November 30, 1997
GENDER AND POPULATION IN ISLAM
By: Khaled M. Batarfi, MA
For a long time, pressure has been increasing on Muslim countries to "liberate" women, decrease their fertility and allow them more access to jobs by men’s side. To let women out, they need to have fewer responsibilities—marriage, family, kids. This means everybody had to be liberated from traditions and religion. The best way to do so is to blanket and inject Muslims, especially the young, with Western culture and values. At the same time, Muslim governments are pressured to mold their political and economic systems into a Western model. Market and capital forces, competition and individualist’s values are to rule if a country is to qualify for Western respect, inclusion, investment and aid. The media and pop culture are among the most effective and profitable tools in this new crusade. Modern technologies such as satellite TV, videocassettes, computers and music media are used to facilitate the cultural invasion.
The debate is heated in the Muslim world on these matters, especially regarding issues of gender and population. Liberal and conservative, orthodox and moderate scholars fight out a war of public persuasion fueled by the United Nations and the West. Both sides maneuver to set standards for women’s roles and population growth, or lack of, in the next millenium.
In this paper, I am going to explore different sides of the debate. My own views on these issues also will be included in the discussion.
Women’s Place in Islam
Western values are beginning to challenge the traditional stable Muslim family system, where woman has a special place as loving daughter, caring sister and life-partner. Most of all, she is the loving, caring, holy mother. The mother’s role in raising new generations of good Muslims puts her in a high position close to Prophets. "A good mother," the proverb goes, "is the ultimate school that if well prepared will produce people with great merits."
Our liberals believe that a woman should not be limited to family roles and be constrained by marriage, children and conservative clothes and traditions. In her new role, she should get rid of the scarf, tighten and shorten her dress, swim in bikini and mix freely with non-relative men in schools, sports clubs, work places, etc. She should be able to choose not to get married, and when married, delay, limit or refuse to have kids. What her new appearance and role inevitably lead to, such as adultery, becomes tolerable, and, for some, even desirable. Abortion, therefore, and single motherhood had to be accepted. For married women, smaller families of one or two children become signs of modernity and sophistication.
A woman’s traditional role in a Muslim community is the "mother of all roles." She is not only the source of future generations, but also the one who is accredited for most of their well being, good education, good behavior, and strong Islamic upbringing. Without her, without her goodness, children will come into society deprived of good mental, psychological and physical health, and with bad faith and merits. Therefore, the good upbringing and educating of women are very much emphasized. (Badawi, 1995) If a patent raises his daughters well, that will secure him a place in paradise in the company of the Prophet and protect hem from hellfire, says Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him. (Al-Albani, 1979) Islam did not distinguish between boys and girls in educational rights and duties. (Badawi, 1995) "Seeking knowledge is a duty of all Muslims," the Prophet says. Girls have equal access to education as boys because they are the future educators of new generations in addition to their participation in community building in other jobs and roles.
When Islam first shone over Arabia more than 1400 years ago, women were badly treated. They were regarded as private property with no respect for their rights, intelligence or equality. They were not consulted on their marriages and virtually were given away to their husbands, and they had no right to inherit. When fathers were told of the birth of baby girls they felt ashamed and blamed their women for the misfortune. Some even used to bury their infant daughters alive. (Badawi, 1995)
Men were preferred because they enlarged and carried the name and heritage of families and tribes and provided them with needed laborers and warriors. Women, on the other hand, cost more to raise and paid little in return. Worse, they might shame their families by committing adultery or failing to produce children. (Balkhair, 1996)
Of course this was not always the case, but the general attitude in pre-Islamic Arabia was certainly not in women’s favor. Islam came and changed all that. It was the first religion to clearly recognize that women had rights. Allah derided those who covered their faces in shame when told of a new born girl and He praised women as His precious gift. The decision of who has a boy or a girl is only His. Women are not responsible for this, neither their men. He prohibited the killing of daughters and warned that on the day of judgement, fathers will have to answer for their crime. Women are given the right to choose a husband, to be treated well and with respect, to inherit, to be protected, taken care of and provided with all means to a happy life.
The Prophet was a great example. His wives were declared the mothers of all believers. He treated them well, and said that the best of Muslims are the kindest to their women. Women, he says, are like glass—sensitive to force and maltreatment, easy to break and injure—so we must be gentle with them. He counseled his wives in matters of governing. Aisha, his youngest wife, was declared a religious reference and other Muslim scholars, men and women, were encouraged to ask her for advice. After the Prophet’s death, she became one of the highest religious authorities. (Al-Albani, 1979)
Women in Islam have the right to work outside their homes. In the Prophet’s days, they traded, farmed, sewed, manufactured, healed and so on. They have the right to keep their earnings—marriage endowments, inheritance and income—and be provided for by their men at the same time. That is why their share of an inheritance is half that of men’s. Still, the women’s recommended and preferred place was and still is home—raising kids, supporting men, providing them with a healthy and prosperous environment and producing a united, happy and good Muslim family. Her home role is indispensable. (Balkhair, 1996)
According to Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, 1997:
The early Islamic community aimed at strengthening the family at the expense of old tribal loyalties, although it was not able to suppress the latter. The Koran stresses filial piety and "love and mercy" between husband and wife. Men and women are declared equal, "except that men are a degree higher" because they are charged with the household expenditure . . .
