Abi Malik, from his father, from Khalid ibn Maʿdan, from Abu Umamah: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked, “Will the people of Paradise have intercourse?” He replied:

“Dahman, dahman, yet without manī (semen) and without maniyya (death).” (1)

Since manī terminates the pleasure of intimacy, and maniyya ends the enjoyment of life, both are negated for the inhabitants of Paradise.

Al-Tabarani also said: Abdan ibn Ahmad narrated to us; Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahim al-Barqi (2) narrated to us; ʿAmr ibn Abi Salamah narrated to us; Sadaqah narrated to us, from Hashim ibn Zayd, from Sulaym Abu Yahya (3): that he heard Abu Umamah relate that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ being asked, “Do the people of Paradise marry?” He replied:

“Yes— with a dhakar (male organ) that never tires and a desire that never wanes: dahman, dahman.” (4)

As for when one of them wishes to have a child—just as he did in this world and loves offspring—Imam Ahmad said: ʿAli ibn ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; Muʿadh ibn Hisham narrated to us; my father narrated to me, [from] ʿAmir al-Ahwal, from Abu al-Siddiq, from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri: that the Prophet ﷺ said,

“If the believer longs for a child in Paradise, its conception, birth and growth are completed within a single hour, exactly as he desires.”

Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah likewise reported it, both through Muhammad ibn Bashshar from Muʿadh ibn Hisham, with this chain. Al-Tirmidhi remarked: “ḥasan gharīb.” Al-Hafiz al-Diyaʾ al-Maqdisi said: “In my judgment it meets Muslim’s criterion; and Allah knows best.”

Al-Hakim also recorded it, through al-Asamm, from Muhammad ibn ʿIsa, from Sallam ibn Sulayman [Sallam al-Tawil], from Zayd al-ʿAmmi, from Abu al-Siddiq al-Naji, from Abu Saʿid, who said: It was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, are children born to the people of Paradise? For children complete one’s joy.” He replied:

“Yes, by Him in Whose hand is my soul, it happens only as quickly as one of you can wish, and the conception, nursing and youth are all completed.” (5)

This wording indicates that the matter actually occurs for the people of Paradise, contrary to what al-Bukhari and al-Tirmidhi related from Ishaq ibn Rahawayh—namely, that it is conditional upon a wish that, in fact, is never made.

A number of the Successors—Tawus, Mujahid, Ibrahim al-Nakhaʿi and others—stated that there is no procreation in Paradise, and this is correct: their intimacy does not entail offspring as happens among the people of this world. The present world is an abode intended for the continuance of lineage so that it may be populated, whereas Paradise is intended for the continuance of pleasure. For that reason, their intercourse involves no manī (semen).