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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Edicts on Family Planning Opinion of the Scholars and Jurisprudents of the Ahl As-Sunnah in relation to Family Planning Rule 1: The first fatawa (Islamic ruling) in relation to the prohibition of any form of birth control to prevent pregnancy given within the Islamic countries was on the 29th of January, 1937 from Shaikh `Abdul Hamid – the great Mufti of Egypt.

In this letter which was a response to a question as to what the opinion of Islam is in regards to birth control and abortion from the point of view of medicine and society, it was answered: a) Both the husband and the wife have the choice of preventing pregnancy due to medical reasons or societal issues through any preventative way and it is not a condition to have the consent of the other side.

b) It is permissible to use medicine and other measures which would result in the abortion of the fetus up until the 16th week (four months) of the pregnancy with the condition that it has been recommended (to the woman) that it is necessary to abort the fetus and as long as the life of the mother is not put into danger (by use of the medicine or other measures).

c) All the leaders of the religion are in agreement that after this time period has passed, the abortion is not permitted to take place under any circumstances. Those scholars who have been named in the fatawa are of the Hanafi [^1] school of thought who confirmed this ruling and believe that it is permissible for a woman to have her tubes tied in such a way that the sperm of the man would not be able to reach to the egg.

Just as can be seen, not only did the Great Mufti of Egypt permit the various forms of birth control to prevent pregnancy before the act of conception, rather, he has even permitted abortions to take place within the first four months of the pregnancy. In addition, he has not considered the agreement of both sides (the husband and wife) as being necessary.

Thirteen years later, (in March of 1953), it was written: The Fatawa Committee of Al-Azhar University have given a revised opinion: According to the opinions of the Shafi`i Madhab, it is not forbidden to use medicine to prevent pregnancy.