Is it makrooh for me to have intercourse with my wife during our ‘umrah trip, not for the purpose of pleasure but in the hope that Allah may bless us with righteous offspring?
Praise
be to Allah
Firstly:
It is haraam for
a man to have intercourse with his wife once he has entered ihram for Hajj
or ‘umrah; it is also haraam for her to obey him in that regard or entice
him to do that.
In the answer to
question no. 119134 we have explained the ruling
concerning that.
Secondly:
If he has
intercourse with her before entering ihram for ‘umrah or after completing
it, there is no blame on him or on her, even if that happened in Makkah, and
even if they were intending to enter ihram again for ‘umrah or Hajj, after
exiting ihram and having intercourse, because what is prohibited is having
intercourse after entering ihram for either ritual, or before exiting ihram.
But if it is before entering ihram or after completing the ritual, that is
not prohibited.
The scholars of
the Standing Committee said:
If a man has
intercourse with his wife during the period in which he exited ihram between
‘umrah and Hajj – i.e., he had completed the actions of ‘umrah and had not
yet entered ihram for Hajj – then there is no blame on him.
End quote from
Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah (11/187)
Thirdly:
There is no
blame on a man for having intercourse with his wife with the aim of
satisfying his desire, if he intends thereby to keep himself and his wife
chaste, and he will be rewarded for that.
See the answers
to questions no. 4649 and 4536.
If he combines
with that the hope of having righteous offspring, then this will bring an
even greater reward, whether that happens before entering ihram for Hajj or
‘umrah, or after completing the rituals, or at any other time, so long as
there is no shar‘i impediment.
Abu Dawood
(2050) narrated from Ma‘qil ibn Yasaar that the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said: “Marry women who are loving and fertile, for I
will boast of your numbers before the other nations.”
Classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
Ibn ‘Uthaymeen
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The Muslims
should have as many children as they can, so as to fulfil the wish of the
Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and so that the Muslim
ummah may be self-sufficient and have no need of others, and so that they
will be respected by others. The more the ummah increases in numbers, the
more status it will have before its enemies and the more self-sufficient it
will be.
End quote from
Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb (21/2)
See also the
answers to questions no. 115574 and
13492
However we
should point out that the virtue of such actions has nothing to do with
travelling for Hajj or ‘umrah; rather whatever is permissible is permissible
regardless of whether it is done during one’s journey or in one’s own
country, and whatever is recommended is likewise. There is no particular
virtue in doing that during a journey for Hajj or ‘umrah.
And Allah knows
best.
