Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 4521 — Ubayd bin Rifa'ah (may Allah have mercy)

Ubayd bin Rifa'ah (may Allah have mercy on him) relates that Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) used to give admonitions to the people, and in his gathering he said: When a man has intercourse with a woman and there is no ejaculation, ghusl is not obligatory on him; he should wash his private part and perform ablution. A man from the gathering stood up and mentioned this to Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Bring him to me so that I may be a witness against him. When he came to him, he said: O enemy of your own self! You are misguiding people without knowledge. He said: O Commander of the Believers, by Allah, I did not invent this myself; rather, I heard it from my uncles. He said: Which uncles? He said: Ubayy bin Ka'b, Rifa'ah bin Rafi' and Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with them). Sayyiduna Rifa'ah (may Allah be pleased with him), who was present, said: O Commander of the Believers, do not rebuke him; by Allah, we used to do this in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: Do you know whether the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to know anything about that? He said: No. Then Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Commander of the Believers, this matter is not right. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: After you, the people of Badr, the best of people, whom shall I ask? Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Send to the Mothers of the Believers. So he sent to Sayyidah Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her), and she said: I have no knowledge of it. Then he sent to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and she said: When the circumcised part passes beyond the circumcised part, ghusl becomes obligatory. Then they became engaged in discussing coitus interruptus ('azl), and they said: There is no harm in it. Then a man whispered to his companion, and he (Umar) asked: What is this whispering? He said: One of them claims that this 'azl is the minor burying alive (of a baby girl). Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "It cannot be burying alive until it has passed through seven stages. Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has said: 'And indeed We created man from an extract of clay. Then We placed him as a drop of fluid in a secure resting place. Then We made the drop into a clinging clot, then We made the clot into a lump of flesh, then We made the lump into bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, then We brought him forth as another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators' [Surah al-Mu'minun: 12-14]." So the people dispersed agreeing with the view of Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that there is no harm in it.