What is the ruling on one who decides not to have children for fear of their worldly and otherworldly responsibilities? Is one who does not have them sinful? And what is the reward for having them and persevering in raising them?

The question includes two issues: first, the ruling on abstaining from procreation to avoid responsibility; and second, the virtue of having children.

Procreation and increasing offspring are great legitimate objectives, as they ensure the continuation of humanity and the development of the earth. The Sharia encourages marrying a prolific woman, for a child is among a father's earnings that do not cease with his death. Indeed, he benefits from his child's prayers, and is rewarded for their death, and for spending on them. Raising daughters, in particular, is a means of protection from the Hellfire.

As for the first issue, a person does not sin by not having children. This is evident from the permissibility of not marrying at all, the permissibility of marrying a barren woman, and the permissibility of preventing conception through coitus interruptus with the wife's consent. However, abstaining from procreation to evade responsibility is not correct.