Is there a period in which a person has to wait in order to have another child? According to the Sunnah can a woman have a child every year or does she have to wait and give the child that she currently has the 2 years for nursing? Is it the right of the wife to have another baby even if the husband does not want one right away or should she wait?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

There is no specific period of time for family planning. This should be determined according to the religious benefit. If continuous pregnancies at short intervals cause additional hardship to the woman in addition to her usual hardship for her and for her children, then both spouses should use a permissible contraceptive method in order to delay the pregnancy; for more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 87155.

However, there is no religious obstacle which prevents the woman from having children every year, and the Prophet urged his nation to multiply their progeny. Besides, she is not obliged to delay the pregnancy for two years; for more benefit, please refer to the above- referred Fatwa.

As regards whether or not the wife has the right to give birth to another child even though the husband does not like it, then the answer is that having children is one of the important objectives in marriage. The view we adopt here in Islamweb is that none of the spouses has the right to prevent the other from having children if he/she wants it. It is true that the husband is not obliged to have sexual intercourse with his wife every day or every week, but he has no right to refrain from having sexual intercourse with his wife for more than four months, and if he has sexual intercourse, he should not practice coitus interruption (withdrawing before ejaculation) except with her permission.