Family Planning in Islam

According to the Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) of Pregnancy in Islam, “the more the merrier,” is the consensus amongst scholars, but this by no means is to discriminate against those who prefer smaller families. In lieu of that, all forms of temporary family planning are permissible, based on the Hadith that the sahabah used to practice coitus interruptus (withdrawal before ejaculation), to space out pregnancies, and the Prophet (PBUH) did not object to this. There is however, a majority consensus that this has to be done in agreement between spouses, to obvious maintain mutual understanding, love, and respect between husband and wife.

As with the myriad of modern contraception, all forms are permissible, unless they are permanent in nature or dubious in terms of safety. A permanent contraception would include tubal ligation for the woman or a vasectomy for the man. A tubal ligation would only be permissible if a subsequent pregnancy would seriously threaten the health / life of the mother. A contraception that is dubious in terms of safety include those that are invasive or contain chemicals that may cause harm to the user as well.

And with respects to family planning, the responsibility also falls upon couples to plan spacing between children and the number of preferred children in mutual kindness between spouses. Seeing as only temporary contraception is permissible, it also falls upon couples to be in a state of redha (contentment) in the event a surprise conception takes place.

While there may be social pressure to keep families small, and this often revolves around financial strain, and on a larger scale, the fear of overpopulation and depleting resources, Allah ta’ala reminds in several places of the Qur’an:

- “And no moving (living) creature is there on earth but its provision is due from Allaah.” (Hud: 6)

- “And so many a moving (living) creature there is, that carries not its own provision! Allah provides for it and for you. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.” (Ankabut: 60)

- “And kill not your children for fear of poverty. We provide for them and for you. Surely, the killing of them is a great sin.” (Al-Israa: 31)

By these ayahs (verses) alone, one would wonder whether fears of financial stress and overpopulation are even true. While it’s easy to conclude as Muslims that Allah will provide for every baby of whom He allows to be conceived (through resources provided to the parents, like work opportunities), overpopulation has also been proven to be one of the greatest myths of modern times, causing unnecessary fear in modern society, causing nations to put a limit on procreation.

While I agree that staunch poverty exists in some parts of the world, as does other basic amenities as well as important resources to education, these problems lie in the poor management of the same, self-serving political ideologies, and a deterioration of humanitarian values that should extend help to others. Scarcity of resources is not due to over population.

In fact, according to Population Research Institute, Key Causes of Hunger is a function of several factors, including: poverty, conflict and war, natural disasters, over exploitation of natural resources, and poor agricultural infrastructures. Notice how over population is not a recorded key cause in this instance either.

http://www.onislam.net/english/family/your-society/480267-family-planning-religion-a-social-pressures-.html

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