Family Planning In Islam

BismilLah
The institution of marriage and the want to have children was the custom of the best of creation, the prophets and messengers chosen by Allah. Allah says about them
"And indeed I, Allah sent messengers before you and made for them wives and offspring" (al-Raad 38).
The best example for the believers is the example of the prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wasallam), who married and had children. These prophets and messengers are the people whom Muslims should look to emulate. Allah says
"They are those whom Allah has guided. So follow their guidance" (al-Anaam 90).
They should be emulated and not the disbelievers idiologies, whose new lifestyles, mostly out of concern for enjoying this life or obtaining as many worldly goods as possible, discourage women from having more children.

Islam has forbidden celibacy (state of not being married), monasticism (life of monks & nuns) and castration (removal of the male glands) for such purposes. The prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) made this clear when he told those companions who were considering acetic forms of life: "I pray and I sleep; I fast and I break my fast; and I marry women. Whoever turns away from my way of life is not from me."

The prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) not only encouraged marriage but he encouraged marrying those women who are child-bearing. He stated: "marry the loving, child-bearing women for I shall have the largest numbers among the prophets on the day of Resurrection."(Recorded by Ahmad and ibn Hibban.).

From the Islamic perspective, children are a gift and a blessing from Allah. Allah mentions some of the bounties that HE has bestowed upon mankind in the following verse: "And Allah has made for you spouses of your own kind and has made for you, from your wives, sons and grandsons, and has bestowed upon you good provisions." (al-Nahl 72).

Allah also says: "Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world." (al-Kahf 46).
The only true provider for all mankind is Allah. If Muslims follow what Allah has prescribed for them, Allah will provide for them. Allah has warned about killing one's children out of fear of poverty for either parents or the child. Allah says: "Kill not your children because of poverty, Allah provide sustenance for you and for them" (al-Anaam 151).

Hence, Muslims should never abort or kill their children out of fear of poverty. It is Allah who provides for them.
Based on the above points and numerous others, the scholars has raised some points relating to Family planning.

Basically, Family planning exist in sunnah which can be followed without any harm to ourselves using the disbelievers ways.

If You advised a young man to get married and delay having children until he has finished his studies or education, this obviously means that he has to resort to methods of birth control. In ancient times, before the new methods of birth control were invented, people resorted to Reproduction interruptus (Withdrawal) in order to restrict the number of children or allow some years gap between the children. This is a safe method, because it does not involve the use of any substance or chemical compound. It is a simple method which involves withdrawal before discharge. It is not highly effective, because some of the sperms may be released before the actual discharge. These could easily fertilize the female egg. This method was practiced in Arabia, as well in many other places. The companions of the Prophet mentioned it to him and asked him whether it was wrong. The Prophet did not forbid them that, but he told them that it could not stop Allah's work. If He wants us to create something, or in this case, if He wants a child to be born, the resort to contraception would not prevent the mother from getting pregnant.

In the light of the foregoing, we can say that using a safe and effective method of birth control is permissible, if it does not involve the use of a harmful substance. The couple must check with their doctor if a particular method is safe for them to use. If so, then they decide whether to use it or not.
Base on this I will strongly suggest that brothers and sisters in any form of relationship should rather marry the easy sunnah way and continue their education using safe way of becoming pregnant instead of delaying marriage.

Contraception and Sterilization
Question: I have four children and I am considering resorting to a sterilization operation to be done for my wife. I'm financially not too strong for more than 4 children, do I have Islamic right to go ahead?

Let us first of all deal with the financial aspect of this question. We know that Allah provides sustenance for everyone of His creation. I personally have experienced an improvement in my financial level with every child I have had so far. Indeed, that improvement was very tangible in the case of one of my children. Some people may not have such a tangible experience. It is true to say, however, that Allah will not neglect to provide sustenance for any human being. It is up to the breadwinner of the family to make use of the opportunities that Allah provides for him.
Having said that, I should also point out before attending to the question on sterilization that resorting to methods of contraception which are safe and do not affect the health of the mother is permissible. That must be kept at the individual level. By this I mean that a family may resort to contraception in order to limit the number of their children if they determine that such a thing is desirable in their particular circumstances.

Sterilization which involves a surgical operation is a special case. Unlike other methods of contraception it is permanent. Therefore it has to be viewed separately. Preventing pregnancy by surgery is known as sterilization which can be performed for either the husband or the wife. It is perhaps more accurate to say that we cannot make a general, sweeping statement in order to say that such an operation is either forbidden or permissible. Any surgery may be considered, from the strictly religious point of view, as required, recommended, discouraged or forbidden, according to the different circumstances of its person. If a highly competent doctor advises his patient that a certain operation will not only cure his illness but also prevents a speedy deterioration of his case, which is otherwise inevitable, then we can say that the operation is recommended. On the other hand, if there is no strong medical grounds for operating on a certain patient, but the doctor advises the operation only to get his fee, then the doctor commits a sin by giving such an advice.
In the case of sterilization, what we have to look for is the effect of pregnancy on the health of the mother. If a competent doctor determines that every pregnancy is likely to pose a real threat to the life of the mother or to cause serious threats to her health and that other methods of contraception may also have a bad effect on her health, then the woman may have such an operation without any qualm of conscience. It is permissible in her case. On the other hand, for a woman who asks her doctor to perform such an operation because she feels that a pregnancy may spoil her figure or having children may stop her from taking a lengthy holiday every few months, such an operation is forbidden. Imagine going for such operations then you happens to loose your children through death and wanting children, who do you blame?
I hope we've studied more about this topic and I pray that Allah grant us more understanding and bless our senior scholars or the predecessors to the Prophet with this kind of understanding.
May Allah bless us with pious children.......Aameen.

Credit:Sheik AbdurRazzaq

Posted by layi's.com on Friday, 15 September 2017 - Rating: 4.5

Title : Family Planning In Islam
Description : BismilLah The institution of marriage and the want to have children was the custom of the best of creation, the prophets and messenger...

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