Family planning and Islam.

Abstract

This summarizes briefly teachings on family planning according to the consensus, or Ijma, of Muslim jurists. "Limitation of numbers" or family planning is permitted for preserving the good life, for ensuring economic security, for preserving the health of the wife, and, by implication, when the consent of the wife is given. Azl (coitus interruptus) is definitely permitted with the consent of the wife. New methods may be adopted subject to the principle of moral behavior. The wife can adopt any method with the consent of her husband in order to save her life. She can adopt it without his consent if she is in poor health. The use of qualified medical advice is emphasized. The view that contraception is killing children is extreme; the admonition in the Holy Koran not to recourse to infanticide is to discourage the killing of children, and is not directed at healthy methods of birth control. Islam stands for a positive life and does not give credence to the fatalism and pessimism of Malthusian calculus. It also does not uphold family planning as a negative factor in economics and society.

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