Family Planning / Birth control in Islam خاندانی منصوبہ بندی اسلام میں

The concept of Family Planning in Islam

                                                                        Aleem Khan Falaki

                                                                                       aleemfalki@yahoo.com

Definition:  Family planning is the planning of when to have children and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans, as defined by Wikipedia. And the Birth control is defined as Voluntary limitation or control of the number of children conceived, especially by planned use of contraceptive techniques.

In Islamic terms, it is not possible to concise the answer in one word ‘yes’ or’ no’ to the question of legitimacy of prevailing concept of Family Planning or birth control as mentioned above.  

Islam’s concept of the family planning is different. It does not limit the family planning to the number or timing of the children but gives a broader spectrum of the planning the family. It includes other important factors which influence the establishment and development of the family with prosperity. The teachings about the family planning in Islam start from the moment the man intends to marry a woman. Emphasis is given to his financial affordability, choice of the spouse, method of marriage ceremony, providing all household needs, procreation and their right brought until the children reach to maturity. These are all vital parts of the family planning, all equally important and inter-related. Just like the parts of a machine, if any part falls short of its functioning, the machine ceases to work, in the same way if any teaching about mentioned faculties is neglected, whole system breaks down. At present, people have adopted to their convenience in all other factors, mostly violating the teachings of Islam, turn up to the scholars only in the matter of birth control. It is but natural that when they opt to non-Islamic culture in the matters of selection, marriage ceremony and life style but tend to seek Islamic ruling on having excessive or less children, it does not fit to their convenience. As a result, the Islamic ruling about the birth control looks odd to them.

Islam although encourages having large family but does not stop birth control too. It is neither illegitimate nor a sin.¹

The critics of the large family accuse over population as the cause of the poverty. This is partly true. Islam rejects the idea that the excessive number of children brings poverty. The prosperity has nothing to do with the riches or poverty. It is embedded in the right way of life given by Islam. As a result of neglecting the Islamic teachings about the whole planning of the family, the world is facing far greater problems than the over population. For example:

Affordability: The Prophet SAWS said to his companions “Those who can afford financially they should marry without delay, those who can not afford should observe Fast as the Fast suppresses the sexual urge.² Here Affording means not only the amount of dower but every that kind of spending which is needed after marriage. He also stressed that the man must declare the maximum limit of his affordability to the woman and let her decide whether she wants to marry or not. The main criteria of the marriage are that the man should not let the woman or her parents spend on or after marriage. But in the present age, the men tend to spend less and force the woman to spend more on the marriage. Due to the violation of the Islamic teaching, millions of girls and their parents are suffering. All the moral evils and financial burdens increasing in the society are rooted to this violation only.    

The Divorces: Islam does not prohibit Divorce but pronounces it as the most disliked thing in the permitted acts. The number of divorce cases in the courts is at high rise. In Delhi alone, as stated by the Law Minister Mr. M.V. Moily, 9000 cases and in Bombay 7500 cases were recorded in the year 2010. In the following year 2011 Maharashtra topped with 20,000 cases.³

 The reason of the divorces mostly is lacking of matching. Due to the high dowry, men marry the women but later on they do not find their mindset in the same frequency due to the difference in the education, life style, way of thinking etc.

Another reason of the divorces is that people violate the teachings about the selection of the spouse. The Prophet SAWS emphasized that the character be preferred to the wealth, family and genealogy⁴. Since people fall prey out of greed to the wealth, family and genealogy; the shortcomings in the character appear and seize the marriage. This issue poses a biggest threat to the society. This is not due to a large family but due to the violation of a golden rule.

Children of the divorcee parents: One can imagine the number of the children who lose either mother or father and have to take shelter with either step mother or step father or other near relatives. The kind of negative impacts on the psychology too has to be considered. In Islamic jurisprudence, the expenditure of such children was born by the Baitul Maal (Social security) but since there is no system of Baitul Maal, therefore thousands of children suffer. Again, this is not due to the over population but due to the lack of proper government.

The illegitimate relationships: Islam strictly prohibits the premarital meeting in privacy by any man or woman and regards it as a major sin⁵. Like the West, the tendency of having illegitimate relationships instead of marriage is increasing in the big cities of India. The women do want to marry but the men are exploiting under the excuse of progressive thinking. Any resort, motel or hotel on the outskirts of any city can be observed where hundreds of pairs lease the temporary apartments on hourly basis seeking temporary pleasure to avoid a permanent life of living together. Thus, people tend to have no children or fewer children due to the fear of poverty or inconvenience but, as a result, a society comes to existence which has no loyalty among the couples.

