A Response to Those Who Call for Population Control Out of Fear of Population Explosion and Economic Burden

Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you well. Shaykh Salih, those who explicitly call for population control, citing the population explosion as they say it, or considering the economic conditions, or something similar, do you have a word for them? May Allah reward you with good?

Answer:
The fear of population explosion, the increase in the number of people, and the scarcity of sustenance is part of the belief of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah), because they held this belief during the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, believing that having many children narrows the sustenance. Allah the Exalted refuted them and informed them that He is the One who provides for them all; He provides for the parents and He provides for the children. So their sustenance is not upon their parents, but rather it is upon Allah who created them. And Allah does not create a soul except that He decrees for it its sustenance and its lifespan, and it does not die until it has completed its sustenance and its lifespan. , Allah the Exalted said: , Allah the Exalted said: . The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) counted killing a child out of fear of hunger and fear of poverty among the greatest of major sins after shirk (associating partners with Allah). When he was asked, "Which sin is the greatest?" he said: . And Allah revealed a confirmation of this in His saying: . Population control based on this conjecture and Satanic suspicion aligns with the belief of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, because both groups believe that this narrows the sustenance and makes sustenance scarce for people. This is from one aspect. The second aspect is that the disbelievers want to weaken the Muslims and want to reduce their numbers, so they have planted this wicked plot among them, which is frightening them about the increase in children, the increase in newborns, that sustenance will become scarce and that their provisions will decrease. The weak in faith, or those who have no faith in their hearts, have been deceived by it, and they do not know what deception and stratagem lies behind it for the Muslims.
So it is obligatory to be cautious of this wrong, disbelieving idea, and it is obligatory to combat it, because it is one of the plots of the disbelievers and part of the belief of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. Sustenance is in the hand of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). On the contrary to what they imagined, if the children and the population increase, work increases, production increases, and the number of productive working hands increases, thereby increasing production and good. This is the opposite of what happens if the working hands and the population decrease, in which case production weakens. Yes.