Preventing procreation for fear that the child will be born with a defect
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa number ( 6457 )
Q: I am a Muslim surgeon, and my wife and I have four children. Allah granted us the last child about two months ago. After his birth, the child—whose name is 'Umar—fell severely ill, and he is still in the hospital, but, praise be to Allah, he is continuously improving. And the
doctors found that the cause of his illness was consuming regular milk, and they found that the cause of his illness is a hereditary condition stemming from me and my wife. Although the child has improved now, he must eat special milk, and he cannot eat any type of meat, nor can he eat eggs, nor can he eat cheese. All he can eat is some vegetables and fruits. But with the help of Allah, he will be able to grow normally, if Allah wills. The reason I wrote this letter is that if my wife wants to become pregnant again, there is a 25% probability that the new child will have the same disease, and we want to ask about the possibility of tying my vas deferens or tying my wife's tubes to prevent pregnancy permanently; because Allah has blessed us with four children, and so that another child like 'Umar does not come to us, not just for our sake, but for the sake of the child; because he will live his whole life on this strict diet that no ordinary child can accept. Please issue a ruling for us on whether it is lawful or forbidden to tie the vas deferens or tie the ovaries.
A: One must not rely on that probability; because pregnancy and the afflictions that befall the fetus while in his mother's womb or after his birth are matters of the unseen that no one knows except Allah, and all the affairs of the servants are in His
hand, the Exalted, and He directs them as He wills. So you both must have great hope in Allah, and your opinion of Him must be good, and Allah, the Exalted, is in accordance with the good opinion His servant has of Him. And you should set aside other suspicions and probabilities, and let not pessimism about what befell your fourth child lead you to proceed with what I mentioned and similar means of preventing pregnancy, for the bounty of Allah is vast. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: I am a Muslim surgeon, and my wife and I have four children. Allah granted us the last child about two months ago. After his birth, the child—whose name is 'Umar—fell severely ill, and he is still in the hospital, but, praise be to Allah, he is continuously improving. And the
doctors found that the cause of his illness was consuming regular milk, and they found that the cause of his illness is a hereditary condition stemming from me and my wife. Although the child has improved now, he must eat special milk, and he cannot eat any type of meat, nor can he eat eggs, nor can he eat cheese. All he can eat is some vegetables and fruits. But with the help of Allah, he will be able to grow normally, if Allah wills. The reason I wrote this letter is that if my wife wants to become pregnant again, there is a 25% probability that the new child will have the same disease, and we want to ask about the possibility of tying my vas deferens or tying my wife's tubes to prevent pregnancy permanently; because Allah has blessed us with four children, and so that another child like 'Umar does not come to us, not just for our sake, but for the sake of the child; because he will live his whole life on this strict diet that no ordinary child can accept. Please issue a ruling for us on whether it is lawful or forbidden to tie the vas deferens or tie the ovaries.
A: One must not rely on that probability; because pregnancy and the afflictions that befall the fetus while in his mother's womb or after his birth are matters of the unseen that no one knows except Allah, and all the affairs of the servants are in His
hand, the Exalted, and He directs them as He wills. So you both must have great hope in Allah, and your opinion of Him must be good, and Allah, the Exalted, is in accordance with the good opinion His servant has of Him. And you should set aside other suspicions and probabilities, and let not pessimism about what befell your fourth child lead you to proceed with what I mentioned and similar means of preventing pregnancy, for the bounty of Allah is vast. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.