pregnancy and childbirth?
Praise be to Allah.
Some of the scholars are of the view that if a person wishes to have a
child in Paradise, Allah will fulfil that wish for him. They quoted as
evidence for that the report narrated by at-Tirmidhi (2563) in
hisSunanfrom Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) who
said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: "If the believer wishes for a child in Paradise, the
pregnancy, birth and growth will occur withinan hour, as he wishes."
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh al-Jaami', 6649
What is meant is that thepregnancy will occur and the child will be
born and will grow to the age of perfection, which is thirty years, as
the person wishes, i.e., the child will be male or female and so on,
in accordance with the person's wishes.
This is the view of many of the scholars.
Some of the scholars said that in Paradise there will be
intercoursebut there will be no children. This view was narrated from
Tawoos, Muhaajid and Ibraaheem an-Nakha'i.
Imam al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It was narrated
from Abu Razeen al-'Uqayli that the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: "The people of Paradise will not have
children there."
The hadeeth referred to by al-Bukhaari was narrated by Imam Ahmad
(15773) from AbuRazeen al-'Uqayli (may Allah be pleased with him) in a
lengthy hadeeth in which it says "The righteous women will be for the
righteous man, you will enjoy them as you enjoyed them in this world,
and they will enjoy you, but you will not produce children."
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:It has the dignity
and light of Prophethood which suggests that it is saheeh. However it
was classed as da'eef by al-Albaani inZalaal al-Jannah, and Shu'ayb
al-Arna'oot said: Its isnaad is da'eef and is a series of unknown
narrators.
The hadeeth clearly states that there will be no childbirth, but there
is a difference of opinion as to its soundness.
With regard to the hadeeth of Abu Sa'eed (may Allah be pleased with
him), "If the believer wishes for a child in Paradise, the pregnancy,
birth and growth will occur withinan hour, as he wishes", itwas noted
that its soundness is subject to further discussion. HenceIbn
al-Qayyim said concerning it: Its isnaad meets the conditions of
soundness, but it is ghareeb jiddan.Haadi al-Arwaah, p. 213
And he said: With regardto this hadeeth of Abu Saeed al-Khudri, the
bestof its isnaads is the isnaad of at-Tirmidhi, who determined that
it is ghareeb and that it is only known from the hadeeth of
Abu's-Siddeeq an-Naaji, and the wording of the hadeeth is not sound.
End quote.
Imam Ishaaq ibn Raahawayh (may Allah have mercy on him) said
concerning the hadeeth of the Prophet (blessingsand peace of Allah be
upon him), "If the believer wishes for a child in Paradise, the
pregnancy, birth and growth will occur withinan hour, as he wishes":
But he will not wish. What is meant by the words of Ishaaq is that the
words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), "If
the believer wishes …" are hypothetical )i.e., if the believer were to
wish, but in fact he will not wish).
Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned a number of reasons why it is most likely that
there will be no childbirth in Paradise, such as the following:
1.The hadeeth of Ibn Razeen
2.The words of Allah, may He be exalted (interpretation of the
meaning):"Therein they shall have Azwajun Mutahharatun (purified mates
or wives)" [an-Nisa'4:57]. They are the ones who have beenpurified
from menses, nifaas (postpartum bleeding) and so on.
It was narrated that Mujaahid said: Purified from menses, stools,
urine, sputum, spitting, maniy and childbirth.
3.Allah, may He be glorified, made pregnancy and childbirth along with
menses and maniy; if women were to become pregnant inParadise, menses
and other discharges would not cease for them.
4.It is proven inas-Saheehthat the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: "There will remain inParadise surplus space,
and Allah will create a creation forit and cause them to inhabit it
(the surplus space)." Narrated by Muslim, 5085. If there were to be
childbirth in Paradise, then this surplus space would be for those who
would be born there, and they would be more entitled to it than
others.
5.Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):"And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in
Faith, to them shall We join their offspring" [at-Toor 52:21]. Here He
tells us that He will honour themby joining to them their offspring
that they had in this world. If they were to have offspring in
Paradise, Allah would have referred to them asHe referred to their
worldly offspring, because they would be delighted with them (the
hypothetical offspring in Paradise) as they were delighted with their
children in this world (i.e., the fact that He mentioned only the
worldly offspring indicates that there will be no offspring in
Paradise).
6.Either we say that there will ongoing procreation inParadise or that
it will continue until some point, then cease. But both ideas
areimpossible, because the former implies endless birth of new
individuals,whilst the latter implies the end of one of the pleasures
of the people of Paradise, and that is impossible. And we cannot say
that there will be procreation and people will die to be succeeded by
others, because there is no death there.
7.People will not grow inParadise as they did inthis world, so the
children of its people will not grow and become bigger, and the men
will not grow. Rather these children will remain small and will not
change, and the adults will be thirty-three years old and will not
change either. If there were any childbirth in Paradise, then the
child would have to grow until it became an adult. It is well known
that children who die will reach the age of thirty-three without
growing.
Then he said: Paradise is not the realm of procreation; rather it is
the place of eternal abode and those who are in it will never die and
be replaced by their offspring. End quote.
Haadi al-Arwaah, 1/173
And Allah knows best.
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