even if I wished to give you advice, if Allah intends to lead you astray.
Likewise, He says in Sūrah Yā Sīn: “His command, when He wills a thing, is only to say to it, ‘Be!’—and it is.”
With regard to religious permission, He says in Sūrah al-Hashr: “Whatever palm-trees you cut down or left standing upon their trunks—it was by Allah’s permission.”
As for universal permission, He says in Sūrah al-Baqarah: “They could not harm anyone with it except by Allah’s permission.”
Concerning the religious decree, He says in Sūrah al-Isrāʾ: “Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him,” meaning: He has commanded it.
And of the universal decree He says in Sūrah Fuṣṣilat: “He decreed them as seven heavens in two days.”
Regarding the religious ruling, He says at the beginning of Sūrah al-Māʾidah: “Livestock animals have been made lawful for you—except what is recited to you—while you are not permitted to hunt in the state of pilgrimage; Allah judges as He wills,” and in Sūrah al-Mumtaḥina: “That is Allah’s judgment; He judges between you.”
For the universal ruling He says in Sūrah Yūsuf, quoting the son of Jacob: “I will not leave this land until my father gives me leave, or Allah judges for me—and He is the best of judges,” and in Sūrah al-Anbiyāʾ: “He said, ‘My Lord, judge with the truth! And our Lord—the All-Merciful—is the One whose help is sought against what you describe.’”
With respect to religious prohibition He says in Sūrah al-Māʾidah: “Forbidden to you are carrion, blood, and the flesh of swine,” and in Sūrah al-Nisāʾ: “Forbidden to you are your mothers and your daughters…” and so forth.
Concerning universal prohibition He says in Sūrah al-Māʾidah: “For forty years it is forbidden to them; they shall wander through the land.”
As for the religious words, He says in Sūrah al-Baqarah: “When his Lord tested Abraham with certain words and he fulfilled them,” while of the universal word He says in Sūrah al-Aʿrāf: “Your Lord’s most excellent word was fulfilled for the Children of Israel because of their patience.”
It also includes the Prophet’s—peace and blessings be upon him—well-known supplication, related through many chains in the Ṣaḥīḥ, Sunan, and Musnad collections: “I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah, beyond which neither the righteous nor the wicked can pass.” It is well understood that these are the universal words, from which nothing can escape His will and creative power, whereas the religious words were opposed by the disbelievers through their disobedience.
The point here is that the Prophet—peace be upon him—clarified that the ultimate outcomes for which people were created, happiness and misery, are facilitated for them by the deeds that lead to those outcomes, just as it is with all other creatures. Allah, exalted is He, creates a child—and every living being—in the wombs through what He decrees of the two parents coming together in lawful marriage and the meeting of the two fluids in the womb. If a person were to say, “I place my trust in Allah and will therefore not approach my wife; if He has decreed a child for me it will come about, otherwise it will not—so there is no need for intercourse,” he would be a fool. That differs from the one who does have intercourse but practices ʿazl (withdrawal), for withdrawal does not prevent a child from being conceived if Allah so wills; conception may occur without his intention.
It is established in the Ṣaḥīḥ from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī that he said: “We went out with the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—on the campaign of Banī al-Muṣṭaliq, and we captured some Arab women as captives. We desired women, felt the hardship of celibacy, and wished to practice ʿazl; so we asked the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—about it….”