Shar'i Status of Contraception and Coitus Interruptus (ʿAzl) – A Shar'i Guidance
Source: Aḥkām wa Masāʾil – Masāʾil al-Nikāḥ, Vol. 1, p. 323
❖ Question
A man has six children, and for about two years, after two months of pregnancy, his wife begins to suffer labor-like pains, sometimes with great severity. In such a situation, is it permissible to use contraceptive medicine or to terminate pregnancy?
❖ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, Ammā baʿd!
In this case, the method of ʿazl (coitus interruptus — withdrawing before ejaculation during intercourse to avoid conception) can be adopted.
ʿAzl is permissible in Sharīʿah, as it is proven from the narration of Jābir ibn ʿAbdillāh (RA):
«کُنَّا نَعْزِلُ وَالْقُرْآنُ یَنْزِلُ»
(Muslim – Kitāb al-Nikāḥ – Bāb Ḥukm al-ʿAzl)
"We used to practice ʿazl while the Qur’an was being revealed."
This Hadith is clear evidence that ʿazl was practiced in the time of the Prophet ﷺ and its permissibility is established in Sharīʿah.
Hādhā mā ʿindī wallāhu aʿlam biṣ-ṣawāb