Infanticide and foeticide: The Quran prohibits the killing of infants in Chapter 17, Bani Israel: “Never kill the children due to the fear of poverty”. But “Due to the fear of dowry 50 million girls and women are missing from India’s population due to the infanticide and foeticide⁶.

 In Pakistan nearly 4 girls are killed daily within 24 hours of their birth as reported by the well known social welfare Trust’s Mr. Edhi⁷.

Dowry system:  Islam prohibits the dowry trade. It pronounces this as bribe⁸. The critics of over population make the poverty as an excuse. The poverty arises due to dowry system. The parents have to give away life long earning in the dowry of the daughters and get compelled to live in destitution. The other children too get deprived of their education and other facilities. Here, not the number of daughters that matters but the dowry system that leads to poverty.

Corruption: The scandals of thousands of crores are coming to light every day. The leaders as well as the government personnel are involved in this looting; the people are deprived of their livelihood. Here not the over population but the resources are stolen away by these the corrupt authorities. Islamic jurisprudence asks to mutilate the hands of such criminals.

Education and Morality: The advocates of the family planning claim that the proper education and their moral training decrease if the number of children increases. This may be right if the meaning of education is limited to a degree to obtain a high caliber employment. But Islam implies the education as the moral brought up of the child. The morality among the children comes in the children through religious education. The religious education has been ceased in the present education system. Therefore, the children of small families too are involved in the several misdeeds and crimes inside and outside the home. Therefore it is not the over population but the lack of moral education which is responsible for ebbing morality.

Thus, if the concept of family planning is not limited to the number of children but if it is expanded from the time of marriage to the maturity of the children, Islam gives a perfect planning of a prosperous family in which excessive number of children is not a barrier in the growth of the country. 

Bibliography:

1.       Maulana Raghib Nayeemi, Jamia Nayeemia, Lahore, Pakistan, 2010 http://centralasiaonline.com/ur/articles/caii/features/pakistan/2010/01/19/feature-02)

2.    Sahi al Bukhari vol II:758.

3.    DNA issue dated 24.6.2010

www.dnaindia.com/india/report_55000-couples-waiting-for-divorce-in-india_1400514

www.rediff.com/news/report/maharashtra-tops-nation-in-divorce-cases/20120330.htm

4.    Bukhari and Muslim

5.    Masnad Ahmed, Allama Yousuf Qardawi, Islam men Halaal wo Haraam, 1989, Darussalafia, Delhi, page 199.

6.     UNICEF  http://www.indianchild.com/abortion_infanticide_foeticide_india.htm

7.       http://tribune.com.pk/story/105019/infanticide-on-the-rise-in-pakistan-statistics/

8.    Quran Chapter 2:188

Why the Family planning subject is sensitive for some Muslims?

It is a strange phenomenon that the ordinary Muslims deliberately violate several teachings of Islam like taking Dowry etc but they react reluctantly on the topic of Family Planning as if it is an attack on their religion. Is it due to their ardent conviction in Islamic jurisprudence or some other factors influencing their sensitivity about this subject? We have to search the answer in the history of 1857’s Jihad against the British rule. The British Raj called it a mutiny. Hundreds of scholars and Muslim freedom fighters were killed brutally, thousands were made homeless. The Muslim rule as well as their culture, language, religious freedom, employments and education were shunned. Some scholars were sentenced to “Kaali paani”. (exile in Ondman Nikobar islands). The religious scholars were leading the Muslim nation. They declared boycott of English rule and their culture. This was the best strategy of that time to restore the courage and confidence among the Muslims. It was a revolutionary call to keep the spirits high to fight for the freedom.

Whatever change the British had introduced, it met with strong opposition. The scholars left no stone unturned in declaring every act of British as Haraam (illegitimate) in Islam. These included Banking, English education, Life Insurance, Birth Control or Family Planning, employment of woman, Government jobs etc. This boycott was a wise decision of that time but its effects still continued in the minds even after 160 years of British rule. Had the British were practicing Dowry and extravagance, the opposition to it would have been of same intensity.

