Sterilization and the analogy with ‘azl

Question

Nowadays family planning is being much talked about everywhere. Concerning it, the government is publishing the fatwas of muftis of Islamic countries, such as Egypt and Java; I have also come across the fatwa of some people in India, such as the imam of the Jama Masjid of Delhi. All these gentlemen, drawing an analogy (qiyas) between today’s sterilization and ‘azl (coitus interruptus), have given a fatwa of permissibility. Since ‘azl is permissible in the Shari‘a, why then is sterilization haram?

Answer

Nowadays the family planning scheme is being run with great force, and incentive measures are being adopted for sterilization. On this subject the Dar al-Ifta of Dar al-‘Ulum Deoband has already published two treatises supported with proofs: the first, “Birth Control ka Shar‘i Hukm” (“The Shar‘i Ruling on Birth Control”)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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