The Fertility Debate

what the Muslims should do is to try to have as many children as they can, because this is the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who said: “Marry the one who is loving and fertile, for I will be proud of your great numbers before the nations.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, 2050; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 1805).

Having more children increases the numbers of the ummah, and increasing the numbers of the ummah is a source of its glory, as Allaah says, reminding the Children of Israel of His blessings:

“and made you more numerous in man-power”

[al-Isra’ 15:6 – interpretation of the meaning]

And Shu’ayb said to his people:

“And remember when you were but few, and He multiplied you”

[al-A’raaf 7:86 – interpretation of the meaning]

No one can deny that having a large number is a source of pride and strength for the ummah, contrary to what those pessimists think who say that large numbers causes poverty and starvation in a nation.

If the ummah increases in number, puts its trust in Allaah and believes His promises as mentioned in the aayah,

“And no moving (living) creature is there on earth but its provision is due from Allaah”

[Hood 11:6 – interpretation of the meaning], then Allaah will make things easy for them and will grant them independence of means from His bounty. Based on that, the answer to your question is as follows:

Birth control pills:

A woman should not use birth control pills, unless the following conditions are met:

1- She should need to use them, for example if she is ill and cannot cope with a pregnancy every year, or she is physically unfit, or there is some other reason that getting pregnant every year may harm her.

2- Her husband should give his permission, because the husband has the right to have children. There must also be consultation with the doctor, to find out whether these pills are harmful or not.

If these two conditions are met, there is nothing wrong with taking these pills, but that should not be on a permanent basis, because that means preventing having children.

With regard to ‘azl (coitus interruptus), or withdrawing during intercourse, the correct scholarly view is that there is nothing wrong with it, because of the hadeeth of Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him): “We used to practise ‘azl at the time when the Qur’aan was being revealed” – i.e., at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). If that action had been haraam, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would have forbidden it. But the scholars say that one should not engage in ‘azl with a free woman except with her permission, because she has the right to have children. Moreover, withdrawing without her permission diminishes her pleasure, because the woman’s pleasure can only be completed after ejaculation. So not asking her permission causes her to lose out on pleasure and on the possibility of having children. Hence we state the condition that this may only be done with her permission.

From Fataawa al-Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen.

Re: # 1
..Having more children increases the numbers of the ummah, and increasing the numbers of the ummah is a source of its glory, as Allaah says, reminding the Children of Israel of His blessings:...``

IWhat an insane idea! It perhaps was OK in the 7th century. Now what you want to do ? -Increase population and drown and choke in numbers and the pollution it creates!

I think Religionists and religion has no busines to tell awoman about her body and soul. It is between her and her God. Sooner the Mullaha and priests get out of town, the better.

Kamath

Guys Guys...this is not about having litters and such. Islam is laying down the law that couples should decide jointly as to the numbers of kids they want to have. And until Aisha wrote this article, no one in the muslim world actually knew that. Not even the prophet..how many kids did that cat have?

> what the Muslims should do is to try to have as many children as they can, because this is
> the command of the Prophet

i guess ur kind is already doing that. There is now almost 30% muslim population in assam.
at this rate - Assam should soon become our second muslim majority state...

> Marry the one who is loving and fertile, for I will be proud of your great numbers before the
> nations
are sure this was god speaking.... sounds like satan to me.
no wait - this is YOUR god speaking , right ... ok now it makes sense.

carry on.

re: Aisha

This was a very educational article.

Thanks!

Ciao

this is a slippery slope..once you allow women to have procreation rights, they will next demand sexual rights..and then the ``society`` comes undone.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

``Why do most Muslim populations have a higher birth rate than other communities in similar geographic bounds? Why is Turkey’s birth rate higher than neighboring Greece? And how much of a say do Muslim woman have on how and when their uteruses are filled with life?``

there may be simpler explannation besides those highfaluting concepts of Ijtehad or Taqleed.

without bringing Islam exclusively into the uterus as well -- if we look at it rather objectively -- the Muslim woman has as much a say as a Pope`s Catholic woman has -- or for that matter a Greek Orthodox Church`s woman has -- as to ``how and when their uteruses are filled with life``....

may be the Greek men have other non-uterine avenues of sports and WORK available to them to exhaust themselves -- and the poor Turks have none -- except the uterus to play with, for most of their Non- Working hours....