The scholars unanimously say about the Birth control that: This is purely a personal, Private and closed-door decision between the husband and wife. Propagating it openly and making it a mission or profession to persuade the people to do so is not acceptable as adopting the Birth Control method is permissible but not an obligatory act in Islam¹.

The advocates of the Birth Control say that: If propagation in favor of Family planning is not legitimate, how can be the propagation against it is legitimate while this is a private and personal matter of the couple? As a matter of fact strong the Government departments propagate for the Family Planning stronger the scholars persuade for producing many number of children. The motto clearly felt behind the call is to oppose and agitate against the government, not the conviction upon Islam. The scholars too should not incite the people to go against it as they themselves agree that neither producing more children nor having fewer children is an obligatory act. The Quranic verse presented by various scholars rejecting the Birth Control is:”Never kill the children due to the fear of Poverty, we are the providers for you and them”². Asghar Ali Engineer refutes this argument as: “In no way this verse refers to family planning because it is talking of ‘killing’ and you kill one who exists. No law in the world will permit killing one who is already born and hence Qur’an rightly condemns killing of children”³.

He argues that: “But, as Imam Razi suggests it refers to both male and female children being kept ignorant. Thus killing them has not been used killing the body but mind which is as bad as killing the body. Imam Razi’s suggestion seems to be quite reasonable and in fact large family means children cannot be properly educated by poor parents and hence parents kill them mentally by keeping them ignorant. They cannot even cloth them properly nor can provide proper space for living. In such circumstances one cannot have good quality Muslims and mere quantity does not matter much. Better quality is more desirable than mere quantity.

First of all we should understand that in those days the problem of family planning did not exist nor that of population control. It is very much modern problem which has arisen in nation states. When Qur’an was being revealed there were neither any properly organized state nor education or health services being provided by any state agency. It is important to note that Qur’an which shows eight ways to spend Zakat, does not include education or health which is so essential for the state to provide today. Thus what Imam Razi suggests is not only very correct and also enhances importance of family planning in the modern times as small family can support better education and health services”.

Further he says: “In fact family planning does not mean killing children after they are born but to plan birth of children in a way that parents can bear all the expenses for their education, health, living space etc. in a proper manner. Qur’an also suggests that a child be suckled at least for two years and it is well known that as long as mother suckles she would not conceive. Thus indirectly Qur’an also suggests spacing of a child.

Even in Hadith literature we find that the Prophet (PBUH) permitted prevention of conceiving in certain circumstances. When a person asked Prophet for permission for ‘azl  (coitus interrupts) as he was going for a long journey along with his wife and he did not want his wife to conceive while travelling the Messenger of Allah allowed him. In those days ‘azl was the only known method for planning of birth of a child. Today there are several methods available like use of condoms”.

Some Traditions (Sayings of the Prophet SAWS) are usually presented in support of rejecting the Family Planning. For Example:

1.    The Prophet SAWS said to Jaber RZ who had married to a widow : Why didn’t you marry a virgin, she would play with you”⁴.

2.    Umme Sulaim request the Prophet SAWS to pray for Anas RZ. The Prophet SAWS prayed for the growth in the wealth and progeny of Ansa RZ. He RZ got enormous and had over 100 children and grand children⁵.

3.    The Prophet SAWS told to Ayad Bin Ghanam: O Ayad, don’t marry a barren woman. I will be proud of your strength on the Doom’s day⁶.

There are many other similar Traditions quoted on this subject. On study in depth, we find that the text is correct but the context is missing. Therefore, the Traditions appear to have a different meaning than the original intention of the Shariya. Since the Prophet SAWS had been a best counselor too of his time, his different suggestions to different companions were a part of personal counseling to individuals. The scholars described these traditions as if a general rule, which is unfair. If these traditions are not studied in their original context, their meanings too reflect negatively on the humanity. For example, in the mentioned above tradition 1, without knowing the real background, the reader may raise objection that this is a mockery and insult to a widow. The true incident was that Jaber RZ’s father had died in a war leaving younger sisters to Jaber RZ. His mother too had died earlier. He was not sound financially. The younger sisters were yet to marry. The Prophet asked why he married a widow, why not a young virgin, he answered that his sisters were too young teens. He wanted his wife to be little experienced, older and take care of his sisters like an elder sister or mother. Similarly, the Ttradition no. 3 will look like degrading a barren woman if the background of the Hadith is not presented properly.  It is not fair to quote the tradition’s text without context. The status of all the Traditions found in favor of the excessive number of children are like advises to the individuals by a wise and true counselor. These do reflect an inspiration and encouragement but should not be made source of propagation to produce more children. All the four schools of thought recognized the validity of having a large family as well as a planned small family. Ibn Taymia writes “All four scholars permit the AZL (Withdrawal) with the condition that the wife consents to it”⁷.

