Family Planning In The Legacy Of Islam

Book Summary

Family formation and spacing have been central concerns in Islam for the last fourteen hundred years. "Family Planning in the Legacy of Islam" is the result of a massive research project, gathering views from leading Islamic theologians and jurists from the seventh to the twentieth centuries. These views combine to provide a comprehensive survey of the Islamic attitude towards, and practice of, family planning. The work has been discussed and shaped at each stage by a committee of Islamic experts representing the majority of the Muslim countries. This book provides the first comprehensive and objective analysis of Islamic jurisprudence as it relates to family planning, and it dispels many misconceptions. Abdel-Rahim Omran reveals that Islam has been endorsing contraception for fourteen hundred years, and examines the opinions of leading theologians, the teachings of the Quran and the Prophets, Sunnah (tradition) and the views of the nine Islamic schools ofjurisprudence. He also examines family planning in the twentieth century with the increased pressures of population control, health care and rapid urbanization. Published for the United Nations Population Fund 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.

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