RESOLUTION NO. 39(1/5)

CONCERNING BIRTH CONTROL

Quote -The Council of the Islamic Fiqh Academy, holding its Fifth Session, in Kuwait City (State of Kuwait), from 1^st to 6^th Jummada al-Oula 1409 H (10 to 15 December 1988);

Having reviewed the papers presented by the members and experts on “Birth control” and having listened to the discussions on the subject;

Bearing in mind that, according to Islamic Shari’a, the purpose of marriage is procreation and conservation of the human race, and that it is not permissible to ruin this objective because such a destruction is a violation of Shari’a rules and directives urging for birth increase, preservation and conservation of human race since procreation is one of the five commandments, the protection of which is prescribed by divine rules;

RESOLVES

First: It is not permissible to issue a general law restricting the freedom of a married couple in the field of procreation.

Second: It is strictly forbidden by religion to deprive a man or a woman of his or her physical capacity to procreate, known as sterilization, except in case of necessity according to the criteria set by Shari’a.

Third: It is permissible to control temporarily the procreation in view of spacing the pregnancy periods or to interrupt it for a fixed duration incase of necessity recognized by Shari’a; this should be done at the discretion of the married couple according to their mutual agreement and after consultation, provided that no prejudice is caused and that the method to be used is legal, without any harm to an ongoing pregnancy.

Verily, Allah is All-Knowing – Unquote

(From the Book "Resolution and Recommendations of the Council of the Islamic Fiqh Academy (1985-2000),Published by- Islamic Research and Training Institute, Islamic Development Bank,Jeddah. E-mail Address: Archives@ISDB.ORG.SA, Home page: HTTP://WWW.IRTI.ORG.SA)

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