Birth Control Abortion In Islam

Birth control, or family planning through contraception, has become a common practice in society. Many new methods of permanent and temporary contraception have become widespread. Consequently, Muslims have also increasingly begun adopting the various means of limiting or spacing out procreation. This no doubt has a deep influence on the very core of our society and thus raises many ethical and religious questions, particularly surrounding abortion. Birth Control & Abortion in Islam systematically and concisely presents the relevant rules and regulations of Islamic law on these issues. The discussions are based entirely on the Holy Qur’an, Sunna, and the formal legal rulings propounded by the jurists of the four major Sunni schools of Islamic law. After learning of the significance of the topic through the author’s simple writing style, the reader is guided through the Islamic teachings on the various forms of birth control and abortion with unequivocal conclusiveness. Short and to the point, it contains all the essentials one needs to know about the subject.

After the revolution of 2011, the electoral victory of the Islamist party ‘Ennahdha’ allowed previously silenced religious and conservative ideas about women’s right to abortion to be expressed. This also allowed healthcare providers in the public sector to refuse abortion and contraceptive care. This book explores the changes and continuity in the local discourses and practices related to the body, sexuality, reproduction and gender relationships. It also investigates how the bureaucratic apparatus of government healthcare facilities affects the complex moral world of clinicians and patients.

In this study of birth control in the classical Islamic world, Basim Musallam demonstrates the wide range of evidence available to dispel many assumptions that are rampant in many people's beliefs. Medieval Arabic discussions of contraception and abortion in Islamic jurisprudence, medicine, materia medica, belles lettres, erotica and popular literature show that birth control was sanctioned by Islamic law and opinion. Contraceptive methods were available throughout pre-modern times and were used to meet social, economic, personal and medical needs. Sex and Society in Islam considers the impact of birth control as a factor in demographic change, and therefore in social history.

This book discusses the common principles of morality and ethics derived from divinely endowed intuitive reason through the creation of al-fitr' a (nature) and human intellect (al-‘aql). Biomedical topics are presented and ethical issues related to topics such as genetic testing, assisted reproduction and organ transplantation are discussed. Whereas these natural sources are God’s special gifts to human beings, God’s revelation as given to the prophets is the supernatural source of divine guidance through which human communities have been guided at all times through history. The second part of the book concentrates on the objectives of Islamic religious practice – the maqa' sid – which include: Preservation of Faith, Preservation of Life, Preservation of Mind (intellect and reason), Preservation of Progeny (al-nasl) and Preservation of Property. Lastly, the third part of the book discusses selected topical issues, including abortion, assisted reproduction devices, genetics, organ transplantation, brain death and end-of-life aspects. For each topic, the current medical evidence is followed by a detailed discussion of the ethical issues involved.

How has the Islamic view of marriage, family formation and child rearing developed and adapted over the centuries? Is contraception just permitted or actively encouraged? The family is the basic social unit of Islamic society. Even without compelling population pressures, there has been concern with spacing and family planning. This book is the result of a massive research project, gathering fourteen centuries (the seventh to the twentieth) of views on family formation and planning, as expressed by leading Islamic theologians and jurists. The work has been discussed and shaped at each stage by a committee of Islamic experts representing the majority of the Muslim countries. The book provides a much needed source of reference and will be of equal value and interest to professionals in health care and development work and to those working in the academic disciplines of Middle East studies, religion and population studies.