....(which may be fewer and far between for the industrious Greeks but plenty for the lazyTurks)…....

Aisha,
Finally I finished reading your excellent article on a very important subject. In our misplaced quest for domination via numbers, we Muslims are actually fornicating ourselves into abject poverty and backwardness. The same taboos against contraceptives that Muslim ulema impose are in fact there in writing in the Holy Bible. For example, Onan, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham, was struck dead by God because he ``wasted`` his seed during intercourse with his brother Er`s widow, Tamar.

The following is an interesting story from the Bible about how men have traditionally, morally, and socially controlled the two-party task of procreation:

http://www.duckworks.net/byEd/chapter3.html

``Family Matters``

{``Judah had sons named Er, Onan, and Shelah.

Er married a woman named Tamar, but then Er offended God, so God killed him. Judah told Onan to impregnate Tamar, according to the tradition. Onan was not disposed to do so, so he practiced coitus interruptus with her. This offended God, so God killed Onan too. Almost out of sons, Judah sent Tamar home to her father. He promised that she could marry Shelah as soon as he grew up. Years passed. Shelah had grown up, but Tamar was still living a widow`s life at her dad`s.

One time, when she knew Judah would pass by a certain place, she disguised herself as a prostitute, putting a veil on her face. When he saw her, he offered her a goat in exchange for a sexual encounter. She accepted. He didn`t have a goat right with him, so he left his seal, cord and staff as security. When he tried to pay up, Tamar had already resumed her true identity, so she didn`t get her goat.

About three months later, Judah was told that his daughter-in-law Tamar had been playing the harlot and had gotten pregnant. He ordered her to be burned alive. Tamar showed Judah the seal, cord and staff, and said that it was the owner of these who`d knocked her up. Recognizing them, Judah knew what happened. He said that he`d really deserved it since he hadn`t given his last son Shelah to Tamar, so he didn`t burn her alive.

In due time, she bore twins, Perez and Zerah. As it turned out, Perez`s direct descendants included King David, and later Joseph the carpenter, Jesus` step-dad. ``}

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

There is a well known relationship between economic development and fertility rates.

Once that is accounted for, is there any correlation between religion and fertility rates?

contrary to popular belief,turkey, iran and algeria`s fertility rates have dropped to western levels, without the western social welfare,that is a grim prospect for elderly folks.

Ref Salim_Chauhan #7

Actually, invading Turks introduced buggery to Bulgaria, condemning an entire nation!

Dear Writer

Very thoughtful article! I must say you have done an excellent job of putting it all together.

In my opinion abortion is every woman`s personal choice, right and decision to make with any pregnancy, either expected or unexpected.

I have seen women who are strongly against abortion, end up having one, when they end up having unexpected pregnancy. At that point, it becomes their own issue.

The countries where abortion is not legal, like Pakistan, I have witnessed millions of women going for backstreet abortions in highly unsanitary conditions induced by mid wives and they ended up in hospitals with either incomplete abortions, bleeding profusely, missed abortions, septic abortions, or with uterine ruptures and septicemia, hemorrhagic shocks, and majority of them died either at their homes or in hospitals due to all these complications of backstreet abortions.

Mostly, by the time they reached hospitals, it was too, late and they died at the spot.........

In America, where abortion is legal, there are almost no abortion induced complications.

Not only that every women has every right to her own body, she is not anyone`s slave to make this important decision by other`s choice.

Give them freedom of choice, don`t give them deaths.

Even if religious Mullahs raise slogans against abortions, abortions can`t be stopped.

As a result of this, majority of women in an effort to hide their abortions under the carpet loose their lives and their genitalias........................

On side note:-

99.05% percent of anti-abortion leaders are men. 100% of them will never be pregnant. ~Planned Parenthood advertisement

khurram, aslam644

Do you guys know of any good research in this area?