It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allaah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, said: "Sulaymaan (i.e. Solomon) the son of Daawood (i.e. David), may Allaah exalt their mention, said, 'Tonight I will sleep with seventy ladies each of whom will conceive a child who will be a knight fighting for 'the Cause of Allaah The Almighty." His companion said, 'If Allaah wills.' But Sulaymaan, may Allaah exalt his mention, did not say so; therefore none of those women got pregnant except one who gave birth to a half child." The Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, further said, "If the Prophet Sulaymaan had said it (i.e. 'If Allaah wills') he would have begotten children who would have fought in the Cause of Allaah The Almighty." (1). 

Amongst the lessons drawn from the above-mentioned Hadeeth:

1- Virtue of doing good deeds and fulfilling its means, and that many of the lawful matters and pleasures can become recommended acts of worship if they imply good intention.

2- This Hadeeth indicates that it is recommended for the one who is about to do something to make exception (phrase) and that if oath is followed by Inshaa' Allaah (such as saying after taking oath, If Allaah Wills) does not entail commitment to accomplish that oath. All scholars agreed on that providing that the exception (phrase) is directly connected to the oath.

3- This Hadeeth refers to the special advantages of the Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention, such as having great power of intercourse which refers to the good health, strength and perfection of their potency in spite of being very busy with worship and sciences. The Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, gave us a miraculous example in this regard because he was very busy with worshiping his Lord The Exalted, his sciences, dealing with people, having little eating and drinking the thing that make the body too weak to do much intercourse. In spite of that fact, he used to sleep with his all wives in a night with only one ritual bath while they were eleven. It is also said: 'Whoever fears Allaah The Almighty most, his sexual desire is the strongest that is because the one who does not fear Allaah The Almighty gives free rein to his gazes and the like.

4- The Hadeeth implies that it is permissible to tell about things and their occurrence in the future according to what one mostly expects. That is because Sulaymaan, may Allaah exalt his mention, confirmed his words while this was not a revelation, otherwise, it will definitely occur.

5- It is permissible for the Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention, to forget and that this does not undermine their great status.

6- It is permissible to say that something will occurred as long as there is a strong evidence for that.

7- This Hadeeth indicates that it is permissible to use "if only" when hoping for something good, otherwise, the basic ruling is to avoid using it for the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, said: "If anything befalls you, do not say, if only I had done (such and such), the such and such would have happened,’ rather say: ‘Allaah has decreed and what He wills He does,’ for ‘if only’ opens the door to the work of the shaytaan (devil)."(2).

8- This Hadeeth indicates that one can use substitute for the words that give bad indication such as the saying of Prophet Sulaymaan, may Allaah exalt his mention: 'I will sleep' not 'I will have intercourse with.'

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(1)         Reported by Al-Bukhaari No. (3424) and Muslim No. (1654) and the wording is for the former. 

(2)         Reported by Muslim No. (2664).

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