Another Tradition is present in favor of large family that :I will be proud on the strength of my nation on Dooms day, don’t let me down”^8. The words “I will be proud” is used commonly in other Traditions too as an expletive or phrase habitually introduced into speech. This can not be categorized as an obligatory act. For example, in another Tradition it is said that on the Dooms day when the Prophet SAWS will call “Ummati, Ummati (O my nation) on Hauz Kausar (a lake in the paradise), many will gather, but a wall will be partitioned in between the Prophet SAWS and some Ummatis. The Prophet SAWS will ask “Why they are separated from me?” the angels will reply “These people had invented newer things in Islam after you”. Then the Prophet SAWS will angrily pronounce acquittal from them”.

In a similar Tradition the Prophet SAWS says: I will lead you on the Hauz Kausar and will be proud on your strength in front of other Prophets’ nations. Beware, never commit bloodshed and murders after me”⁹. All these Traditions negate the number and endorse the number with quality. It means clearly that the Prophet SAWS does not need a number which has been produced in protest against the British or the Government’s policies but He SAWS wants the number who holds to His teachings firmly. This matter belongs to education and training which is possible only with the small family. In another Tradition a companion RZ said: “The Jews claim that the AZL is like infanticide”. The Prophet SAWS denied this angrily and said “Jews are lying”¹⁰. Thus the Prophet SAWS did not stop from Birth Control. There is another tradition endorses this permission that a companion Jaber RZ says: We used to practice AZL while the Quran was under revelation and the Prophet SAWS was alive among us. He did not stop us”¹¹. These Traditions are evident to clarify that the whichever method of Birth Control was existing that time, was permitted. Imam Ghazali has not only permitted the Birth Control on the basis of the health reasons to the woman but also permitted if she fears of losing her beauty and body physic.

Allama Yousuf Qardawi says: Islam has encouraged procreation of many children but did not stop the Family planning if there are appropriate reasons. Therefore the contemporary method of Birth Control “AZL” was permitted. Ali Ibn Abi Talib RZ has denied that the AZL is like infanticide and said “Unless the drop of semen takes the shape of living flesh and bones in the mother’s womb, it can not be regarded as infanticide”. The Birth Control is allowed not only if there is a health risk to the woman but also inevitable if the couples feel that they may indulge in the worldly affairs so heavily that it will result in negligence from Islamic teachings. The Prophet SAWS had stressed on giving the space to the next child until the milking period of two years is over. Ibn Qayyim goes to the extent that even the intercourse during the milking period is questionable as this may effect the health of the child if another pregnancy takes place. Therefore, if someone wants to respect this instruction of the Prophet SAWS, he should give space to the next child from 30 to 33 months. Caliph Omer RZ had prohibited AZL without the consent of the wife. Thus Islam paved the way to protect the Woman Rights at a time when the people were not aware of the Woman’s Rights”¹².

Bibliography:

1.    Monthly Bayyinaat, Jamia Uloom islamiya,Lahore, Oct,2010, volume 73

2.    (Chapter Bani Israe 17:31)

3.       Asghar Ali Engineer, New Age Islam, 22^nd Oct, 2011, http://www.newageislam.com/articledetails.aspx?ID=5752

4.    Md. Iqbal Kaylani, King Saud Univ. Riyadh, Kitabuttalaq, Hadith Publications, Lahore, 2000, page 51

5.    Muslim 2/298

6.    Mustadrak Haakim 4/339

7.    Majmooal Fatawa Ibn Taymiya 32/100 

8.    Abu Dawood 2050

9.     Sunan Ibn Maja 293.

10.  Sahi Abu Dawood, Kitabun Nikah 1902.

11. Sahi Bukhari volume 7, 136.

12. Allama Yousuf Qardawi, Islam men Halaal wo Haraam, Darul Salafiya publications, Bombay, 1989, page 264-269