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Population Control in the Perspective of Islam

The world-famous historian Ibn Khaldun in his Kitabul Ibar Bhumka ‘Al Muqaddama’ discussed page 107 of the second volume of the Bengali translation by Ghulam Sadmani Quraishi, he has shown how the growth of population reveals the growth of civilization

24-05-2023
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The world-famous historian Ibn Khaldun in his Kitabul Ibar Bhumka ‘Al Muqaddama’ discussed page 107 of the second volume of the Bengali translation by Ghulam Sadmani Quraishi, he has shown how the growth of population reveals the growth of civilization. He mentioned the examples of the most beautiful and knowledge-rich cities in the world at that time, such as Kufa, Basra, Cairo and Cordova, and said that the huge population in those areas opened up the prosperity of the region. If we look at history in this way, it will be seen that in 1700 the population of the world was 600 million, in 1800 the population increased to 950 million, in 1900 this population doubled to 1.6 billion and finally in 2000 this number quadrupled to 6 billion. 
The first idea about this geometric growth rate of population was given by the British economist and demographer Thomas Robert Malthus. In 1798, Malthus said in his book “An Essay on the Principle of Population” that food production increases at an arithmetic rate, i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4... And the population increases at a geometric rate, i.e, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32…etc. In reality, population increases at a geometric rate, but food production increases proportionally to population. Because Almighty Allah has declared, ‘Allah has assigned the responsibility of sustenance to all the animals that roam the earth. (Surah Hud, verse 6).
According to Malthus, the amount of arable land on Earth is finite but the amount of breeding is infinite. As a result, he thinks that if the human food production is less than the population and the population is high, then he will not be able to bear the cost of living of the additional population. Demonstrating the above argument, he proposed birth control through sexual restraint between husband and wife as a solution. On the other hand, the British social reformer Francis Place first started the movement of birth control with the help of drugs and machines. In this way, the famous American doctor Charles Knowlton in his famous book ‘The Fruits of Philosophy’ gave the medical explanation of contraceptives and its benefits.
As a result of their promotion, birth control became very popular in many countries of Europe and America including England. With the spread of modern civilization, the Industrial Revolution and the economic self-sufficiency of women, birth control became fashionable in middle-class and industrialized societies. But any artificial formula that goes against the laws of nature does not last long. As a result, they began to feel the effects of population control within a century. Adoption of birth control has led to an increase in illicit sex and population decline at a geometric rate. According to the report of the Diocesan Conference of England in 1946, 01 out of every 08 children in the country was illegitimate. In that country at that time 47 percent of men and 50 percent of women had illicit sex. According to the report of the Royal Commission on Population, before 1910, 16 percent of married couples used birth control, and after 1942, 74 percent of couples used this method.

The adoption of these measures halved the population of almost all European countries, including England, France, Germany and Italy, over the course of a hundred years. Realizing the gravity of the situation, social thinkers and politicians in England started encouraging and encouraging population growth. The League of National Life, the National Life Conservation Organization, began to promote the abolition of birth control and the adoption of children. The Royal Commission in England in 1944 recommended that allowances be given to each family based on the number of children. In this way, various European countries including England started giving encouragement to the people to increase their population. By adopting the method of population growth in their own countries, they spread the poison of population control in third world countries. But although the population decreased a little for the time being, the population in the third world countries continued to increase. Looking at Bangladesh, according to Banglapedia, the population was 76.4 million according to the first census of Bangladesh in 1974 during the Bangabandhu government after independence. Then the fourth census was held in 2001 where the population doubled to 130.5 million. According to the census of the first term of the Awami League government in 2011, the population of the country is 14.4 million.

According to the latest census data of July last year, the population of the country is around 16 crore. Thus, as the population is seen to increase, the rate of poverty is seen to decrease by the same amount. For example, in the fiscal year 1973-74, the population was seven crore, but the per capita income was only 70 dollars or 676 taka. At the end of almost two eras, in 2000-01, the population doubled to 130 million, but the per capita income increased to Tk. 23 thousand 91. Currently, the population has increased to 16 crore, so the per capita income of the people has increased to 2824 dollars. At the same time, there has been an increase in the standard of living, the invention of new varieties of crops, the institutions of every sector of the people, including education, technology and industry. The government of Bangladesh has long encouraged the adoption of fewer children through media and television campaigns to reduce the population, but the statistics show that although the population has been somewhat controlled, it has not been possible to reduce it to a large extent.
Meanwhile, Almighty Allah says do not kill your children for fear of scarcity. It is I who provides for them and also for you. Surely killing them is a great sin (Bani Israel 17:31).
Where the Almighty Allah himself determines the sustenance for the servants and sends them to the earth, thinking about the sustenance of the people, by killing the child by aborting the child and applying artificial methods like birth control, people are not harming him physically. However, according to expert Olamaye Keram, this method can be adopted if an experienced doctor advises to refrain from childbearing due to physical disability, possibility of death or serious weakness. Many Islamic jurists consider it impermissible to temporarily prevent pregnancy by using azal methods, using condoms, injections, pills, etc. Therefore, controlling the population by unnecessary and illegal means without the natural rules given by Almighty Allah and the guidance of the Prophet (PBUH) will never bring the welfare of the country and itself. Rather, the family, society and nation will benefit only if the population can be converted into a public resource.

The writer of this article is a student at Masters of Arts in History, University of Chittagong
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Md. Tarakul Islam
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Sonya Thornhill
To the perspectivebd.com admin, Your posts are always informative and up-to-date.
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