Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Permanent methods of stopping of childbirth are not to be resorted to according to islam.There is a lady who has had four ceaserian sections & doctors are advising her to go in for tubal ligation which is permanent stopping of childbirth.They say that in future if there is a complication like some disease which will not make it possible to continue use of tabletsfor birth control it will be difficult for the patient.
The children have a slight problem(all) delayed milestones but are otherwise alhamdolillah healthy.So the docs say how will the lady take care of such children.Alhamdolillah they have help of maids.
The lady says that Allah is all knower and also the giver of health etc. so why should she worry & undergo permanent tubal ligation.When Allah subhanaho wa taalah is giving form his bounty who is she to stop.
She wants to make the docs & her husband understand this but has no proper words.She reads &believes in the last ayath of surah baqarah" Rabbana la thu aquizna.............."
Please reply soon as her delivery is just approaching. 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Doctors advice to delay pregnancy

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

If one uses birth control for spacing one’s children, there is no harm. But if one uses methods of birth control to stop having children permanently, and the intention behind such a move is the fear for providing for the children, etc.; then such prevention would be deemed absolutely illegal in Islam.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 17 Surah Israa verse 31: Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily the killing of them is a great sin.

But if one uses birth control under proper medical guidance and advice because the life of the mother or her children could be endangered if she gets pregnant, then there is no sin in practicing birth control for such a person. Islam guides the believers that they should never put themselves in harms way knowingly.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 29: O ye who believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves in vanities: but let there be amongst you traffic and trade by mutual good-will: nor kill (or destroy) yourselves: for verily Allah hath been to you Most Merciful.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 195: And spend of your substance in the cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to your destruction; but do good; for Allah loveth those who do good.

Your Question: The lady says that Allah is all knower and also the giver of health etc. so why should she worry & undergo permanent tubal ligation.When Allah subhanaho wa taalah is giving form his bounty who is she to stop.
Indeed, Allah Subhanah is the Giver of life and death and health, etc., and only that will happen what Allah Subhanah Wills to happen. But that does not mean that one may jump from a fifty storey building, or a flying aircraft and say ‘life is from Allah Subhanah!!’

If the person has been provided with proper medical knowledge that the advent of a new pregnancy would severely harm the mother or the new born child, then it would only be prudent to take preventative actions. The principle in Islam is that the life of one who is alive will be preferred to the life of the one who is not yet born. Thus even in the extreme cases where one has to chose between the life of the mother or the not-yet-born child, the life of the mother will be preferred to the unborn infant.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan