http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/851985.cms
Green
Signal: Islam is Not Opposed to Family Planning
Javed Anand
It is extremely
unfortunate that vice-chairman of the All India Muslim Personal
Law Board Maulana Kalbe Sadiq should attract so much criticism
for his statement that Islam is not against family planning. The
not-so-well-informed maulvi saheb from a poor Muslim mohalla may
be forgiven were he to counter the good maulana with verses from
the Qur'an such as: "Kill not your children for fear of want, We
provide sustenance for them and for you, the killing of them is
a great sin" ( al-Isra, Sura 17:31 ). But the high priests of
Indian Islam who have been as quick with their condemnation
ought to have known better.
The Quranic verses, they will be the first to tell us, are not
an abstract treatise but verses revealed to Prophet Muhammad
over a span of two decades as Allah's directions to the
believers on particular issues in specific contexts. They surely
must know that verses such as the above were Allah's admonition
to Muslims to desist from infanticide, particularly of the girl
child, which was then rampant in Arabia: "And when one of them
receives tidings of the birth of a female child (for him), his
face darkens in sadness and disappointment... (He argues with
himself) shall he keep it in contempt, or bury it alive? ( al-Nahl,
Sura 16:58, 59 ). Clearly, it is such practice that the Qur'an
strictly forbids, calling it "a great sin".
It is true that through the centuries some Muslims have equated
family planning with infanticide and thus concluded it was
forbidden in Islam. But as Prof Abdel Rahim Omran, former chief
population advisor to the world-renowned Al-Azhar (Islamic)
University, Cairo, points out, Islam not only permits, but
actively encourages, non-reversible forms of birth control
practices.
"The most gruelling trial is to have plenty of children with no
adequate means", says one of the well-authenticated Traditions
of Prophet Muhammad. "A multitude of children is one of the two
poverties (or causes of penury) while a small number is one of
the two cases of ease", is another.
Another Tradition reported by Jabir bin Abdullah says: "We used
to practise al-azl (coitus interreptus) during the time of the
Prophet. The Prophet came to know about it but did not forbid us
(doing it)". And here's a clincher from the highly respected Abu
Huraira: "The Prophet was asked about al azl. They (the
Companions) said, 'The Jews claim it is minor infanticide'. He
categorically denied such a contention by the Jews".
From the Qur'an and the Traditions of the Prophet, Prof Omran
proceeds to show that between the seventh and the nineteenth
century, the majority opinion among all the major schools of
Islamic jurisprudence — Hanafi, Maliki, Shafei, Hanbali (all
Sunni), Zaidi, Imami (Twelvers), Ismaili (all Shia) — was that
al azl was permissible in Islam. For the large majority of
Islamic jurists (jumhour al-ulama), health, economics, emotional
well-being and cultural responsibilities were all valid grounds
for preventing pregnancy. The minor Zahiri and the Ibaddi (Kharijite)
were the only opposing schools.
On modern methods of contraception, Islamic scholars have
consistently argued that current-day methods of birth control,
such as contraceptive pills, IUDs etc, are as acceptable "so
long as the purpose is to prevent pregnancy". In fact, many are
of the opinion that modern methods are preferable "because they
allow normal and complete marital relations".
Admittedly, sterilisation that results in permanent loss of
fertility is considered impermissible in Islam, except for
health reasons, in which case the same is mandatory. And on the
question of abortion, there is a difference of opinion: While
for one school, abortion is not permitted 40 days after
conception, for the other the time limit stretches to until 120
days after conception.
On the Indian subcontinent there have been important voices for
planned families. Shah Abdel Aziz says in his famous 19th
century Tafsir of the Qur'an: "The use of medicines before or
after coitus for preventing contraception is as lawful as al azl.
Imam Shafei interpreted the Quranic verse (Sura 4:3-4) as a
counsel to monogamy as the best way to avoid too many children".
And the 500 religious scholars who codified Islamic law during
the time of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb were agreed that
contraception was permissible with the consent of one's partner.
In recent decades, international conferences on Islam and family
planning (Rabat, Morocco, 1971; Banjul, Gambia, 1979; Dakar,
Senegal, 1982; Aceh, Indonesia, 1990; Mogadishu, Somalia, 1990)
attended by Islamic scholars from the Middle East, Asia, the Far
East and Africa arrived at the conclusion that not only did
Islam permit certain forms of family planning, but also
encouraged Muslims to practise it.
For years now, family planning has been officially promoted in
many proclaimed Islamic states, including Iran, Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Indonesia. Shia-majority Iran and Sunni-majority
Indonesia are held up as population control success stories. The
consensus emanating from over 14 centuries of theological and
lived Islam is overwhelming. Should Indian Muslims locate
themselves at the confluence of religion, reason, commonsense
and mainstream national sentiment, as Maulana Sadiq proposes, or
should they choose to, among other things, denounce family
planning as "a plot against Islam" as the late Maulana Maududi,
founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami, did? Not a very difficult
choice, it would seem.
(The writer is co-editor 'Communalism Combat'.)