Authored by: Shaykh Mubashir Ahmad Rabbani حفظ اللہ
Family Planning
Question: Is it permissible to undergo an operation to permanently stop childbearing due to some necessity, especially when the life of the mother is at risk?
Answer:
The concept of permanent sterilization refers to making such internal or external alterations in the reproductive organs of either the husband or wife, which would deprive them eternally of the blessing of offspring and render them completely incapable of bearing children. In previous times, men were castrated, and in today’s advanced era, sterilization and other operations are performed. This practice is strictly impermissible and forbidden.
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Saʿd bin Abi Waqqas رضی اللہ عنہ:
『رد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم على وعثمان بن مظعون التبتل و لواذن له لا ختصينا』
“Allah’s Messenger صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم forbade ʿUthman bin Mazʿun رضی اللہ عنہ from living without marriage. If he had permitted him, we would have become castrated.”
[Bukhari, Book of Nikah: Chapter on what is disliked about celibacy and castration 5073; Muslim 1402; Tirmidhi 1083; Nasa’i 3214; Ibn Majah 2/593; Musnad Ahmad 1/175; Darimi 2167]
Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Masʿud رضی اللہ عنہ said:
『كنا نغزو مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وليس لنا شيء، فقلنا: الا نستخصي؟ فنهانا عن ذلك، ثم رخص لنا ان ننكح المراة بالثوب، ثم قرا علينا: يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تحرموا طيبات ما احل الله لكم ولا تعتدوا إن الله لا يحب المعتدين』
“We used to participate in battles with the Messenger of Allah صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم and we did not have our wives with us. We said, ‘Shall we not castrate ourselves?’ He forbade us from doing so, then permitted us to marry women for a temporary dowry (cloth), and then recited to us: ‘O you who believe! Do not forbid the good things which Allah has made lawful for you, and do not transgress. Verily, Allah does not love the transgressors.’”
[Bukhari, Book of Nikah: Chapter on what is disliked about celibacy and castration 5075]
These authentic Ahadith make it clear that sterilization or causing such change through surgery in the reproductive organs that would permanently terminate the lineage is completely impermissible and forbidden.
However, sometimes there arises a situation with certain women whose reproductive organs are no longer capable of giving birth naturally and normally. In such cases, birth is only possible through an operation, and according to expert doctors, after two or three deliveries through operation, the woman no longer retains the capability to bear children, and there is a strong risk to her life. In such situations, pregnancy is not free of danger for the woman. Therefore, in cases of necessity and compulsion, when expert Muslim doctors decide that this woman is no longer capable of bearing children, it is permissible to adopt such a method that terminates the process of childbirth. This is because the principle of Islam is:
『الضرورات تیبیح المحضورات』
“Necessities make prohibited things permissible.”
Therefore, in a situation of severe necessity, it is permissible to undergo the operation according to the advice of expert Muslim doctors.
Family Planning
Question: Is it permissible to undergo an operation to permanently stop childbearing due to some necessity, especially when the life of the mother is at risk?
Answer:
The concept of permanent sterilization refers to making such internal or external alterations in the reproductive organs of either the husband or wife, which would deprive them eternally of the blessing of offspring and render them completely incapable of bearing children. In previous times, men were castrated, and in today’s advanced era, sterilization and other operations are performed. This practice is strictly impermissible and forbidden.
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Saʿd bin Abi Waqqas رضی اللہ عنہ:
『رد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم على وعثمان بن مظعون التبتل و لواذن له لا ختصينا』
“Allah’s Messenger صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم forbade ʿUthman bin Mazʿun رضی اللہ عنہ from living without marriage. If he had permitted him, we would have become castrated.”
[Bukhari, Book of Nikah: Chapter on what is disliked about celibacy and castration 5073; Muslim 1402; Tirmidhi 1083; Nasa’i 3214; Ibn Majah 2/593; Musnad Ahmad 1/175; Darimi 2167]
Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Masʿud رضی اللہ عنہ said:
『كنا نغزو مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وليس لنا شيء، فقلنا: الا نستخصي؟ فنهانا عن ذلك، ثم رخص لنا ان ننكح المراة بالثوب، ثم قرا علينا: يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تحرموا طيبات ما احل الله لكم ولا تعتدوا إن الله لا يحب المعتدين』
“We used to participate in battles with the Messenger of Allah صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم and we did not have our wives with us. We said, ‘Shall we not castrate ourselves?’ He forbade us from doing so, then permitted us to marry women for a temporary dowry (cloth), and then recited to us: ‘O you who believe! Do not forbid the good things which Allah has made lawful for you, and do not transgress. Verily, Allah does not love the transgressors.’”
[Bukhari, Book of Nikah: Chapter on what is disliked about celibacy and castration 5075]
These authentic Ahadith make it clear that sterilization or causing such change through surgery in the reproductive organs that would permanently terminate the lineage is completely impermissible and forbidden.
However, sometimes there arises a situation with certain women whose reproductive organs are no longer capable of giving birth naturally and normally. In such cases, birth is only possible through an operation, and according to expert doctors, after two or three deliveries through operation, the woman no longer retains the capability to bear children, and there is a strong risk to her life. In such situations, pregnancy is not free of danger for the woman. Therefore, in cases of necessity and compulsion, when expert Muslim doctors decide that this woman is no longer capable of bearing children, it is permissible to adopt such a method that terminates the process of childbirth. This is because the principle of Islam is:
『الضرورات تیبیح المحضورات』
“Necessities make prohibited things permissible.”
Therefore, in a situation of severe necessity, it is permissible to undergo the operation according to the advice of expert Muslim doctors.
