This chain is good, or at least capable of being graded good. Its narrators are trustworthy and are narrators of the Six canonical collections, apart from Mubarak al-Khayyat, Abu ‘Amr. Al-Hafiz said in al-Ta‘jil: “Abu ‘Amir al-‘Aqadi and Abu ‘Asim al-Nabil narrated from him. Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned him and said: ‘He was from Basra and resided in Meca.’ Ibn Hibban also included him among the reliable narrators.” Al-Haythami decisively graded it good, saying (4/296): “Ahmad and al-Bazzar narrated it, and both of their chains are good.”

It also has a corroborating report from Ibn ‘Abbas, which will follow with the wording: “By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, were the drop of sperm ...” Thus, through this corroborating report, the hadith is good, Allah Most High willing. Al-Diya’ al-Maqdisi also narrated it in al-Mukhtarah, as did Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, as cited in al-Jami‘ and its commentary.

It has other corroborating reports as well. Among them is the report of Jabir, who said: “A man from the Ansar came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I have a slave-girl; should I practise coitus interruptus with her?’ He said, ‘What has been decreed for her will come to her.’ The man later came to him and said, ‘The slave-girl has become pregnant.’ The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘Nothing decreed for a soul can fail to come to pass.’” Ibn Majah (89) and Ahmad (3/313) narrated it; Ahmad’s wording is: “No soul that Allah has decreed to create can fail to come to be.”

I say: Its chain is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim. A report from ‘Ubadah states that the first people to practise coitus interruptus were some men from the Ansar who came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said: “Some men from the Ansar practise coitus interruptus.” He was alarmed and said: “Every created soul will come to be; thus, I neither command it nor forbid it.” Al-Tabarani narrated it in al-Awsat (1/168/2) through ‘Isa ibn Sinan, from Ya‘la ibn Shaddad ibn Aws, from him. He said: “No one narrated it from Ya‘la except ‘Isa.”