The Koran advocates measures that were intended to improve the condition of women. The infanticide of girls, formerly prevalent among certain tribes, is forbidden; daughters are given a share of inheritances, although only half of that allotted to boys. The Koran repeatedly emphasizes the kind treatment of women and grants to wives the right of divorce in case of maltreatment. The Koran approves polygamy, allowing as many as four wives, but also states, "if you fear you cannot do justice among co-wives, then marry only one wife." The abuse of polygamy and of the husband's right in traditional Islam to repudiate his wife, even when her conduct is faultless, has recently led to the enactment of reformed family laws in most Muslim countries.
Birth Control and Family Planning In Islam
With a caring father providing food and shelter, a loving mother taking care of the household and a community responsible for common wellbeing, education and security, why would a Muslim consider birth control? In the Holy Quran, Allah derides those who kill their children for fear of poverty. Allah is the ultimate provider and He will take care of all his people, the Quran says. Most Muslim scholars regard abortion as killing live souls. Unless for medical reasons, whereby the unborn life is traded for the mother’s life, abortion is strictly prohibited in Islam.
There is difference of opinion on the issue of birth control, however. Since the measure is preemptive and no killing is involved, many Muslim scholars cited some evidence in the Prophet’s companions’ lives that showed they used "natural" means to avoid having children—i.e. not having sex on certain days where the chances of pregnancy are high. The critics of birth control argue that this can only be used when the intention is to save the mother the health predicaments of having to give birth every year. Another legitimate reason is to give her a breathing space to take care of her older children and breast-feed the new ones. (Ibn Othaimeen, 1997) They remind that Allah prohibits killing children for fear of poverty. In other words, economic concerns are not acceptable reasons for birth control. They also cite the Prophet’s recommendation for Muslims to produce children and enlarge the Muslim nation. (Al-Albani, 1979) Some prominent scholars like Sheik Ibn Othaimeen (1991) of Saudi Arabia say that birth control pills cause many medical side effects. They cite cases of mothers suffering serious illnesses or losing their fertility, or children born in spite of the bills or after the stoppage seriously deformed. This view is supported by medical studies, some of which were conducted by feminist groups and proponents of family planning and birth control. (See for example: Khalil, 1995; Hassan, 1995; Zurayk, 1995)
The counter argument to opponents of birth control emphasizes the fact that the religious prohibition is about killing only. They argue that the Prophet only recommended more children, and recommendations do not equal orders. If they were meant as orders, the counter argument goes, the Prophet’s faithful and obedient companions would not have practiced birth control. Some also argue that Allah meant for us to raise good Muslims who are well educated and in good health, not criminals, the ignorant or drug addicts. More children, in this view, means less resources, gender equality, women’s independence, rights, freedom, and quality of life. (For more on proponents’ arguments see Obermeyer et al, 1995; Steeves, 1997).
The West Gets Involved—As Usual
The assumptions in the above argument come from an individualist culture assuming that it is the responsibility of the parent alone to provide education, health care and other vital services, not the government’s. In addition, the argument predicts that parents will not be able to raise well more than a child or two. Modern critics charge that the whole Western campaign is a conspiracy against Islam and the Muslims, and all non-white, non-Western and non-Christians. Why then it is always us who ought to control the world’s population’s growth? The UN agencies will not dare preaching this message in the West. To the contrary, governments in countries like Germany and France are actually worried that their total population is not increasing. Parents are paid in these countries to raise children. In Germany, for example, the government pays 220 marks for each child. It is even more in France.
