BOOK OF MARRIAGE · 49 – AZL
2170 – It is narrated from Abū Saʿīd (may Allah be pleased with him): Azl (coitus interruptus) was mentioned in the presence of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Why does one of you do this?” He did not say, “Let none of you do this.” Then he continued his words as follows: “There is no soul that has been created except that its Creator is Allah.” [162]
EXPLANATION
Azl (coitus interruptus) means to withdraw and discharge semen outside during sexual intercourse. In this hadith, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) did not categorically prohibit azl, but, to express that nothing can prevent what Allah has decreed, he said, “Why do you practice azl?”
2171 – It is narrated from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him): A man said, “O Messenger of Allah, I have a slave woman. I do not want her to become pregnant, but I desire what men desire (sexual intercourse). Therefore, I practice azl with her. The Jews say that azl is a minor form of burying children alive.” The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The Jews have lied. If Allah wills to create it, you will not be able to prevent it.”
2172 – It is narrated from Ibn Muhayriz (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I entered the mosque and saw Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī. I sat beside him and asked him about the ruling of azl. Abū Saʿīd said: We were with the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) during the campaign of Banū Mustaliq, and we obtained captives from among the Arabs. We desired the women, and celibacy had become difficult for us. (We did not want the slave women to become pregnant, as we wished to sell them and receive compensation.) We wanted to practice azl, and then, while the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was among us, we said to ourselves, "We are practicing azl without asking him." So we asked about azl. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Your practicing azl is not against you. Whatever number of people is to be created until the Day of Resurrection, will certainly be created.” [163]
EXPLANATION
Azl: During intercourse with a woman, when ejaculation is imminent, to discharge semen outside rather than into the womb. Fidāʾ: Selling slave women and receiving money in exchange. If a slave woman bears a child from her master, she becomes the mother of the child and cannot be sold. For this reason, it is said: “We did not want the slave women to become pregnant, as we wished to sell them and receive compensation.” Is azl permissible? Al-Shāfiʿī, in his Taʿlīq, narrated from Sulaimān al-Taymī, who narrated from ʿAmr al-Shaybānī, who narrated from Ibn Masʿūd regarding azl: “It is secretly burying a living child in the earth.” Al-Shāfiʿī said: “It is narrated from many of the Companions (ṣaḥāba) of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) that they permitted azl and saw no harm in it.” Al-Bayhaqī narrated that among the Companions who permitted it were Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī, Zayd ibn Thābit, and others from Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him), Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt, and Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh. The well-known narration from ʿAlī and Ibn Masʿūd is that azl is disliked (makrūh). From the Successors (tābiʿūn), permission for azl is narrated from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib and Ṭāwūs. The views of Abū Ḥanīfa, al-Shāfiʿī, and Imām Mālik are as follows: Al-Shāfiʿī inclined towards prohibition. Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s view: Azl can be practiced with a slave woman without her permission, but not with a free woman without her consent. Abū Ḥanīfa and his followers are among those who permitted azl. Some of the followers of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ruled azl to be forbidden, while others considered it permissible. The dislike (karāhah) of azl is narrated from ʿUmar, Abū Bakr, ʿAlī, and Ibn Masʿūd. In the Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim, it is narrated from Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ (may Allah be pleased with him): “A man came to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, ‘I practice azl with my wife.’ The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) asked, ‘Why do you practice azl?’ The man said, ‘I fear for my child or children.’ The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘If it were to harm anyone, it would have harmed the Persians and the Byzantines.’” In al-Bukhārī and Muslim, it is narrated from Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him): “We used to practice azl while the Qur’an was being revealed. If it were something to be prohibited, the Qur’an would have prohibited it.” In conclusion, although there is permission for azl, it is not free from being disliked (karāhah).
2173 – It is narrated from Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: A man from the Anṣār came to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: “I have a slave woman, I have intercourse with her, but I do not want her to become pregnant.” The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “If you wish, practice azl with her; what has been decreed for her will come to her.” Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: That man stayed for a while, then came to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: “I had told you that what was decreed for her would certainly come to her.”