Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was keen on benefiting the believers and showed sympathy and concern for them. He left nothing that could be of benefit to them without guiding them to it and ordering them to do it. However, he used to correct the lies and suspicions that were spread among people and inherited from the pre-Islamic era of ignorance out of guidance and politeness. In this Hadīth, the female Companion Judāmah al-Asadiyyah bint Wahb (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that she attended with the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) an assembly that had some of his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I was about to," i.e., I was determined to forbid "Ghīlah", which is having intercourse with one's wife during her breastfeeding period, or a woman's conception during the breastfeeding period. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was determined to forbid it because there was a popular belief at that time that it was harmful to the infant. They used to say that if the breastfeeding woman had sexual intercourse with her husband and conceived during her breastfeeding period, her milk would be spoilt and the child would get weak if he fed on it, and the Arabs would hate and avoid him. However, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) saw that the Romans and the Persians - two great kingdoms at that time - did this without worrying about it, besides the fact that it did not cause their children any harm; so, he did not forbid it. Then, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) asked him about the ruling on coitus interruptus, which means removing the man's penis from the woman's vagina before ejaculation and ejaculating outside the vagina to avoid conception. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That is the hidden Wa’d," considering the coitus interruptus hidden burial of a child alive because it entails wasting the sperm that Allah Almighty has prepared to be a child. So, it resembles killing a child by burying him alive. However, there is no doubt that it is less grave, and this is why he said it is hidden. In the Two Sahīh Collections, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to those who asked him about the coitus interruptus: "It does not matter if you do not do it, for every soul that is to be born up to the Day of Judgment will be born," i.e., no soul to exist in the knowledge of Allah Almighty except that it will come to exist, whether the coitus interruptus is done or not. Despite the coitus interruptus, there could be a small amount of semen ejaculated which Allah destined to form a child, and on the other hand, there could be normal ejaculation without conception. In short, coitus interruptus or normal ejaculation are equal as both do not lead to having a child except by Allah's decree..