decreed that I should have a child, it will come into being; otherwise it will not, and there is no need for intercourse,” he would be a fool. This is unlike someone who has intercourse but withdraws before ejaculation, for withdrawal does not prevent a child from being conceived if Allah wills, since semen may escape involuntarily. An example of this is the report established in the two Sahīh collections from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said:

“We went out with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the campaign against Banū al-Mustaliq and took some Arab captives. We desired women, found abstinence very difficult, and wished to practise withdrawal. We asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about this, and he said, ‘There is no harm in your not doing so, for Allah has already decreed whatever He will create until the Day of Resurrection.’”

In Sahīh Muslim, Jābir reported:

“A man came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, ‘I have a slave woman who serves us and waters our date palms. I have intercourse with her, but I do not want her to become pregnant.’ He said, ‘Practise withdrawal with her if you wish, for whatever has been decreed for her will come to her.’”

All this is so even though Allah, glorified is He, is capable of what He has already done: creating a human being without either parent, as He created Adam; creating someone from a father alone, as He created Eve from Adam’s short rib; and creating someone from a mother alone, as He created the Messiah, son of Mary, peace be upon him. But He brought these creations into being through other, unusual causes.

Although this matter is denied only by heretics who set aside the revealed laws, many revered shaykhs have fallen into error over many of its subtleties: one of them lets himself drift along with the divine decree