The US is concerned that the nation’s population is getting older. In the coming decades, baby boomers will retire and depend for their living on the outnumbered young population. Vast Western countries like the US, Canada and Australia are actually boosting population growth by means that include encouraging immigration, especially of the well educated and wealthy. Some studies by such credible international organizations as the World Bank (1997) have shown the world’s resources are more than adequate to accommodate additional billions of people. In a 1997 UN report, it has been found that "although roughly 90 million people were added to the world’s population during the year, most in the poorer developing countries, the global food system continued to produce enough food to feed everyone. Early forecasts for 19979 are reasonably optimistic about increased food production in nearly all regions. . . . Thus the basic question in relation to food security continues to be not supply but access. In fact, food security itself is defined as access by all people, through production or purchase, to a safe and nutritious human diet." (McLaughlin, 1997) One recent study showed that the State of Texas alone can accommodate the whole world population as it stands today. (The Population Research Institute, 1997) The strategy, then, according to Muslim critics, is to slow the growing number of Muslims in this world while increasing white Christians. (Ibn Othaimeen, 1991) This is the same strategy used by the colonial Europeans against the natives in the Americas, as documented by Zinn. (1995)
More recently, in Ghana, a birth control and family planning campaign sponsored by the UN Population Fund Family Life Education (for an insight on this program, check Innocents Betrayed, 1997) and private Western companies worked hand in hand (or pocket) with local and tribal authorities, the media, and, interestingly enough, Muslim scholars. (Steeves, 1997) The campaign was regarded as a success. Millions of condoms and contraceptives were sold in the country during the campaign.
The critics cry conspiracy and for a good reason. The companies who co-sponsored the campaign are the same ones who sold the condoms and pills (Steeves, 1997). Western support further enforces the political suspicion. As I see it, the notion that bigger families and overpopulation are the culprits in all national problems frees the corrupted regime from blame and responsibility. Instead of focusing on a symptom, I would argue, the West should concentrate on government corruption and its bankrupt economic system. Government policies, not extra children, are responsible for unemployment and poor basic infrastructure—such as roads, electricity, communication and water—that, in turn, slow development. The regime also is responsible for bad public services in vital areas such as health, education, housing, nutrition and environment. Help and aid are needed not in birth control but in pressuring governments for political and economical reforms—in areas such as democracy, development and human rights. Assistance also is needed for technology transfer, capital investment and commerce.
Overpopulation is also blamed for scarcity of present and future global resources. Water, space and food will not be enough for the entire world’s population in the near future, birth control proponents warn. They contend that poverty and malnutrition today are a result of overpopulation. (Ehrlich, 1990) This is said by the few who consume the most. The billions of dollars spent every year by Westerns gamblers could very easily satisfy all the world’s hunger. The amount of water used on Western luxuries like flower gardens, artificial lakes, swimming pools and car washes, can satisfy the thirst of millions. The billions spent on entertainment alone could provide shelter for millions of homeless. The energy consumed by the second household cars in Western cities could run thousands of factories and farms in the Third World. The neon lights in the industrialized metropolitan areas could bring enough electricity to thousands of villages in the underprivileged world. And the trillions of dollars wasted on the arms race, space exploration and ambitious projects such as Reagan’s star wars, could make the world a much better place for all present and future generations. (For interesting facts on the world’s population and resources and the discrepancy between poor and rich, check The Population Research Institute, 1997; Weiss, 1997; Karlsson, 1997; McLaughlin, 1997; Lasber, 1997.)
From the non-western point of view, they should not have to pay for the excesses of the West. It is like the arrogant Cadillac driver suggesting we send half the pedestrians home because the street is not wide enough for all. Or the golf club members complaining poor houses in the neighborhood are taking too much space that might hinder human (read: their) future expansion. Or the luxury-chalet owners suggesting that we should limit access to public beaches to conserve natural habitat.
In all these cases, it is always the less consuming many who should allow for the most consuming few. The concept is well portrayed in the "lifeboat" theory. (Hardin, 1977) It asks: if you are in a lifeboat with a few privileged passengers and enough space for few more while others are about to drown in an overcrowded boat, would you allow your boat to be filled with some, many or none? The Western choice has always been the latter. Forgotten is the fact that the luxury boat was only built because of the exploitation of the labor and stolen resources of those in the other boat.
Since the world has enough resources and space for all, the whole thing boils down to the question: who has the right to reproduce? Who has the right to fill the space and consume the resources? Who owns the earth, and who deserves to live on it? Who has the right to expand and fulfill, and who have to give way? For Muslims, the answer is not only related to power and wealth, color and race, but also to religion and culture.
Conclusions
In summary, women in Islam have the place of honor and reverence. Their role in the family and community is greatly appreciated and enhanced by good access to education, health care and jobs. Family planning for timing pregnancy to allow rest and breathing space is permitted. However, limiting the number of children for economic reasons is strictly prohibited, for Allah promised an accommodation for all.
Abortion is only allowed on health grounds. Otherwise, it is regarded as killing human beings while risking the health and life of mothers. Therefore, proponents of family planning limit their campaigns to preemptive measures—such as contraceptives.
Furthermore, Muslim scholars look with much suspicion to a hypocritical White, Christian world demanding that Muslims and other Third Worlders stop breeding, while they encourage and reward their own. While the white, spoiled fat cats consume most global resources, theirs and ours, the blame is on us alone. Many critics, including myself, believe that the answers to our problems are in correcting the ruling regimes and fixing corrupt systems not in sterilizing women and miniaturizing families. In other words, we should be erasing poverty, not killing the poor.
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