The Religious Consultation
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Gulf News (Middle East), May 5, 2005 Conference of
Islamic Scholars Tackles Population Issue A three-day conference of Islamic scholars from 16 countries opened here yesterday to discuss family planning and responsible parenthood to overcome the challenge posed by rapid population increase. Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz inagurated the conference, urging the scholars to provide guidelines in accordance with Islamic teachings to bring about a positive behavioral change on the issue of population control. He said ulema (religious scholars) of repute could play a pivotal role in guiding the Muslim Ummah on the subject of family planning. More than 35 scholars from 16 countries and over 100 from within Pakistan, including women, are attending the international meeting organised by the Pakistani Ministry of Population Welfare. Aziz said there were different opinions on family planning. Some ulema were of the view that Islam did not permit contraception while others believed otherwise. He exhorted the scholars to spread the message of small family according to the principles and teachings of Islam. Pakistan, which has a population of 150 million, can benefit from the experience of other Muslim countries in the field of population planning, he said. He emphasised the need for unity among the Muslim Ummah to successfully face the contemporary challenges. Aziz said many countries in the Muslim world were already actively involved in the distribution of contraceptives and the provision of reproductive health services through a variety of government-sponsored family planning programmes within religious and legal landscape. He asked the ulema to project Islam in its true spirit and promote it as a religion of peace, tolerance, and interfaith harmony. Religious scholars could help achieve the goal of population stabilisation and also play a role in saving lives of millions of women and children because of improved measures for reproductive health, he said. The prime minister said the world population had crossed the mark of six billion people, most of them inhabiting the developing countries. He pointed out that life in some areas had turned into a nightmare due to large and unmanaged population, which was multiplying at astronomical rates. << Gulf News -- 5/4/05 >> |