Further reading: Carl Ernst, “Lives of Sufi Saints.” In
Religions of India in Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez,
Jr., 495–512 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1995); R. Stephen Humphreys, Islamic History:
A Framework for Inquiry (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1991), 187–208; F. E. Peters, Muham-
mad and the Origins of Islam (Albany: State University
of New York Press, 1994); Widad al-Qadi, “Biographi-
cal Dictionaries: Inner Structure and Cultural Sig-
nificance.” In The Book in the Islamic World: The Written
Word and Communication in the Middle East, edited by
George N. Atiyeh, 93–122 (Washington, D.C.: Library
of Congress, 1995).
birth control and family planning
Birth control and family planning are significant
issues in many Muslim countries today. Statisti-
cal surveys indicate that Muslim countries have
among the highest population growth rates in
the world. While the rate in Western countries
such as Great Britain is .2 percent, .39 percent in
France, and .89 percent in the United states, in
Muslim countries it can reach nearly 3.5 percent.
For example, it is 1.49 percent in indonesia, 1.98
percent in pakistan, 2.08 percent in bangladesh,
2.44 percent in saUdi arabia, and 3.44 percent in
yemen. The governments of most of these coun-
tries as well as regional and international organi-
zations realize that such growth rates pose serious
challenges to social and economic development
programs. Many governments do not have the
resources to meet the needs of their own people,
and even those that have ample resources—partic-
ularly oil-producing countries such as Saudi Ara-
bia—have difficulty dealing with the challenges of
population growth due to inefficient or unequal
distribution of the wealth, corruption of officials,
or political instability. With growing populations
and inadequate resources, people are not able
to obtain adequate schooling, health care, and
employment. Even though governments realize
that family planning and birth control programs
can help alleviate these problems, other factors,
including religion, affect the extent to which they
are willing and able to implement them.
Muslims have looked to the qUran and hadith
for guidance on birth control and family plan-
ning, as they do for other issues of importance
in their lives. It is important to realize, however,
that their sacred scriptures are ambiguous on the
subject, therefore leaving room for different inter-
pretations. Two verses in the Quran forbid slay-
ing children because of inability to provide for
them (Q 17:31; 6:151). The Quran also implicitly
condemns the killing of female infants (Q 60:12;
81:8–9), a practice observed by some arab tribes
in western Arabia at the time of islam’s appear-
ance. Such verses are used to promote a “right-to-
life” approach to birth control. Opponents of birth
control also quote verses that refer to children
as being a divine gift (Q 16:72; 18:46; 25:74).
They find additional support in the Quran and
hadith for the view that contraception is wrong
because only God has the power to determine
life and sustain it (Q 67:1–2; 56:57–74; 11:6).
Humans, therefore, should not act against his
will. On the other hand, advocates of birth con-Egyptian newlyweds with family members (Juan E.
Campo)K 104 birth control and family planning