ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Marriage and Morals in Islam Chapter Four: Contraceptives & Abortion A. Introduction The question of birth control has created much debate in the Western world. This question is related to the basic view of sex. On one hand, if you relate sex to the original sin and equate it with evil, and allow sexual intercourse only for the purpose of procreation then, obviously, you will be totally opposed to birth control.

Allowing birth control would mean allowing sex for pleasure. On the other hand, if you consider sex to be a natural act whose purpose is two-fold: procreation and/or fulfillment of sexual desire, then you would allow birth control. The debate on the use of birth control, moreover, is intertwined with the issue of abortion. On the whole, there are three opinions on birth control and abortion.

On the one extreme, the Roman Catholic Church[^1] forbids birth control as well as abortion; ('Allamah Rizvi comments on the Catholic view as follows: "The Vatican seems oblivious of [the] simple difference between underlying reason of a law and the law itself. That is why it has totally prohibited use of contraceptives, on the plea that it goes against the philosophy of marriage. But does Vatican have the conviction of courage to take this 'argument' to its logical end?

Is it prepared to forbid intercourse with a pregnant wife, or ban marriage of infertile men or women? They should have banned these and other examples...because they too cannot produce pregnancy. The prelates of the Roman Catholic Church all unmarried men are perhaps unaware that lawful satisfaction of sexual urge is in itself a valid underlying reason of marriage."[^2] And on the other extreme, the libertarians and feminists consider birth control and abortion as the basic rights of women.

In between these two extremes, Islam allows birth control but forbids abortion. According to the Shi 'ah fiqh , family planning as a private measure to space or regulate the family size for health or economic reasons is permissible. Neither is there any Qur'anic verse or hadith against birth control, nor is it wajib to have children in marriage. So basically, birth control would come under the category of ja'iz, lawful acts.

Moreover, we have some ahadith (especially on the issue of 'azl, coitus interruptus ) which categorically prove that birth control is permissible.