Does Islamic scripture have an equivalent to "be fruitful and increase in number"?

Question

Genesis 1:28 in the Bible states:

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

(See also Christianity.SE.) A similar verse occurs after Noah's flood in Genesis 9:7. In Christianity, these are generally interpreted to mean "make lots of babies and populate the Earth".

I'm wondering if Islamic scripture has an equivalent to this, i.e., something encouraging Muslims to reproduce. Statistics indicate Muslims are reproducing rapidly, even faster than Christians.

Question: Does Islamic scripture have an equivalent to "be fruitful and increase in number"?

I didn't find an answer to this on a related question on Quora, which is mostly a list of speculation. One (seemingly anti-Islam) answer writes: "Bacche Allah ke den hain", means "A child is a consent of Allah", but I don't know what this means.

Answer 1

There's no direct equivalent but the Qu'ran and Ahadith encourage us to reproduce and say that Muslims would be the dominant group in the world.

Abu Dawood narrated that Ma’qil ibn Yasaar said:

A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, “I have found a woman who is of good lineage and is beautiful, but she does not children. Should I marry her?” He said, “No.” Then he came again with the same question and he told him not to marry her. Then he came a third time with the same question and he said: “Marry those who are loving and fertile, for I will be proud of your great numbers before the other nations.”

^{Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Irwa’ al-Ghaleel, 1784.}

This hadith shows that the Prophet encourages us(Muslims) to marry fertile women to reproduce so he would be proud of his ummah.

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In the Qu'ran it mentions that children have been the hope for many Prophets and Messengers.

Ibrahim prayed to Allah saying:

رَبِّ هَبْ لِي مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ

“My Lord! Grant me (offspring) from the righteous”

^{al-Saafaat 37:100}

In Maryam 19:3-7, Allah says of the Prophet Zakariya's request for an heir.

Maryam 19:6 says:

يَرِثُنِي وَيَرِثُ مِنْ آلِ يَعْقُوبَ وَاجْعَلْهُ رَبِّ رَضِيًّا

"Who shall inherit me, and inherit (also) the posterity of Ya’qoob (Jacob) (inheritance of the religious knowledge and Prophethood, not of wealth). And make him, my Lord, one with whom You are Well-Pleased!’

These verses show what benefits having children are and how much the Prophets wanted them.

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Al-Ghazali says that it is an act of worship to have children and it will be rewarded: ^{Quote from Islam Q&A}

• This is in accordance with what Allah wants, which is to perpetuate the human race.

• Seeking the love of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in having many children, so that he will feel proud of them before the other Prophets and nations on the Day of Resurrection.

• Seeking barakah (blessing) and a great deal of reward, and forgiveness of sins through the du’aa’ of a righteous child after one dies.

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In the Qu'ran, Allah says:

هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَىٰ وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ

“It is He (Allah) who has sent His messenger (saw) with guidance and the religion of truth, in order for it to be dominant over all other religions, even though the Mushrikoon (disbelievers) hate it.”

^{Quran 9:33}

This also proves that Muslims will be the largest religion in the world and so they would reproduce more.

On top of this, since polygyny is allowed in Islam, a man may have quite a lot of children from each of his wives which means that there will be a lot more Muslims.

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References: Islam Q&A