Encyclopedia of Islam

birth control and family planning

Birth control and family planning are significant 

issues in many Muslim countries today. Statisti-

cal surveys indicate that Muslim countries have 

among the highest population growth rates in 

the world. While the rate in Western countries 

such as Great Britain is .2 percent, .39 percent in 

France, and .89 percent in the U

nited

  s

tates

, in 

Muslim countries it can reach nearly 3.5 percent. 

For example, it is 1.49 percent in i

ndonesia

, 1.98 

percent in p

akistan

, 2.08 percent in b

angladesh

,

2.44 percent in s

aUdi

 a

rabia

, and 3.44 percent in 

y

emen

. The governments of most of these coun-

tries as well as regional and international organi-

zations realize that such growth rates pose serious 

challenges to social and economic development 

programs. Many governments do not have the 

resources to meet the needs of their own people, 

and even those that have ample resources—partic-

ularly oil-producing countries such as Saudi Ara-

bia—have difficulty dealing with the challenges of 

population growth due to inefficient or unequal 

distribution of the wealth, corruption of officials, 

or political instability. With growing populations 

and inadequate resources, people are not able 

to obtain adequate schooling, health care, and 

employment. Even though governments realize 

that family planning and birth control programs 

can help alleviate these problems, other factors, 

including religion, affect the extent to which they 

are willing and able to implement them.

Muslims have looked to the q

Uran

 and 

hadith

for guidance on birth control and family plan-

ning, as they do for other issues of importance 

in their lives. It is important to realize, however, 

that their sacred scriptures are ambiguous on the 

subject, therefore leaving room for different inter-

pretations. Two verses in the Quran forbid slay-

ing 

children

 because of inability to provide for 

them (Q 17:31; 6:151). The Quran also implicitly 

condemns the killing of female infants (Q 60:12; 

81:8–9), a practice observed by some a

rab

 tribes 

in western Arabia at the time of i

slam

’s appear-

ance. Such verses are used to promote a “right-to-

life” approach to birth control. Opponents of birth 

control also quote verses that refer to children 

as being a divine gift (Q 16:72; 18:46; 25:74). 

They find additional support in the Quran and 

hadith for the view that contraception is wrong 

because only God has the power to determine 

life and sustain it (Q 67:1–2; 56:57–74; 11:6). 

Humans, therefore, should not act against his 

will. On the other hand, advocates of birth con-

Egyptian newlyweds with family members 

(Juan E. 

Campo)

K  104