as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described them in His Book, that they enjoy themselves as livestock enjoy themselves. The Muslim is not like that; he lives not for this life, but for another life, which is the eternal life in which the Muslim lives, either as is hoped, a happy life in the Gardens of Pleasure, or he lives, may Allah forbid, a miserable, wretched life in the Fire and Hell, turning away from being guided by the Shari'ah of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with which He sent Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: When a Muslim is blessed by Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) with a righteous, fertile woman, this is a blessing from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sent to him, because he will be blessed with children through whom he increases in drawing near to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). He marries not for enjoyment as livestock enjoy, nor for mating as donkeys and beasts mate, but rather to draw near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in response to His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): The Muslim man or the Muslim youth, when he marries, marries to implement a legal ruling, not merely to follow the desires of the self. And I say “not merely to follow the desires of the self” because the Muslim is rewarded for satisfying his desire, unlike the disbeliever and unlike the open sinner, and that is what came in the explicit text from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When a man from the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and from the poor, came as a messenger from his poor Companions to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to say: “O Messenger of Allah, the people of wealth have taken the rewards. They pray as we pray, they fast as we fast, they perform Hajj as we perform Hajj, and they give charity while we do not give charity.” He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The point here is that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Meaning, and in the intercourse of one of you with his wife is a charity. They said, surprised: “O Messenger of Allah, So when a Muslim marries, he does not intend merely to satisfy his desire and fulfill his lust, but he also intends with that to implement the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in His saying: And the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him) mentioned earlier: The Muslim also seeks through his marriage something else, which is to increase the lineage of the Ummah of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), in fulfillment of the aforementioned Prophetic desire. He also intends that if he is blessed with a son or sons, he will focus on their upbringing and that they will be successors to their righteous predecessors, the father who was diligent in raising his children. It is recorded for him of reward after his death everything his children do of good after him. For that reason, our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, confirming a part of this general meaning in this verse: He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So when a Muslim is blessed with children as Allah wills, that is a blessing Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has presented to him so that he may fulfill the duty of raising these children and so that he may receive from their rewards after his death until the Day of Resurrection. And a Muslim may be afflicted, as is the reality and what is observed, by the death of a son or more, and then other rewards come to him besides those rewards we mentioned earlier, such as if Allah (Mighty and Majestic) had kept them alive for him and they lived after his death, he would receive from their good deeds without having done those good deeds himself. So the other picture is if a Muslim is afflicted by the death of some of his children, then he is patient with that and accepts the decree and destiny of Allah, Paradise is guaranteed for him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: - meaning two spouses - So the married Muslim lives between two goods; one of them must be the case: if his children live after him, their rewards come to him while he is in his grave. And if some of his children die during his lifetime, Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has guaranteed him Paradise, and the Fire will not touch him except for the breaking of the oath. We must stop here for a moment at this phrase “except for the breaking of the oath.” What is the meaning of “the breaking of the oath”? He (peace and blessings be upon him) is referring to the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in the Qur'an: And none of you, O assembly of humans and jinn, except that he will enter it, meaning enter the Fire; it is necessary and there is no escape from that. There is no difference in that between the pious and the wretched; all of them The entering there is passing over the bridge of Hell, which is surrounded by the flames of the Fire of Hell. Those who pass over the bridge, the Fire must surround them, whether they are righteous or wicked. But the righteous among them, and here is the point, the Fire does not touch them with harm. That is, the Fire, in the case of the righteous passing over the bridge of Hell, is coolness and peace for them, as it was for Ibrahim. So his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the previous hadith: the passing is for both heavy groups, humans and jinn, with a very important difference: the righteous are not touched by the Fire except for the mere passing, in fulfillment of this divine oath: The pious pass over Hell and do not fall into it, unlike the disbelievers, who are those who plunge into Hell, and evil is the destination. So why does the Muslim seek to reduce his lineage? This is like a rich man to whom Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has bestowed much wealth, so he wastes it and burns it. This is exactly like that. In fact, the one who wastes his children and cuts off his lineage or reduces his lineage is in a worse state than the one who wastes his wealth or reduces his wealth. This custom that some Muslims have begun to habituate themselves to today, from what we mentioned earlier of birth control or its regulation, is a disbelieving custom that has no connection to Islam and does not agree with the mentality of the Muslim who lives for Allah and lives with his children so that they become servants of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), righteous, and their rewards are recorded in his record, so that he becomes their parent if they live after him, and if they die, Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has guaranteed him Paradise and that the Fire will not touch him with harm, and that he will not enter it except for the breaking of the oath. This is what came to my mind to speak to you about, and I was asked for that speech, otherwise I was tired and only came to congratulate our brother. But we should not refuse the request of a noble brother as long as we find a way to do so. And this is what Allah has made easy for us, and we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to teach us what benefits us and to inspire us to act upon what He has taught us, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The questioner : A question about which we hope you will provide us with further clarification and knowledge.