Family Planning

[Orange]

Dear Brother Joseph,

Please share your views on

1. Family Planning as in using of condoms as means of safeguarding
i) Health
ii) Probable risk of poverty
iii) Simply 'No' intentions of having a baby

Regards

[Sardar Miyan]

Furthermore I remember to have heard  that  is there permission to practice Coitus interruptus.I do not know where it is mentioned. May be  in Secondary Source.


____________________

Dear brother Sardar,

Please mind that there are brothers and sisters of various ages on this board. Please can you try to make use of appropriate words to avoid being graphic / explicit

Your post has beem modified with the insertion in bold.

Thank you for your consideration

QM Moderator

[Joseph Islam]

Salamun Alaikum.

There is no prohibition in the Quran with regards family planning (prevention). Please note some make use of 17:31 to argue a prohibition. Verse (17:31) deals with 'termination / murder' and not 'prevention' although there is some wider wisdom to be extracted with regards 'fearing poverty'.

I hope that helps, God willing.

Kind regards,
Joseph.

[Orange]

Salamun Alaikum

Kindly elaborate when you say ".. there is some wider wisdom to be extracted with regards 'fearing poverty'."

regards

[Joseph Islam]

Salamun Alaikum.

In many aspects of our lives our decisions are sometimes influenced by a fear of poverty that 'may' affect us if we make certain choices.

For example, we may decide not to have a child because we may think that the financial burden may become too great or we will not be able to provide for the child sufficiently. Yet, some may argue given the same circumstances, that if they put a little faith in God and made the choice to have a child that God would provide enough for everybody.

There is a fine balance to appreciate.

From a Quranic perspective, God is the ultimate provider and there is more than a suggestion that we should evaluate our fears allowing for an element of faith and trust in God in our decisions.  The Quran actually distinguishes between types of fears, ‘khafa’ and ‘khashiya’.

Generally, 'khashiya' implies a fear which is based on actual knowledge or a fear which has a sound basis in knowledge for that fear. For example, a fear based on veneration, awe and in reverence to God would be 'khashiya'.

Please see related article [1] below.

In contrast, 'khafa' has a generalised import and denotes a fear which may or may not have a sound basis on which the fear is based. For example, a fear that someone may attack you (4:101), fearing poverty, fearing heights, fearing lightening (13:12), fearing darkness, fearing what someone may do after you die (19:5) etc, are examples of 'khawf' which may or may not have a sound basis for the fear.

Now the type of ‘fear’ mentioned in 17:31 is ‘khashya’ so would imply a fear which may have some sound basis for the fear. In this case it would imply that there are sound circumstances present to make one believe that they would incline / move deeper into poverty if they did not kill their child. Yet, God responds to this by intimating that despite what may be apparent, it is within God’s remit to enrich one or provide adequate means for support (apart from it being a great sin).

017:031
"And do not kill your children for fear of poverty; We provide for them and for you; Indeed, to kill them is a great sin"

Similarly it is Satan that instils such fears.  A couple of verses are quite insightful and ultimately underscore the trust in God that we should always allow for in our decision making process.

002:268
The Satan promises you with poverty and orders you to immorality, while God promises you forgiveness from Him and abundance / bounty; and God is ample-giving / vast / encompassing, Knowing.

065:003 (part)
"And He will provide for him from where he thinks not (has no expectation). And whosoever puts his trust in God, then He is sufficient for him...."


I hope that helps, God willing.
Joseph.


RELATED ARTICLE

[1] TWO VERBS TO DESCRIBE 'FEAR' (KHASHIYA & KHAFA) - THE DIFFERENCE
http://quransmessage.com/articles/fear%20FM3.htm

[Sardar Miyan]

I think Abortion ,other than health grounds, falls in the category of killing children.

[HOPE]

Peace brother,

People are divided on this issue.  Is fetus a child?  When does a fetus become viable?  Does a female own her body?  Does the 'unborn' have the same rights as the 'born'?
I think it is best to leave the decision to the mother and her faith.  It is a matter of faith.  It is one thing that we provide counseling to help her make an informed decision; it is another thing to bomb the abortion clinics.